A new book review by Britain''s foremost Druid website, The Druid Network.
Menhirs, Dolmen and Circles of Stone : The folklore and magic of sacred
stone
Gary R Varner
(Algora USA, 2004)
One of the reasons I like this book is that its focus moves like water
over the subject of stone, slipping to examples and stories from all
over the world. On one page we are reading of a stone sacred to
Islamic culture in the Middle East, and on the next we are looking
again at Avebury, or letting our fingers run over the patterns carved
in a stone of a native American nation. As a result, the book gives,
perhaps more than anything else, a strong sense of the continuity and
connectedness of stone. After reading it, I was left with a strong and
conscious feeling of the way in which stones - those honoured as sacred
and yet all stone - both grounds and draws us together, across time and
space.
Covering such distances, although the author has travelled widely,
there are moments when it is clear that his words express observation
and not personal experience. Yet, even so, there is value in his
collation of information, stories and ideas about stones, caves,
circles and amulets from around the world. He gives clear sources for
his information, allowing the reader to explore further, and hopefully
to inspire individuals to journey for themselves, discovering and
experiencing the sacred within rock and stone.
Gary Varner can be reached at paganessays.yahoo.com
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