The grotto is unpleasant - absolutely, in my opinion, a Victorian (give or take) rich man's folly, per the Wiki.
The imagery is all faux-Mediaeval - mostly the standard utter nonsense Rosicrucian 'interpretation' of Kabbalistic symbols. It's very bullshit, edgy, Hot-Topic-Victorian silly stuff.
Except for where, at the Malkuth mark, IIRC, it opens up into a sort of temple-and-altar situation, where it is actually somewhat frightening, in the way that any secret Bacchanalian temple is, because nobody builds that sort of thing for a good reason.
- the mystery is more interesting or amusing than the resolution of the mystery,
- carbon dating is unreliable for dates following the industrial revolution because the burning of coal and oil ejected vast quantities of depleted carbon into the atmosphere.
jamest|3 months ago
I loved this place as a kid and would marvel at the patterns.
The air of mystery around who made it and why invites some fun speculation.
philk10|3 months ago
gabriel666smith|3 months ago
The grotto is unpleasant - absolutely, in my opinion, a Victorian (give or take) rich man's folly, per the Wiki.
The imagery is all faux-Mediaeval - mostly the standard utter nonsense Rosicrucian 'interpretation' of Kabbalistic symbols. It's very bullshit, edgy, Hot-Topic-Victorian silly stuff.
Except for where, at the Malkuth mark, IIRC, it opens up into a sort of temple-and-altar situation, where it is actually somewhat frightening, in the way that any secret Bacchanalian temple is, because nobody builds that sort of thing for a good reason.
jlarcombe|3 months ago
popol12|3 months ago
ninalanyon|3 months ago
- it costs money and no one wants to pay,
- the mystery is more interesting or amusing than the resolution of the mystery,
- carbon dating is unreliable for dates following the industrial revolution because the burning of coal and oil ejected vast quantities of depleted carbon into the atmosphere.