Song of the stone

'Song of the Stone' is the true story of five remarkable journeys.

Barry Brailsford, the highly acclaimed author of 'The Tattooed Land' and 'Greenstone Trails', spent six years writing 'Song of Waitaha', at the invitation of the oldest tribes of New Zealand.

This white historian and archaeologist was initiated into the sacred school of learning and sat with knowledge long thought lost. 'Song of the Stone' describes his fascinating odyssey into the world of the wisdom-keepers of his land and the North American Indian peoples.

Barry's amazing quest is about the discovery of the self. He left the comfort of the known to travel deep into the old knowledge to write the story. The lore revealed had never been shared before and asked much of him.

Before a single word could be written it was necessary to reopen an ancient trail across the Southern Alps - one closed for over 100 years. In 1988 he led a party of 12 over the mountains, to carry greenstone, the healing stone, and lift the tapu that closed the way by opening seven sacred doors.

Barry's next journey was to the Red Earth of North America. This trail carried him into the world of the shaman. Many tests were met along the way. The trail fire he lit beside the manuscript of the book, in the the canyon lands of Utah was answered by Wallace Black Elk of the Sioux Nation.

In 1992 Barry carried greenstone to the Hopi Indians and then discovered that the real itinerary was to carry the stone to twelve Indian Nations. With four companions he made an amazing journey of 8,000 miles by road to form a great circle of healing stone within the heart of North America.

The fourth journey was to the ancient standing stones of Europe. Stonehenge, Iona, Creevykeel, Carrowmore, the Burren, New Grange and the Rath of Tara were the sacred markers on this trail to ancestors who honoured stone in the age of the pyramids.

The fifth journey was made within himself - the journey of the spirit - the most challenging of all. He experienced different dimensions of time and space, learned to listen to the land and to explore exciting realms that opened his mind and heart to the world of the ancestors. It was an exhilarating journey, a painful and lonely one fraught with danger, a trail of joy and tears that helped him see the spirit of life in all things.

In 1990 Barry was awarded an MBE, by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to education and to Maori scholarship.