Historical circles in southern Africa
More accounts uncovered by researcher, Andreas Müller, speak of many circles having been known in southern Africa, possibly over thousands of years. (We should also credit Freddy Silva, who first brought the witness to the crop circle community's attention.)
The circles were seen by Credo Mutwa, who was quoted in an earlier book:
"At harvest time, we left some of our corn standing so that passing birds could share in the bounty of our fields and, by sharing, bless us and ensure us of plenty of food. Sometimes large fields of corn and millet were planted. These were sacred to the goddess and were offered to the vast armies of birds to eat. No human being could enter the sacred cornfields.
"The sacred fields were ploughed far from the ordinary millet, maize and corn, as they were left unfenced. Over centuries, people had discovered that the star gods sometimes communicated with human beings through these sacred fields. Time and again, strange circular depressions were seen in the centre of these fields. These depressions were called 'Izishoze Zamatongo', the Great Circles of the Gods.
"These circles were an amazing sight to see. The gods never cut the stalks of corn or millet when they form these depressions. It appears as though a great circular, disc-shaped force has descended on the field. It pressed the corn firmly into the ground, without breaking the stalks or damaging the plants. Then the force appears to spin, resulting in the strange spiral appearance of the fallen stalks. Words cannot describe such a phenomenon, which I have seen more than thirty times in the course of my life as a traditional healer. Whenever a circle appeared in the fields, the people rushed to erect a fence of poles around the circle. They would dance and perform other sacred rituals honouring the star gods and the Earth Mother."
The circles were seen by Credo Mutwa, who was quoted in an earlier book:
"At harvest time, we left some of our corn standing so that passing birds could share in the bounty of our fields and, by sharing, bless us and ensure us of plenty of food. Sometimes large fields of corn and millet were planted. These were sacred to the goddess and were offered to the vast armies of birds to eat. No human being could enter the sacred cornfields.
"The sacred fields were ploughed far from the ordinary millet, maize and corn, as they were left unfenced. Over centuries, people had discovered that the star gods sometimes communicated with human beings through these sacred fields. Time and again, strange circular depressions were seen in the centre of these fields. These depressions were called 'Izishoze Zamatongo', the Great Circles of the Gods.
"These circles were an amazing sight to see. The gods never cut the stalks of corn or millet when they form these depressions. It appears as though a great circular, disc-shaped force has descended on the field. It pressed the corn firmly into the ground, without breaking the stalks or damaging the plants. Then the force appears to spin, resulting in the strange spiral appearance of the fallen stalks. Words cannot describe such a phenomenon, which I have seen more than thirty times in the course of my life as a traditional healer. Whenever a circle appeared in the fields, the people rushed to erect a fence of poles around the circle. They would dance and perform other sacred rituals honouring the star gods and the Earth Mother."
So, here we have a clear description of flattened, swirled circles in crop fields, which the witness personally saw over and over again.
In 2005, Andreas Müller tracked down Credo Mutwa and interviewed him at length, showing him photographs of modern, English crop circles. Müller has reported some of Mutwa's statements during that meeting:
"What you call ‘Crop Circles’ is the same [thing] the Zulu call 'Izishoze Zamatongo', which means the designs or the writings of the Gods. We have known about them for more than 4000 years.
"These things happen to pass important messages to the people through the crops. The Izishoze happen to appear many times when our people are planting the African crop that they called mabele - or sorghum in English. The Gods used to flatten the plants and not to break them. So that after a time when the people have read the message, the plants would stand up again and grow."
In 2005, Andreas Müller tracked down Credo Mutwa and interviewed him at length, showing him photographs of modern, English crop circles. Müller has reported some of Mutwa's statements during that meeting:
"What you call ‘Crop Circles’ is the same [thing] the Zulu call 'Izishoze Zamatongo', which means the designs or the writings of the Gods. We have known about them for more than 4000 years.
"These things happen to pass important messages to the people through the crops. The Izishoze happen to appear many times when our people are planting the African crop that they called mabele - or sorghum in English. The Gods used to flatten the plants and not to break them. So that after a time when the people have read the message, the plants would stand up again and grow."
