the cairns are calling

When I was younger out hiking in the mountains, I always appreciated the cairns along the path. They were confusing at first (are people that bored that they need to build a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere?). But then I got it.

They were objects of natural beauty, and a sign of human interaction with the landscape.

I loved the simplicity of them. A creative, strategic use of stone to show people the way. Ah, a cairn. We're on the right path.

Currently I spend a lot of time with someone who I'll dub The Cairn Master. He's built what seems hundreds of these miniliths in the forest of his property, each with its own character.

It's interesting being witness to the process. As the Cairn Master works, I hear stone grind on stone, watching the union of the rock together as they lock into place. The stones come to a marriage where they fit perfectly together and will balance there through thick & thin.

It take patience and strength to find that set point of balance. And it always comes, even with seemingly impossibly shaped stones.

When building a cairn a thought to consider: if a small animal brushes by this or a gust of wind blows while it is near the formation, will it be hurt or crushed by a tumbling cairn, or will the cairn hold it's ground? It's good to walk away with the confidence it won't easily budge.

The turn of seasons is the ultimate test for a well built cairn.

Here's a fun fact: When rocks like quartz are put under pressure, like being set between other stones in a cairn, and frequency is emitted - much like the crystals in the dial of a radio or a watch work. In this case, there is a constant pressure.

Thus, besides being a rustic art installation along the paths of many journeys, cairns naturally put out a frequency that would otherwise not be there. What or who is in resonance with this frequency? What is this frequency saying?

Regardless of the lore of cairns, they are a universal symbol of consciousness.

We were here. In a blink of time, the cairn marks a presence.

It's an honouring of passersby of past, present & future who notice... & know.