The Stone Circles | Their History, and Importance Today

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The Wisdom of Odin is a vlog of my journey through Norse Paganism, a way to assist others along their journey, and a place to promote a positive image for all of paganism.
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[@elvacoburg1279]

I am lucky enough to live in England, and not only that but I am a mere 20 miles from the Avebury stone circle. For the last two years I have cycled out to Avebury on mid-summer's day to leave an offering at the stones. With the act of cycling the 40 mile round trip, rather than using the car, being part of the ritual. I have also visited an number of other stone circles though out the United Kingdom. They vary considerably in size and preservation, with some being near enough intact, while others there are just a scattering of stones barely poking out of the grass. At some of these stones I have felt a definite presence. Though I have found that these feelings do not appear to be related to the intactness of the circle. I have been to some that are near enough intact and felt nothing, while at others where just a handful of stones remain, barely poking through the grass, I have felt that there is a presence. I have found that those where I feel little or nothing, tend to be the ones that are now more "tourist" attractions, with large crowds, people climbing on the stones, so it could be due to all the distractions.

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

Awesome video brother! The many Stone Circles and Runestones are amazing and fascinating, can't wait to make my own Stone Circle when I get some apt land.

[@brigantiablackbird]

Nothing beats a good stone circle! On my husband's family farm, I hope to create a stone circle of my own for worship. Granted--the stones I end up using will probably be smaller! 🤣 But still--the farm has tons of rock in the soil, and using those stones to create a special space just feels right.

[@MattyRlufc]

It doesn't matter - the stones are billions of years old. All stone circles were new once

[@kathyastrom1315]

In my first trip abroad, we ended our visit to Great Britain with three days in Orkney, and it was my favorite region of the trip. There are two famous stone circles there-the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. The first is just a few stones, but they are massive, and the site has been excavated and it is believed it might have originated as a home with a central hearth. The latter is the second-largest in Britain, only surpassed by Avebury. That one is amazing to walk around. They are both now seen to be parts of the gathering of important constructions within a few miles in the center of the main island, separated by the probable temple complex at the Ness of Brodgar. Another site in walking distance is the chambered tomb of Maeshowe, which is now thought to have originated as a stone circle with four standing stones in the center. The stones in the circle were removed when the tomb was constructed, but the ones in the center are still at the heart of the tomb.

[@TheJoan48]

I study megalithic videos and I’ve seen narrators mention the stones matching the mountains behind them on other sites. Some look like figures of people. Nice video!

[@alanjones7406]

Love your utube channel. I'm now a devoted pagan. Alan England

[@hazelmartin7911]

I always think about how lucky I am to be able to experience stones and wilderness in Ohio and Kentucky. You can feel the significance of these places. It's special here. Wisconsin is pretty great too.

[@Ash-hl2mr]

Old rocks covered in moss is one my favorite things ever.

[@cherubragi]

I love how we look at rocks like children look at candy or entrepreneurs look at money. This way of life, valuing rocks and the like is the best way of life I've ever been a part of. Thank you for the vid Jacob, excellent stuff.

[@byronbreese3454]

Enjoying your videos. One thing to keep in mind is that prior to Christianity, there was no sense or doctrine of separation between the sacred and secular, sacred and profane. A stone circle could have served both purposes of a gathering place (a moot) for both and simultaneous marketing and ceremony. Ancient peoples needed known and safe gathering places to do all the things that people need to do.

[@jasoncox7257]

Marvellous. Was just at Castlerigg, then Long Meg and Mayburgh Henge about 3 weeks ago I've been drawn to the stones for over 40 years now and I live in England. Love being at these places and finding ones new to me. I believe they are magickal places with varying degrees and qualities of energy, earth energy. I feel they are ancestors. A good amount of quartz is nearly always present in the stones. Quartz can store energy and energy is information. Amazing places.

[@theboldlife]

there’s a farmer down the road who has a rock circle in their front yard and I’ve always wondered if they were more than decorative.

[@MattyRlufc]

I live on the edge of Rombalds Moor, which is located in Yorkshire, England and is the second largest collection of neolithic stones in the world. Famous stones are the "swastika stone" which may be up to 4,800 years old (though probably closer to 2,000 years), the apostle stones (4,500-2,700 years), and others. It's a good place to connect with the ancestors

[@MattyRlufc]

*shouldn't need to be said but the swastika stone has nothing to do with Nazis - it predates them by about 4,000 years

[@alexthompson1296]

I love unhinged jacob

[@MarytheBad]

Archeology sure is neat, and you look the part too! Can't wait until we build our own stone circles, but I'm sure those ancient ones have many tales to tell

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

*agrees in stone and mud language*

[@johannawittenberg6479]

Loved your tours of Dunadd and Kilmartin Glen

[@gard5jason]

Woo hoo! I will keep you posted on the construction of the stone circle on my place!

