Mên-an-Tol - Cornish standing stones
Between St Ives and Land's End in west Cornwall is a small group of standing stones - one of which has a mysterious hole in it.
The Mên-an-Tol is a small formation of standing stones in Cornwall about three miles northwest of Madron. It is also known locally as the "Crick Stone"
The stones are thought to date to the Bronze Age, thereby making it around 3,500 years old, though evidence for this is scant. The Mên-an-Tol consists of four stones, the most memorable being the circular and pierced upright stone. The site may have been associated with as chambered tomb at one time, as holed stones have been found at such tombs before.
As is often the case with pierced stones, legend has it that beneficent magic occurs if anyone passes through the stone. Children could be cured of tuberculosis and rickets by being passed through naked three times, and adults could crawl through nine times to cure themselves of rheumatism.
With its obvious feminine symbolism, the holed stone was also believed to aid fertility and its powers were sought by barren women, pregnant women seeking easy childbirth and farmers seeking bountiful crops.
Further reading
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