Sacred Sites in Cornwall are Rich with Legends

It is hard to imagine anywhere on earth that is richer in ancient sacred sites than Cornwall. Stonehenge, Avebury and Glastonbury may be more famous, but anyone who restricted their visit to the U.K. to the most well known sites would be missing out on some profoundly rewarding experiences, just as it would be a serious mistake to visit Machu Picchu without also going to Sacsayhuaman and the many other sacred places near Cusco.

Cornwall has a variety of different kinds of sites, including quoits (the Cornish word for dolmen) fogous (underground chambers), holy wells, and stone circles. But one unique formation stands in a class by itself. Men-an-Tol is an arrangement of three stones. Two uprights on either end, and in the center is a round stone with a hole in the middle. When you view them from one particular angle, they seem to form a 3-D “101.” The name, in Cornish, means “the hole stone,” and there are numerous myths and legends associated with it. Here are a few…

It is guarded by a piskie (the Cornish version of a fairy or piksie) who has the power to cure illnesses. When a mother discovered that her baby had turned into a Changeling, she passed it through the stone and it turned back into her real child. If a woman climbs through the hole in the stone seven times during the full moon she will become pregnant. Passing a child, naked, nine times through the stone will cure rickets.

Many visitors to the various power places in Cornwall say the energy is tangible. Ross Nichols, writing in The Book of Druidry, said that the reason why stone circles were built was to store the energy generated by dancing inside them. Starhawk has written that ancient sacred sites were created in order to store power created during rituals in order to step through the veil between the worlds.

Men-an-Tol, Lanyon Quoit, the Carn Euny Fogou and the Boscawen-un stone circle are just a few of the powerful places the Body Mind Spirit Journeys tour of Southwest England will visit in July, 2013. And yes, the small group will also go to Glastonbury, Avebury and Stonehenge.