I walked down there, and immediately felt the land say "yes"!. Glancing around, my eyes rested upon a pile of cut up red pine chunks, from a tree that had fallen over into our back yard the first winter we lived here. The chunks had nice, flat tops – perfect for quarter altars.

On March 25, I pulled up the stakes and carried them down to this site by the creek. I laid out a new circle, plunked down a few red pine sections, and realized how much better this site felt.

The Plan

The stone circle should be like the labyrinth - low maintenance. Able to be mowed, with mulch around the rocks too large to move out of the way to mow the grass. The pine stumps also can be moved to mow beneath them. A few bushes, vegetables,and flowers would be planted creating a garden flowing around the circle. I would choose rocks that I could either move by hand, or drag with my lawn tractor and a chain. I wanted my hands to be the only ones to create this sacred space.

Stones

Everything has consciousness, and it is impolite to simply move things from their home to another location without asking. I had learned this lesson from stones many years ago. So before I moved any rock, I asked if it would like to join the circle, and only took those who said yes. The rocks who agreed seemed to release themselves easily from the earth. Any rock that was reluctant seemed to hold fast to where it was. I gathered the rocks I had seen in the late winter, using a wheel barrow for some, and the tractor and chain for others, to transport them to the site.

A lovely red flecked boulder volunteer called me to get her from the bank behind the fairy glen, and a rock from the lily garden asked to join as well. Last year I had dug out a huge, crown-shaped rock, and carefully "walked" it across the lawn and into the brush, intending to use it for a memorial. It has now been "walked back" and is on the left hand side of the entrance to the circle. On the right of the entrance is a long rectangular stone, with a rounded top, and some fossil markings, that asked to be set on end, as a "standing stone".

Two years ago we had excavation done to repair footer drains by the house, and this unearthed a wonderful egg-shaped rock that I had made part of a very small medicine wheel. She has now been rolled down the hill to join the stone circle.

Other stones have emerged from the creek to join us - a smaller red one and another standing stone. I decided against trying to move the two really large stones in the fairy glen, preferring to let them stay in their spot. My intuition is that there are more than enough rocks that I can handle on my own, or with the help of my garden tractor and a chain. I do not need to unearth ones that have plainly indicated they are happy where they are. To try to tdig them out and yank them across the lawn makes no sense. Moving rocks needs to be a gentle process, and I am not taking any stone that resists.

Heart stone

There is a flat stone in the center, mirroring the heart stone in the center of the labyrinth. I was lead to find the stone one day, by a strong inkling to cross the creek. I thought I was going to find a stone on the property across the creek that wanted to join the circle. Instead, as I prowled through the brush, I noticed a flat rock lying on the lip of the land back across the creek, back on the side I came from. But it was obscured by the weeds because it was in the section that we leave wild, so I had not seen it. I had to cross the creek and look back in order to find the heart stone!

I made my way back across the water, and through the remnants of last year's weeds and wild flowers, until I found the rock. Yes indeed, it did want to be part of the circle, and now resides at the center. I dug down and placed the stone so it lays flat. It is the perfect stone to stand upon at the center, to look in every direction, and really feel at the "heart" of the circle. So my heart stone found me!

There is a creek to the left, and to the right the land slopes upward to a screen of pines and hedgerow, and the yard behind my house. When we bought the place, there was a stagnant pond on this part of the property. We had it removed and the flow of the creek restored two years ago. So this circle sits on reclaimed land and is a favorite place for bunnies to graze. Deer and turkey cross the land from the creekside every day. Picture taken from behind the fire pit in the "fairy glen". The entrance to the circle faces us, and is between the large stone on the left and the smaller upright stone on the right. Close-up views of the stones, plantings, and special touches within the circle are on the next page.