{"id":416,"date":"2013-10-16T16:30:56","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T16:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/?p=416"},"modified":"2013-10-16T16:31:36","modified_gmt":"2013-10-16T16:31:36","slug":"the-stones-of-carnac-a-powerful-healing-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/the-stones-of-carnac-a-powerful-healing-army.html","title":{"rendered":"The Stones of Carnac – A Powerful Healing Army"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Melissa Hart<\/p>\n

\"Gavrinis
Gavrinis passage mound<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the beautiful south coast of Brittany, France, lies Carnac \u2013 home to one of the greatest and most mysterious megalithic sites in Europe. Between the pounding ocean and the mediaeval villages stand over 10,000 Neolithic menhirs, spread in lines across the landscape. It is a beautiful, eerie and moving sight. The stones and the place retain much of the awe-inspiring energies that influenced the peoples of the Neolithic to place them there. Many modern visitors have felt the power of this ancient, sacred landscape to move, change, and heal.<\/p>\n

Petrified legions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The menhirs of Carnac date from around 3,500 to 4,000 BC, meaning that the site was in active spiritual use for five or so centuries. While many of the megaliths have been removed for use in local building projects, or destroyed through superstition, there are still thousands remaining \u2013 and they are a formidable sight. The stones \u2013some of them truly enormous \u2013 march in lines for miles across the land like a giant stone army. Indeed, local legend holds that the stones once were a Roman legion. This legion was marching with devastating purpose across France when the great wizard Merlin encountered them. He cast a spell of petrifaction, and their marching lines were turned to stone before they could do any more harm. There they remain, still in almost perfect formation. A more Christian version of the tale claims that the army was a pagan one, pursuing Pope Cornelius. Their petrifaction saved the life of the saint.<\/p>\n

Sacred necropolis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some more modern explanations for the stones are no less wild. Antiquarians of the nineteenth century, for example, believed that the stones could be the fossilized remains of a giant snake. Their purpose remains elusive to archaeology, but the alignments of stones and the surrounding tumuli (in which the local landscape is rich) seem to suggest that Carnac was a sort of necropolis, with funerary associations. Various features of the sites indicate that this, like Stonehenge in England, was an area associated with the dark times of the year, with winter, and with death. The Kercado and Gavrinis passage mounds, for example, are aligned almost exactly with the midwinter sunrise, and many of the stone lines seem astronomically aligned to bear relation to midwinter sunrises, sunsets, or star formations. The presence of several vast tombs \u2013 the tumulus of Saint Michel being a notably impressive example \u2013 bring the funerary role of the place into clear focus.<\/p>\n

Modern negativity, ancient profundity<\/strong><\/p>\n

This association with darkness, cold, and death may raise concerns for many modern travelers. These concerns should be disregarded. They are brought about by the toxic relationship of modern culture with death and other so-called \u2018negative\u2019 elements of existence. This constant need to be achieving, the drive to ever greater glories, the failure to acknowledge the presence of darker aspects, and the desperate need to have perfect control over one\u2019s existence is a key cause of many modern psychological disorders. The peoples of the Neolithic understood that they could not control everything. Rather than shutting out the idea of harder times, and thus letting them grow to giant and threatening proportions in their subconscious, they incorporated them into their lives through acknowledgement, festivity, and the healing energies of sites like Carnac. Those who attempt to ignore the winter will freeze \u2013 the winter must be accepted and inhabited as a part of life no less vital than the warm joys of summer.<\/p>\n

Healing through acceptance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acknowledging death and winter acknowledges a lack of control over certain aspects of life \u2013 and helps people to accept that lack of control. It also opens the psyche to the great spiritual growth and lessons inherent in what modern terminology would inaccurately refer to as \u2018darker times\u2019. It is this positive spiritual growth aspect of the darkness which is embodied in the stones of Carnac. The passage mound of\u00a0Kercado at Carnac<\/a>\u00a0is a grave aligned with the winter stars \u2013 yet at midwinter, the sunrise pours down its passage to light and warm the very depths of the tomb at the coldest, darkest point of the year. Many caught in the despair of depression may feel that their life has no hope, and that this state will be forever. A trip to Carnac will remind them that all things are transitory \u2013 including those things which may seem bad \u2013 and that, in the midst of despair, there can still be found beauty, warmth, and light. \u00a0In accepting the troughs of existence, rather than fighting a futile, damaging and exhausting psychological battle over that which cannot and does not need to be controlled, peace can be achieved. Great personal wholeness can be brought about by experiencing the lessons of these stones. People who are tormented with uncontrollable personal darkness, perhaps manifesting as low self-esteem, depression, or\u00a0eating disorders<\/a>\u00a0could hugely benefit from a visit to Carnac. For these people, a healing visit to the stones should be viewed as an opportunity to acknowledge that which is hurting them, and let it pass away from them in this place of peace. Perhaps an event from the past is affecting someone, deep down. Just as the megalith builders of Carnac marked, honored, and laid to rest their dead here, so they can mark, acknowledge, and lay to rest this burden. Those with eating disorders often have a desperate need for personal control, brought on by a life which may seem wildly chaotic. The stones of Carnac will heal this perception, bringing the distressed patients to a gentle understanding that they cannot and do not have to control everything, and that that is ok.<\/p>\n

A site more valuable than ever<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carnac is a truly special site, whose healing energies are more pertinent than ever in this age of feverish self-control and unacknowledged, toxic depressions. With more people than ever struggling with anxiety disorders, neuroses, or just generalized misery and lack of fulfilment, the power of this landscape which embodies hope in the depths of winter can work wonders. The stones of Carnac remind us that we must peacefully accept rather than fight a damaging war against that we cannot control, and that all things, including winter, misery, and grief, will give way to happier times in the end.<\/p>\n

Check out our tour of Brittany with Kathleen McGowan happening September, 2014.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Melissa Hart On the beautiful south coast of Brittany, France, lies Carnac \u2013 home to one of the greatest and most mysterious megalithic sites in Europe. Between the pounding ocean and the mediaeval villages stand over 10,000 Neolithic menhirs, spread in lines across the landscape. It is a beautiful, eerie and moving sight. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[281,279,282,280,283],"class_list":{"0":"post-416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sacred-places","7":"tag-brittany-tour","8":"tag-carnac-stones","9":"tag-gavrinis","10":"tag-menhirs","11":"tag-sacred-sites-france","12":"entry","13":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":419,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bodymindspiritjourneys.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}