those stones with holes in em? witches stones? or am I thinking of something else? anyway...wheres a good spot in SCOTLAND to find any? and whats the correct name for them?How'd they get holes in them? and what they mainly used for??

hagstones

for protection, I think - not sure where to find them though, and I don't think it counts if the hole has been made by water i.e - you can't get them from the beach

Thats a bit weird oak cos usually you find them on beaches or rivers, i know cos hawkwing wolf sent me some he collected last time he was on his hols.

Hag stones, or 'mare stanes' in Scotland - have a looksie here They're easiest to find around running water, beaches and streams and the like, but you also find them where there's a lot of flint. We get loads of them turning up here as the Chilterns have large quantities of flint lying around from the old chalk pits hereabouts.



Never heard that before. One of the reasons that hagstones are considered protective is the old belief that you can't 'magic' running water. Hagstones, usually found in streams, were therefore considered to retain the protective qualities of the running water.

Hagstones have been credited with curing stomach aches (protecting against the hag that sat on the stomach of the sick man/woman and caused the pain), protecting animals in stables (the stones being strung above the door), preventing milk from curdling in thunderstorms if kept in the dairy (by protecting against the evil spirits who are most active in stormy weather), preventing nightmares if suspended over the head of the bed, and protecting ships at sea if attached to the prow.

There was also a belief that if you looked through the hole in a hagstone, you would see what was 'truly' there and thus be able to dispel glamours used by fairies in order to mislead you.

ahh - perhaps I have the wrong end of the stick then - I just remember reading a thread about this on the old site but it is more than possible that I am mis-remembering.

And come to think of it, I can't see any other way (other than a drill) that you could get a hole through a stone without water.

Are these anything to do with birthstones? I've heard about these - just very big hagstones I guess, which women can climb through in order to help fertility - guess the name and the symbolism makes it obvious. Freud would have had a field-day

Oak

wind and grit?

wind is a surprisingly erosive thing.

I have one *does a little dance* which I often wear on a cord around my neck. lovely thing it is.

and I found it when I wasn't looking (and I've spent a lot of time looking) it wasn't on a beach. I found it in the gravel of a pub beer garden. maybe a reminder to look for the magic in the mundane areas of life, as well as in the big wild world.

i think there's one called Men a tol at Cornwall, sure Galena will know the one i mean where the stone is like a massive polo mint and people go through it for healing and fertililty.

I know of hag stones as witch stones and holey stones as well Nice information there Oxon

it's some way from me, but yes, I have been there. lovely it is.

think we caught the tail end of a lesbian handfasting there. when we arrived there were two women, and we saw they had tied their hands through the hole, adn then one crawled through to the other. then they sat around for a while, adn left.

Holey stones are mentioned in Aradia Gospel of Witches and can be caused by a small worm boring into cliffs- which when eroded become small stones with holes in them. I have a whole collection from Hastings and Brighton- best places to look are pebbly beaches and streams!

I've seen ones in the Marischal College Museum before, but as for where to find them where you don't get arrested for taking them home, no idea! Desperately want some elfshot myself, don't know why.

agree there is loads to be found on the south east coast - something to do with the type of stone?? always thought they were formed by water mainly but anything is possible!

heard about the healing qualities too also heard that the hole is like a little gateway - a place for worlds to meet, possibly a bit far fetched but there you go..one to medtiate on

nicely put oxon..thank you

good luck finding stones......silverwing