Ancient Prayer Circles | Stonehenge, Early Christians & the Temple — What the Ancients Knew (LDS)

Send us Fan MailAre prayer circles ancient — and do monuments like Stonehenge echo patterns of temple worship? This episode traces the prayer circle from Adam and Eve through the earliest Christian documents and into the ancient stone circles of the United Kingdom, connecting them to the temple worship of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hugh Nibley's BYU Studies article "The Early Prayer Circle" provides the foundation: the Acts of John (early third century) describes Christ commanding his disciples to "form a circle, taking hold of each other's hand, and he himself taking up a position in the middle" — a rite Nibley shows grows more prominent the further back in history one looks, until the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD) condemned the documents containing it to the flames. An even older text attributed to Clement of Rome describes a bishop standing in the middle of a circle, men and women assigned places in the four directions, with angels witnessing the prayer — a pattern unmistakably echoed in our own temples. In 3 Nephi 17, the Savior places little children in a circle around him, kneels in their midst, and offers a prayer so sacred it could not be recorded — after which angels descend and "encircled those little ones about" and ministered to them. The episode then turns to the henges of England — Stonehenge and Thornborough — and draws striking parallels: circular sacred spaces with inner and outer courts, white-surfaced banks (gypsum, like white clothing), orientation to sun, moon, and stars (the three degrees of glory), burials of ancestors within the sacred precinct, altar stones, and causeways restricting entry to the worthy. President Joseph F. Smith taught that the knowledge of these rites "was carried by the posterity of Adam into all lands" — and we should expect to find relics of it among nations "whose histories date back beyond the days of Moses and even beyond the flood." This episode shows those relics, still standing.Q: Are prayer circles an ancient practice?A: Yes — Hugh Nibley documented in his BYU Studies article "The Early Prayer Circle" that the rite appears in the earliest Christian texts. The Acts of John (early third century) describes Jesus commanding his disciples to form a circle holding hands, with him in the center, leading a sacred prayer. An even older text attributed to Clement of Rome describes a bishop in the center, men and women placed in the four directions, with angels as witnesses. Nibley showed that the further back in history one looks, the more prominent the prayer circle becomes — until the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD) condemned the documents containing it.Q: Does Stonehenge have anything to do with temple worship?A: This episode draws parallels between Stonehenge and Latter-day Saint temple worship: both are circular sacred spaces with inner and outer courts; both are oriented to the sun, moon, and stars (corresponding to the three degrees of glory in Doctrine and Covenants 76); Stonehenge's sarsen stones were shaped white and bright when new (like temple clothing); it contains an altar stone brought from a great distance; and the dead were buried within the sacred precinct — ancestors present at the place of worship. English Heritage describes Stonehenge as a site for "ritual or ceremonial performances, sacrifices, initiation, or death rites."Q: Is there a prayer circle in the Book of Mormon?A: In 3 Nephi 17, the Savior commands that little children be brought and set on the ground around him. He takes his place in the midst, commands the multitude to kneel, and kneels himself to offer a prayer to the Father so sacred it could not be written. After the prayer, the heavens open and angels descend "in the midst of fire" and encircle the children, ministering to them — a pattern matching the ancient prayer circle's elements of a central figure, a surrounding circle, prayer to the Father, and angelic ministry.Q: Why do we see echoes of temple worship in ancient cultures worldwide?A: President Joseph F. Smith taught that "the knowledge of this law of sacrifice and of other rites and ceremonies was carried by the posterity of Adam into all lands and continued with them, more or less pure, to the flood and through Noah." This episode argues that Stonehenge, Thornborough, and other circular monuments preserve these echoes — sacred spaces oriented to celestial bodies, restricted to the worthy, associated with the dead, covered in white, and centered on sacrifice and worship.YouTube: Ancient Prayer Circles Video: https://youtu.be/dnPHoU-VWtgYouTube Thinning of the Veil Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thinningoftheveilSUPPORT THE SHOW: Website: Thinning of the Veil: https://www.thinningoftheveil.com/Venmo:  https://account.venmo.com/u/thinningoftheveilPayPal: https://paypal.me/thinningoftheveil?country.x=US&locale.x=en_USBook: "Patterns of Revelation":  https://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Revelation-Spiritual-Foundations-Hearing-ebook/dp/B0BWGLZ8VXEmail: [email protected]: https://www.instagram.com/thinning.of.the.veil/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinning.of.the.veil/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thinning.of.the.veilCITATIONS:Joseph F. Smith,(“Discourse,” Deseret News, Feb. 19, 1873, 36). Moses 5:5,10,12, D&C 128:18,24,  D&C 112:32, 3 Nephi 17:11-13, 15-16, 23-24, D&C 109:13,22,24, D&C 76:1,4, 7-8, 70-71, 78,81, Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 107(Wilford Woodruff, in Journal of Discourses, 13:324).Hugh Nibley, “The Early Prayer Circle”, BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 19 : Iss. 1 , Article 5.English Heritage, “What is A Henge”English Heritage, History of Thornborough HengesEnglish Heritage, “Understanding Stonehenge”Marion D. Hanks, Ensign July 2016English Heritage, “The Stones of Stonehenge"Russell M. Nelson, “Inside Temples”Howard W. Hunter, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, Oct. 1977Kimball J. Taylor, “The Altar then and Now.”Temples, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day SaintsGerald E. Hansen Jr. “”Why There Are Sun, Moon, and Star Symbols on Temples (+Their Deeper Meaning), LDS LIVING, January 19, 2017 David A. Bednar, Church News, March  25, 2020Gerald E. Hansen Jr., LDS Living, March 24, 3017Russell M. Nelson, "Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation", Oct. 2021Support the show