CARVING LETTERS AND SYMBOLS INTO STONE is a tradition with an ancient history. For example the Egyptians carved hieroglyphs, the Celts carved Ogham, the Germanic peoples carved Runes and the Romans carved letters which we recognise as our everyday alphabet.
Why did people make these carvings? The letters and symbols carved into the stone formed a language, a means of communication. Sometimes the purpose of this communication was pragmatic, for example to record or celebrate a particular event or to be used as a territorial marker.
However the language and symbols used could also be of a more poetic nature, perhaps to evoke a memory of a person or place or to be used as part of a devotional ritual.
Carving letters and symbols into stone can still be a valid form of communication today. They can have the potential to affect our thoughts and feelings in subtle ways, just as music or a beautiful landscape can slow us down or bring us into focus. Stone by its very nature, slow forming and durable, is also a material which reflects this quiet state of mind. Present day Tibetan monks still carve mantras into stone as part of a meditational practice.
Private gardens and homes as well as public spaces and buildings can contain artworks as sanctuaries and reminders of our contemplative lives.
