Stones of many voices

Getting old is no bad thing, as that means you've lived a long life, and have now collected a lot of wisdom - wisdom you can now share with the younger generations like the ones before you did.

On the Northern Isles it is believed when most of your hair is grey/white, you are filled with wisdom from your life. An old and wise soul, with lots to learn from.

It isn't an exact age, or when the last coloured hair is gone, but rather when most of the person's hair is a beautiful grey or white and the sun reflects on the locks.

The ceremony

Once a year, on the day of our ancestors (which happens on the first day of the winter season), the village gathers at the stone square often located in a quiet area on the outskirts of the village. Here, in this clearing, large stone pillars, some flat some more crude and round, are placed, spiralling out from the stone placed in the middle.
These stones are the voices of our ancestors, which is why this particular day is called the day of our ancestors as we remind ourselves of those before us. The stone slabs and pillars are plastered with writing, words and thoughts from wise people that either lived here or still live here.

All the wise old souls that have gotten their white locks through the past year is gathered for a ceremonial tradition; they now get to write their own phrase on the stones. The town gathers around the spiral of stones, where the now old and wise souls one by one go to the furthest out stone in the spiral and writes their message.

First, the text is written in pen or ink, by the people themselves, and afterwards, the words get chiselled out by stone carvers. When the words have been carefully chiselled, the empty space now created is filled with liquid gold and scraped off at the edges. This makes the writing stand out, and hold its form throughout the years.

Details

Tradition type

A coming of age ceremony which happens when one's soul is wise and old.

Location

Northern Isles and in some places of Østendal