Mystical Angels

Are ancient standing stones really mystical?

I'm curious. Are standing stones mystical because people believe them to be so and regard them as such - like a hushed and holy place? If they actually are mystical places and not so just because we say they are, how does the mystical energy exist and not disipate? Perhaps I'm confusing mystical energy with physical energy - which is why I need to ask this question. In any case what specifically causes the standing stones to be mystical ?

Public Comments

1. everyone ties religion to anything they see as not purposefull for daily life.... Most stones like your refering to have been found to line up with certain stars or rising of the sun on the equinox etc. even in acient times we had astronomers and scientists.
2. They likely have some religious significance, however the ones in England for instance are a calendar more than anything, because the ancient people needed to keep track of time as much as we do today.
3. Are you referring to natural, or man-made standing stones in this question, or neither specifiacally, just to specific places considered to be mystical, or holy in some way? I believe in either case, they are only "mystical", because people say/believe they are, as the label, mystical/holy is a purely human belief. That belief is what provides the energy, and it doesn't disispate as long as that belief is maintained in some form. Most of these places that are natural inorigin, were considered to hold some mystical, or magical power based on their unusual structure, exceptional beauty, or connection to unexplainable nature by ancient civilizations, most of which tended to ascribe everything to the many gods that to them controlled every facet of existence. Over time, later religions co-opted aspects of those pagen beliefs into their doctrine, as a method of bringing new peoples into their fold with less violence, or conflict. When this was most successful, many of the mystical places were also incorporated, giving those places a continuing, often expanding base of believers in it's mystical status. The mystical energy is the result of hundreds, if not thousands of years of people vesting that place with their emotional energy, which while perhaps not scientifically proven, obviously is a major factor in giving them that feel. This is enforced by those same untold generations of people effectively protecting, and preserving the things which drew the people there in the first place. To answer you second question, it is many things. For a place like Stonehenge, it is history, mystery, and the stunning achievement in creating it with the tools available to the builders. We know how old it is, and how hard it must have been to build. We also know the engineering put into the contruction, and can offer educated theory of the purpose, but no one really knows, nor is it likely we will ever know for sure, giving itmystery, a romantic mystery of purpose, that appeals to most people. The natural places like that, are in some ways easier to understand, as ever understanding the science of how things like shiprock are created, don't diminish the wonder of their exisitance, so that they were places of mystery, and magic to people with no science is easy to comprehend.