Introduction
Omphalos, the Greek word for “navel,” refers to legendary stones, places, or objects said to mark the spiritual and physical center of the world. The best known is at Delphi, but the motif repeats globally: Jerusalem’s Foundation Stone, India’s Mount Meru, Easter Island’s Te Pito o Te Henua. Are these only myth, or evidence of a hidden ancient grid?
Origins
The concept dates to ancient Greece, where Zeus sent two eagles to fly from the world’s edges and meet at Delphi, marking the “navel of the earth.” Omphalos stones became ritual objects, connecting mortals to the divine. Similar “center stones” or axis mundi myths appear in cultures from Mesoamerica to Asia.
Theories and Symbolism
- Literal Sacred Centers: Some believe ancient sites were built along global energy lines (ley lines), with omphalos stones as tuning points or markers of planetary power grids.
- Archetypal Myth: Mainstream scholars see the omphalos as a universal metaphor for origin, creation, and divine order—a symbolic “belly button” for civilization.
- Suppressed Knowledge: Conspiracy theorists claim knowledge of earth’s true center(s) is hidden by elites or encoded in secret architecture.
Key Examples
- Delphi’s omphalos stone, the Jerusalem Foundation Stone, Easter Island’s “navel” rock.
- Axis mundi myths in Hinduism, Norse Yggdrasil, Mayan pyramids.
- Modern ley line and “earth grid” literature.
Critical Analysis
Whether architectural anchor or esoteric cipher, the omphalos motif points to a perennial human obsession: finding the center, and claiming the cosmic order for our own.
Influential Literature: Pro & Contra
- Mircea Eliade – “The Sacred and the Profane” – Harvest, 1987.
- David Hatcher Childress – “The World Grid: The Atlantis Blueprint” – Adventures Unlimited, 1998.
- Danny Sullivan – “Ley Lines: The Greatest Landscape Mystery” – Thorsons, 1999.