Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 9:39 am Post subject: Stonehenge: a day and a night to remember......
Hi all
As there are plans to undertake a private visit to Stonehenge next year I thought I'd paste this up. I was asked by the bloke who organised it to do a write up for his website so it's a bit promotional in content
It is VERY long winded (Raymond won't be surprised....) but it gives a flavour of the experience and I would definitely do it again.
Hope it doesn't send you off to sleep !
Stonehenge……..a Day and a Night to Remember
My first visit to Stonehenge was as a young child some 40 years ago: I knew nothing of their history back then, only that they were some giant stones on the way to Cornwall and Devon and that they were great for games of hide and seek. We would regularly stop off there and my parents would let my younger brother and I have a run about before the next bit of what was, in those days, a mammoth journey. Later, as I grew older and learned more about their supposed history, they intrigued me: the thought of going there again was exciting and enchanting but my parents no longer wanted to make the journey so I had to be content with reading about them and other mysterious stone circles dotted across the country. Many years later, on a visit to Cornwall with my new husband, we stopped off there just before dawn: we watched as the familiar silhouette became more distinct in the softly increasing light and I longed to touch the old stones once more, to quietly lean against them as I had as a child and imagine what secrets they held but, by then, the barriers had been erected, the place was a busy tourist destination and the chance was lost…..or so I thought.
During the following two decades my husband and I had a longed for child but, sadly, parted and divorced in the 80's: thankfully we stayed great friends until his untimely, early death in the spring of 2008. After we parted I had finally answered the gentle, but insistent, call of the Lady who had been in my dreams since childhood and began openly walking a Pagan path instead of hiding my beliefs from other people. I was fortunate, after several years, to meet and marry another lovely chap who shared my interest in the ancient secrets of these islands, although he works in a square not in a circle………….. We journeyed together, visiting the old places, the overgrown and semi forgotten ones and the shiny, touristy ones: both of us ‘seekers’ in our own ways.
In the autumn of 2008, a ‘friend’ request popped up on my Facebook page from a person called David Rowan. I didn’t have a clue who this individual was so I contacted the person showing as our ‘mutual friend’ to find out a bit more. She assured me that this chap David was a nice bloke and that he was a very interesting man: so I added him as a friend little knowing then that he was to be the architect of helping me to fulfill a cherished dream.
As short while after this, in November 2008, I posted up a couple of pictures of Stonehenge and David sent me a message suggesting that I might want to have a look at some of his pictures. Now, being a very inquisitive (i.e. nosey) person, I had already had a mooch about on David’s page when I ‘added’ him but, this time, I had a really good rummage about and was amazed at what I saw – Stonehenge, apparently no barriers and………… no people – how had he managed that? Curiosity got the better of me so I clicked on a link to David’s own website (http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/stonehenge_sunset.html) and read about the guided tours of the Sacred Landscape he conducted starting in Avebury and culminating in two private visits to Stonehenge, one at sunset and then later under either starlight or moonlight depending upon the moon phase. One of the tours for 2009 was at the Dark Moon and was very close to my husband’s birthday in July: we were initially planning to be in the South West for a week, so I contacted David via email and made a preliminary booking which needed to be completed on his website. Of course, me being a technophobe, I managed to mess it up and couldn’t access the site again so I had to send the confirmation the old fashioned way. A short while later, whilst waxing lyrical about the trip and David to a friend, she said that she would like to go too, so I gave her David’s contact details and she booked two places for herself and her daughter – she had to do it the old fashioned way too, so clearly we are of like minds…..! As the winter months rolled onwards the excitement became more and more tangible and, on the infrequent moments when we could find time to catch up, we spoke about what we were hoping to experience from the trip and mused about what the old stones were used for when they were shiny and new: we were full of anticipation about this brief trip - life was chaotic, we were both juggling some rather unpleasant situations in our lives (family illnesses, concerns over our own respective health issues, friends who were experiencing problems, children with worries etc) and at times we despaired but we reasoned that other people were facing more difficult circumstances than we were so we both just got on with improving our juggling techniques .
