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Stonehenge and its Environs

Was Stonehenge a hospital?

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nigelswift N
nigelswift Dec 3, 2006 20:52:06
Replying to Littlestone

I saw the article and the Holy Well connection and was fully expecting Goff to come along shouting Told Yer.

To my mind there seems to be a bit of a forced linkage between the healing springs and the bluestones. Why shouldn't the stones have been revered for any other number of reasons?

M moss
moss Dec 4, 2006 06:16:22
Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:
"I saw the article and the Holy Well connection and was fully expecting Goff to come along shouting Told Yer."


Jenkins was linking several ideas together to make a clever argument, the article is written in his usual vein, half mocking, half serious - beware of silvered tongues.....

"To my mind there seems to be a bit of a forced linkage between the healing springs and the bluestones. Why shouldn't the stones have been revered for any other number of reasons?"

The whole landscape round Carn Meini is awe-inspiring, it really does have sacred writ large in its rocks, visual impact, the mountains rising like an island from the lower fields. The sea is to the west, great ridges running down embedded with stone, natural carns that look like longbarrows - water, stone and the world around would have made this a significant natural place, to take with you as they "colonised" Salisbury Plain...

G goffik
goffik Dec 4, 2006 10:50:38
Replying to nigelswift

nigelswift wrote:
I saw the article and the Holy Well connection and was fully expecting Goff to come along shouting Told Yer.
Modesty forbids me! ;o)

Actually, I missed this - will have a butchers - sounds interesting!

G x

L Littlestone
Littlestone Dec 4, 2006 17:08:37
Replying to nigelswift

Why shouldn't the stones have been revered for any other number of reasons?
Yes, I'd agree with you there - in fact I'd go a bit further and say why shouldn't the stones have been feared for any number of reasons - they are, after all 'contained' by an outer circle and that can be interpreted in any number of ways. I may be wrong but I don't think the Stone of Scone was brought south for reasons of respect and reverence for the stone - it was done more as an act of dominance over the Stone's place of origin.

Bottom line is we don't know why the bluestones were brought to Salisbury Plain (if indeed they were brought) and I'm not sure the idea of 'healing stones' is a very sound one either (would have thought if would have made more sense to go to the place of their origin to be cured as people in their millions still do go to places like Lourdes).

Just another idea to fuel our stoney imaginations during these dark, short days :-)