4 sacred stones that fell from the sky

Also known as "lightning stones" or "sky stones", the meteorites that have managed to partially reach the earth's surface have exerted a strong fascination in all cultures, acquiring in some cases a sacred or religious halite.

We will tell you about four who have exerted a special influence in their time, and have even reached our days with their cult intact.

4 Sacred stones that fell from the sky

1.The black stone of Pesinunte

Cibeles is one of the oldest goddesses known, its cult dates back to the Neolithic, in the region of Anatolia (Asia Minor, present day Turkey), and partly revolved around a betil (a "lightning stone" ), a meteorite of black stone that was taken by the Romans during the Second Punic War-the war against Carthage-, and moved to Rome, where a temple was built, which l It was consecrated in 191 BC, and was worshiped for a long time.

The goddess Cibeles

Cibeles, a telluric deity, was associated by the Romans with the Magna Mater, the Great Mother.

2.Mbosi Meteor

It must have reached Earth several thousand years ago, but it was discovered by Westerners in 1930 and is one of the largest meteorites known to humans, weighing 16 tons.

The meteorite Mbosi

​​Mbosi is found in Rungwe, Tanzania, and different ethnic groups consider it sacred.

3.The asteroids of Campo del Cielo

Campo del Cielo is a region of the province of El Chaco, in Argentina, which makes about 4.000 years received the unexpected visit of an asteroid with an estimated weight of 840 tons, that exploded in the atmosphere and whose remains were dispersed throughout this territory.One of these fragments is El Chaco meteorite, with more than 33 tons and considered the second heaviest aerolyte found on Earth.

There are several indigenous myths that give this region a connotation of sacred space: among the qom , the Campo del Cielo meteorites would be drops of sweat from the sun that fertilized the earth; for this and other villages, such as the mokoit and abipones , this area would be a place where the earth and the sky meet.Instead, for the wichi mythology The meteorites would be fragments of the moon snatched off by jaguars.

5.The Black Stone of the Kaaba

En Mecca, the sacred city of Islam, and in its most important space, the Kaaba , is what could be the most important meteorite of all : the Black Stone.

In the corner of the Kaaba, people fight to kiss the Black Stone

This relic has at least two versions in the Muslim tradition: one claims that it is a Paradise stone , from the time of Adam ; the other tells that the stone would be a meteorite, a piece of the polar star that the archangel Gabriel gave to Abraham and Ishmael and that they placed it in the place he currently occupies in the Kaaba.

The crowd congregates to worship the Stone.1953

However, in recent years British scientists have suggested the possibility that the stone is of basalt and of terrestrial origin .But there are no certainties because they cannot analyze it directly.

As you can see through these examples, in cultures of different times and continents meteorites have played an important role as links between the sky and the earth.We can call them “shooting stars”, but the strokes they leave in our spirit are almost always permanent.

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Images: Wikipedia, Essam, Omar Chatriwala, SantiMB.Photos, 2di7&titanium44, andrewsrj