The Silent Realm
Documentary Film, 30 Minutes
Co-Producer | Co-Director | Camera | Editor | Sound
Co-Producer | Co-Director | Camera | Editor | Sound
“I felt that I had become a part of the history of its silent realm,” Peter Martin declared after lifting the Testing Stone of the Fianna. Most fifty-seven year old men have better things to do then hoist a 282 lb. boulder off the ground. But Peter Martin was partaking of a centuries-old tradition that served to mark the passage from adolescence into manhood, a tradition that still draws determined men of all ages to lift Scotland’s famous stones of strength. Through his travels and his study of the legends and folklore of his country, Peter Martin has devoted his life to the research and lifting of Scotland’s Clach Cuid Firs, or Manhood Stones. His articles published in Scotland and abroad passionately promote what he considers to be the relevancy and simple beauty of this ancient custom.
While Peter has lifted many Manhood Stones out of the obscurity of a forgotten past, it was his lift of the Testing Stone of the Fianna that inspired in him a profound connection to this past. The significance of this lift was no longer a rite of passage into manhood, but instead a symbolic membership among the Fianna, a band of ancient Celtic warriors. Inspired by Wolfram Von Eschenbach’s 13th-century Arthurian tale, Parzival, in which the Grail is said to be a stone, Peter offers that each stone lifter must seek his own Grail Stone, an object through which he reveals his most worthy self.
Peter Martin concludes that there is more to lifting stones than just the physical act; rather, a person becomes a part of the history of that particular stone, and joins the brotherhood of those who have - in firm footsteps - entered the silent realm and measured their strength by putting daylight between stone and earth.
In The Silent Realm, Peter Martin explains the ancient custom of stone lifting and why he feels young men and seasoned athletes should still journey to isolated valleys and remote villages to lift Scotland's Manhood Stones.
While Peter has lifted many Manhood Stones out of the obscurity of a forgotten past, it was his lift of the Testing Stone of the Fianna that inspired in him a profound connection to this past. The significance of this lift was no longer a rite of passage into manhood, but instead a symbolic membership among the Fianna, a band of ancient Celtic warriors. Inspired by Wolfram Von Eschenbach’s 13th-century Arthurian tale, Parzival, in which the Grail is said to be a stone, Peter offers that each stone lifter must seek his own Grail Stone, an object through which he reveals his most worthy self.
Peter Martin concludes that there is more to lifting stones than just the physical act; rather, a person becomes a part of the history of that particular stone, and joins the brotherhood of those who have - in firm footsteps - entered the silent realm and measured their strength by putting daylight between stone and earth.
In The Silent Realm, Peter Martin explains the ancient custom of stone lifting and why he feels young men and seasoned athletes should still journey to isolated valleys and remote villages to lift Scotland's Manhood Stones.