THE WHISPERS OF ROCK

Silent stones speak.

Khatwa, an earth scientist and self-described “rock whisperer,” describes her book as a mixture of science and spirituality. “My love for rock began as a child when I walked over solidified lava flows in south-east Kenya….This touchpoint experience sparked a fire deep inside me.” She travels the world and tells of the rocks she encounters, including one at Stonehenge: “‘See here’ whispers Stone 56, the tallest of the sarsens at Stonehenge, ‘Can you sense the invisible traces of hands that once cleaved at rock?’” In Petra, Jordan, the sandstones “whisper” of how “the river danced over the land.” These accounts might seem woo-woo to some readers, but Khatwa maintains that science, with its impersonal observation, measurement, and recording of data, can take us only so far in understanding the earth. Traditional knowledge from Indigenous peoples who live in areas where rocks are or were located needs to be respected as well. She cites the display of a moai statue taken from Rapa Nui (formerly Easter Island) at the British Museum. The removal of the Willamette Meteorite from the Clackamas Chinook peoples of Oregon, who call it Tomanowos, is another example. The meteorite is at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where parts of it were cut into fragments for research purposes. For years, the museum and the tribe fought over ownership of Tomanowos, and tribal members now have access to the meteorite for ceremonies. As the author writes, “the story of Tomanowos neatly frames the dichotomy that continues to exist between communities who believe in the animacy of nature and those who adopt a more Western scientific approach. To bridge this divide, I believe that it is the scientists who need to shift their position so that they are willing to accept knowledge and expertise in its many forms.”

A “rock whisperer” shares vivid stories from deep time.