Smurney's journey

Smurney and her sister Smudgie, came into our lives nine years ago when they were about five or six years old. Their owners couldn't keep them any longer due to an allergy and we took them home on the day before they were due to go to the cat rescue.

When I first saw them, they were curled up in a cardboard box together but soon after arriving at their new home with us their true characters started to show through. Smudgie turned out to be a hunter - frequently bringing in mice, sometimes dead and sometimes alive. Although friendly and affectionate with family members she wasn't keen on "alien" people that she didn't know. Her favourite place to sleep is in our bedroom and often shows off outside by racing around and climbing up trees.

Smurney, on the other hand, never caught or killed anything (that I am aware of) - she just never seemed to be interested. She would half heartedly watch birds but seemed to lack the killer instinct. She was always "top cat" and had first choice at the feeding station - not because she was bossy but somehow had an aura of superiority. She loved being outside in the garden and had several favourite places to sleep. When indoors she would often lie between the computer keyboard and screen - making sure she had full attention from the computer user by standing up and stretching from time to time. Smurney always had time for visitors and was loved by everyone.

When our latest arrival (To-to) came to us Smurney just accepted her as if she had always been there although To-to knew to keep her distance and that Smurney was to be respected, whereas Smudgie takes every opportunity to bully To-to.

When poor Smurney became ill we rushed her to the vets immediately. She was admitted for tests and the diagnosis was heart disease, complicated by thyroid problems, which led to a thrombosis resulting in her being unable to use or feel one of her legs. The care she received at the vets (Cathcart & Winn) was excellent and after 48 hours when there was no real improvement and after much discussion to decide the best course of action, we visited Smurney to say our goodbyes.

After lots of cuddles, stroking and comforting (amidst much weeping and wailing from us), the vet administered the lethal dose and Smurney quickly and painlessly fell asleep whilst on my daughter's lap. Once home, we buried Smurney in her final resting place - beneath her favourite bench in the garden she loved and knew so well.

Rest in Peace lovely Smurney and enjoy your next journey - we miss you so much.

Animal Communication - what is it?

I recently attended an Animal Communication workshop run by Oephebia of "Animals Can Talk2Me" and the following is a brief description, by Oephebia, of this amazing technique.

Have you ever wondered what your pet is feeling or thinking?
Animal communication can provide answers.

Animal communication is a very simple technique enabling the communicator to receive information telepathically from an animal. Information will be in the form of smell, pictures, words, sensation or thoughts.

The information gathered during a communication will be translated and then conveyed to the guardian of the animal.

Animals tune in to our moods or events with radar like precision because they tune in telepathically to us all the time. Any animal lovers will tell you stories about a dog knowing when their guardian is returning home, a cat being already in the kitchen when their guardian is thinking of feeding them, and the list goes on.

We can learn to use telepathy, which is dormant in most of us, to tune in to our beloved companions. Anyone can learn to communicate with animals; no need to be a psychic! It is not a gift but an acquired skill. The more practice a student of animal communication will do, the better and clearer the communication will be. No mystery or super power here, just an old fashioned learnt skill.
The ingredient for a successful animal communication is unconditional love for the animals, with no judgement. Just a genuine interest for their well being is what is required for animals to communicate.
For more information please visit http://www.animalscantalk2me.com

BUDDHA DAY 8th May 2009

May 8 2009, Vesak (or Wesak) Day celebrates the birth, Enlightenment, and passing away of the Buddha Gautama. Vesak is an annual holiday observed traditionally by practicing Buddhists in many Asian countries like Nepal, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Taiwan.Vesak is an annual holiday observed traditionally by practicing Buddhists in many Asian countries like Nepal, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Taiwan.Sometimes informally called "Buddha's birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment Nirvana, and passing (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.

The exact date of Vesak varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different traditions. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on the full moon Uposatha day (typically the 5th or 6th lunar month). While the Vesak Day in China, it is on the eighth of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar but falls in April or May.

On Vesak day, devout Buddhists and followers alike are expected and requested to assemble in their various temples before dawn for the ceremonial, and honorable, hoisting of the Buddhist flag and the singing of hymns in praise of the holy triple gem: The Buddha, The Dharma (his teachings), and The Sangha (his disciples).

Devotees may bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the feet of their teacher. These symbolic offerings are to remind followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after a short while and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction.

Devotees are enjoined to make a special effort to refrain from killing of any kind. They are encouraged to partake of vegetarian food for the day. In some countries, notably Sri Lanka, two days are set aside for the celebration of Vesak and all liquor shops and slaughter houses are closed by government decree during the two days. Also birds, insects and animals are released by the thousands in what is known as a 'symbolic act to liberation'; of giving freedom to those who are in captivity, imprisoned, or tortured against their will.