It was only a matter of time though, before we would be reminded not take things for granted. In the spring of 2009, my friend’s life took some unexpected twists and turns. Over the following couple of months, whilst my friend tried to stitch the fabric life back together, David reached out to her, speaking at length on the phone and sending bits and pieces that would help speed the healing process, mentally and physically for those affected by recent events. For our part, the recession took a huge bite out of us, leaving us reeling and rudderless, I was having health problems that I didn't want to acknowledge and my father's illness meant that my parents needed more and more support, so our proposed and longed for week away had become a very brief trip down to Wiltshire and back: again, David offered help and support to us, to people he had never met. My friend and I were grateful for his kindness: we read many of the articles David posted and although we were looking forward to meeting him, we both wondered, more than once, how on earth we would be able to relate, intellectually, with this academic man – two scatty women, one of them blonde (me, so I can say it!) who couldn’t even access his website correctly, and two relatively cynical non Pagans.
Suddenly, July was upon us and it became apparent that the sunny heat wave folk had been mentioning since spring was not a certainty at all. David contacted us with details of the itinerary for the forthcoming day and mentioned, in passing, that we might want to consider bringing waterproofs: we laughed and shrugged it off, it was going to be a glorious day, we were sure of it. We decided to just take umbrellas and anoraks and set off in high spirits to a little Inn about half an hour away from Avebury where we were going to be staying for our brief trip.
After a pleasant night at this lovely old Inn, (great country food, creaking floors, spiders etc), the day of the tour and the visit to Stonehenge dawned bright and clear. So, imagine if you will, sheep wandering around the ancient stones at Avebury, the gentle morning sunlight glinting in their eyes whilst a temperate breeze ruffles the trees.
Now, scrap that.
Imagine instead a grey sky, gusting wind with the threat of rain ever present and sheep wandering around the ancient stones looking severely fed up, as if someone has brought a jar of mint sauce along and was teasing them with it.
We arrived at Avebury, with our umbrellas, anoraks and a change of clothes (just in case….) and my friend, her daughter and I wandered around the Henge shop whilst waiting for David to arrive: my husband, being an old hand at this shopping lark, wisely stayed outside sporting his leather hat adorned with the feathers of a hapless pheasant. As I paid for a couple of trinkets David, accompanied by his (lovely) wife Reena came in and we introduced ourselves: by the time I’d got outside my husband and David were already chatting, bonding perhaps over the shared appreciation of male headgear – both were wearing similar hats!
So, the day commenced. We stood in the car park as David explained what the day was to hold for us and then he began the tour of Avebury by showing us some superb illustrations of the landscape as it would have looked before the village was built. We walked around the perimeter, the rain had begun to come down but not too heavily and David and Reena were pointing things out to us as we went. It was my friend and her daughter’s first time there but we love the place and go there very regularly (avoiding the main Pagan holidays……) so I thought we knew the area reasonably well: I was mistaken. As we climbed up to the ridge, where the chalk is visible beneath the grass, David and Reena pointed out aspects of the landscape that had eluded us before. I am sure it was because of all the things I was trying to take in that I slipped over and landed first on my knee and then on my backside – it obviously had absolutely nothing to do with me being clumsy and not looking where I was going! As my friend tried to hoist me up, without looking as though she was laughing (she failed by the way), my husband fumbled for his camera trying to get a photo of me sprawled on the wet chalk (it wasn’t raining heavily but there were fed up sheep around, so it’s not hard to imagine where the wetness came from….) – however, he failed to get a picture, The Goddess looks after Her own (after She’s finished laughing too of course). I got up and Reena kindly gave me some tissues to wipe myself down with before we moved off: it was a bit like a of those ‘Carry On’ films……!
