Jack had mentioned Thomas was a brilliant interviewer. Jack uses that word a lot. Brilliant. In this case daunting might have been more accurate. The interview with Thomas about my book was lasting much longer than I had anticipated. Not a problem. But I kept waiting for ‘the’ question to drop. Something provocative and perhaps provoking. And it did.

We were well into the subject of magic, a favorite topic for Thomas I discovered, near the end of the interview when he brought up the subject of the stones. I sensed ‘the’ question approaching. The massive stones at Newgrange and Knowth, 550 at Newgrange alone and each weighing well over one ton, have long raised speculation about how they were moved into place. The site’s interpretive center suggests the stones were rolled over logs. Some have suggested they were floated down rivers or along the coast on rafts. But Thomas mentioned the idea of linking with the unique molecular structure of the stones, toning or chanting with that structure, and basically levitating the stones. Well. It’s been my personal preferred answer but I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to go public with it. Ah…but I did. And clearly Thomas agreed.

When we visited Knowth and Newgrange just days later, I was interested to hear the guide at Knowth mention that, due to the vast expanse and complexity of these megalithic structures, clearly the ancient people who constructed them over 4,000 years ago were somewhat sophisticated and perhaps not as primitive as we might think. I was impressed with this comment because the standard issue guide speeches don’t always include this. But then she went on to completely contradict what she had just said.

(Above photos: kerbstone at Knowth and central chamber at Newgrange)

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com