/ˈhɔːr.ə.lɪθ/
noun · etym: noemic-greek · hora (hour) + -lith (stone) · cf. menhir, horology
a small stone marking an hour.
the horalith is placed deliberately. one carries a pebble from the path; one places it on the kitchen windowsill at four o'clock; one notices it again at five, and the hour is briefly visible as a small dark shape on a pale ledge. compare the stone wing, where the practice is documented at greater length, and the hexturate arrangement, where the horalith often serves as a fine sixth.
a horalith left for too long becomes a idolic object — no longer marking the hour, simply belonging to the windowsill. practitioners replace it daily; some replace it hourly; some let it stay, accepting the slow drift toward the palebound.
in a sentence: "the horalith on my desk is from a tuesday in march; i cannot say which year."
see also · idolic hexturate plaintice stone clock room