Calanais; The Major Lunar standstill

The Calanais stone circle complex on the Isle of Lewis is aligned to a range of hills known in Gaelic as Cailleach na Mointeach (Old Woman of the Moors) or Sleeping Beauty. The relationship between the stones and the 18.6 year cycle of the moon has been established through the research, amogst others, of Ron and Margaret Curtis (geo.org/callan.htm).
This film was made at the site known as Calanais 3 which has the unusual setting of 4 stones within the circle. The interpretation of stones symbolising the Triple Goddess with male consort was given to Margaret during one of her guided tours. These pictures were all taken on June 11 2006 onn the night of the full moon. The same event could have been viewed every month with a different phase of the moon (eg crescent moon at Imbolc, half moon at equinox etc) but due to weather in 2006 these are probably the only pictures of this event apart from those taken by Ron Curtis who was sitting next to me. The stone setting from which these pictures were taken was discovered by Ron and Margaret who have discovered many settings where the Calanais stones were meant to be viewed from. Video of the lunar standstill taken at the main site should appear on this site presently as will still pictures on my website peterthestoryteller.co.uk
For more information on the Calanais complex see publications by Ron and Margaret Curtis. These are rather hard to get hold of apart from at Margaret and Ron's exhibition in Calanais village. Ron sadly died a few years ago but Margaret is continuing to do research and leads tours of the stones.
The music on this video is from the CD Within the Hearts Garden which can be purchased from [email protected]'