I just came across a reference to this book, which apparently came out about a year ago without me noticing it........
Preseli Bluestone: Healing Stone of the Ancestors
by Simon Lilly and Sue Lilly
116 pages, Tree Seer Publications (30 Nov 2011) Price £9.95
ISBN-13: 978-1905454082
Here is the publisher's blurb, in case anybody is interested.
Stonehenge is one of the most iconic and evocative symbols of Britain's past. At its heart is a mysterious rock, Preseli bluestone, which was transported from West Wales and placed in the centre of this important site. Up to eighty monoliths of bluestone may have been present at some periods of Stonehenge's development, arranged and rearranged into different shapes and patterns. It now looks as though the giant sarsen stones were only a framework to hold and protect these centrally important bluestones. In this book we examine the reasons why stones from the remote upland of Mynydd Preseli in Pembrokeshire might have captured the imagination of our ancestors. Clues can be found in archaeology, in literature and myth, and in the two very different landscapes of Preseli and Stonehenge. Most of all, our experience of working with the healing and spiritual properties of Preseli bluestone suggests to us that it was these qualities that made the stone so special. Not only can bluestone be helpful in a wide range of healing situations, but it can also open our awareness to other levels of reality and broaden our personal understanding of time and space. Visionaries and alternative researchers have often seen the ancient, sacred sites of the distant past as part of an integrated, vast system of energy pathways that encompass the planet. This new research suggests that Preseli bluestone has an important role to play in understanding the subtle structures of the Earth and in bringing balance and harmony once more. Presented here for the first time, and central to the book, is a unique collection of more than twenty five original layouts and techniques that have been designed to help you to explore the potential of Preseli bluestone, both working by yourself and within groups.
This raises quite interesting issues about the attribution of special or sacred qualities to bits of stone or other inanimate objects -- such as the relics which caused such economic and psychological mayhem in the Middle Ages and also much more recently. The Roman Catholic Church seems to have been particularly prone to this sort of thing. Are there always some people who WANT to find healing or mystical qualities in things which the rest of us find rather mundane? Are such people in possession of insights or spiritual qualities that the rest of us do not have? Or are they just slightly dotty but otherwise harmless? Hmmm -- I think we have been here before......
12 comments:
I repeat that my wife and I slept within 2 metres of 80kgs of SH rocks for six months. She is just as disabled as she was before, very very sadly.
I have bluestones within 10cms of my laptop/microscopes. I am still a miserable old bug...
For over 20 years I have been in daily close contact with 12 or so bits of bluestone taken from the orthostats. See above.
Tosh tosh New Age tosh. Stick to the crystals.
Thomas Rhymer.
Brian,
Reasoning based on belief is circular:
Bluestones were brought to Stonehenge because they are magical. Because bluestones were brought to Stonehenge they are magical.
Kostas
Thomas
The British poet Layamon, inspired by the folkloric accounts of 12th-century cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, wrote in A.D. 1215:
The stones are great;
And magic power they have;
Men that are sick;
Fare to that stone;
And they wash that stone;
And with that water bathe away their sickness.
They are bath salts... if you wish to win the lottery, you need to buy a ticket not just stare at one.
I washed all 80kgs in my kitchen sink and hand dried them all with paper towels. It took more than three weeks (I was weighing and id'ing them as well). Still have arthritis in both thumbs.
Gambling very poor analogy as I believe ALL forms of gambling from the buying of raffle tickets at a garden fete to investing in stocks and shares to be totally immoral and were I able I would ban any hint.
Do not start me on credit!
M
Myris
A scientist would not make such a fundamental mistake.
Either you believe our ancestors did not understand the difference between natural purified water from a aquifer and the unnatural chemical 'filth' that comes through our taps today or you are naive about soluble compounds and how they work.
i.e. took aspirin last month, but had a headache yesterday - clearly another prehistoric cure that does not work.
Layamon
Currently reading a fascinating and well researched book on the Sioux Indians (The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers). He tells how extensive rituals were required to make magic work. Francis Jones in the Holy Wells of Wales records the importance of ritual to activate the powers of wells closer to home, often linked with the washing of stones. Interestingly, the rituals are often different depending on the places and the results expected - you have to know what you are doing and likely believing that it will work is important too.
When I was a boy I went on an exchange to Belgium and caught a fever. The doctor prescribed a suppository which I, having grown up in a different world, swallowed with water to no effect. Much laughter and relief all round when my hosts realised why I was getting sicker instead of recovering.
The link between stones and magic is well attested through history and even today there are convinced believers. It would be interesting to take some bluestone into an all-round lab and run some experiments to see if any changes can be detected under different circumstances. Perhaps it would prove nothing - rather like the tests done around homeopathy which many people believe to work (including our health minister) despite the lack of scientific evidence.
I am keeping an open mind.
Chris
Bear in mind that we are not talking about the 21st century diseases and complaints but prehistoric.
Mortality rates would be high, so illnesses that we see today did not exist as the weak and deformed died early.
So what illnesses did these people suffer? As hunter gatherers one would imagine cuts and broken limbs. Surgery have been found in France to remove limbs and trepanations, so strong antiseptics would be necessary to survive.
The best and simplest solution to cure these illnesses is pure water and rock salt (as its more stronger than sea salt) and guess where you find rock salt???
Not the magic you would have hoped Chris, but still magic 5,000 years ago.
Merlin
Cures for a range of sicknesses are claimed in the holy well traditions, from poor eyesight to warts to mental disorders.
One supposes the shamans could demonstrate sufficient successes to justify the beliefs.
I doubt that successes had anything to do with it, Chris. Belief is a wonderful thing, when combined with a degree of fear and a dose of superstition...... I doubt that much emphasis was places on evidence, in those good old days....
Yes Brian. This is a big question. I suspect that sufferers would have had to pay for the cure - life has not changed that much - so it must have worked sometimes. If you are going blind what percentage success rate would you consider acceptable - 30%?
I don't see why any of these cures would work personally, but somehow tradition persisted and presumably because miracles happened sufficiently often to make it worth the gamble and the investment of a horse, or an axe. or a nice blanket.
No point in playing with statistics here. The body's own healing capacity is remarkable, so in primitive societies those who use charms or "cures" and then get better are of course susceptible to the line that there is cause and effect.....
Chris,
If Belief can “cure” an illness, imagine what it can do with Truth and Reason!
Kostas
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