Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

50 Myths and Legends of the Celtic RaceStones from Brittany sculptured with Footprints, Axes,“Finger-markings,” &c.Holed Stones(Sergi)Dolmen at Trie, France[66](After Gailhabaud)Another singular and as yet unexplained feature which appearsin many of these monuments, from Western Europe to India, isthe presence of a small hole bored through one of the stonescomposing the chamber. Was it an aperture intended for thespirit of the dead? or for offerings to them? or the channelthrough which revelations from the spirit-world were supposedto come to a priest or magician? or did it partake of all thesecharacters? Holed stones, not forming part of a dolmen, are,of course, among the commonest relics of the ancient cult, andare still venerated and used in practices connected with childbearing,&c. Here we are doubtless to interpret the emblem as asymbol of sex.Dolmens in the Deccan, India(After Meadows-Taylor)Stone-WorshipBesides the heavenly bodies, we find that rivers, trees,mountains, and stones were all objects of veneration among thisprimitive people. Stone-worship was particularly common, andis not so easily explained as the worship directed toward objectspossessing movement and vitality. Possibly an explanation of theveneration attaching to great and isolated masses of unhewn stone