Some devout Buddhists will wear a simple white dress and spend the whole day in temples with renewed determination to observe the Ten Precepts.

Devout Buddhists undertake to lead a noble life according to the teaching by making daily affirmations to observe the Five Precepts. However, on special days, notably new moon and full moon days, they observe the Ten Percepts to train themselves to practice morality, simplicity and humility.

Some temples also display a small image of the baby Buddha in front of the altar in a small basin filled with water and decorated with flowers, allowing devotees to pour water over the statue; it is symbolic of the cleansing of a practitioners bad karma, and to reenact the events following the Buddha's birth, when devas and spirits made heavenly offerings to him.

Devotees are expected to listen to talks given by monks. On this day monks will recite verses uttered by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago, to invoke peace and happiness for the Government and the people. Buddhists are reminded to live in harmony with people of other faiths and to respect the beliefs of other people as the Buddha had taught.

Beltane, May Day 1st May

In ancient times, Samhain and Beltane were the two main festivals of the year, one symbolising death and the other life in all its glory. May eve is the traditional night for young people to indulge in night time revels to encourage fertility back to the land through sympathetic magic.
The Beltane fire sends its flames to the Sun,
The promise of summer warmth to come,
The Horned God dances through the green,
Chasing after his Goddess and Queen.
The Earth Mother laughs with joy,
That her young consort is no longer a boy,
Their sacred marriage empowers the earth,
And couples seek their blessings for future birth.
Hawthorn blossoms in radiant white,
And clarity grows in the quickening light,
Now is the time for action and life,
To fertilise plans and banish strife.
Take the leap across the Beltane fire,
And let the energies take you higher.

SPRING EQUINOX 20th March

The Spring Equinox is the point of balance of the waxing year when night and day are of equal length and there is tension between the relectiveness of the dark winter period and the activity of new growth rushing headlong toward Midsummer. It is also the festival of Oestre, the Goddess of Light who brings fertility and whose name is the origin of Easter and words like oestrogen, the hormone stimulating ovulation and fertility. It is appropriate that this season is celebrated with eggs.
The dancing hare foretells the spring,
With the fertility and new life this time does bring,
Gay Eoestre dances on the earth,
As seeds and flowers come to birth.

Tulips and daffodils come into bloom,
And life sprouts from the Earth Mother's womb,
Chickens lay their eggs now the light is growing,
Catkins and blossoms on the trees are showing.

The Sun reaches forth with his hand,
To the Maiden of Flowers returned to the land,
Their dance brings new balance into our life,
Planting the seeds to overcome strife.

We grow with the flowers and the trees,
Winter's gloom banished on a spring breeze.
The joy of new birth enters our hearts,
As we look forward to Beltane's love.

Full Moon in Virgo 11th March 2009

This is the ideal time to focus on our diet and eat more healthily.This is the Full Moon to take responsibility for our health and celebrate our bodies.

If you are dealing with a serious health issue just now, don’t take anything at face value.What are the psychic causes of physical illness? What are the spiritual implications of disease? What is my body trying to tell me about my life?

Become an active partner in your healing process. Read the research, ask lots of questions.Virgo wants to understand the mechanics of illness so that it can better affect a cure. This kind of questioning may include opening yourself to alternative treatments or new approaches.

Every Full Moon should be viewed as a golden opportunity to expand your consciousness, spread goodwill around the globe and learn more about your higher destiny. Don't succumb to the lower temptations to conduct a tug-of-war with significant others or bicker over trivial pursuits.

ALONE - A poem by Pamela Colman Smith

Alone and in the midst of men,
Alone 'mid hills and valleys fair;
Alone upon a ship at sea;
Alone -- alone, and everywhere.
O many folk I see and know,S
o kind they are I scarce can tell,
But now alone on land and sea,
In spite of all I'm left to dwell.
In cities large -- in country lane,
Around the world -- 'tis all the same;
Across the sea from shore to shore.
Alone -- alone, for evermore.

