An excerpt from a book published by Algora Publishing. Available now from all bookshops and on-line retailers.

The folklore of stones is fascinating for its timeless tale of mystery and fantasy and implausible possibilities. In this chapter various sacred stone sites will be presented with each site’s lore and history explored. Perhaps one of the most famous of these sites is that of the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire, England. It is with the Rollrights that we start our tour.

The Rollright Stones

The Rollright Stones form a perfect stone circle located on a prehistoric track way on an Oxfordshire ridge. One hundred four feet in diameter, this stone circle was created and utilized from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. (1) Originally consisting of 80, shoulder-to-shoulder standing stones, the Rollright stone circle was probably built as an “unequivocal astronomical sightline”, according to researcher Aubrey Burl. (2) Located in an area of many other ancient stone groupings, the Rollrights have many legends attached to them, including one that says that witches or faeries cast a spell over the site so that no one may get an accurate count of the stones. Mark Turner tells us “indeed it is said: The man will never live who shall count the stones three times and find the number the same each time.” In fact authoritative books list the number of stones at 60, 72 or 80. (3) There are other legends involving witches as well. One name given to the Rollrights is “The Whispering Knights”. It is said that a king and his troops were turned to stone by a witch and traitors who were following the royal band were also transformed—it is the traitor stones that have been given the “Whispering Knights” name. Other stones in the circle are called the King Stone and the King’s Men. In the legend the witch turns herself into an elder tree. It is true that witches have used the stone circle for rituals at least from Tudor times and probably into the 21st century.

Researcher Cheryl Straffon believes that this story is indicative of the ancient practice of kingship arising from the land and the goddess of that land. The witch was in reality the Goddess of nature and she refused to grant the power to rule to the king—turning him instead to stone. When the witch turned herself into the elder tree she once again became the Goddess of nature. The elder was sacred to the Celts. The elder that was present at the Rollrights was ritually “bled” on Midsummer Eve until the 1700’s and, according to Straffon, “at the climax of this bleeding ritual, the King Stone was supposed to move its head.” (4)

Another legend tells of a miller who took one of the stones to dam a stream for his waterwheel. Much to his dismay the water drained away every evening from the dam. While the miller had to use three horses to acquire the stone he only needed one to return it. The story says that witches had placed a spell on the stones. (5)

Stories of dancing Faeries that frequent or live under the stone circle are also told but one thing is still certain, people continue to leave offerings of coins and flowers at the stones and others have chipped pieces from the King Stone in the belief that they may be used as powerful amulets. Other legends speak of young women who were rumored to touch the King stone with their breasts at midnight to ensure fertility; the Whispering Knights were visited by girls and young women who could hear the stones whispering the name of their future husbands to them. The stones were also visited by infertile women who would rub the stones with their bare breasts during the full moon seeking the powers of fertility. This bit of sympathetic magic was used to get the attention of the spirits of the dead who “must have been expected to assist the purposes of the rites, or even to incarnate themselves in the children born as a result of barren women resorting to these stones.” (6) The link between the ancestors and megaliths is a strong and eternal one. The stones are also said to dance at certain times and the King Stone, along with the Whispering Knights, have been said to walk down to the nearby stream at night to drink. (7)

That there is some unusual power source at the Rollrights has been documented through the years by the Dragon Project which found that the Rollrights, like all other stone circle arrangements in England and Wales, are located within a mile of existing fault lines. (8) Magnetic anomalies and photographic oddities have also been recorded at this site. An unusual “cloud” effect has been seen in infrared photographs taken at the Rollrights, which was not visible to the photographers and which has not been explained. (9)

One explanation for the construction of the Rollright stone circle is that it was used for the observance of the Divine Marriage—that is the celestial movements that occur during certain times of the year (normally the solstices) wherein the standing stones of certain stone circles cast a long, phallic shadow into the entryway of the circle representing the vulva, thus the copulation of the Gods. (10)

The Merry Maidens

The Merry Maidens stone circle is located in a field near the B3315 roadway four miles southwest of Penzance in Cornwall, England. It was restored in 1860 and is one of the most perfectly circular stone circles surviving into the present age. The circle is 78 feet in diameter and composed of nineteen stones spaced twelve feet apart. Two additional standing stones, called the Pipers, are located one-quarter of a mile away. These two stones are 13 and 15 feet in height as compared to the Merry Maiden stones, which are about four feet in height.

According to legend nineteen girls were caught dancing one Sabbath day and turned to stone, the two standing stones were the two pipers who accompanied their dancing and were turned to stone as well. This story probably did not originate until Puritans spread it in the 1600’s as an example of the consequences of not obeying the Sabbath, however such stories are common in folklore with similar stories told in Native American mythology (i.e. the story of Standing Rock).

