You're happiness has made my day Nat. Recently a friend tried to call me from the Tor but couldn't get a signal, instead the message was written on a little piece of paper and cast to the wind - there are still different ways to say hello (and may you return safely home to Somerset soon :-)

But how sad that anyone should puncture their thoughts on the Egg Stone - what are they trying to do? make a politico/religious declaration of the 'I woz here' kind - how pathetic in the truest sense of the word.

The Egg Stone is a new one on me and something to check out next time I'm there. Nothing more I can add I'm afraid except that there's a legend of a circle once being on top of the Tor before the church was built there - perhaps the Egg Stone is all that remains of it.

Here's THE Glastonbury Egg Stone:

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/14509

"It is possible that the central Omphalos of Glastonbury, utilised by the Normans for the crossing of the great church, was marked by a stone cross in Saxon times, possibly by a megalith or egg-stone in pagan times. This place may have been considered too holy to be covered by a building, perhaps earlier revered as a powerful pagan cult centre. In the 1912 excavations an egg-stone was discovered. Roughly egg-shaped, the huge boulder measured 3ft x 2ft x 1ft 4in. One side of the egg-stone was artificially flattened and bore a cavity, perhaps a socket for a cross-shaft. In Bligh Bond's writings he mentions an unnamed friend who remarked "...that such a cult-stone must necessarily have existed at any place bearing the name of Avalon". The stone was carved with small circular holes, parallel grooves, convergent grooves like star points, grooves with X-shaped intersections, chisel marks and "other incised marks of peculiar shape". Being found in the bank by the east alley of the cloister it was not far from the Omphalos, and it had obviously been shifted about. Possibly this stone originally marked the actual Omphalos, and subsequently, on christianisation, had a cross erected in a socket prepared for the purpose."

http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/history/h-abbypenn.html

I can only find one possible reference to Nat's egg stone:

"On our first day, we walked into the centre of the Glastonbury Tor Labyrinth, the 7 levels of which correspond to different energies, elements and charkas. I particularly enjoyed level 1 and Banbha's earth energy, and feeling the wind on level 4. We repeated a mantra as we walked, or prayed in our own way (I sang silently to myself), and really felt different as the journey continued. It was strange and somehow familiar, to be going up and down, in and out, all at the same time. In the center, we got to a clump of thorn and elder trees, where between the roots, nestles an egg stone, a boulder, a gate to the underworld, and one of the gateways into Avalon. We prayed and left our offerings here, and returned to the Challice Well gardens, all of us feeling tired, excited and subdued at the same time."

http://www.kathyjones.co.uk/retreat_review.html

glad you enjoyed the day,,,was born within the shadow of the Tor...ok, then, Butleigh Hospital really,...will bear this in mind next time we all climb the hill

it truly is a special place

love to you & yours....

would love to see any pictures of the Swastika carvings. How intriguing!

mike

> To be honest with you I've had such an amazingly wonderful day today in the sunshine with fab company you could tell me an Ostrich had laid it last Tuesday and I'd probably still smile and go 'OK' :o)

I want to come home to Somerset..... xxxxxxx

(I am sooooooooo flippin happy... sorry!!) <

Lock the Thread on that lovely note Nat.

What started out as a lovely posting about a fantastic day with a fantastic find (for me) has now turned into something it wasn't supposed too.

Take it elsewhere fellas please, if you have to do it on a Julian Cope Related web forum why not stick your lively banter on HH, least then we can get on to talking about important things.. ;o)

I don't often post on here as I'm not as 'worldly stonely wise' as a large majority of TMA posters and for once on Saturday I saw something that was of fantastic interest to me and I could connect and talk to people on here and gain further information on this stone, now the topic has been turned into this... tut.. I don't know eh!

Take it outside boys will ya!

Nat xx