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Hag Stones

Swifty

doesn't negotiate with terriers
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
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There's a lot of stones on the beach near me that have holes through them that are big enough to string wire, larger string or even rope through, folklore also calls them witch stones although I've only ever used them as preferable/cooler looking replacements for pull cords in toilets ... I've got a few of them now ..

Different areas of Britain (and Egypt .. and Germany) have different folklore explanations about them ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adder_stone

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hag stones&biw=877&bih=415&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwiU4-OI8e7MAhXpKsAKHTiTD14Q_AUIBygC
 
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I used to collect them on Southsea beach :)
 
When I first left home as a teenager I had one hanging over my bed to prevent nightmares, as I'd read somewhere. Wasn't really superstitious but it looked nice. I later painted it silver and still have it somewhere.
The Mrs says that you can also wear them as a necklace (in Norfolk) to prevent bad luck ... the anti bad luck thing seems to be a folklore pattern with stones that have holes through them ..
 
Jennifer_menantol_600.jpg
Try hanging this one 'round your neck
 
I have lots of little hag stones! I started collecting them after I went through a period of intense nightmares, because the good dreams are supposed to fit through the hole, while the bad ones get stuck outside. I kept one under my pillow and sure enough it worked a treat. Now I have little collections of them around the house for good luck as apparently the luck works in the same way: good fits through the hole and bad gets stuck outside.
 
I too keep them around the house (and one on my desk at work - you can't be too careful!)
Also known as Odin stones in some parts, you are supposed to be able to see the fairy world through the hole.
According to some, you aren't supposed to actively look for them but if you find one you can take it o_O or you can be given them as a gift.
Seems like you can't keep a good bit of folklore down!
 
Jennifer_menantol_600.jpg
Try hanging this one 'round your neck

Bloody hell! .. and the biggest one I've got is about half the size of a football :eek: ...

All the ones I've found came from the beach near me, someone's since told me it's bad luck in folklore to take stones off of a beach, I've learned hag stones are said to be lucky so perhaps my stones can't make up their mind now what to do with me.
 
The Mên-an-Tol consists of three upright granite stones: a round stone with its middle holed out with two standing stones to each side, in front of and behind the hole. When seen at an angle from one side, the stones form a three-dimensional "101".

The two side stones are both about 1.2 metres high. The westernmost stone was moved and brought into a straight line with the other two stones sometime after 1815.[1] The holed stone is roughly octagonal in outline. It is 1.3 metres wide and 1.1 metres high; the circular hole is 0.5 m in diameter.[1] The only other holed stone in Cornwall of this type is the Tolven Holed Stone which can seen in a garden near Helston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mên-an-Tol


Thurlestone is a village five miles (8 km) west of Kingsbridge in the South Hams district in south Devon, England.
...
The village takes its name from Thurlestone Rock, the so-called "thirled stone", an arch-shaped rock formation just offshore in Thurlestone Bay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurlestone
 
The Mên-an-Tol consists of three upright granite stones: a round stone with its middle holed out with two standing stones to each side, in front of and behind the hole. When seen at an angle from one side, the stones form a three-dimensional "101".

The two side stones are both about 1.2 metres high. The westernmost stone was moved and brought into a straight line with the other two stones sometime after 1815.[1] The holed stone is roughly octagonal in outline. It is 1.3 metres wide and 1.1 metres high; the circular hole is 0.5 m in diameter.[1] The only other holed stone in Cornwall of this type is the Tolven Holed Stone which can seen in a garden near Helston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mên-an-Tol


Thurlestone is a village five miles (8 km) west of Kingsbridge in the South Hams district in south Devon, England.
...
The village takes its name from Thurlestone Rock, the so-called "thirled stone", an arch-shaped rock formation just offshore in Thurlestone Bay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurlestone

Cool link, thanks Rynner ..
 
Surprised no one has mentioned the traditional association of holed stones with fertility rituals.

Actually, I see that rynner's link mentions this. I just hope the lady above was prepared for the impact! :glee:
 
I get my nieces to look for them when we're on the Dorset coast - I use them as natural fishing weights :)

When I lived for a short time in NE England, a fossil stone found on the beaches up there with a hole through it was known as St Cuthbert's beads.
 
