The Stones Speak

Circles.  

That's what mandalas are all about.  Humanity has been engaged in making circles for a long time.  Carl Jung points out how natural they are to make, and how circular patterns find themselves in virtually every culture under the sun of history and geography.  

As a mandala artist, how could I miss the opportunity to see some of the world's oldest and most famous circles?  My tour of England has inevitably included a pilgrimage to Stonehenge and to Avebury.

Stonehenge actually wasn't as profound an experience as one would think.  It was inundated with buses, traffic and tourists.  Even if one paid the $16 fee, one couldn't actually get close to or touch the stones.

My experience was strongest approaching stonehenge. The night before I had camped on a lonely hill top overlooking the henge two kilometres away.  Th next morning, instead of arriving on the insanely busy highway that all the buses and tourist come on, I came over the hills on a lonely footpath.  

I had the path and fields all to myself.  Slowly, I made my way through the ancient mounds and the ancient topography.  Over the last hill, there stood stone henge, looming massively on the horizon.  The parking lot and buses couldn't be seen.  I could feel how impressive it must have been for an ancient pilgrim.   I was there, back thousands of years ago.

Arriving at the tourist walkabout, and unable to touch the stones, I felt my pilgrimage was incomplete.  A friend had spoken of the importance of listening to the stones, of connecting with their ancient energy collecting the visits and touches of hundreds of generations of humans.

And thus I continued to the Avebury stone circle....