22ND - 30TH OCTOBER 2004.
Click on the picture above for a closer view
of this motley crew of Geomancers having a great day out!
THE GEOMANCY GROUP 2004.
"This is the fourth instalment of what went on during this wonderful week in Aberdeenshire, and the variety of sites and experiences that were had. Try clicking on the pictures and some will open up to show you a larger image" - Ros.
Members present were, Maryrose Price, Ros Briagha, Jon Appleton, Grahame Gardner, Barry Hoon & Oliver Perceval.
Day 5 Wednesday 27 October: We started off heading east and tried to find a little recumbent on a hill at Bankhead, but couldn’t get across to it {NJ 652077} so we went on to Midmar Kirk {NJ 699064} which is an RSC in a churchyard, rather well preserved, with a recumbent and flankers and several other standing stones, and a central grassy mound, which is probably the remains of a ring cairn. I like this one despite its rather odd setting, and am glad to see it is upkept by the church.
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Then on to Sunhoney {NJ 716057} a very lovely circle, within sight of Midmar, and it feels like it is one of the least disturbed and intact RSCs we have seen. There are power lines close by, but these felt less intrusive than when I was here before. The recumbent has a large number of cup marks on it, and is huge. Oli and Maryrose sang to it which felt very nice. There are some interesting sight lines to distant hills, where various sun/moon sets would seem to go into the clefts between them. Barry, Grahame, Maryrose, Jon, Oliver, Ros |
Next was Cullerlie [NJ 785042], a very different type of circle, with no recumbent and only about 15-20 feet across, and with eight small kerbed ring cairns inside it. These have been used for burials, and several folk dowsed downward vortices of energy in them. I tuned in and was “shown“ a pictish chieftain being brought for exhumation there. Nice dog! Barry, Grahame, Maryrose, Jon, Oliver, Ros |
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After a good lunch at Echt, we went on to the Nine Stanes group, south of the Dee at Banchory. This is a lovely group, each one very different. The first one, West Mulloch (Eslie the Lesser), {NO 723922} is quite raised above ground level, about 25 foot across, with a central ring cairn and a yard or so out from this a ring of standing stones. Felt nice energetically, though lumpy to walk in. The stones were all quite small. From there we could see the next member of the group, Knockwood (Eslie the Greater) {NO 717916} so some of us walked over there, and found a spring on the way over, surrounded by a large pile of rocks, which gave the impression that it had once been a form of structure round the water. There was a bull and his cows by this circle but he was obviously happy, and though he kept his eye on us, he was no problem. The circle is much bigger than the last one, maybe 40-50 ft across, with a huge ring cairn in the centre, with a cist, and then a large circle of standing stones, of a similar height to West Mulloch. Both these two have a large SW recumbent, as do Midmar and Sunhoney.
Barry, Grahame, Maryrose, Jon, Oliver, Ros
Finally, Nine Stanes, {NO 724912} up a little track in the woods, a very neat little circle, about 20 foot across, with most of its stones still there, but several fallen, including the left flanker. It felt a welcoming circle, and we thought that local people probably use it. After we left this one, there was an attempt to find a last one at Cairnfauld but no luck, so home to prepare for the Lunar eclipse that night.
The lunar eclipse was an amazing experience, despite it being a cloudy night. It was excellent to have the local circle to go to, and I also spent some quality time with the huge beech tree, watching the total darkness gradually lift.
