I was just reading through some of my old posts there. I had such a hard time identifying that jasper and now I see it all over the place. Today's topic is hagstones, and the only examples I have at the moment are jasper hagstones. I wanted to create a page for these, to go along with the legend.
Recent movies and TV shows have made hagstones unerringly popular as part of the pagan/witch culture. Legend has it that you can see the fae, or fairies, through these special stones. Of course, there is a geological explanation that I'm not nearly skilled enough to define. Let's start with the basics first... What's a hagstone and why do you want one?
What is a Hagstone, Anyway?
Put simply, a hagstone is any stone with a hole bored into it. It can't be a man-made hole and has to be all-natural for it to be counted. They are much rarer than normal stones and were historically prized since they were easiest to polish and stick a lace through to make jewellery. It's feasible that the legends surrounding them grew from those who sold such necklaces as a way to make them sell. What we know for certain is that crofters in Scotland would often sell found crystals and stones to make extra income.
How Are The Hagstones Made (Really)?
If you are under ten years old, they are made by fairies. They want to let little children have a glimpse into thier world without having to take them away forever... because fairies are nice like that.
If you are an adult? There are two ways. One is by tiny stones caught in a tiny whirlpool. With a repetitive current and a few years' time, the tiny pebble will wear away the mountain...or the slightly bigger stone, in this case. There is also a type of clam which burrows into the stone and weakens a spot, allowing the water to wash through. Either way, the holing of a stone takes a lifetime, and that's what makes them special.
The ones I have provided photos of in this post are even more special because they are inside jasper. They are the only two examples I have come across yet in three years of looking at rocks.
Nicknames and Legends About Hagstones
So... A Hagstone is called a Serpent's Stone, an Adder's Stone, and multiple variations of these names. Ancient Germanic folklore has it that they were made from serpent's poison/bile/saliva, or that they are serpents themselves. The ouroboros is symbolised in connection with them, and they were used in areas along the coast of the Baltic Sea to ward off evil.
In Scotland, we have different legends about the hagstone. We called it a 'hagstone' because they would be used to ward off witches. That the witch community now use them for charms speaks volumes.To htis day, some have them as protective charms used in fertility magic or in the protection of livestock. They suggest that the stones were used to ward off ailments created by invisible witches - or hags. Basically, some believe the hagstone can break curses.
Other nicknames include the Holey Stone, although it is perhaps a different type of holey than we are used to.
If you have bought a Hagstone from the Stone Circle, then your stone came from Ayrshire unless otherwise stated. You will also find a video of the jasper hagstone on my YouTube channel, here.
The Story of Scottish Hagstones
Somewhere in the midst of all this, there will be the truth. We're not saying the Scottish version is the true version, but it is what the Scots ought to be taught in schools. This legend involves the Seer o' Brahan, of Clan MacKenzie. This man has long been considered to be the Scottish version of Nostradamus.
Back in Ancient Scotland, to be given the two sights (to be psychic) was not considered to be a good thing. At one point you would have been executed for witchcraft. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but half of my own clan history comes from a place called Crawford, where ten witches were executed. There is a great witch record via Edinburgh University which you can use to track the witch trials throughout Scotland. Anyway, Crawford has around twenty houses. That ten witches were killed there is harrowing.
Back to the Seer.
The Seer of Brahan is renowned as having predicted the deaths of the clans. He could tell each of the major highland clans, in great detail, what was coming for them. People came from all over Scotland to have conversations with this man. There is a record somewhere of a whole bunch of his recorded visions that his scribe tossed on the fire because he believed it was too nonsensical. Having lived through murder hornets and 2020, I believe I know why.
This seer wasn't always destined to be a seer, however. There is a legend that before Kenneth Mackenzie, AKA Kenneth of Sallow, Coinneach Odhar, and the Brahan Seer, was born, his mother was known to commune with spirits. One night, she waited and watched in a graveyard where spirits were known to roam. Once there, she saw a Danish Princess strolling as a ghostly vision. Kenneth of Sallow's mother demanded a tribute from the Princess before she would allow her to return to the grave.
The Danish Princess gave her a hagstone - a blue and white stone with a hole in the centre. Kenneth later used this as his instrument of prophecy. When he looked through it, he could see the future... and many of those visions came true. Most famous of all was when he saw the moors of Culloden for the first time. He told his fellows that many a Scottish head would be lopped off on this field. It was really quite uncanny.
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| A stone with a fairy ring of its own, from the Highlands |
All Legends Contain a Grain of Truth
Some stories have it that the seer was already born when his mother met the princess. Some have it that he found the stone on his own. Some make no mention of a princess, and talk of a witch, or a spirit, or a ghoul. Whatever the case, by the time he was burned for witchcraft he made thousands of prophecies. Since the Scottish had a reckless history of spreading tales via word of mouth and nobody ever wrote anything down - we might never know for certain what they all were.
We do know he existed, he was famous, and that people flocked to hear him speak. All from one little circular stone with a hole in it. So in Scotland, you might also hear of a hagstone being referred to as a seer stone, particularly if it happens to be blue and white.
I am still looking for mine.
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| That I added a Reiki symbol to... |
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