A more mundane legend says that the Saxon King Athelstan erected the Pipers in the 10th century CE to commemorate the conquest of Cornwall. The two standing stones marked the signing of the treaty between Athelstan and the Cornish ruler, Howel. (11) This legend is probably closer to the truth. The stone circle however is thousands of years older.

Boscawen-un

Located four miles west of Penzance lay the stone circle of Boscawen-un. Like the Merry Maiden’s stone circle Boscawen-un is also comprised of 19 stones. It also has a standing stone in the center, which appears to purposefully lean to provide a sundial effect as the sun moves across the sky. One stone in the southwest is pure quartz and current lore is that anyone suffering from any ailments may find relief by touching the stone or laying the afflicted part on its surface. When I visited this circle a few years ago evidence that it was still being used for contemporary Pagan rituals was observed—mostly in the form of ashes located at the base of the center stone. Michell noted that this circle is still used by Britain’s bards and augers as one of their three main assembly points. (12)

There are several circles In the Land’s End area of Cornwall with the same number of stones and the question begs to ask, were they constructed by the same group of people under the same religious or civil leader? In Welsh, according to Burl (13), “’Beisgowan’ was one of the three great gorsaddau of Britain, and may have been the moot or judicial assembly-place of West Wales down to AD 926.” Eighteenth century scholar William Stuckeley stated that this circle was the first to be built in Britain by the proto-Christian Tyrian Hercules. There has never been any proof of this however.
A nearby outcrop of stones reportedly has a huge imprint of a foot left by one of the old Cornish giants. The atmosphere here is one of sadness rather than of the light and mischievous air of the Merry Maidens. It is a beautiful spot with an old, probably ancient, path leading to the stones through the sometimes-heavy gorse ground cover. It is perhaps the isolated feeling you get when standing in the ancient circle that creates the feeling of sadness or perhaps it comes from the knowledge that the people who built this sacred site and their old ways are no longer.

Externsteine

The sacred site of Externsteine is located in the heartland of Germany. It is here that Arminus defeated the Romans and it is here that the birthplace of German mythology is acknowledged. The Externsteine site is located in the geographic center of this important region. The Externsteine rocks are 70 million year old sandstone spires with the remains of a temple still extant on the top. The temple has definite astronomical purposes as its rounded windows align with the moon and the sun during the summer solstice. Some researchers believe that the Persian god Mithras was worshipped here but others believe that the Germanic gods and goddesses were the objects of devotion.

Up through the 8th century CE Pagan rituals were conducted here until Charles the Great cut down the site’s tree of life—the religious symbol of the Pagan religion. There appear to be signs that Pagan rituals are still practiced here. During the Nazi era “Pagan hymns” were sung here by the Nazi youth during the solstice and on Hitler’s birthday. A decidedly Neo-Nazi element is still active. A series of hand-hewn caves are located in the base of the spires and, while their original purpose is unknown, Christian monks occupied them in the 12th century. More than likely the caves and other holes dug into the rock were regarded as entryways to the otherworld. Beautiful carvings adorn the base of the rock, which were executed in the 12th century as commemorations of the Christian defeat of the old religion. (14)

The Ka’bah and Other Black Stones

The Ka’bah is actually the enclosure of the sacred stone of Islam. Believed to be a black meteorite the stone is said to have been brought to Abraham by God so that Abraham could finish building a temple called the House of God. God had originally given the black stone to Adam and today is the holiest item at the most sacred site of Islam. Another legend says that the stone was originally white but has turned to black as it absorbed the sins of humankind.

As part of the annual Hajj pilgrimage the worshippers make a circuitous path around the stone, first stopping at the stone to kiss it and then to pray at the Station of Abraham. In a golden cage rests a stone with the footprints of Abraham imprinted upon it. On the last day of the 15-day ritual the pilgrims gather either 49 or 70 small stones, which they use to stone three pillars that represent the devils that tempted Abraham. (15) Prior to Mohammed the Ka’bah was home of over 300 gods representing each clans deity. The first act that Mohammed did when he captured Mecca was to smash each of the idols in the Ka’bah.

Many of the Goddesses worshipped around the world are associated with particular stones that hold incredible power. The Amazons in particular were said to have worshipped at a black stone on an island in the Black Sea. Probably obsidian, the stone of the Amazons figures in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts. The black stone at Mecca was originally a sacred stone of the Earth Goddess. At one time the stone was called "the Old Woman" and is still tended by men called Beni Shaybah which means "Sons of the Old Woman". Lynn Webster Wilde writes, "maybe those who guarded the (stone) idols were armed priestesses, Amazons, 'moon women' to whom this 'stone from the moon' was sacred.

