WHAT IS THE SCONESTONE?
Inspired by ancient Scottish carvings, the Sconestone is a hand carved sculpture that has been sent on a global
"Journey of Kindness" passing from person to person, each pledging to an act of kindness.
The Sconestone acts as a symbol encouraging those who have touched it to pledge to an act of Kindness and ultimately help in their own small way to make the world a better place. Every person who cares for the Sconestone must keep it for no more than 7 days, get as many friends as possible to touch the stone and make the same pledge, tell their story on the Sconestone.com website and then finally to pass the stone onto a person who will embrace the same spirit of kindness to be the next Keeper of the Sconestone to continue the journey.
The sconestone was officially presented to the Reverend Neil Galbraith, the first keeper of the stone, by Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, at Scone Palace on August 29th, 2009 at a live Runrig rock concert, and since that time the stone has been travelling the world inspiring acts of kindness.
The Sconestone Bruce Guthro, singer for Runrig, describes the Sconestone
Sconestone embodies the spirit of kindness ... and will travel from hand to hand, keeper to keeper on a never ending journey of kindness around the world. What isn't so obvious or simple are the origins of the stone, its links to Scotland, and the symbology of the carvings on the stone itself.
The stone really has two inspirations, the first is the actual shape and design of the stone and the second is the spirit of kindness which the stone embodies and symbolizes. The shape of the stone is actually inspired by stone orbs that were sculpted by the neolithic peoples who lived in the northeast of Scotland. What is intriguing about these stones is that nobody knows what they were used for or what they could possibly symbolize. There have only been 387 neolithic stone orbs found and they vary in their shapes and complexity of design. Some appear very crude and could almost be visualized as primitive weapons, whilst others have intricate carvings on them and could easily be visualized as a religious or cultural symbol of some sort.
Photo of a few of the 387 neolithic Pictish Orbs discovered in Northeast Scotland
The next chapter of the story is quite simple, the original carver of the stone, Warren MacLeod from Nova Scotia, Canada, was inspired by his wife Kari's simple acts of kindness and wanted to carve a stone that could inspire the same acts of simple kindness in others. A simple pass it on concept to make the world a better place, one small act of kindness at a time.
As far as the design of the Sconestone is concerned, it clearly has a strongceltic influence as is befitting to the origins of the original stone orbs found in the north-east of Scotland. The design is built upon the number three or a multiple of the number three, a sacred number in the minds of the celtic races. When you look at the stone you will see three patterns on six faces, the matching patterns on opposite faces. The patterns themselves are designed on the basis of a triple theme and of course there are three portals (originally intended to represent the theme of wisdom to learn from the past, wisdom to understand the present and wisdom to plan for the future). The stone itself is circular in design and can also represent the earth with the portals being symbolic of the balance and connectivity of everybody on the earth. The stone is also decorated with a triple life pattern providing the foundation for each face.
Images of the Sconestone before its symbols were carved on the six faces and after, nestled in its oak travelling case
Rules of the Sconestone
The rules of the Sconestone are simple.
1. Do at least one act of kindness to a person, animal or anything that is good for the planet as a whole.
2. Encourage friends and strangers to touch the stone and pledge to an act of kindness. Be creative!
3. Pass the stone on to a person you trust will honour the purpose of the stone
5. And, lastly, send us an email at admin@sconestone.com to tell us your Sconestone story.
It is a very simple idea that could disappear into the world or it could as easily pick up a momentum of its own and carry with it a wave of kind deeds (many of which will hopefully be recorded on the Sconestone.com website). It is an exciting adventure and we all look forward to reading about the acts of lindness it inspires.