“We all sat in the car silent aswe drove away contemplatingthe mystery of the GeorgiaGuidestones.”

This summer my boyfriend and I visitedmy family’s lake houses on the edge of ElbertCounty, Ga.

The trip takes around one hour to travelfrom my apartment in Evans, Ga. After spendingthe hot summer day out on the dock fishing,we decided to travel to the granite capitalof the world, Elberton, Ga., to visit the Georgia Guidestones.

My family and I piled into the car andheaded out to the middle of nowhere. Drivingdown Highway 77, which is more than sevenmiles north of Elberton, we found nothingbut farmland, grass, cows and the occasionalbroken-down car on the side of the road. Wemade our final turn down a long dirt road, andthere they were: the Georgia Guidestones.

I had heard about the guidestones frommy brother, who is interested in post-apocalypticmatters. I was intrigued because of mylove of the television series “The WalkingDead,” which is about a zombie apocalypsein the state of Georgia. After my brother’s intensedescription of the guidestones, we had tocheck them out.

The guidestones resemble a modern-dayStonehenge made of granite rock, standing 19feet tall. The monument is comprised of fourslabs of granite standing vertically and formingthe letter X with a center slab standing inthe middle as support. There is another slab lyinghorizontally across the top of all five verticalslabs of granite. Also, there is a slab lyingon the ground with a map and a description ofthe layout. It marks a time capsule filled withsupplies for the apocalypse.

As we walked to the monument, we wereable to read the inscriptions on the four majorslabs. Each slab was inscribed with a differentlanguage on each side with the same message.The languages were as follows: English, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanishand Swahili. The message provides a guidelinefor survivors to follow after an apocalypsehas destroyed society.

The message reminded me of a differentversion of the Ten Commandments. Thestones read: 1. Maintain Humanity under500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.2. Guide reproduction wisely- improving fitnessand diversity. 3. Unite Humanity with aliving new language. 4. Rule Passion – faith– tradition – and all things with tempered reason.5. Protect people and nations with fairlaws and just courts. 6. Let all nations rule internallyresolving external disputes in a worldcourt. 7. Avoid petty Laws and Useless officials.8. Balance personal rights with socialDuties. 9. Prize truth- beauty- love- seekingharmony with the infinite. 10. Be not a cancerto the earth – leave room for nature – leaveroom for nature.

The slabs serves both visual and celestialpurposes. The four main stones are orientedoutward to show the migration of the moonduring the course of the year. The center stonewas also drilled so that the North Star is alwaysvisible through the eye of the slab. Thehorizontal slab forms a calendar with the useof the sun.

The information marker next to the GeorgiaGuidestones explains that the monumentwas created in the ‘80s by an anonymousgroup of Americans living outside Georgia.The slab mentions that speculation pointedto a man named “RC Christian” as the monument’screator, but nothing could be proven.

As we left the site, I noticed an eerie silencearound us. There was no sound, not eventhe sound of the wind. We all sat in the carsilent as we drove away contemplating themystery of the Georgia Guidestones.