"To me, the black stone was a connection to something very old and not human, something abstract, terrifying and yet absolutely essential to our lives. We try to pretend this level of reality is not there, but it is, and in the Bronze Age the moon-women knew it and valued it above everything else." (16)

Egyptologist Wallis Budge noted that this holy stone is relatively small—considering its importance among the Arab people. Measuring only 6 x 8 inches, the original reason for being regarded as sacred is forgotten. It may be that it was seen streaking from space and was considered a direct message or messenger from the gods. (17)

The goddess Rhea Cybele fell from the sky in 205 BCE in the form of an irregular shaped black stone. It should be noted that black is the color of wisdom and other sacred black stones, such as the stone at Petra, were dedicated to and symbolic of the goddess. During the war between Rome and Hannibal’s armies envoys were sent to the king of Pergamum requesting that the sacred black stone of the goddess Cybele be moved from its resting place to Rome. The Romans wanted to make sure that the goddess, residing in the black stone, was in their territory. The stone was transported from her temple in the Pergamum territory to Rome by ship in 204 BCE. (18) The Greek Goddess Diana also fell from heaven in the form of a black stone and a stream of fire in the lake at Ephesus.

In Kabbalism the black-robed goddess Shekhinah, regarded as the source of the created world, was called “Queen, Daughter and Bride of Yahweh” as well as the “Stone of Exile” and the “Precious Stone.” (19)

The Juaneño Indians, located in Southern California, said that the creation of the world and all of its life forms was attributed to Tukuma (“Night”). Tukuma “fastened the earth by means of the smooth, black, hard rock called tosaut.” (20) The Chumash Indians on the California coast also had stones called tosaut that were the charm stones used by shamans.

The Lore of the Dolmen

Dolmens are those strange standing stone structures that normally have three upright stones supporting a large stone slab roof, or capstone. When originally made these were covered over with sod but today the majority of them eerily rise out of the landscape like monstrous bones. The majority are associated with burials but may also represent much deeper purposes. Legends in Brittany say that a race of dwarfs still reside in the dolmen and they can be seen dancing and singing near them on Sabbath nights. The survivors of another vanished race, the Nains, are also said to populate these monuments. Having the legs and feet of goats, the Nain is said to have a harsh voice and an evil countenance with eyes that blaze like the fires of hell—a depiction of the Christian devil or demon indicating the early Church’s attempt to lure people away from the stones.

A variety of offerings have been found in these dolmen from weapons, jewelry, pottery and even horses and oxen but one of the more interesting items is the thunder stone—a small, smoothly polished axe head used over the years as protectors against lightning and as powerful healing stones. Pepper and Wilcock state that these thunderstones were “made in special sanctuaries by a religious caste of priests or magicians.” (21) The axe head is often found carved in various stone assemblages including Stonehenge indicating that the axe represented an important and powerful religious item.

Dolmens are a widespread phenomenon in Europe, Britain and the Mediterranean area but they are also found in the United States on the east coast and in the mid-western states as well as in Asia and other spots around the world. The structures are almost identical and we can assume that the purposes were as well. In Europe they were tombs of important leaders, fighters or religious people. They were also used as places of worship. One such dolmen is located in North Salem, New York. The top of this structure weighs 90 tons and it rests on five smaller standing stones. Supposedly strange-cloaked figures have been reported at this dolmen in the early morning hours that disappear when approached. Also, according to authors Phillip Imbrogno and Marianne Horrigan, globes of light have been seen floating around the stone and visitors become disoriented and have even collapsed. (22) Devereux’s findings of electromagnetic anomalies at British stone circles are apparently common the world over.

Why such identical stone structures are found on both sides of the Atlantic is anyone’s guess. There are not good dates for those in the United States so we are uncertain if they were constructed around the same time periods or not. There is some indication however that the dolmen in the United States and those in Europe are from the same time period as both examples have identical measurements of “megalithic yards”. The dolmen and stone circles in Europe were constructed using the megalithic yard or multiples thereof. A megalithic yard measures 2.72 feet. The length of the New Salem dolmen is exactly 2 times a megalithic yard. A few years ago the creation of these chambered tombs was believed to have resulted from a Mediterranean influence during the 3rd and 4th millennia BCE that spread along the Atlantic coast of Europe into northern Europe and Scandinavia (23) and possibly across the Atlantic into the eastern coast of North America. Contemporary research though has shown that the Western European dolmen are much older than those in the Mediterranean area, dating in France and Spain from 4500 BCE, England from 4300 BCE, Ireland 4200 BCE, Scotland 4100 BCE and Denmark and Portugal from around 3900 BCE. The youngest are those from the Netherlands dating back to 3400 BCE. There are a few anomalies in specific site dates though that makes the gradual spread of these tomb structures difficult to pin down. One site in Brittany yields dates of 4700 BCE and one in Ireland at 4600. (24)

John Rhys, in his 1900 study of Celtic folklore, notes that other traditions apparently coincided with the construction of dolmen: “the geographical distribution of rag-offerings coincides with the existence of monoliths and dolmens.” (25) Rag-offerings are still found today among many of the holy wells of Europe and the Mediterranean area and act as vehicles of transference of disease from an individual to an inanimate object. While this coincidence may be entirely that, it is also possible that these traditions are carried over from the pre-existing culture of the dolmen builders.

