Stone is the Marrow of the World

Stone, the osseous substrate, is the backbone of growth. The ideal for building, the fundamental of construction, reshaping the land into human-realized structures. As a material it is unlike the artificially manufactured substitutes of modernity – its organic longevity and natural imperfections echo the immortal and the divine. Structures crafted by stone and mortar have the capacity to battle with time, and remain beautiful even in ruination.

The eternal energies wish for mankind to construct kingdoms and empires in an everlasting fashion, unconcerned with or in defiance of the nature of time, while respectfully aware that time is an unbeatable master. A revered dominant force that nevertheless requires resistance. Because the true civilizational priority is glory and reverence for the eternal, a genealogical telos – nothing to do with fleeting concerns like comfort or convenience.

Stone produces an atmosphere, (impossible to adequately describe) which has a resonation of the archaic, making it conducive to religious rites and soul-growth. Envision yourself committing sacred rites in a temple made of modern materials, Imagine the feeling of cheapness, of impermanence, of a fleeting facade. Artificial material creates such an artificial atmosphere, thus corrupting our religious sensibilities, which should feel connected to history and to nature.

Unlike modern construction workers, a stonemason is also an artist, each block hand shaped, his personal chisel marks affect its natural surface. He can ascend the hierarchy of masters in his trade, fashioning a personal artistry as he increases his abilities and approaches higher levels of skill. Stone craft has always been trans-formative for one’s soul, because it is so difficult to shape, and the process so gradual, and requiring a patience and higher purpose.

Our ancestors built stone temples to gods in honour of the privilege of creation, and to impact both eternity and time. The archetypal forces which energize the cosmos with undulating, unseen, and competing waves are everlasting (or lasting beyond our comprehension) and made eternal by a cycle of change, in a bargain with time. Our civilizations may be cyclically impermanent, but the bones of the old energize the motivations of the new.

Stone is the marrow of mother earth.

You cheer my heart, who build as if Rome would be eternal.
– Augustus

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