Pamela Colman Smith - Happy Birthday

Pamela Colman Smith (16 Feb 1878-18 Sept 1951) was an artist, illustrator, and writer. She is best known for designing the Rider-Waite-Smith deck of divinatory tarot cards for Arthur Edward Waite.
P.C.S. was born in Pimlico, Middlesex (now London), England the daughter of an American merchant from Brooklyn, Charles Edward Smith and his American wife Corinne Colman. The family often moved around due to her father’s job with the West India Improvement Company and time was spent in London, Kingston, Jamaica and Brooklyn, New York.
Her mother died when she was just 10 years old, and due to the absence of her father because of his work, she was taken under the wing of the Lyceum Theatre group (London) led by Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, and Bram Stoker. Her later art work was much influenced by travelling around the country with the theatre group in her early teens.
By 1893, Smith had moved to Brooklyn, New York to be with her father and at the age of 15, she enrolled at the relatively new Pratt Institute and there studied art under the noted artist teacher Arthur Wesley Dow. Four years later she graduated and returning to England in 1899, she became a theatrical designer for a miniature theatre and an illustrator. She illustrated Ellen Terry's book on Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, The Russian Ballet, published in 1913. She joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1903 and met A.E.Waite.
In 1909, Waite commissioned P.C.Smith to produce a tarot deck with appeal to the world of art. The result was the unique Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck (Rider was the name of the publisher), which has become the world's most popular and well-known 78-card tarot deck. All of the cards depict full scenes with figures and symbols including the Minor Arcana, and with Smith's distinctive designs they have become the basis for the designs of many subsequent packs – commonly known as RW clones.
Pamela was also an author and wrote and illustrated several books about Jamaican folklore, including Annancy Stories (1902) which were about Jamaican versions of tales involving the traditional African folk figure Anansi the Spider. She also did a lot of illustrating for the work of William Butler Yeats and his brother Jack. Apart from the tarot deck, her artwork found little commercial success.
Pamela Colman Smith never married. After the end of the First World War (1914-18),she received an inheritance that made it possible for her to move to Cornwall, an area very popular with artists due to the quality of light and the lifestyle. She died in Bude, Cornwall on the 18th September 1951. After her death, all of her personal effects and belongings, including her paintings and drawings, were sold at auction to satisfy her debts which had mounted up.

Groundhog Day - 2nd February

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada on which folklore tells if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and fails to see its shadow because the weather is cloudy, winter will soon end. If on the other hand, it is sunny and the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.
The holiday also bears some similarities to the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas. It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic year, which is celebrated on February 1.
Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as high as 40,000 have gathered to celebrate the holiday since at least 1886.
Groundhog Day received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of the same name, Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and featured Punxsutawney Phil – the most famous of all the weather forecasting Groundhogs!

Phil Says Six More Weeks!
Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:

Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009
Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators
Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper
And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time
And a bright sky above me
Showed my shadow beside me.
So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

IMBOLC - 1st February

Imbolc, also known as the Festival of the Maiden marks the end of winter and heralds the beginning of Spring as the earth beneath prepares for growth and renewal. It comes after 1st February, celebrating the feast of Brigid in her maiden aspect, also known as Candelmas. Imbolc is also traditionally the beginning of the lambing season. It's literal translation is "ewes milk", and this is a reference to new life appearing.

The festival of lights brings the promise of Spring,
Amid the cold of winter's dire sting.
Snowdrops poke their heads through the soil,
To herald the breaking of winter's bleak toil.

WINTER SOLSTICE

At the time of the Sun's lowest ebb, the shortest day, the dying sun sets for the last time - but no sooner has the Sun disappeared than the seed of coming life again grows. Tomorrow the Sun will rise anew. The cycle of life will begin again with the Waxing year.
The Child of Promise, the Sun is reborn,
Bringing hope to the Darkness of the forlorn,
Death has been and left its mark,
With winter's bleakness, cold and stark.
We look towards the promise of spring,
And make our plans for New Year to bring,
With joy in our hearts as the old year departs.

GEMINIDS - Meteor Shower

Every year, from the 12th-14th December (the peak on the 13th) it is possible, and very likely, that you will see meteors or shooting stars in the night sky. These meteors appear to come from the area of the constellation of Gemini but can actually be seen almost anywhere in the sky and are fairly easy to spot - especially in the absence of light pollution (street lights etc) or a bright moon. Unfortunately, there is a full moon on the 12th this year so this could make viewing more difficult. The peak viewing rate can be as much as 120 per hour at a dark site.
This meteor shower is caused by what is thought to be an extinct comet and were first observed only 150 years ago. Meteors are small fragments (not much bigger than a grain of sand) of cosmic debris which vapourise due to friction with the air when entering the earth's atmosphere. Fragments which do land on the earth's surface are called meteorites.

Compost happens!

