Sun, Fire, Stone & Animal Worship in Pagan Ireland by Bonwick James

Author:Bonwick, James [Bonwick, James]
Language: eng
Format: azw
Publisher: Samhain Song Press
Published: 2017-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

STONE-WORSHIP

IN many lands shapeless stones have been adored. Among several ancient nations the idea of Divinity was symbolized by a rough stone. That aërolites should be revered is not surprising, since they, as the idol stone of Ephesus, came down from heaven. A single pillar stone might well, in rude times, typify generative force. Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, Mercury, and Diana Patroa were adored as stone columns. A circle of upright stones has been reverenced from the Pacific, across the Old World, to the Atlantic.

Ireland was no exception to this lithic faith.

It has been customary to call circles, cromlechs, Logan stones, pillar stones, serpentine and alignment stones, by the appellation of Druidical. As these, however, are found in Japan, China, India, Persia, Arabia, Palestine, Barbary, every country of Europe, North and South America, as well as in the Pacific Isles, it would imply certainly a very wide range of Druids. No one could deny that in some parts, as Brittany and the British Isles, so-called Druids probably used such stones, as being already objects of reverence, without crediting them either as their builders, or as the originators of Stone-Worship.

Because of the superstition attached to such megalithic objects, Mahometan and Christian priests have alike sought their destruction. But Ireland and the islands adjacent exhibit many remains of so-called Druidical monuments. Some of these' may be mentioned.

SINGLE STONES. Finn's finger-stone, Clonduff of Down, thrown by Finn McCoul; Deer-stone, of Glendalough; Kiltulten of Kildare; Clogh-griane, or Sun-stone; Kileena of Antrim; Ardfert of Kerry; and several on Innis Murray. Some old crosses have been rudely carved out of Bethels.

CIRCLES have suffered more destruction in Ireland than in Great Britain. One at Ballynahatna, near Dundalk, has quite a Stonehenge character. In 1810 the Rostrevor circle was 120 ft. in diameter. That at Mount Druid, Dalkey, was 150 ft. Killballyowen of Limerick has three circles. Carrowmore of Sligo is half a mile across, and one near Belfast must have been once nearly as large. Brefin of Cavan was a celebrated one two centuries back. Then there are circles at Deuman of Neath, Templebrian of Cork, Ballrichan of Louth, Innisoen of Donegal, Rath Hugh, Carrick-a-Dhirra of Waterford, and several in Louth. Cobhail was a stone enclosure; as were the Duns and Casiols, that were often converted into oratories. Ossian repeatedly mentions the Circle of Loda.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.