Spiral Journey: Tomnaverie Stone Circle

It is a delight and honour to take part in the Monica Sjöö Curatorial winter artist in residence programme on Instagram. As part of the programme I will share my experiences, photography and illustrations while embarking on my own 'Spiral Journey' inspired by the writings and art of Monica Sjöö. Each journey is both physical and spiritual and encompasses pilgrimages to ancient and sacred sites in my home country of Scotland and further afield. This fourth and final Spiral Journey takes me to to a Bronze Age recumbent stone circle in Aberdeenshire...

Lunar alignments in stone

Storm Babet had put my plans to visit the splendours of Kilmartin Glen on hold - not once but twice - as the following week there was yet another weather warning in place. A four-hour drive in howling gales and horizontal rain was not appealing and possibly dangerous. I decided to embark on my plan B instead. Luckily there is no shortage of sacred sites in my locality – a one hour drive over the Cairn O’Mount would take me to the famous Tomnaverie Stone Circle, a few miles outside the village of Tarland in Aberdeenshire.

Tomnaverie is a recumbent stone circle, meaning the largest monolith lies on its side flanked by two of the tallest stones in the circle. It is thought that the stones are aligned with the southern arc of the moon, so that a few times a year the full moon is framed by the recumbent stone and the two flankers on either side. The exact purpose of such sites is unknown although rituals in which moonlight is thought to play a central role is a possibility.

Tantalisingly, these type of stone circles are only found in Aberdeenshire in the Northeast of Scotland and the southwest of Ireland in Cork and Kerry. There are believed to be over 70 recumbent stone circles in Aberdeenshire and there is a theory that they are connected to the Clava Cairns in Inverness-shire.

Tomnaverie sits on a gentle hill surrounded by fertile land, positioned in a natural amphitheatre of the surrounding hills. In the far distance Lochnagar looms ahead. Today it was looking rather gloomy, shrouded in mist. As I climbed the hill to the site, the first few stones came into view – there are eight erect stones in the circle, plus two flankers as well as the recumbent. The whole thing is about 17metres in diameter and encloses a ring cairn where cremated human bones were found. Archaeologists estimate the site dates back to around 2,500 BC - not as ancient as Calanais or the Ring of Brodgar then. In fact, recumbent circles don’t begin to appear until the later Neolithic period and early Bronze Age.

Offerings on the recumbent stone

Like my visit to Tigh Na Cailleach, I made my journey on the eve of the full moon alone. Thankfully a four-hour trek through a lonely glen is not required at Tomnaverie. This full moon was also happened to be a lunar eclipse in Taurus. On reaching the site, I stopped asked permission from the Cosmic Mother before stepping into the circle and was immediately drawn towards the great recumbent stone. To my delight I saw that someone had been there already and made an offering – a small posey of yellow and orange flowers, tied together with a tartan ribbon. It is always nice to see evidence that there are other people out there who appreciate these sacred places.

I had my own offering to give – a dried thistle from Cornwall, some rowan berries picked by my nephew and some elderberry wine, which I picked up on a whim on my way here. I was a bit worried about how I might offer the wine for I was not prepared with a receptacle. I was loath to use a coffee cup as the last thing I wanted to do was leave a piece of litter lying around. Thankfully the recumbent stone provided the solution, it already came with natural ‘bowls’ – two shallow hollows on the top – which were already filled with rainwater. I added some wine to this, as much for the fairies as for the Goddess, as they are reputed to brew the finest wine and ale. I hope Cairn O’Mhor wine was up to their standards.

Once I made my offering, I sat in the centre of the circle to find some stillness and to get a feeling for the place. Since so much is unknown about these stones and their purpose I did what any woman on a spiritual journey might do in her quest for lost knowledge – consult the tarot. For me tarot is simply a tool to help me connect with my inner being and intuition. I pulled a card both before my visit and during my time there. Both times I pulled the Queen of Pentacles – Earth Mother. When I realised that I was in the presence of the Earth Mother I began to feel very emotional, ‘I’m here, I’m here.’ was all I could repeat in my mind. The Queen of Pentacles is also the card I associate with my Taurean grandmother who is now in spirit. I had the overwhelming feeling that I was also in the presence of my maternal ancestors, their hand on my shoulders, connected womb to womb, forming a great chain stretching back though time. I pulled a few more cards to find out what message the Earth Mother had for me.

Had anyone seen me at that moment I am sure they would have found me quite a pathetic sight, sitting huddled by the stones as the rain started again with tears streaming down my face! I find as I get older, I am slowly losing the ability to care what others think of me. It is very liberating.

A DIY approach

When I got home from my trip to Tomnaverie and I was thinking how I might visually respond to my experience, I took out my sketchbook and by chance opened the page where I had taken some notes when I was researching the Monica Sjoo material at the feminist archive at Bristol University. I had scribbled what Sjoo had written on one of her many screen-printed posters:

Listen to the words of the Great Mother
She says: whenever you have need to anything, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then ye shall assemble in some sacred place… to those I will teach things that are yet unknown AND YE SHALL BE FREE FROM SLAVERY… Keep pure you highest ideals; strive ever toward it. LET NAUGHT STOP YOU NOT TURN YOU ASIDE…
Mine is the cup of life
And the cauldron of Cerridwen...
I am the mother of all living, and my love is poured out upon the Earth…
I am the beauty of the Green Earth and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters,
And the DESIRE OF THE HEART OF WOMAN
Before my face, let thine inner most self be unfolded in the raptures of the infinite…
Know the mystery,
That if that which thou sleekest thou findest not within thee,
Thou will never find it without thee
FOR BEHOLD I HAVE BEEN WITH THE FROM THE BEGINNING… and I await thee now.

Courtesy of the feminist Archive South, Bristol University

To me this seemed synchronistic for obvious reasons – so I decided to respond by making a poster of my own. During my time at the archive in Bristol I came across several DIY screen-printed posters for many campaigns over the years which I feel are still relevant today. My poster is very much inspired by Sjöö’s illustrative style and based on the text she might have used to get her message across. It features myself at Tomnaverie, in the centre of the circle with my ancestors forming a chain above me, the recumbent stone and flankers to the left are illuminated by the full moon in Taurus. To my right is the Earth Mother, Goddess and Queen of Pentacles holding a coin with a pentagram. In the middle of the circle is a carved stone with spirals.