The Canna bullaun stone which was discovered by NTS farm manager Geraldine MacKinnon
Posted on 05/20/2012 12:25:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An ancient "cursing stone" used by Christian pilgrims more than a thousand years ago to bring harm to their enemies has been discovered on Canna.
The round stone with an early Christian cross engraved on it, also known as a "bullaun" stone, is believed to be the first of its type to be found in Scotland, and was discovered by chance in an old graveyard on the island.
More commonly found in Ireland, the stones were used by ancient Christian pilgrims, who would turn them either while praying or when laying a curse, and were often to be found on sacred pilgrim routes. Traditionally, the pilgrim would turn the stone clockwise, wearing a depression or hole in a bigger "socket" stone underneath.
The Canna stone is approximately 25cm in diameter and is marked with a clearly engraved early Christian cross...
...was found by NTS farm manager Geraldine MacKinnon in Canna's ancient graveyard. It was then discovered that the stone fitted into a larger stone located near the island's large sculptured Canna Cross.
Canna was known as an early Christian site and is believed to have been owned by the monastery of Iona as early as the seventh century...
There are a number of archaeological remains on the island dating from this period, including a series of highly decorated cross shafts and the hermitage site Sgor Nam Ban-Naomha, or Skerry of the Holy Women, a remote location hidden below steep cliffs which was discovered in 1994.
The island was gifted to the NTS in 1981 by Gaelic scholar John Lorne Campbell. As well as its rich cultural heritage, the island is renowned for its seabirds and boasts puffins, razorbills and Manx shear-waters. There is also a population of both sea eagles and golden eagles.
(Excerpt) Read more at scotsman.com ...
The Canna bullaun stone which was discovered by NTS farm manager Geraldine MacKinnon
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. |
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Civ:
What are Manx shear-waters??
(smart alec answer first, then tell me what they are).
Bon
I believe in the power of prayer, including imprecatory prayer, which I make every day against Obama and his minions and puppeteers.
“It’s bleedin’ sea bird flavor!”
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