[@robinfenn376]

Love your work Kind Sir🙏

[@elliotharrison2651]

Stone circles are usually built on top of barrows, have a look at longbarrows and longhouses and the way they're cultural offsprings of the same type of culture. We still use stone circles today as meeting places/marketplaces. I was at nine ladies the other day doing just that. Building new ones won't ever be the same as visiting ones that are 1000s of years old x

[@karlhubberstey3043]

I live 10 minutes away from Kilmartin glen, my favorite place there is called Temple woods. You can feel the power of the stones that are there, definitely worth a visit if you’re ever up this way again

[@Luke_explores]

i think you would like the stone quarry in west woods in wiltshire near avebury, the source of the big sarsen stones that stonehenge was built out of. its quite a sight to behold, its a steep valley full of pits most empty but some still have huge stones still inside them and some stones halfdragged out but left because they broke while trying to extract them. i would love to see a video of you exploring it

[@suebrooks1904]

Really enjoyed your video, . I was lucky enough to assist in a ceremony at Avebury , absolutely magical

[@jackietripp1716]

This Video Rocks! 🥸🦉🎃

[@openmindedwonderer]

This is an amazing video. I have that book and it’s brilliant. I live close to Avebury stone circle and search for lost stone circle and monuments in the uk. I did try and find that serpent mound in Scotland that you mention but couldn’t find it but that not so easy when your solo traveler. So glad I found your channel 👍🏻🤩

[@swtIndira]

I so got scared he was going to slide all the way down. Amazing video!

[@talscrystaljourney4599]

Loved this video....stones circles are amazing and fascinating... I imagine listening to the stories this stones has to tell us, as they are so ancient... The Shamans in Peru use the stone alters from all over the world and use their energy to send healing to other people and to mother earth. I live in Israel and we have a very interesting and ancient stone circle called 'Rujum el-Hiri' that was probably used for ceremonial purposes 🙏

[@KokowaSarunoKuniDesu]

Almost all the Stone Circles and Henge Monuments have Solar Midsummer/Midwinter alignments, and some have Lunar alignments. These were outdoor societies, for very much of the long span of our history. Yet I see very few videos that pay their respects and speculations at night, when the alignments reveal their meaning.

[@sweetloveelmo]

Blessings.

[@lilykatmoon4508]

I think our modern worldview seeks to classify the behaviors of our ancestors according to our ideas. For example, when you’re talking about whether a sight was used as a moot (meeting hill/market) or a religious site. However, I believe that our pagan ancestors did not see these aspects of our life as separate. As animists, they’d perform ritual, spiritual, community, and economic functions in a sacred area to perhaps sanctify the activities performed in those bounds. It’s just a thought, but I imagine spirituality, magick, and the mundane were very much intertwined

[@carakinkel3140]

You might be interested to learn about Ley lines, and the earths electromagnetic field, and the lines of energy that run across the Earth. Some believe that stone monuments, like Stonehenge, even the pyramids of Giza, the Aztec Maya, and an Incan pyramids that they are in alignment with specific bands of energy that run across the surface of the Earth. And I’ve even heard ideas around, these monuments being almost like Acupuncture harnessing and releasing energy in a vortex.

[@xtramail4909]

The wheel. The ancient sun cross. Predating the abrahamic religions, and ancient Egypt. Also found in North America with the medicine wheel.

[@interactivewrld1995]

I definitely see the rocks matching the background and if they are over 5k years old it would make sense parts wouldn’t match as time went

[@aqivgaqm5025]

There’s lots of those kind of rocks where I live in Alaska. 😊

[@philwoodward6736]

I am lucky to live in Gloucestershire UK and have a wealth of local ancient sites in the surrounding area, local pagans have always used them for ritual and ceremony whether for personal or group ceremony.

[@carakinkel3140]

You might love the Hill of Tara in County Meath Ireland 😉

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

Its on the list!

[@Carl-xn9ri]

🔥

[@TheWitchInTheWoods]

I didn't know there was a serpent mound at Kilmartin Glen!, undoubtedly has been a sacred place for thousands of years though. There is something about the spirits of Scotland.. they are stronger! Could be that the Romans never got there! Castlerigg is beautiful, but better when there aren't bus loads of tourists about. Go at night and look up into the stars, so many stars!!!

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

The Serpent mound is just outside of Oban. There is a map marker on google maps, but like I said its hard to get to

[@nightangel486]

*puts on tinfoil hat* we use crystals in our modern computers and technology. They are capable of storing energy and information. Even if not done deliberately I believe these old stones hold a lot of memories.