I get my nieces to look for them when we're on the Dorset coast - I use them as natural fishing weights :)

When I lived for a short time in NE England, a fossil stone found on the beaches up there with a hole through it was known as St Cuthbert's beads.
I did wonder if the local crab fisherman at my beach ever use them for the lobster pots .. I've got one that would be perfect for that, it's about as tall as the back of your hand, shaped like a perfect obelisk and with a neat hole through the top that would easily allow a sturdy rope through :) .. it looks like a large plum weight ..

edit .. I've never found a St Cuthbert's bead on our beach or seen one before, yours seem more spherical than hag stones but they're really interesting .. I'll have to research now on why some of them have star shaped holes .. thanks for sharing ..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s...X&ved=0ahUKEwjFkZKF1oPNAhVnC8AKHY4oC8EQsAQIIQ

..here we go .. I'd love one or two of these ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Cuthbert's_beads
 
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I did wonder if the local crab fisherman at my beach ever use them for the lobster pots .. I've got one that would be perfect for that, it's about as tall as the back of your hand, shaped like a perfect obelisk and with a neat hole through the top that would easily allow a sturdy rope through :) .. it looks like a large plum weight ..

I like going sea fishing more out of curiosity and a liking for a fresh fish dinner than the sporting angle, and would like to leave as few lumps of lead hanging around the sea bottom as I can - 'hag stones' are great for this:

One just has to take them home, weigh them, write the weight with a pencil on the stone, then return to the coast and proceed to lose them all back to the beach accompanied by a lot of swearing and no fish. You're welcome to try my default method of sea angling :D
 
It's nearly bedtime so here's a mellow hippy lady being profound to nice music with two special guest starring hag stones .. so put down that joint and watch this instead (then realise you've dropped the joint on the carpet and it's burned a small hole) :)

 
I like going sea fishing more out of curiosity and a liking for a fresh fish dinner than the sporting angle, and would like to leave as few lumps of lead hanging around the sea bottom as I can - 'hag stones' are great for this:

One just has to take them home, weigh them, write the weight with a pencil on the stone, then return to the coast and proceed to lose them all back to the beach accompanied by a lot of swearing and no fish. You're welcome to try my default method of sea angling :D
Excellent idea.
 
Weird .. the Mrs has just had a bit of an 'episode' in that she suddenly had trouble with her vision .. she suddenly saw a rippling prism, little triangles in the sea, the triangles started at the top and fizzled out .. she could only see this in the perimeter of her vision and only through her right eye. She became so distressed (and she's not a 'girly' girl) we had to close all of the curtains and she went to sit on the stairs. I wasn't sure what to do then I remembered the hag stones and a video I watched about looking through them. I gave her a stone and told her to focus only on the stone and then to switch to only focusing through the hole and to repeat the pattern .. it worked after about 30 seconds. Legend has it they're good for eye disease but a more obvious reason would be that to continuously shift focus exercises the eye muscles and breaks a pattern .. either way, attributed to magic or not, the ancients seem to know what they were talking about .. and yes, I will also be nagging her to go to her optician and doctor although these stones seem to be a good exercise tool for eyes :cool: .. I've just watched this method work although I expect you could use anything with a hole in it to achieve the same results.
 
That sounds like a migraine aura. They terrify me, but that's only because I might get a full blown migraine after the vision has settled.
Not had an aura for several years and a migraine for more than that. Touch wood.
 
Weird .. the Mrs has just had a bit of an 'episode' in that she suddenly had trouble with her vision .. she suddenly saw a rippling prism, little triangles in the sea, the triangles started at the top and fizzled out .. she could only see this in the perimeter of her vision and only through her right eye. She became so distressed (and she's not a 'girly' girl) we had to close all of the curtains and she went to sit on the stairs. I wasn't sure what to do then I remembered the hag stones and a video I watched about looking through them. I gave her a stone and told her to focus only on the stone and then to switch to only focusing through the hole and to repeat the pattern .. it worked after about 30 seconds. Legend has it they're good for eye disease but a more obvious reason would be that to continuously shift focus exercises the eye muscles and breaks a pattern .. either way, attributed to magic or not, the ancients seem to know what they were talking about .. and yes, I will also be nagging her to go to her optician and doctor although these stones seem to be a good exercise tool for eyes :cool: .. I've just watched this method work although I expect you could use anything with a hole in it to achieve the same results.
It may also be worth using eye drops or an eye bath to wash out her eyes. Maybe she has dust or grit in her eyes?
It's worth a try.
 
It may also be worth using eye drops or an eye bath to wash out her eyes. Maybe she has dust or grit in her eyes?
It's worth a try.
She already uses them, she gets dry eyes anyway so there's an ongoing problem her GP is aware of that comes and goes. X
 
That sounds like a migraine aura. They terrify me, but that's only because I might get a full blown migraine after the vision has settled.
Not had an aura for several years and a migraine for more than that. Touch wood.
I'll look into that, thanks Monstrosa. X
 
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