The Parsley Patch

I decided to take a literary journey through the elements by reading four books, one each that can be categorized by one of the elements: earth, air, fire and water. And so earth…

I chose Listening to Stone by Dan Snow to journey through earth. This book is written by a stone artisian, or waller, with a gift for poetic and mystical prose. I was drawn to it sitting on the book shelf and thought it seemed a fitting choice to gain a better understanding of working with stone in both a physical and spiritual way.

My first real experience working with stone was while building the medicine wheel garden. While placing each and every stone I could gain a sense of its energy and individual presence in the circle. A couple of years earlier I began a stone pile for an at-the-time unidentified purpose. Many stones had been dug up while planting new trees and I was perplexed as to what to do with them. As I pondered, they seemed to have a voice that said, “Just put us on the other side of the house, please.”

Yes, stones talk do me and I talk to them. Don’t you? Although stones don’t have souls as humans do, they do have a distinctive spirit and energy that is unquestionable. At the time the side yard was an unkempt catch-all for garden equipment with a mock orange and a few old peonies that sill bloomed in spring. The space was to later become the site I was drawn to to build the medicine wheel garden.

While this book is not only elegant in verse, it is in design as well. It is definitely suited more towards someone who has an interest in working with stone. Listening to Stone is definitely a good choice for the dedicated stone crafter or those with an interest in building walls and other dry-stacked structures. While it isn’t a how-to, its appeal and magic will be lost on those who don’t have a passing interest in stone. What really impressed me about the book was its presentation. It is one of the most beautifully bound books with heavy weight pages and pleasing typography I have seen in a long time.