Motherhood, Magic & The Mên-an-Tol

When my mum was a child she crawled through the Mên-an-Tol  and made a wish that she would live at the house at the end of the lane nearby. I researched the folklore of this ancient site and the stories relating to its healing powers.

I first crawled through the holed stone when I was an art student and made a wish with three other friends that we would become mothers. The second time I crawled though the stone I visited with my first born son. I am often called back to this place in my dreams, and try to make a pilgrimage each year. 

I see this holed stone as a Womb a Tomb, a Portal and place of Magic and Transformation. 

I am wearing a blue dress and role playing a character based on the Piero Della Francesca's Madonna Del Parto and Ithell Colquhouns Attributes of the Moon.

I am fascinated by the colour blue. Blue that is associated with the Virgin Mary's cloak or dress.  Blue that is the colour of the sky and the sea on a sunny day and blue that is the colour of death and grief.

I am holding a bunch of red campions collected along the Tinners Way. Red Campions were used traditionally as a cure for snake bites. Folklore tells that red campion flowers guard bees' honey stores, as well as protecting fairies from being discovered. If picked they are also said to cause the death of your father.