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...

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. 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, among wild grass...

When you stand among the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis, you do not just walk through a prehistoric site. You walk into a story that has been told in stone for more than five thousand years. The wind curls around the stones, carrying sea salt from the Atlantic and whispers from ages long gone. The stones rise tall and weathered, some reaching nearly five metres into the sky, forming a great cross-like setting with a central circle at its heart. Many who visit say the place feels alive, as if the stones themselves are guardians of an ancient memory. The Callanish Stones, also known as Calanais in Gaelic, are one of Scotland’s most iconic ancient sites. They are older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, a staggering reminder of the ingenuity and vision of Neolithic builders. But beyond their age, they carry with them mysteries that still puzzle archaeologists, astronomers, and storytellers. This is a place where science and myth meet, where alignments with the stars blend ...

Colombia is often imagined as a land of emerald jungles, Spanish colonial cities, coffee fields, and snow-capped peaks. Yet hidden in the rolling green valleys of the Boyacá region lies a place that few travelers visit, though it is one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in all of South America. This place is El Infiernito, a pre-Columbian megalithic complex that continues to puzzle archaeologists, mystics, and indigenous elders alike. El Infiernito, which translates to "Little Hell," is far more than an arrangement of standing stones. It is a place of ancient ceremony, a calendar written in stone, a map of the cosmos, and perhaps even a key to understanding a hidden layer of Andean spirituality. To stand among its pillars is to step into a dialogue between earth and sky, life and death, myth and history. El Infiernito is located near Villa de Leyva, one of Colombia’s most beautiful colonial towns, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Bogotá. The site rests in ...

There is a powerful place hidden in the far north of Brazil. In Amapá, near the small settlement of Calçoene, stands Parque do Solsticio, one of the most intriguing and least understood archaeological sites in South America. It rarely appears on global lists of ancient places and is almost unknown outside Brazil, yet what rises from the grasslands here may be one of the most important clues to the astronomical knowledge of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon. When you first see it, the site feels both familiar and utterly alien. Dozens of granite blocks rise from the earth in silent formation. They look as if they once belonged to a world that no longer exists. The stones stand on a small hill that gives them presence, and although they are weathered and cracked, they carry the calm authority of places that have watched many centuries pass. To stand among them is to feel that someone once cared deeply about the sky. Someone once measured light with precision. Someone once built this p...

There are walks that stretch your legs and there are walks that stretch your imagination. The Ridgeway belongs to the second kind. It is often described as Britain’s oldest road and when you step onto it you understand why this title is more than a piece of romantic marketing. It feels ancient. It feels purposeful. It feels like a pathway that remembers every footstep that has crossed it. The Ridgeway is not just a National Trail. It is a living corridor of prehistory. To walk the Ridgeway is to move along a raised chalk spine that has shaped human travel for thousands of years. It is a path used by Neolithic builders, Bronze Age traders, Iron Age warriors, Roman officials, Saxon farmers and medieval drovers. Even today it feels more like a story unfolding under your boots than a route marked on a map. This is a journey surrounded by monuments. Long barrows slumber in the grass. Hillforts crown the slopes. Chalk horses leap across the hillside. The trail is full of places where stories...

Some landscapes are more than scenery. They are living archives of memory and meaning, places where stones whisper and skies align. On a hill in Florianópolis, in the south of Brazil, lies one such place: the Dolmen da Oração and its surrounding monumental stones, including the Menhir Central, the Pedra Virada, and the astronomical platform on Morro da Galheta. To approach these stones is to step into a dialogue that transcends centuries. They are not silent relics. They are markers of celestial knowledge, instruments of alignment with the sun and stars, and portals of energy where earth and cosmos meet. They are also guardians of myth, held in reverence by those who sense their power. On our own visit, we felt this truth directly. The air was perfectly still, as though holding a secret in suspension. The stones stood in quiet dignity, commanding presence without demanding explanation. As we moved among them, a gralha azul, the sacred azure jay, appeared, its blue wings shimmering in t...

Florianópolis in southern Brazil, is known worldwide for its sparkling beaches and lush Atlantic Forest. Yet beyond the images that fill postcards, the island holds a far deeper story. This story is written not in books or scrolls, but in stone. It is a story that has endured for thousands of years, preserved in grooves, depressions, and carvings left by the first peoples of the region Walking among these stones, one cannot help but feel a connection to the past. Time folds in on itself, and the present becomes inseparable from the distant echoes of civilizations long gone. Each stone carries a story, a message, or a memory that survived colonization, urban development, and the relentless passage of years. To truly experience Florianópolis, it is necessary to look beyond its beaches and forests and to listen to what these stones have to tell. The First Peoples of Florianópolis Before Portuguese explorers arrived in the sixteenth century, the island we now call Florianópolis was known b...

Cornwall has a talent for surprises. You can be walking through hills and quiet villages when suddenly a single great boulder appears as if placed there by a giant’s hand. Bowl Rock near Trencrom Hill is exactly that kind of place. It looks simple at first glance yet the more time you spend with it the more fascinating it becomes. Locals will happily tell you that Bowl Rock was once a bowling ball belonging to the giants of Trencrom. The story is wonderfully absurd and that is exactly why it endures. Trencrom Hill has long been associated with tales of giant rivalries and noisy competitions played across the landscape. According to the old whispers these giants would roll stones up and down the hillsides for sport and Bowl Rock was one of the favourites. The National Trust even leans into the legend with a small plaque that nods to the tale and adds a touch of fun to the visit. When you stand beside Bowl Rock the story becomes strangely believable. The boulder is rounded almost perfect...