Specific examples
Zululand, 1879 - complex design
Mutwa recounted an old tale, although we need to bear in mind in evaluating this, that there could be no photographic or propoer documentary record in existence - he is re-telling an account passed down aurally:
"Our biggest crop circle appeared in Zululand, it was made up of four of them inside a big square and in the centre was a picture, a picture of a gun, a picture of a gun canon. That was just before the terrible Battle of Ulundi in 1879 where the English used artillery pieces and Gatling guns [rapid-repeating firearms] on the Zulus for the very first time."
Mutwa also recalled specific circles he had seen earlier in his life:
Natal [South Africa], 1949, 1958 - circles and a triangle
"I saw my very first crop circle in the Natal region in 1949. It was made of three circles inside each other placed in a field of potao plants. In 1958, again in Natal, I saw a huge crop circle in the shape of two circles inside of a triangle."
Botswana, 1959 - circles in millet as well as markings in sand
"On farms in Botswana there appeared a number of crop circles – many of them. I was called to go there and that was in 1959. I remember these were on sand and they were on the millet."
Mutwa recounted an old tale, although we need to bear in mind in evaluating this, that there could be no photographic or propoer documentary record in existence - he is re-telling an account passed down aurally:
"Our biggest crop circle appeared in Zululand, it was made up of four of them inside a big square and in the centre was a picture, a picture of a gun, a picture of a gun canon. That was just before the terrible Battle of Ulundi in 1879 where the English used artillery pieces and Gatling guns [rapid-repeating firearms] on the Zulus for the very first time."
Mutwa also recalled specific circles he had seen earlier in his life:
Natal [South Africa], 1949, 1958 - circles and a triangle
"I saw my very first crop circle in the Natal region in 1949. It was made of three circles inside each other placed in a field of potao plants. In 1958, again in Natal, I saw a huge crop circle in the shape of two circles inside of a triangle."
Botswana, 1959 - circles in millet as well as markings in sand
"On farms in Botswana there appeared a number of crop circles – many of them. I was called to go there and that was in 1959. I remember these were on sand and they were on the millet."
Mutwa also mentions much older circles, and describes how they would be marked out by people, and commemorated in stone circles - which echoes some of the theories of crop circles researcher, Terence Meaden, circa 1991:
"In the old days, when the Gods put crop circles in our fields the people used to run quickly to [place] sticks and stones all around the design to mark it out. We wanted that the Gods should say again what they are telling us. This is therefore so that the crop circle does not die and that the Gods will then again respond with another crop circle nearby. This is why sometimes there will be a new crop circle next to an old one. This is how the African stone circle monuments came into existence.
"[Circles in Africa] look similar to the English crop circles but sometimes also slightly different. In African crop circles you can sometimes see faces of animals with horns. There are sometimes four: one facing up, one down, one left and the fourth to the right.
"We also find crop circles in the African grass or in the African savannah, like in Kenya where there is a lot of good grass. If you want to see good crop circles – go to Kenya. In Massai Mara where the animals run plenty, you will see circles in the grass there – just as beautiful as these [referring to Müller's photographs]."
"In the old days, when the Gods put crop circles in our fields the people used to run quickly to [place] sticks and stones all around the design to mark it out. We wanted that the Gods should say again what they are telling us. This is therefore so that the crop circle does not die and that the Gods will then again respond with another crop circle nearby. This is why sometimes there will be a new crop circle next to an old one. This is how the African stone circle monuments came into existence.
"[Circles in Africa] look similar to the English crop circles but sometimes also slightly different. In African crop circles you can sometimes see faces of animals with horns. There are sometimes four: one facing up, one down, one left and the fourth to the right.
"We also find crop circles in the African grass or in the African savannah, like in Kenya where there is a lot of good grass. If you want to see good crop circles – go to Kenya. In Massai Mara where the animals run plenty, you will see circles in the grass there – just as beautiful as these [referring to Müller's photographs]."
historic old crop circles - related cases
