Build a Cairn in tribute. To a pet, to a loved one, to your country. Cairns have been seen throughout the world for centuries either built as a tribute in memorium or as a way to set a path for travelers hiking trails and mountains. They are today used as landmarks but are also used for astronomical purposes, although depending on their country of origin, have various meanings.
Cairns have been found from the Canadian Arctic to the United Kingdom. They can be simple towers of graduated stone or large, complex structures of many pebbles and rocks. They are a tribute to Hermes, the God of overland travel, according to Greek Mythology.
I love to search for cairns along the trails we hike in Sedona. Many of these are markers for a Vortex. Vortex are found along particular trails and are felt to have healing mystical powers. When we are hiking and come upon a Cairn I feel a part of something bigger than myself when I add my stone to the tower as we pass.
I felt so connected to these structures, and so moved by their aesthetic beauty that I have constructed two of my own in my backyard. I enjoy sitting on my porch and gazing at the flowerbed where I have a cairn built from rocks that each member of our family contributed to shape our Cairn.
The stone at the top is a very special contribution, it is the stone found on Long Bay, a picturesque beach in French St. Martin, on our honeymoon twenty years ago. I thought it a fitting symbolism of what we have built together, the five of us, starting and ending with a commitment made by two. Thanks for reading! Miriam
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