Rock/Stone stacking

[Andrea J.]

ok, what have YOU heard about rock stacking?
why? folklore or for real?

[caromelle]

I heard it was for fertility. I thought it was for wishes so I stacked rocks at every spot I went to, baby beach, natural pool, national park. I'm going to see if they're still there when I go back in august. No desire for children yet but keeping options open and if the rock stacking helps then yay! Lol

[taxidriver]

We call it, monkey see, monkey do Andrea, because they start stacking in Hawai and now they doing it in Aruba. In aruba you have to know 3 things before you start stacking otherwise you wish never come true. 1 always do it nearby your driver, 2 the first stone that you going to use must be flat and heavy, 3 you need a $20 bill. First you put the $20 on the ground, next you put the flat and heavy stone on the $20 so nobody will see it, than you can start stacking, four or five high it doesn't mater, when you finish just make your wish and when mine tour is finish i will be back see if my wish come true, ha ha ha .....

[Eagle Beach Boy]

Originally Posted by taxidriver

We call it, monkey see, monkey do Andrea, because they start stacking in Hawai and now they doing it in Aruba. In aruba you have to know 3 things before you start stacking otherwise you wish never come true. 1 always do it nearby your driver, 2 the first stone that you going to use must be flat and heavy, 3 you need a $20 bill. First you put the $20 on the ground, next you put the flat and heavy stone on the $20 so nobody will see it, than you can start stacking, four or five high it doesn't mater, when you finish just make your wish and when mine tour is finish i will be back see if my wish come true, ha ha ha .....

GREAT answer. To me it is a blight on the scenery.
Almost like spray painting "I WAS HERE."

[charles]

When I first saw this, I thought it was kind of cute and a nice thing for tourists to do. After that I was able to find out that there were similar practices in the deserts of Africa to denote water holes or water access locations. I checked out about everything I could think of to justify this "happening" on our island. I could not find anything of consequence except that the ones that do this, place some sort of reverence or special meaning to it. I suppose that this is the way that customs start.

I try to think of things in reverse - it helps add perspective.

Imagine that all of the visitors to the grand Canyon do this (plenty of rocks out there) and imagine what that would do to the scenery in the eyes of the locals. Same for South Beach - Miami-Florida (could stack Gucci Jeans) or the statue of liberty and even perhaps the wild and stunning coastline of Monterrey California. Something to think about isn't it?

So - why is it happening? This is my response.

Aruba has a unique and special effect on the visitors. Add the natural wildness and aggressiveness of the ocean on the North Coast to that as well as the isolation there and many are stirred to leave something behind that says nothing more than "I was here, my name isn't important, I know that these rocks will eventually fall but I just wanted to say thank you for stirring feelings in me and allowing me to realize that perhaps there is equal importance in standing by surf that pounds relentlessly and staking a few stones on top of each other as there is in many other things that we place such high values on"

Maybe that is an answer

be well
charles

[JohnG]

It never fails to give me an eerie feeling once I enter the "rock garden" (just past the Terra de Sol golf course on the shore trail to the Alto Vista Chapel). There have to be tens of thousands of the stacks (I think since they are man-made they are classified as cairns) there that go from the shoreline all the way up the hill on the west side of the trail.

[Mr. Ratt]

Boy, I'm confused...
Terra De Sol is miles away from Alto Vista...
Would you be talking about the labyrinth behind Alto Vista Chapel?
If so, the eerie feeling you're getting is the energy that's been accumulated by the however-many people that have walked the labyrinth and worked the place up. Wonderful place for reflection, meditation, reflection and a whole lot of other positive stuff. I have to take my hat off to those that are able to walk that labyrinth, the heat must be intense, and for sure, it would be an experience.

Hmmm, I just finished walking the labyrinth not far from here, and what a perfect day for this subject... happy Solstice ladies and gents. Enjoy the longest day of the year. I hope it's as beautiful where you are as it is here in Toronto.
It's positively Aruba-like here... well, temperature wise anyway.

[danadog56]

Originally Posted by Caribbean-tattler

When I first saw this, I thought it was kind of cute and a nice thing for tourists to do. After that I was able to find out that there were similar practices in the deserts of Africa to denote water holes or water access locations. I checked out about everything I could think of to justify this "happening" on our island. I could not find anything of consequence except that the ones that do this, place some sort of reverence or special meaning to it. I suppose that this is the way that customs start.

I try to think of things in reverse - it helps add perspective.

Imagine that all of the visitors to the grand Canyon do this (plenty of rocks out there) and imagine what that would do to the scenery in the eyes of the locals. Same for South Beach - Miami-Florida (could stack Gucci Jeans) or the statue of liberty and even perhaps the wild and stunning coastline of Monterrey California. Something to think about isn't it?

So - why is it happening? This is my response.

Aruba has a unique and special effect on the visitors. Add the natural wildness and aggressiveness of the ocean on the North Coast to that as well as the isolation there and many are stirred to leave something behind that says nothing more than "I was here, my name isn't important, I know that these rocks will eventually fall but I just wanted to say thank you for stirring feelings in me and allowing me to realize that perhaps there is equal importance in standing by surf that pounds relentlessly and staking a few stones on top of each other as there is in many other things that we place such high values on"

Maybe that is an answer

be well
charles

Charles,
You always seem to put a nice ring on things that make no sense.....of course, that was not meant to be hurtful....you just always seem to see the good in everything..........we all could learn a lot from you.....can I come down and stay for a month or two ?????

Ha, I have noticed over the years though that the "rock gardens" are growing in many other places on the island as well as the original spot.......maybe a good blast from the ocean will tumble it all down, pull it out and then "they" could start all over again

[jeffnev]

I always thought it was "cool" that people took the time to stack rocks and assumed that it had a different meaning to each person doing it. I don't see it as an eyesore, as it is temporary and is really not harming anything- a nice alternative to graffiti for self expression. Judging by the number of people we see stopping to take pictures of the rock stacks, I assume others are also intrigued by this.

So maybe there really isn't a deep religious significance to the "custom" but we enjoy seeing them defying nature along the shore-and in our imagination they have been there for centuries.

[Andrea J.]

we heard from bully and charles who are both true gentlemen in every sense of the word and both very eloquent.
what about others........are they scratching their heads and thinking "what are those silly tourists doing with the rocks? "