15 October 2019

Hags

Recently, I showed visitors some holey stones that I had found on the North Yorkshire coast between Whitby and Sandsend. Helpfully, Lily Cedar from Canada informed us that such stones are sometimes called hags or hag stones. She herself had gathered a few when visiting Winchelsea on England's south coast. I must admit that I was previously unaware of  the term.
Further research told me that they may also be called adder stones. It seems that stones with holes in were much prized by ancient cultures and were often endowed with mystical qualities. For example, they might be used to ward off evil spirits.

The "Magick" website says this: "Hag Stones can be any type of stone as long as they possess a natural hole through it and if in your possession, should be considered a sacred object."

The website goes on to claim: "Hag stones are said to have many uses. They have been used by witches worldwide for centuries in both rituals and spell work. They also have been used, ironically, as a toll to counteract a witch’s magic. Legend has it that they can be used to ward off the dead, curses, sickness and nightmares."

The hag stones shown in the photographs that accompany this blogpost were found on Orford Ness in Suffolk last year as Shirley and I walked south of the old lighthouse.

As I recall it was a very happy day. The sun shone and the brambles we picked while walking  on the ness were ripe and sweet. I even wrote a song that was inspired by that strange place and the nearby village of Orford. Some of you may remember it but if not, here's a link back.

I don't believe in ghosts or evil spirits or magic spells or curses so the hag stones I collected on Orford Ness  are just souvenirs of that place  and they remind me that one stormy day in the not too distant future Orford Lighthouse will collapse into The North Sea  and will then enter the realm of memory.

28 comments:

  1. Since these stones must be very old , they've had time for all kinds of folklore to grow around them.

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    1. I guess that some of your neighbours say the same about you Red. (Sorry!)

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    2. ... and me also a fair amount of fungus!

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  2. Not a believer in magic, etc., either. I just think they're cool :)

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    1. They speak of erosion and the endlessness of tides.

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  3. I'm always interested in how earlier peoples explained natural phenomenon. When we look at the sky at night, we know that the lights we see are stars, but what if we didn't? What stories would we make up? Or how would we explain a tsunami or a volcano?

    I would like to have magical powers. Perhaps I need to find myself a hag stone:)

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    1. Perhaps they thought that the night sky was a big black wall with tiny holes in it through which glorious light shone from the heavenly place behind it.

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  4. I've never seen or heard of anything like it....I'm wondering if it happens in this part of the world. fascinating stuff

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    1. I wonder how coastal Australian aboriginals viewed holey stones. Perhaps we will never know.

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  5. "Hung on the bedpost, a hag stone is believed to prevent a hag from riding one's chest and causing a Nightmare."

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    1. Christ! I had better get one on our bedpost. I'm not sure what Shirley will think about that!

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  6. I guess some could say I am a hag these days...but not a stoned hag!!!

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    1. You are still the young lassie from Gympie. She never went away.

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  7. Those stones are amazing to me. It is easy to see how people in the past developed superstitions about them. I think nature can be even more magical than magic itself! (at least until we destroy it all)

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    1. I agree that Nature can be more magical than magic. Well said Bonnie.

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  8. This is fascinating. I have a little box of "altar stones" from my birth mother (she died before I could find out who she was) and it contains a few of these hag stones.

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    1. Thanks for calling by Kristi. I am pleased that you connected with the stones.

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  9. I love stones and often pick them up on my travels but I have never found any with holes in them like you are showing. They are quite fascinating.

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    1. I guess that The Maoris picked them all up before the Europeans arrived.

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  10. I agree with Bonnie; nature is magical enough for me. The stones you have collected are beautiful and now work their magic as souvenirs, triggering happy memories of a great day every time you look at them.

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    1. Yes...that is a kind of magic too isn't it?

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  11. "I don't believe in ghosts or evil spirits or magic spells or curses"
    Well, you would say that, wouldn't you?

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    1. I have no idea what you mean.

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    2. It's what witches, wizards and those of magic powers always say. What do you really use use them for?

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    3. I chuck 'em at ne'er-do-wells, Leeds United supporters and Tories.

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  12. Even if you don't believe in all the mumbo jumbo, they are a good insurance policy just in case!!

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    1. I've already got a Buddha up the garden. I gave him some conkers as an offering the other day.

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  13. I've never heard them called hag stones. That's interesting! I HAD heard of the supernatural connection, however.

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