Rocks and Stones

These humble, unassuming objects are a manifestation of God, the source of creation, human life, rain, and the dwelling place of spirits in African religion. When they are combined to form massive structures, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and the hill complex at Great Zimbabwe, they offer a powerful testament to their sacred significance. Among the Shona of Zimbabwe, the first man, Musikavanhu, falls to Earth from the sky. Falling with him is a stone. He points to the stone and it stops. When his feet landed on part of the stone, that section of the stone softened and changed into water. This is known as the “stone of the pool,” Matopos, and it is held sacred among the Shona. Musikavanhu later falls asleep on the stone and dreams creation into being. In Madagascar, tradition holds that people descended from stones. One day, a woman asked Rasoalavavolo, who dwells underwater, for a child. The woman provided two silver rings and two round smooth stones as offerings. Rasoalavavolo transformed the stones into two male children who would become the ancestors of the original inhabitants of Madagascar. The Bor and Dinka of the Sudan also trace their ancestry to a boy who emerged from a stone. This same stone caused torrential rains in the middle of the dry season and was said to fall from the sky, like many other stones in days of old. Another link between rain and stones is found in the Sudan, where rain stones are said to come from Heaven. Interestingly, the moon is likened to a shining stone among the Ekoi of Nigeria.

This tradition of creating with stones is echoed in Great Zimbabwe, which means “stone house.” These structures date back to AD 1085 and include more than 500 villages, with citadels and conical towers. Millions of cut stones were laid without mortar or cement. The architectural styling appears to be local with no outside influences and is unique in the world. Examples of such styling are the elliptical walls and curved lines that follow the natural landscape, created during the height of the classical period of construction. Select buildings were oriented to positions of the sun and stars, causing speculation that some of the structures may be temples, although little is known about the symbolic significance of the structures.

In ancient Egypt, stone was used only to build tombs, temples, and sacred buildings, not houses for mortals—regardless of royal status. The most visible of the stone structures is the Great Pyramid, which is composed of roughly 2.3 to 2.8 million stones. The interior stones averaged 2Vi tons, and the casing stones at the base weigh as much as 16 tons. The entire structure was coated with fine white limestone that gave the pyramid a flawless appearance.

The rock shelters of the San of the Kalahari Desert serve as a canvas as well as a “veil.” The rock offers paintings and it serves as a mediator between the material and spiritual worlds. The rock is permeable, and shamans, in the proper state of consciousness, are able to penetrate it and communicate the experience via the images they draw on the rocks.

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