STONE BOTHERING

Samhain, pronounced sow-in, is one of the most significant festivals in the Celtic calendar. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a threshold between light and darkness, life and death. Celebrated from sunset on October thirty first to sunset on November first, Samhain is a time when the boundary between the living and the dead is believed to be thinnest, allowing spirits to walk among the living. This ancient festival has influenced modern celebrations such as Halloween, yet its roots run far deeper into Celtic spirituality, mythology, and the rhythms of the land. Samhain originated among the ancient Celtic peoples of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Its name comes from the Old Irish word Samuin, meaning summer’s end. It marked a turning point in the Celtic year, the shift from the light half of the year to the dark half. For early communities who lived closely with the seasons, this was not only a spiritual event but also a practical one. It sig...

In the far west of Cornwall, just outside the village of St Buryan, stands one of Britain’s most atmospheric ancient circles. Boscawen Un Stone Circle sits quietly in a field, surrounded by gorse and bracken. Boscawen Un is one of Cornwall’s most beautiful and intriguing prehistoric monuments. The more time you spend here, the more you sense that it was built with intention, not only in relation to the sky above but also to the living land beneath it. Boscawen Un stands about a mile west of St Buryan, near the tip of Cornwall. The name is Cornish and is thought to mean “the pasture of the elder tree.” It is fitting, because the site has a natural, living feel to it. You approach by walking along a small track that cuts through fields and hedgerows until suddenly the land opens, revealing a ring of weathered stones in a grassy clearing. Unlike some of the more exposed moorland circles such as The Merry Maidens nearby, Boscawen Un feels protected and hidden. It sits slightly sunken into ...

There are places in this world where silence feels alive. The Plain of Jars in northern Laos is one of them. The air carries a stillness that seems to hum just beneath the wind, as if the stones themselves are remembering. Spread across the highlands of Xiangkhoang Province, thousands of massive stone jars rest upon the grass, their mouths open to the sky. They have stood there for centuries, maybe millennia, silent witnesses to the passage of time. To walk among them is to enter a riddle. The Plain of Jars is a landscape that blurs the boundary between archaeology and myth. The jars are not arranged in neat lines or geometric plans, but scattered like thoughts across the land. No one knows with certainty who built them or why. Yet their presence feels deliberate, purposeful, almost sacred. Every jar holds the weight of a story that has slipped away from history but still lingers in the stones. The location The Xiangkhoang Plateau lies in north-central Laos, a region of rolling hills a...

In the quiet fields of southern Ohio, a serpent lies coiled upon the earth. It does not hiss or strike, nor has it moved in a thousand years, but its presence is undeniable. This great effigy of earth and clay, known as Serpent Mound, winds for more than 1,300 feet along a high ridge above Brush Creek. From above, its form becomes unmistakable, a serpent’s sinuous body, tail tightly coiled, its head turned toward an oval feature that some say represents an egg, the sun, or even the cosmos itself. Serpent Mound is not simply a monument of soil. It is a message written in the landscape. It is one of the most extraordinary ancient constructions in North America, and perhaps the world. It raises profound questions about the people who built it, their understanding of the universe, and the sacredness they found in the earth itself. The Location Serpent Mound rests in Adams County, in the rolling hills of southern Ohio. The mound occupies a high plateau overlooking Brush Creek, a tributary o...

There are moments in travel when time feels as though it folds in on itself. When the past becomes so tangible that you could reach out and touch it. For us, one of those moments happened at Borth Beach on the coast of Wales. We had come in search of the legendary petrified forest, the one that sometimes emerges from the sea. We didn’t know if we would actually see it. The tides rule this place, and most of the time the forest lies hidden beneath sand and waves. But that day, we were lucky. The tide was low, the sea calm, and as we walked across the wet sand, the dark stumps of ancient trees began to appear before us. The Ancient Forest Borth is a small seaside village on the west coast of Wales, just north of Aberystwyth. It sits along Cardigan Bay, a stretch of coastline known for its wide sandy beaches, dunes, and ever-shifting patterns of light. On most days, Borth looks like any other quiet coastal village, windswept, peaceful, and a little raw. But under its beach lies something ...

There are landscapes that whisper, and others that speak so loudly that even the wind seems to hush around them. The fields of Carnac in southern Brittany are one of those places. Thousands of ancient stones stand quietly in long rows, under open skies that have watched them for more than six thousand years. They do not explain themselves. They do not reveal why they are there. They simply are. To walk among them is to walk into a question that has no neat answer. Carnac is one of the greatest gatherings of standing stones in the world, older than the pyramids and older than Stonehenge. Yet it feels alive. The air hums with a quiet expectancy, as if the stones are waiting for us to remember something we once knew. The Location Carnac lies in the south of Brittany, near the Atlantic coast of France. The town itself is quiet, filled with white houses and narrow lanes that smell faintly of salt and seaweed. A few minutes outside the center, the land opens into wide, low meadows. Here, amo...

There are places in the world where time still breathes. Newgrange is one of them. Hidden among the gentle green folds of the Boyne Valley in County Meath, this ancient monument glows with an energy that is both earthly and celestial. It looks simple from a distance, a grass-covered mound ringed with white quartz and dark stones, yet beneath its quiet exterior lies a structure older than the pyramids of Egypt and richer in mystery than almost any other site in Europe. Newgrange is a monument that was never meant to fade. It was built to endure, to remind the living of light returning after darkness, and of the eternal rhythm that connects the heavens with the human heart. Where Is Newgrange Located Newgrange sits within the Brú na Bóinne complex, an ancient ceremonial landscape that also includes Knowth and Dowth. The name Brú na Bóinne means the Palace of the Boyne, and the river itself curves through the valley like a silver serpent, reflecting the sky and nourishing the fields aroun...