Stone Stories

Last weekend the druid group I belong to went on a holiday trip down to Wiltshire to visit Stonehenge and Avebury (and yes, we do know they both massively predate any mention of the druids, but they're an amazing feet of human achievement). The weather was pretty dire, but we had a good time and it was nice to be with other people. It gets a bit dull living alone, and it's nice to have company!

Inset is a story about standing stones. I first heard this tale in relation to the stones of Carnac, but I have seen near identical versions told of stones from around Britain and elsewhere. The two notions that animals gain the power of human speech (or maybe just that humans become capable of understanding their native languages) and that menhirs get to drink water once per year seem to be very widespread.

Maybe the thought of stones drinking is mostly just whimsy, but I think the element of Dr Doolittle speaks to a very deep need to be able to communicate with the species that we share our lives with.


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