[@dominikrozman5588]

You should visit Ales Stenar in Sweden, it is magical.

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

Sweden is on my list if I travel back to Europe again!

[@metalcatmom5891]

Hey everyone! I am fortunate to have recently become the steward (current owner) of a lovely .51 acre parcel of land with a lovely house and 4 amazing mature trees among other things. Thoughts about building a small circle for my solitary practice? At some point my grandparents collected LOTS of river rocks and my brother who now owns their property, would like for many of the rocks to find another home. I could possibly use those. My understanding is that it is now illegal to remove rocks from the site they came from (which is a good thing). Any suggestions or resources I should consider? Is this even a good idea?

[@talismanskulls2857]

The thing is most those stone strictures were created before those called Celts had arrived in places like Ireland or Scotland or England. Also, from Real Archeology and not left over romanticized nonsense of the Victorian era, no one has any solid or clear all encompassing full detail behind the reason, purpose or all the usages of such objects as not all are aligned with seasonal markers, not all mark off burial spots, not all have any indication of ritual seasonal markers and burial grounds, and some may simply have been raised movements dedicated to some event lost in time with the loss of old culture, just like not all artificial mounds were tombs, religious centers and likely served as foundations for hill forts, etc. Some also were also dropped by old glaciers and often mistaken as human constructed. Just look at still more or less stone age cultures that still create large circular areas for their huts. Some have boundary stones and some marking paths to find their way back especially where the vegetation is thick and grows rapidly. The look at the geology of those sites again and what the environment was actually like from traces of ancient seeds and whatnot and it starts becoming more apparently and less outlandish. Also, refering to all pre-Christian anything as Pagan is a false identifier, Nor did it or does it mean :country dweller. It comes from Pagus which split into Pagan and Page and means literally bound one. In the sense of a servant bound in servitude and it s a Roman Latin term (slave in other words). Using it out of "habit " isn't an intelligent or reasonable argument and its meaning does no t change just because you cannot accept its actual meaning. Calling yourself one because some nutter put in the false definition and it was never changed back to its actual meaning as I presented here is also no justification to "identify yourself" as such and then claim its somehow remotely linked to these ancient roots is outright deceit of self and others. And FYI, Celtic isn't some extinct thing in the past and is in fact more Christian than anything else, hence the "Celtic Church."

[@mikeblei6870]

Nice vista's in the UK

[@jamesetal7088]

I built a 38 foot stone circle, consisting of nine stones, after visiting Avebury. Im average height and some of the stone come up to about my chin.

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

That's awesome!

[@fannymaresu3111]

When you say Cairn, I hear Karen... that's awful ! 🤣🙉🤣

[@bjornhjorvardssen2336]

I come here and got absolutely stoned by the wonder of these cairns

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

I see what you did there!

[@bjornhjorvardssen2336]

@@TheWisdomOfOdin rather funny schist isn't it?

[@sharynhughes1061]

WOW!!! Sounds like a Secret Hiding Place for a Handful off people..

[@kellylouisebrown4954]

Hi my name is Dan and I feel that as a UK citizen and a true pagan of actual norse descent that you really need to be educated further in such matters as the ancient stone circles specifically in the uk the one in keswick is actually alot older than the 1800s as is stonehenge and the Danes and indeed the norse they built cairns which were burial mounds and as such should never be disturbed by anyone so please have a little respect for the ancestors thank you just to let you know that stonehenge actually pre dates the roman invasion of the uk

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

I don't think you actually listened to what I said at all lol

[@kellylouisebrown4954]

About his intelligence no man should be boastful rather cautious of mind when a wise and silent man comes to a homestead blame seldom falls the wary for no more dependable friend can a man ever get than a store of common sense ( sayings of the havi )

[@kellylouisebrown4954]

@@TheWisdomOfOdin hi Dan here yes I did listen to your video and I did find it highly entertaining but in no way instructional or educational please bear in mind that for most people that are actually born in the uk that the stone circles and indeed the cairns are actually a part of their heritage not of any religion or otherwise but said places are protected by law

[@VoodooViking]

If these stones could talk.

[@vaknama]

Does the type of rock matter or will any big old boulder do?

[@TheWisdomOfOdin]

Whatever stones exist in your local area is fine. It appears that a special interest was placed in stones with quarts crystal in them. But it was not in every site

[@user-vn4zo6rc1x]

They are for calculating atonement, mental Olympics

[@VoodooViking]

Wouldnt it be something if it was just what people did when they were bored. Not really any reason behind any of it. Lol