"Aa's frum Weshin'ton"
         Have you ever wondered how Washington got its name or why the original Washington Village is situated where it is? It is from the name itself that we derive the answer.
         The name comes in a multiple of varieties: for example Washington, Weshington, Wessington, and Wessynton. Locally we pronounce it Weshin'ton … "Aa's frum Weshin'ton." For our purposes let us refer to the Wessington version.
         "Wessington" can be broken down into two separate words: "Wessing" and "ton". By analysing the meaning of these two words we learn that the name accurately describes the natural landform of the original Village area before settlement.
         "Wesing" is an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "soaking" or "steeping". The modern German noun equivalent is "Wasser" meaning "water". The Modern English noun equivalent is "water" and "wash". A wash is a body of water; as in The Wash on the East Coast. In addition however both words are linked with making clean, both physically and spiritually. Water is an accepted symbol for the Word of God.
         Today it is difficult to imagine The Village awash with water but let us not forget the old sandpit in the Glebe area which indicates the presence of a large body of water in the past. There was another sandpit down The Dene.

         When the waters receded the land would have been at first "soaking" underfoot. The final remnant of the "wash" was the Village Pond, which is now filled in and referred to as the Village Green. I wonder what treasures lie metres deep under the Village Green.

         If you take a close look at the lie of the land around The Village, you will notice that even today the location of the Village Pond is a natural drainage area. The Home Bank (now called The Avenue), Village Lane, Spout Lane and Glebe Crescent as far as Glebe Mount, all drain down naturally into the area known as The Green.

         "Ton" at the end of a place name does not, as many people mistakenly believe, refer to an early form of the word "town". Nor does it necessarily refer to a "homestead". Rather it is another form of the old Anglo-Saxon word "torr" meaning "a prominent hill". "Torr" is a version of the Hebrew "tur" meaning "round tower" in the form of a mountain. Our English word "turret" is derived from this. At the end of a place name "tor" and "ton" take on an added significance; they both mean "a holy hill".
         There is only one holy hill in Washington Village and that is the one upon which the Holy Trinity Church stands.

         And so the name Washington / Wessington literally describes its natural features at three stages of development:

• A holy hill initially surrounded by water.
• A holy hill surrounded by land which was a quagmire underfoot as the waters receded.
• A holy hill situated next to a pond as the land dried out.

Washington Village and the Druids
         "Ton" at the end of a place name not only denotes a "holy hill", it denotes a holy hill which was sacred to Venus and which was of special significance to the Druids.
         Venus, although a planet, is referred to by astronomers as "The Evening and Morning Star". The idea being portrayed is that of Death and Rebirth. This confirms that Death and Rebirth, or Resurrection, were central to the Druid religious philosophy; as they were to that of the Ancient Egyptians.
         Tradition tells us that the person who is responsible for introducing religion and culture to Britain was the Celt/Druid Hesus. In this, his role was not unlike that of Osiris, who was the source of all knowledge in Ancient Egypt. (See Part 3)
         The connection with ancient Egypt however does not end here. Hesus was also known as Hu. (See Part 2) His very name Hesus/Hu, together with his role, embodies the Sacred Knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians … that of Hu the Celestial Sphinx, Creation, and the Precession of the Equinoxes.(See Parts 1-13)

         Druid mythology relates that Hesus/Hu was fathered by God and born of a virgin mother, Mayence in the 9th century BC. He was later crucified but his soul survived after Death. Sound familiar?
         It was upon the "holy hill" that the Druids held an annual ceremony in which they re-enacted the crucifixion of Hesus. This was called the Beltane Festival.
         In Washington Village this ceremony could only have been held on the current site of the Holy Trinity Church.

         In the Beltane ritual ceremony Hesus/Hu was crucified on an oak tree which was symbolic of the Tree of Life.
         Imagine the scene at "Wesington" two millennia and more in the past … a sturdy oak tree standing atop a holy hill which was possibly still surrounded by water. It was a sacred island; a sacred mound. The present day site of the Holy Trinity Church was, and still is, a sacred mound. A "holy hill" is another way of saying "sacred mound".

The Tree of Life and Washington Village
         In mythology the Tree of Life grew out of the Sacred Mound, it's branches reaching out and supporting the star and planet studded sky, while it's roots reached down into the watery abyss of the Netherworld. The trunk of the Tree of Life represented the World Pillar or Axis Munde (literally "Axis of the Mound") around which the heavens appeared to revolve. The World Pillar was the centre of the universe.
         Similarly, the Sacred Oak on the Sacred Mound at Washington Village was a world pillar representing the centre of the universe.

         The earliest reference to the concept of the Tree of Life is to be found in the philosophy of the Ancient Egyptians. They explained the origin of the universe in terms of a primordial ocean called Nun. It wasn't flat; rather it was in the shape of a cosmic egg … and from this cosmic egg was born the primeval hill called Nu. Of the Tree of Life is written, "I am the plant which comes from Nu."

         The key elements of the landscape at Washington Village before settlement are identical to those outlined in Ancient Egyptian cosmology! Sacred water, a sacred mound and a sacred tree.

         The Ancient Egyptian symbol for "plant" meaning "Tree of Life" was three sacred lotus lilies. They have tree stems curving to the left as though blown by the easterly wind; and on top of each stem is the Lotus flower. The glyph which denotes the sacred knowledge associated with Hesus is also formed by the three stems of the three sacred lotus lilies.

         In the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for the Tree of Life we have a direct link from the Ancient Egyptians, down through Hesus, to the people who re-enacted the crucifixion of Hesus at Washington Village.