We moved along, crossing the road and stopping to look at some of the stones in more detail before David suggested that any of us who needed to ‘freshen up’ should do so before we set off for our next destination. Having brought only one change of clothes from the Inn, I was a bit worried about changing but the thought of spending the rest of the day covered in chalk and sheep’s urine (nice) didn’t fill me with unbridled joy so I popped into the Red Lion to change – after all, what else could possibly happen…… famous last words...... We met up by the cars, David explaining to my husband the route he was going to take first to Silbury Hill and then to West Kennett Long Barrow and off we went.
When we arrived at Silbury Hill, the rain was absolutely throwing itself down at us. We got out of the cars and almost swam over to the viewing area, umbrellas and anoraks hoods fluttering in the wind. David explained the history of the place and how it fitted into the Sacred Landscape – again, his comments and suggestions gave food for thought as we went back to the cars.
As we emerged from the cars at West Kennett Long Barrow, Gaia decided to really let us have it. Now, maybe with the benefit of hindsight we could have adjusted the itinerary, gone off for a cuppa and come back once the rain had stopped but we were there and it didn’t look like it was going to stop, so off we went. Walking up that hill with the rain and the wind lashing down towards us was an experience I will never forget: at one point I couldn’t even speak (rarely happens…) and could hardly catch my breath, everyone else was in a similar position or so it seemed. When we got to the top and saw the Long Barrow the initial elation I expected to feel was replaced by the need to get inside away from the rain: we all moved inside, lead by Reena, deeper into the Barrow, dodging huge puddles as we went. Once inside, we stood and listened as David wove a picture with his words about the Long Barrow and what our ancestors may have done there. When we emerged we climbed to the top of the Barrow and whilst the rain poured down we looked at Silbury Hill and a crop circle in the fields below. As we walked back to the cars, the rain stopped and the sun shone briefly: my friend and I remarked to each other that it was almost like a rebirth, coming out of the Mother’s womb, through the waters of life – we stopped by a tree and my friend made up a couple of impromptu offerings (she’s good at that kind of thing) and even my husband hung one on the tree. Wonders will never cease!
The rest of the day was spent visiting the Sanctuary, Woodhenge, a walkway near Stonehenge and Old Sarum punctuated by a very nice lunch at a pub which has devoted one of its rooms to crop circles: it’s lovely. Whilst we were there, David presented my husband and I with copies of our birth charts which he had prepared earlier and he and Reena explained the planetary aspects which made us who we are: both were incredibly accurate, warts and all. David and my husband spent some considerable time discussing sacred geometry and the impact this has had on many aspects of history, religion and architecture: who would have thought that my burly bricklayer would have had so much in common with this intellectual astrologer – still waters run deep……. Later in the afternoon we retired to another pub (is there a theme developing here…) and David presented birth charts to my friend and her daughter – both were again very accurate. Those of us who had dry clothes to change into got tidied up (I balanced on a chair trying, unsuccessfully, to get the legs of my jeans dry under the hand dryer…..) and then David explained how the two evening visits to Stonehenge would progress. A tangible sense of excitement spread around our little group, the rain was still doing it’s ‘thing’ outside but David had done a weather chart which indicated that the rain would clear by about 6.30pm……we set off for Stonehenge.
As we arrived, the rain stopped: no, seriously, it really did. The sky began to clear of clouds and the sun shone. We approached the Security Guards who, after checking David’s credentials, waved us through to the car park much to the surprise of people who were still drifting around by the fence: the place was shut, why were we being allowed in? One of the Guards checked that we understood the rules and regulations and that we all had torches for later: he walked us down to the tunnel entrance and……we went in.
We almost bounced up the path to the stones, trying very hard not to look at those people who were staring at us from behind the fence. As we reached the area where the rope had been removed for us to pass through, we all just looked at each other and followed David and Reena inside.
It’s hard to describe what it feels like once you’re inside. You are conscious of the road and the cars a short distance away and of people nearby but in some way it’s as if you are alone and that time has stood still for you. At first we all stood about taking photographs, perhaps anxious to capture images of the stones from this unique perspective before the Guard decided that we were frauds and returned to chuck us out.