I love composting - it has to be the ultimate in recycling. Everything that comes from the earth or is nurtured by it goes back, in the form of brown, crumbly, earthy-smelling compost. From the house - everything from vegetable and fruit peelings to teabags, toilet roll tubes, coffee grounds, cereal boxes and eggshells, hair and animal fur and the contents of your vacuum cleaner bag can go in the compost bin. However, these household leftovers need to be balanced by adding garden waste in the form of prunings and clippings, grass mowings, leaves and some weeds - preferably not the roots of perennials such as dandelion, ground elder, buttercup, bindweed etc. as these need a high temperature to destroy them which may not be reached in a domestic composter. Not too much in the way of twigs and brown prunings as these thake a long time to break down although this is a lot quicker if they are shredded first. Too many grass clippings will cause a slimy mixture due to a lack of air in the heap. A good balanced mixture is best that is stirred up from time to time (not compulsory but helps).
I find wood is a good material with which to make a composter or buy one ready to assemble. Wood breathes and insulates and looks good although will need replacing after a number of years. Cover the compost mixture with a layer of insulation - old potting compost bags with a few layers of bubble wrap inside are ideal.The compost bin should also be situated in the sun if possible to aid heating up.
Things to avoid in your compost bin are meat, fish, dairy and cooked foods - these are not a good idea as they can attract vermin. Other do nots are cat and dog faeces and disposable nappies.
When the compost is cooked, it can be used as a mulch throughout the garden, helping to keep down weeds, keep in moisture, enrich the soil and it looks good too. The whole process can take as little as 6 - 8 weeks or as much as a year. If all this seems like hard work then a pile of material in the corner of your garden will eventually rot down without you having to do anything to it - just leave it to nature.

Above picture shows my composting set-up.

SAMHAIN 31st October

For many people, Samhain is the greatest festival of ancient times. On the night of 31st October/1st November the Old Year crosses over into the New. It is a magical time when spirits walk the earth as the veil between the incarnate and spirit worlds is thinnest. It is a time of rest, stillness, regrouping and re-creating.
As the old year sinks to its death, the beginnings of decay nourish new life. Fallen leaves again fuel the cycle of renewal.
The veil grows thin at this time of the dead,
As we honour our long-gone ancestors,
In whose footsteps we tread.
Life retreats into the bulbs and roots,
The time has passed for the flowers and fruits,
Face your shadow and accept your faults,
Look now to the future to seek your results.

LEVI STUBBS 1936 - 2008

I was very sad when I heard of the passing into spirit of Levi Stubbs of The Four Tops - one of my favourite groups. He had one of those amazing voices that could express any emotion. Do you remember "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), "It's the Same Old Song", "Bernadette", "I'm In a Different World" ?
The Four Tops first got together in 1953 (then called the Four Aims) and were signed to Chess records in 1956. Berry Gordy saw one of their performances in 1963 and signed them up, arranging for Holland, Dozier, Holland to write songs for them. This happened a year later with "Baby, I need your loving", followed by "I can't help myself" and then "Reach out". They successfully toured the United States and the world but left Motown in 1971. The Four Tops continued to record and tour in the 1970s and '80s. By 1995, Levi Stubbs’s health had begun to fail, forcing him to curtail his performances. Lawrence Payton died in 1997, and Renaldo "Obie"Benson in 2005.
Levi died on 17th October at the age of 72 years in his Detroit home. He had been suffering from cancer and had to stop performing in 2000 after having a stroke. Abdul "Duke" Fakir is the only surviving member of The Four Tops.

Eco-friendly candles

I am very fond of burning candles and have recently started investigating candles which are more eco-friendly.
Most candles are made from paraffin wax which is a derivative of the petroleum industry. This is obviously non-renewable, unless you want to wait for several million years, and the global environmental impact on the world is well documented.
The Oil Palm is grown as a commercial crop in Malaysia and used to produce (for example) cooking oil, confectionery, margarines and creamers. It is therefore a renewable resource and a non-genetically modified crop.
Palm wax is much cleaner burning than paraffin wax and produces much less soot and potentially harmful emissions.The cancles also burn for longer with a whiter flame.

About 80% of palm oil is used for food applications - the rest being for non-food products such as candles, lotions, body oils, shampoos, skin care products, rubber and cleaning products.
I believe it is possible to make palm oil based bio-diesel.

AUTUMN EQUINOX 21st September

The Autumn Equinox is the point of balance in the waning year. It is the late harvest - of fruit and berries in the hedgerows. It is the time to thank the mother Goddess for bounty and abundance received gratefully and stored for times of want during the coming winter months. From now on the power of the Sun will recede as its shadow describes and anticlockwise spiral, returning to the womb/tomb.

