In my search for something to share for this week’s challenge, I came across a sacred site I had never heard of. I’m not surprised by this because it’s a site in Cornwall and not Ireland, which is my main focus, but I thought it would be nice to learn about this place and share what I found!
I opened my Celtic Mythology and Folklore Encyclopedia to the index in search of the word “stone” because…well… “rock” didn’t seem quite right. One of the pages led me to the entry for Mên-an-Tol!
Cornish mythological site. Near the village of Lanyon in Cornwall, a megatlithic monument was famous for curing childhood ailments as well as spinal deformities. The huge round boulder with a hole in its center was the site of a ritual in which the afflicted were pulled through the stone, naked, and then rolled on the grass THREE (or three times three) times. The stone can also be used by the hale and healthy for DIVINATION, for if one put two brass PINS on the rock and asked a question, the dancing pins would tell the answer.
I am a sucker for megaliths and stone monuments, so learning about Mên-an-Tol led me down a rabbit hole of information. It turns out this is a place you can still visit today!
Location
The Mên-an-Tol is near the Madron to Morvah road in Cornwall, England, UK. It is apparently also close to two other important stone structures - the Mên Scryfa, an inscribed standing stone about 300 meters to the North, and the Boskednan stone circle which is less than a kilometer to the northeast.
The Stones
The Mên-an-Tol is not just one stone - it is three stones that stand upright! They are made of granite and one stone has a large hole through the middle. This round stone with a hole stands in the middle of the other two stones, both standing upright and looks like a “101” when viewed from a certain angle.
According to Wikipedia, there are other stones nearby: one standing stone and six recumbent stones, some of which are buried. It is thought that this site of standing stones dates back to the Neolithic or Bronze Age. It may even be that the hole in the middle stone is naturally occurring rather than man-made! If that is the case, that is one large hagstone!.
The site was first archaeologically investigated in 1749 by someone named William Borlase. The plan he drew up shows that the stones were not originally in a line like they are today. Instead, they were at an angle. This person also stated that some of the stones may have been removed by farmers in the area, further pointing to the Mên-an-Tol being part of a larger stone circle.
Myths and Folklore
Not much is written in my encyclopedia about the myths and folklore of the stone. It only says that the stone was used for divination and healing.
In The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, the author states that the Mên-an-Tol may have an Otherworldly guardian meant to protect the standing stones.
At the Men-an-Tol there is supposed to be a guardian fairy or pixy who can make miraculous cures. And my mother knew of an actual case in which a changeling was put through the stone in order to get the real child back. It seems that evil pixies changed children, and that the pixy at the Men-an-Tol being good, could, in opposition, undo their work.
[image from Cornwall Guide]
I am not surprised by this information because Cornwall, as with the rest of the Celtic countries, is steeped in legends and folklore about fairies, pixies, and otherworldly beings. If the Mên-an-Tol is an important sacred site, it only makes sense that there would be a guardian.
There is also a notation in the book, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, that states there was speculation that the holed stone could be part of a sun-cult, a sun calendar, or part of pagan initiatory rights.
A curious holed stone standing between two low menhirs on the moors beyond the Lanyon Dolmen, near Madron; but in Borlase’s time (Cf. his Antiquities of Cornwall , ed. 1769, p. 577) the three stones were not as now in a direct line. The Men-an-Tol has aroused much speculation among archaeologists as to its probable use or meaning. No doubt it was astronomical and religious in its significance; and it may have been a calendar stone with which ancient priests took sun observations (cf. Sir Norman Lockyer, Stonehenge and Other Stone Monuments ); or it may have been otherwise related to a sun cult, or to some pagan initiatory rites.
There are also claims of a local legend regarding women walking through the hole backward. This legend states that if a woman passes through the hole backward nine times, she would then fall pregnant the next year.
One person on The Megalithic Portal wrote that even today people will pass through the hole in an effort to relieve themselves of some sort of physical ailment.
Adults with rheumatism or back pain still crawl through the holed stone of Men-an-Tol, nine times anti-clockwise, in an attempt to relieve themselves from the pain.
[image from The Megalithic Portal]
There is something ironic to me about there being cows at a megalith site of standing stones in a Celtic country. Historically, cows and cattle were a large part of the wealth system in Celtic nations. They were, and still are, also heavily associated with the Otherworld!
My Thoughts
I have always been fascinated by ancient stories that involve standing stones. I have said in the past that if I could travel back in time and see the original creation and use of Stonehenge then I would in a heartbeat! I feel the same about Newgrange, though that is a mound and not standing stones – I guess I should say European Megaliths rather than standing stones… anyway, I feel the same way about The Men-an-Tol. Though I am not sure if I have ancestors from Cornwall, I do know I have ancestors from all over Europe and Ireland, I am adding this to the list of places I would absolutely love to visit and see in person!
This is my challenge entry for 
Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Rock Magick.
If you ever get a chance to go you’ll have to share it with us!
I’m not sure we’ll ever make it over there but a girl can dream 
they look so interesting!
I’d be worried about where (or when!) you come out on the other side! 
