A Manifesto for the 21st Century

There are many connotations attached to the petrification myths used for stone circles, however (predominant theory suggests) the merry maidens and hurlers stone circles were used as an early form of religious control by the Christian church (Muir & Richards, 2013). Although the hurler folklore is a nod to the men folk being required to be devout on the Sabbath, the merry maiden folklore has darker connotations as it has a timely connection to the hysteria accorded to witchcraft and the suspicion of women; therefore, the stone circle petrification myth prompted a further fearful shadow over women wishing to dance at night or on the sabbath, gather in groups, or court potential partners freely.  

The strength of the Christian Churches control is further insidious due to the patriarchal structure of its power. In 1542 the British Government passed the first Witchcraft Act, whereby the crime of witchcraft was punishable by death. By the 1600’s any form of misfortune might be blamed on Witchcraft (UK Parliament, 2019) and therefore women were under consistent suspicion. There is a folkloric link between stone circles and witchcraft which was perpetuated during this time.  

As women from a privileged society, we are given the freedom to question equality and equity, we might consider ourselves to be lucky.  We live in the First World, fortunate to experience social care, education and social justice.  

Yet, there are many pervasive expectations that women negotiate as a matter of course, that their male equivalent might not be subject to. Rather than list these issues, and to avoid a polemic, blustering solipsism taking root within the concept i would like to reclaim the stone circles, the megalithic, magical, energetic monuments to explore what it is to be a woman.  

We are living in a time whereby the world is waking up to the different stages and changes in a womans life span. There is an onslaught of information and online manuals on how to navigate certain parts of our life changes, from reading teen magazines to following celebrity’s menopause diaries on Instagram.  

I would like us to pause and reclaim our own stories and experiences, from being told as a child how we would grow into a body capable of bearing children, to being taken aback every month when we experienced our period. As an older woman to reckon with this enormous alteration in our physiology and the impacts of it is something that we can only celebrate, because we are here. And that is because of all the women that have gone before us (and some men too). 

The Process 

• You will need to sign the consent form to feature in the film as a formality 

•  You will be given 3 bags of terracotta clay to work with – they are 12.5kg each. It is recommended that you wear something dark as terracotta is made with red iron oxide.  

• Health and safety around clay: – do not ingest the clay, wash hands thoroughly before eating or drinking. 

• You will have access to a selection of different clay tools with which to explore your clay and to create a small standing stone –there is no expectation of the finish you use, but you might benefit from experimenting with large coils to build with – you will be able to roll these on a board and I will be on hand to help.  

• Remember that the stone will be deconstructed later in the day as it is a private field.  

• Dave will be filming us; the work will be edited afterwards dependent on whether you have voiced a desire to be ‘in’ shot or not. 

The Rhythm of Participating Together 

To start building the energy of the work it is helpful if we share any thoughts as they arise, nothing is off the table! To perpetuate the participatory element, it would be good to use the “yes, and” rule so when a statement is made, it is always built upon.  Remember this is a collaboration and WE want to hear from you. I have drawn a conceptual sketch below.