Stones with Eyes

Many ancient megaliths have symbolic eyes carved into them. Strangely enough this eye motif not only is found in Britain among the standing stone monuments but also in the American Southwest. Why they were carved we may only guess at based on the stone’s general context and location in relationship to other important features and the scant information known about the people who created them.

One remarkable site that I have visited with a series of deeply bored eyes is located in Arizona. Just a few miles north of Winslow lays this ancient Pueblo settlement called Homol’ovi. The Homol’ovi people are believed to be the precursors of the Hopi. The Hopi to this day continue to visit shrines and to obtain plant and animal resources from this ancient settlement continuing a tradition thousands of years after its abandonment. (26) Near the site designated by modern archaeologists, as Homol’ovi II is a ritual area with amazing rock outcrops and dozens of examples of rock art. Many are so ancient that the patina on the surface of the stone almost makes it impossible to see the pecked and carved images left for us to decipher. Hundreds of rock tools, including scrapers, blades, grinding implements and hammers litter the surface near the rock outcrops. Some of the images are of “stick figures”, some are of spirals, and others depict images similar to large eyes peering out of the stone. The Homol’ovi settlement was abandoned around 1400 CE.

One of the interesting aspects about these eye carvings are that they were made on the flat sides of huge rocks looking over a large valley area as well as the ritual site itself.

Stone eyes are found in Avebury and West Kennet avenue near the monument. Eyes are also found engraved on many of the Bronze Age “pygmy cups” commonly found in many of the burials. Researcher Michael Dames refers to these markings as “goddess’s eyes”. (27)

Use of eye symbolism on megaliths should not be surprising. The eye is perhaps the oldest and most widespread representation of the sun and the moon in the world. It represents the all-seeing and the all-knowing divinity. As Tamra Andrews noted, it was “the most powerful attribute of the most venerated gods.” (28)

CHAPTER NOTES
1. Burl, Aubrey. A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven: Yale University Press 1995, 74

2. Ibid, 73

3. Turner, Mark. Folklore & Mysteries of the Cotswolds. London: Robert Hale Limited 1993, 100

4. Straffon, Cheryl. The Earth Goddess: Celtic and Pagan Legacy of the Landscape. London: Blandford 1997, 117

5. Burl, op cit 74

6. MacCulloch, J.A. The Religion of the Celts. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc. 2003, 330

7. Bord, Janet and Colin. Mysterious Britain: Ancient Secrets of Britain and Ireland. London: Thorsons 1972, 41

8. Devereux, Paul. Earth Memory: Sacred Sites—Doorways into Earth’s Mysteries. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications 1992, 282

9. Ibid.

10. Meaden, Terence. Stonehenge: The Secret of the Solstice. London: Souvenir Press Ltd. 1997, 149

11. Michell, John. Sacred England. Glastonbury: Gothic Image Publications 1996, 190

12. Ibid

13. Burl, op cit, 31

14. Brockman, Norbert C. Encyclopedia of Sacred Places. New York: Oxford University Press 1997, 79, 297

15. Ibid 103

16. Wilde, Lynn Webster. On the Trail of the Women Warriors: The Amazons in Myth and History. New York: St. Martin's Press 1999, uncorrected advance copy, 102

17. Budge, E.A. Wallis. Cleopatra’s Needles and Other Egyptian Obelisks. London: Religious Tract Society 1926, 2

18. Baring, Anne and Jules Cashford. The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image. London: Arkana/Penguin Books 1993, 400

19. Ibid, 640-641

20. Kroeber, A.L. Handbook of the Indians of California. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 1976, 638

21. Pepper, Elizabeth & John Wilcock. Magical and Mystical Sites: Europe and the British Isles. Grand Rapids: Phanes Press 2000, 191

22. Imbrogno, Philip & Marianne Horrigan. Celtic Mysteries in New England. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications 2000, 116

23. Ó Riordáin, Seán P. Antiquities of the Irish Countryside. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.1979, 100

24. Hutton, Ronald. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1993, 20

25. Rhys, John. Celtic Folklore Welsh and Manx, Vol. 1. New York: Gordon Press 1974, 358

26. Adams, E. Charles. “Homol’ovi: An Ancestral Hopi Place” in Archaeology Southwest, Vol. 14, Number 4, Fall 2000, 1-3

27. Dames, Michael. The Avebury Cycle. London: Thames and Hudson Inc.1977, 160

28. Andrews, Tamra. A Dictionary of Nature Myths. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, 67