Devin Devine, Cairn Builder
devin@devineescapes.com
Indoor Memorial Cairn
“The comfort of having a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one.” Seneca
The form is that of the holy Mountain, or the Axis Mundi, with the setting sun behind it. Ancient peoples the world over had sacred mountains like this, or stone pyramids that they built. The setting of the sun behind the mountain demonstrates the union of Earth and Sky.
This indoor memorial cairn is is a stacked stone pyramid, with a sphere top. The pyramid stones come from 2 locations: from a nearby river, and from the side of the mountain. The two elements of the cairn are Pyramid, made from rugged wild stones, used as I found them without any tooling–and the Sphere top, itself made from 2 flat stones that I have carved and polished.
“What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us” — Helen Keller
We built this indoor memorial within a room with sky lights and grow lights, a small indoor garden space.
I built this using only natural materials, with help from an apprentice. The structure is able to remain stable without epoxy and steel rods. The sphere top is set by notches into the stones beneath it and the stone beneath are connected via a top-secret method using wooden dowels. I call pieces like this “Tinker Toy Temples”. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me why I call them that.
This is the second indoor memorial cairn I’ve been commissioned to build, so far. The first was last year, at a cancer research facility in Boston:
Loved ones will be invited to write the name of their dearly departed, upon small river rocks, and add them to the cairn. Overlooking the Boston Seaport.
Thank you for looking
PS we make memorial benches too
This one is being tested immediately after installation, by our friend Bhakti the Cat
