Okay okay, you can dismiss energy woo woo if you like. But if you've ever been in an ancient landscape and felt a shiver go down the back of your neck or imagined ancestors from long ago walking across your field of vision like ghosts, then that's the vibe.
Dartmoor's an incredible place. I can't believe I haven't been there before, since it's only a couple of hours away from where we stay at Jamie's Mum's in Somerset. It's a vast moorland in Devon, famous for its windswept, rugged and wild landscapes. It covers an area of over 900 square kilometers, a designated National Park that showcases ancient woodlands, granite tors and wild open moorland dotted with sheep and wild ponies. IT's full of archaelogy such as the remains of old medieval roundhouses and settlements, prehistoric stone circles. People camp there, cycle, walk and ride horseback, and there's numerous bird species and animals and plants that take refuge there. I'll write about an ancient woodland in another post, because these stones deserve a post of their own.
We had parked in a carpark and I decided not to go up the hill to see them, but when Jamie came back raving he 'minded' the Land Rover so I could go and see myself. He had met the 'guardian of the stones' up on the field - a guy who'd been caretaking them for some forty years. The energy up there was really intense, Jamie said, and I absolutely had to feel it for myself.
There were two rows I walked down, one with this circle in the middle. They run east and west, and perhaps marked astrological events.
The double row is over 250 metres long and small upright stones that are spaced at regular intervals. The caretaker said people walk the row and when it gets muddy, the stones get displaced - he really wants to fence it, which would ruin the landscape but I could understand why. They're so ancient that perhaps they need better protection, dating back to to the Bronze Age, around 2500-1500 BCE.
The Merrivale stone row certainly provides insights into the rituals of the prehistoric communities that once inhabited Dartmoor and if you pay careful attention, it is possible to pick up on the energy of the place as the wind whistles all around and the rain begins to sweep through.
And if you can't feel it, perhaps you aren't paying enough attention.
With Love,
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