Solstice at the Standing Stones of Callanish

I had the privilege to travel to the Outer Hebrides around solstice, to speak about my book, STARBORN, and to visit several primary schools on the Isle of Lewis, on the invitation of the Callanish Stones Trust.

The Callanish Stones (the “Stonhenge of the Hebrides”) are an incredible neolithic stone circle, which inspired me during an earlier visit in 2020 to write my book. This time around, the aim was to celebrate solstice and to witness a remarkable phenomenon, the so-called “major lunar standstill”, that occurs every 18.6 years. Said to have been witnessed at Callanish for thousands of years (intriguingly mentioned by the Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily in the first century BC), the major lunar standstill at Callanish brings the glow of the full Moon among the stones, while the Moon overs just above the horizon following the curves of “the old lady of the moors”, an outline of a supine female figure imprinted on the distant hills.

Helas, we were clouded out most of the time, and the spectacle of the lunar standstill was lost among the clouds — perhaps appropriately, seeing how STARBORN asks the very question of who we would be on a planet permanently shrouded by clouds!

It was however a great trip, and I had the pleasure to reconnect with artists and friends Andrew Eaton-Lewis and Laura Cameron, as well as making new friends and meeting many fascinating people at the stones.

For a beautiful time lapse at the Stones, see this short video by Utah-based filmmakers Chloe and Davd Valentine.