The stones of Avebury: image by Tim Bigger
Opinions were divided on the nature of the village stones.
Were they carried here by giants to be sculpted in an ancient competition; said competition abandoned before any had completed a sculpture?
Or were they beasts and beings, rejected and discarded when they failed the creator god’s inspection?
Or had the moderns the answer and the stones were the remnants of an ancient seabed, trundled here by the trek of glaciers?
71 words written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt
In truth, Avebury’s stones are Cloud Stones: creatures caught in the act of becoming… as any who look at that sky will realise 🙂
crispina kemp 
I had never heard the term ‘cloud stone’ before nor had I contemplated the possibility that there are beings caught in the process of becoming….. Hmmmm.. Maybe that’s where I fit in….
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Then you should visit The Pole That Threads (Book 3 of The Spinner’s Game) where such oddities are mentioned. In truth, their mention was inspired by my visit to Avebury back in 2005 before illness laid me low for many a year. And truly, they do look like beasts in becoming… as does many a cloud. And that photo I found so accurately depicts the typical cloud formations of the area… like stone-slabs. Cloud stones.
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I find the whole idea captivating. I shall have to ponder it… That is until I am on book three, then I will devour it…..
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I toyed with the idea of adding the reference to my end-note. But hauled back on it
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Well I am glad you clued me in….
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🙂
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It’s interesting that from what I can see anyways that all the stones look the same or very similar.
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Nah, they’re not. Unfortunately my own photos taken back in 2005 aren’t digital, I keep saying I’m going to get them properly scanned but… anyway, take it from someone who’s been there, there’s one that looks like it might become a bear, another more like a seal, there’s one that could be a mammoth… and so forth.
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A really interesting picture, but I don’t think folks have it right yet, even though those explanations almost make more sense.
Hard for us moderns, looking back at the primitive ancients, to understand how they could have had the brains &/or equipment to move huge stones and place them in such order. Guess it’s true now and ever has been: “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” 🙂
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Indeed. But my little piece is only fiction. Something that amused me to think when I visited the stones
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Though your piece is fiction, someone’s apt to offered similar over the centuries. There have been some such suggestions about places like Stonehenge, also space alien assistance. 🙂
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Yea, I know the various theories; it was my area of study for quite some time. I thank you for the interest.
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What a great and inspiring story!
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I thank you. It has long been with me, inspired by the site itself
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Interesting take cv on the prompt. The first option is the most suitable. 👌
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Certainly the most imaginative, I’d say
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Yes!
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It’s years since I was at Avebury. These days I live just a few miles from Castlerigg.
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Oh you lucky person. We have henges in Norfolk, but not stones. And not being stone, those henges are known only to the few. And are in no way spectacular.
My magnet seems to be south. I have yet to venture north. I know there’s so much waiting for me to northward, but the more the years pass he less inv=clined I am to make the long journey required
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Yes, I can sympathise.
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Thank 🙂
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What a wonderful take on the prompt, Crispina. Love the different possibilities of just what these stones are. Brilliant!
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Thanks, Dale. The imagination ran riot. 🙂
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You have such a wonderful one!
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Hey, look what I found hiding away. Another comment.
I thank you, Dale. 🙂
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LOL. My pleasure.
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No matter their origin or reason, those stones evoke a visceral response of awe and wonder. The photography you included has a nice sense of mystery with the gray clouds and light on the landscape. Where would we be if we had answers to everything. Wouldn’t we be bereft without the unknowable?
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It’s a landscape I feel in love with while still in my teens, and have frequently returned to. It’s a landscape that inspired certain scenes in The Spinner’s Game.
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I agree it is beautiful and mysterious. Is it near Glastonbury? I love that photo!
They say it was, or maybe still is, a place of religious ceremonies of some kind. Is that true?
Its a great response to the Prompt!
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There is a spring near by, overhung by a willow tree, and on that tree hangs ribbons by the hundreds, and photos, and various tokens. It was a delight to see. Yes, the Old Religion is still alive.
Is it near Glastonbury? By car, yes. On foot, not.
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Oh! Hmm Sounds interesting!
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It’s beautiful
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Love the idea of cloud stones Crispina – my favourite of your options. Such a great idea
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Thanks. I can’t really claim the term was invented by one of my characters (in The Pole That Threads), cos I suppose after all I created the character.
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Love that term – so fitting
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Thanks. I was in situ when I created it, like I was at Avebury
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I visited Stonehenge this January, there something beautiful and mysterious about these stones.
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Isn’t there, just. Magical. Last time I was there, we had a sudden downpour… and afterwards a rainbow. Now that was something always to remember
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Absolutely stunning.❤️
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🙂
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I wish I could see it. In my post “Innocent Eyes” I used a photo of a Willow Tree at the edge of a river.The actual tree, in reality, was a hundred years + Maple that we laid under while gazing at the clouds. Discovering all kinds of things.There’s something magic about a Willow.
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Alas, my photos are old fashioned prints, and I don’t have the wherewithal to scan
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Try this link
https://images.app.goo.gl/4KJJpVHBorKJYofz7
otherwise google images, swallowhead spring
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Those images are sad in a way I can’t explain. Almost haunting. Yet somehow hopeful. The Willow surely looks like it’s weeping in some of the photos. Maybe it was the time of year I was seeing in some of them. The decorations look like offerings to the Willow. Hopes for the future. I’ll have to read more. Thank you for the link.
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Pleasure. It is haunting. The image from that day remains ever with me. All the ribbons, everything, were to accompany prayers for healing, for someone’s life, for an afterlife, for whatever people prayer for… but not addressed to a Christian or Judaic god, but the Mother Goddess.
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I can understand how it would remain deep in your heart. Your words are very touching. Right now I want to hug you. 💜😌
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🙂
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🙂🌼
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I made a comment with a silly supposition, but it was enormous and nonsensical, so I backpedaled. 🙂
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Ah, and you’re going to keep the silly supposition, enormous and nonsensical, to yourself? Well, that’s fitting for the setting.
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Yeah because it was too silly!
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I can go with that 🙂
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