Now is the time to reap your reward,
As we celebrate the last dance of the Sun lord.
Light and dark balanced on an ear of wheat
As the last grain signals the harvest complete.
Give praise to the Earth Mother
As she dons her wintry dark cloak
And her Autumn rains the earth will soak.

LAMMAS & SILBURY HILL 1st August

Lammas marks the beginning of the early harvest - cereals, barley, wheat and oats. It was often celebrated with bonfires, once lit on hills and beacons all over Europe. This is also the festival of the Celtic God of the Sun Lugh, whose sacrifice in the harvest at Lughnasadh is made so that people may live.

Excavations at Silbury Hill, the largest manmade earthwork in England suggest that its contruction began in August, carbon dated to approx. 2660 BCE. Perhaps it was built to celebrate Lammas. The name Silbury Hill is derived from the ancient water Goddess Sul, whose spirit is said to dwell in the hill's surrounding moat. The shape of the hill is like a pregnant belly, suggesting strong associations with the Goddess, fertility and fruitfulness.

The Corn King gives his life for the land,

We toast his sacrifice with ale in our hand,

And eat the bread, from the harvest made,

As sheaves of corn to the eath are laid,
May our well-earned bounty reward our toil,

As we harvest the seed and the grain from the soil.

Local History

Very local to me are the remains of Waverley Abbey. The construction was started in 1128 by the first Cistercian monks to establish an order in Britain . The small colony that had emigrated from France consisted of only an abbot and 12 monks. By 1187 the community supported 70 monks and 120 laybrothers. By the time the abbey was fully dedicated in 1278 the buildings centred on an imposing church that was 300 feet (91 metres) long and 150 feet (45 metres) wide at its transepts. Such were the capabilities of the community that over 7,000 guests were reportedly invited to the dedication including abbots, knights and lords and ladies.

The Cistercians were at the forefront of agricultural development in the 12th century, and by 1300 Waverley had 14 farms (‘granges’) which included valuable stocks of sheep enabling the monks to undertake a lucrative trade in wool with merchants as far away as Flanders and Florence. The wool was shorn from sheep bred from the original flock brought over from France when the abbey was first established. Wool produced in England was considered to be the best quality in Europe at the time. Although much of the abbey’s income was earned from farming, much benefit was gleaned from the various properties gifted to them by the Bishop of Winchester.

The abbey fell to the wholesale destruction wreaked by Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries from 1536, and despite the abbot’s protestations to the outside world the buildings were systematically stripped of their finery, and eventually even the fabric of the buildings were dismantled to be used as building materials elsewhere. It is thought that many of the great houses between the 16th and 18th centuries in Surrey took advantage of building materials from the ruined abbey including Loseley House near Guildford.
Today little remains of the splendour of the place, but the ruins are nevertheless still impressive and give a good idea as to exactly what this industrious community of brothers had achieved. Now in the care of English Heritage the site has been well preserved and is open to visitors for no charge all year round.

Stonehenge

I spent an amazing night at Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice despite the damp weather. It was very overcast so there was no sign of the sun rising at all but the atmosphere created by the people (30,000 apparently) and surroundings made it worth going.

Stonehenge is probably the most important prehistoric monument in the whole of Britain and has attracted visitors from earliest times. It stands as a timeless monument to the people who built it. The stonehenge that we see today is the final stage that was completed about 3500 years ago, but first let us look back 5000 years.
The first Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank, and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. They form a circle about 284 feet in diameter. Excavations have revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were probably made, not for the purpose of graves, but as part of the religious ceremony. Shortly after this stage Stonehenge was abandoned, left untouched for over 1000 years.
The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 BC. Some 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains, in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It is thought these stones, some weighing 4 tonnes each were dragged on rollers and sledges to the headwaters on Milford Haven and then loaded onto rafts. They were carried by water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again to near Warminster in Wiltshire. The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
This astonishing journey covers nearly 240 miles. Once at the site, these stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle. ( During the same period the original entrance of the circular earthwork was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. Also the nearer part of the Avenue was built, aligned with the midsummer sunrise.)
The third stage of Stonehenge, about 2000 BC, saw the arrival of the Sarsen stones, which were almost certainly brought from the Marlborough Downs near Avebury, in north Wiltshire, about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. The largest of the Sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weigh 50 tonnes and transportation by water would have been impossible, the stones could only have been moved using sledges and ropes. Modern calculations show that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the huge rollers in front of the sledge.
These were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels. Inside the circle, five trilithons were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, whose remains we can still see today.
The final stage took place soon after 1500 BC when the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that we see today. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, these have long since been removed or broken up. Some remain only as stumps below ground level
http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/history.htm