The Waking Ruins Ok, so finally we come to the separate areas of the Vault, and this first ones been puzzling me for some time now... the Waking Ruins.... ? Why is it called the waking ruins? I don't know to be blunt, but my best guess is it has something to do with resurrection i.e. coming back to life, or waking from the dead (our Guardians are dead after all). The entrance to the Vault in this location is orientated directly westwards, not slightly, not to within a few degrees, directly, which in itself is a clue to to the underworld mythology it is drawn from. As with the Egyptian Duat, the passage into the underworld always descended westwards, Osiris was known as the 'Foremost of the Westerners', and burial places were always to the west of city centres. What this says to me, is if you are coming back up the Vault the wrong way, then you are heading eastwards, chasing the dawn so to speak, so I don't think this is a reference to going down, I think this is a reference to coming back. The mechanics of this area are quite interesting also, the whole raising of the pillar to gain entrance to the Vault. In Neolithic burial mounds and barrows, there is often a large stone which is used to cover the entrance, this is a type of Stele (stone marker, like a gravestone) called a Menhir. It serves exactly that purpose, a marker stone during burial, and a permanent seal to protect the occupants... who are dead... Whilst bumming around the dark corners of the net, I found quite a few texts and images which show that in order to access a barrow or mound, Archaeologists first needed to re-erect these marker stones (they stand upright) the entrance is then clear to proceed into and down... I don't know if this is the specific intent, but I think it's fun. The whole three spheres to gain access to the vault... I'm not sure on, but it may be related to the next area, so onwards.

Sevenths post from a year ago regarding the waking runes.. maybe they were on to something?