         When Hesus was crucified upon the Tree of Life he metaphorically became as one with the Tree. Just as Osiris became one with the tamarisk tree in which he was encased (See Part 6) so Hesus/Hu became as one with the oak tree. Both Osiris and Hesus/Hu were representative of the Axis Munde around which the heavens appear to revolve; they were representative of the World Pillar, the link between the terrestrial and the celestial worlds. They held the heavens in their outstretched arms, and they soaked up the Word of God from the waters of the Netherworld. In Ancient Egypt the Netherworld was called the "Netterworld" meaning the "World of the gods". The gods had their home among the stars.

The Beltane Festival
         The Beltane Festival which was celebrated at Washington Village two millennia and more ago, was also known as "the bringing down of the sun". This is a reference to an astronomical event, which occurred on September 21st 4468BCE when the Autumn (Fall) Equinox of the Sun was in conjunction with the Milky Way.
         This conjunction initialized the movement of the Sun out of the Age of Leo/Gemini and into the Age of Taurus. This event which is known as Precession of the Equinoxes is recorded on the Ancient Egyptian Narmer Plate dated 4468BC.
         The bonfires which were lit to celebrate the Beltane Festival on old May Day at Washington Village represented the Sun passing from one Age of the Zodiac into the next. (See Part 9 to Part 15)
         Although it was from the Ancient Egyptians that the Sacred Knowledge encoded into the Beltane Festival originated, it was from the Ancient Babylonian god Bel, circa 2200BC, that the Beltane Festival practised at Washington Village derived its name. Babylon was a daughter civilization of Ancient Egypt.
         "Bel" is translated with the titles "Lord" and "Baal". "Baal" is sometimes represented as "Ba-al" or "Ba-el". "Ba-el" means "Gate of God" and was associated with the Bull. "Al" is also the origin of the name Allah, God of the Mohammedans.

         Statues of Baal show him in the stance of the Constellation of Orion and wearing the White Crown of Egypt, attached to which is a Bull's lug. The Baal cult was associated with the bull. His story is recounted in the Baal Myth, which concerns a crisis in the Autumn Equinox. He was the god who died and rose again. Unfortunately as the original meaning of his myth (see below) was lost he became the seasonal god of vegetation, dying in the Autumn and having his resurrection in the Spring. This resulted in the Beltane Festival being held in Spring instead of Autumn. A Spring resurrection displays a total misunderstanding of the original stellar myth. It was from this god that the name Beltane is derived.
         From Baal and Bel is derived the English word "Bull". The Beltane Festival is the Bull Festival; the celebration of the Dawning of the Age of Taurus in September 4468BC. The words "Bel", "Baal" and "Lord" are interchangeable. Indeed the words "Bel", "Baal", "Bull" and "Lord" are interchangeable. The Lord Baal, the Lord Bel and the Lord were all references to the Bull in the Age of Taurus when he reigned supreme in the Ages of the Equinoxes.
         Similarly "The Lord" during the Age of Aries was the Ram. This is why there are so many references to the family of the Ram in the Old Testament. "The Lord" during the Age of Pisces, which is soon coming to a close, is the Fish. This explains the allusions to Fish in Christianity.
         Druid mythology relates that Hesus/Hu was fathered by God and born of a virgin mother, Mayence in the 9th century BC. He was later crucified but his soul survived after Death.
         In the light of this Precession Myth, Jesus could only have one means of death in order to fulfil his role as the new Hesus … Crucifixion on the Tree of Life; an event which is recalled every Easter and in some parts of the world even re-enacted. Not surprisingly Saint Patrick was easily able to make converts from the Druid to the Christian religion. Hesus' Virgin Mother Mayence, also known as Maire, was substituted with the Christian Virgin Mary while Hesus and his crucifixion were substituted with the Christian Jesus and his crucifixion. It was during the Middle Ages that the letter "H" was replaced by the letter "J". The Beltane Festival, originally held on the old May Day, was replaced by Easter.
         In reality Christianity was the up-dated, Jerusalem-based version of Druidism. A new-look for a New Age of Pisces … and still the original Sacred Knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians concerning the Precession of the Equinoxes continued to be misinterpreted and misunderstood.

         A similar conversion eventually took place at Washington Village. The oak tree on the holy hill, the Mound, was cut down and a Christian church was built in its stead.

(Note: The origin of the crucifixion legends together with the personification of the Axis Munde is recorded in the Ancient Egyptian Myth of Osiris which can be found in Part 6. More information on the Hesus/Jesus connection can be found in Part 15.)

The Beltane Festival, which was celebrated at Washington Village two millennia and more ago, arrived from remote Ancient Egypt via Ancient Babylon and Syria. With the advent of Christianity the Beltane Festival was eventually replaced by Easter.

The Beltane Festival and Precession.
         The Beltane Festival and the re-enactment of the crucifixion on the Tree of Life at Washington Village two millennia ago had been practised for at least four and a half thousand years prior to that time in remote Ancient Egypt.
         The Festival had its roots in Ancient Egypt, but the Ancient Babylonians and Ancient Syrians later practised it, despite misinterpreting the message.
         The Beltane Festival was a re-enactment of the bringing down of the Sun at the close of the Age of Gemini, and its subsequent rising in the Age of Taurus.
         The prime concern of the Festival was to celebrate the Precession of the Equinoxes. The secondary concern was to celebrate the Precession of the Ages of the Zodiac in general.
         The Sacred Secret of Precession was known only to the initiated few who were the Guardians of the Secret. The uninitiated misinterpreted the symbolism … until now.

Children of the Pyramids
         Today we are the Children of the Pyramids. From Pyramids to pit heaps we are the heirs to the Lost Secrets of the Pharaohs of Remote Ancient Egypt. The pit heaps, which were plentiful in Washington thirty-five years ago, were like the echo of a collective memory.
         The Ancient Egyptians discovered the secret of Precession. They mapped the heavens. They were the Guardians of Time and we are their children.