The ancient Neolithic/Bronze Age/Druidic Welsh Island of Anglesey feels charged as if the many stone monuments remember their deep past.
At Lligwy Neolithic Burial Chamber, the 25-tonne capstone doesn't just cover ancestors; from the right angle, it becomes a bear: hulking form, head lowered, mouth almost open. Perhaps carved, but certainly emerging through shape, stance, and light. This isn't random pareidolia—it's possibly intentional Neolithic selection, echoing bear cults worldwide (Ainu bear-stones as divine, Ursa Major as "Great Bear" wheeling overhead).
I experienced this during the 2025 summer solstice at nearby Bryn Celli Ddu where I took part in an archaeological dig and personal pre-dawn vigil, Ursa Major's tail pointing north, then sunrise shaft piercing the passage like a blade of light, making the solstice aligned standing stone nearby (the Sun Stone) adorned with rivers of quartz "blush." Up close, the Sun Stone has a face—brow, eye, nose, feminine profile in blueschist and rose veins—gazing eternally toward the horizon.
There are other presences nearby: A large rocky Gorsedd outcrop seems to resolve into a reclining sky-face inscribed with ancient cup-marks that mimic the tail of Ersa Major that eternally wheels above. If you sing nearby, it echoes back your voice.
During our dig that may have discovered a lost stone circle here, a carved pebble "face" was buried at the foot of a buried standing stone. There are even fish-like hints at the tomb lintel, hinting at the salmon that spawn in the nearby sacred river. These forms are pareidolia, but they aren't illusions; in an animist worldview, stones hold agency—chosen for their "spirit" to bridge worlds, facilitate shamanic visions, or mark liminal thresholds.
The high strange part? Once you see the bear, it stares back. During my solstice watch, the landscape felt watchful, time thinning. Modern dismissal as pareidolia misses that ancients may have used it as perceptual tech for spirit contact.
Full account with more photos and reflections from my 2025 journey: http://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/stone-sun-and-spirit-my-solstice-journey-to-bryn-celli-ddu
And exploring these Anglesey faces/Sun Stone: http://www.stonetemplegardening.com/post/exploring-anglesey-s-neolithic-secrets-the-sun-stone-and-other-faces-at-bryn-celli-ddu
Has anyone else felt "presences" or spotted intentional animal forms in megaliths? What's the strangest stone "face" encounter you've had?
by StoneTempleGardening