Why Stack Rocks?

Quite often, the people who are out on walks past our property will stop for a minute and ask us the following question: Is there a meaning behind your stacks of rocks? They often go on to say they have seen this sort of thing before, in places like Sedona, Arizona or in Alaska. There is a meaning behind rock stacking, even though our reasons for stacking rocks did not have to do with this explanation.

In a number of native cultures, including the Hopi Indians of Arizona and many of the Eskimo Native Americans of Alaska, a stack of rocks was
seen as a symbol of a protective entity.

Because a vertical stack of rocks looks like a human figure to some extent, these stacked rocks were seen as entities protecting the property, perhaps warding off harmful spirits and helping to protect the sacred space of a particular outdoor area.

We actually have the same tradition in Christian culture, where gargoyles were fashioned out of stone and added to the borders of cathedrals constructed from medieval times through the renaissance, for the purpose of protecting the sacred space of the cathedral from infiltration by malevolent spirits.

So placing stacks of rocks around one’s property might be seen as a pragmatic way to do to ward off negative influence or predatory energy.

Our own reasons for stacking rocks were not so esoteric. We wanted a fence to separate our property from the adjoining park that would let the dogs and kids know where the park ended and our property began. But a chain-link fence seemed too utilitarian and a solid fence was too closed off. Both kinds of fences are not all that aesthetically pleasing. They are also very expensive.

So what we did is plant a series of small arborvitae bushes every 10 feet alternating with a stack of rocks between each bush along our property lines. This creates the illusion of a fence, and to our taste, is much more interesting, organic and artistic.

We were inspired to do so by the art of Andy Goldsworthy, who uses found objects in nature, including rocks, icicles, driftwood, twigs, leaves, rocks, and a host of other nature mediums to construct his art. The picture is from his roof top exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.

And if these stacks of rocks also ward off evil spirits… all the better.

- Richard Chandler.