One by one, we began to wander around, at first tentatively touching the stones and then, as we each grew more accustomed to being there, leaning against them. David and Reena wandered about with us, apparently as much in awe as any of us were. My husband came over and mentioned, almost casually, that whilst he’d been outside of the main circle, he’d seen a figure in white standing next to him, a few minutes later my friend’s daughter said that she had seen girls with their faces painted black dancing between the stones. At one point, as I peered between two stones, the sunlight hit me and I was struck by an intense, and what I can only describe as a masculine, energy: such was the feeling that I found myself sinking down and bowing my head in respect and awe. Although in my practice I honour both The God and The Goddess during rituals, it’s true to say that I have always worked more with The Goddess than The God. Over recent years, during meditations, I have felt that He has been nudging me to take more notice of Him: I felt moved to tears by the unexpected intensity of this experience. Unknown to me my husband was standing several yards behind me and had used the zoom to capture pictures of this happening, he didn’t know why but he said he just felt driven to do so.
As the sun began to slide from the sky, we all tried to capture an iconic image of the stones with the sun between them and then we wandered again, almost rushing to experience it all before we had to leave, outside and inside, looking at the stones from all perspectives and seeing the old familiar landscape with fresh eyes. All too soon the Guard came over and we moved away from the stones, back through the tunnel to the cars: the modern world came noisily rushing back as the ancient stones faded silently from view in the dimming light.
David led us to a local pub, one frequented by soldiers and locals alike and we talked about whether the rain would continue to hold off, whether we would be able to see any stars and what we had experienced earlier. By now we were all very relaxed with each other and were talking about many different things: our hopes, dreams, worries, and aspirations – it was as if we’d all known each other for years. We were trying not to wish the time away but it was obvious that we were all eagerly anticipating getting back to the stones as quickly as possible. From my seat I could glimpse the sky and it seemed to be darkening, ominously: I sent up a silent plea that it would be dry and clear….. After what seemed like an eternity, David and Reena motioned that it was time to leave the pub and head back to Stonehenge for our final visit of the day.
As we approached along the now almost deserted road, the atmosphere within our car became charged with anticipation and for the first time that day we four were almost silent. The Guard approached as we drew up to the barriers and he again waved us through to the empty car park. After checking that each one of us was in possession of a working torch he allowed to once again go through the tunnel, this time emerging from the artificial light into a landscape barely discernable. As we walked carefully along the path we had so easily navigated earlier, each one of us tried to adjust to the deficit of light, our eyes fixing occasionally on the steady headlights of cars as they wove their way along the road in the distance. We reached the stones without any of us falling over (the reason for the torches, even though you don’t use them, is that apparently someone did trip up and then made an issue out of the fact that the place was unlit…..on a tour specified as being under starlight or moonlight – go figure!) and once again we moved beyond the rope barrier and into the space between the stones.
There was no rain, a slight chill was in the soft breeze that danced around us and the sky above us was almost clear. It was a deep, sapphire blue with shadowy clouds moving slowly across the canopy - behind them was a scattering of diamond like stars which flickered as the clouds floated past: I sent up a silent ‘thank you’. The atmosphere within the stones this time was different. Reena had told us earlier that the stones take on a different perspective when it gets dark and that certainly seemed to be the case: they loomed above us, appearing to have grown substantially and, whilst it was not menacing or frightening (far from it), the stones seemed to preside over intense energies which were almost tangible. Although the road was nearby, once we were within the stones it was as though the outside world had ceased to exist for us. My friend and I had brought along various bits and bobs to place near the stones, I found a little niche for my tarot cards, pendulum, athame and ritual jewellery and my friend placed her tarot cards, jewellery, crystals and wand on a cloth between two large stones. David suggested that we might like to look at an astrological chart he had prepared for the evening so, for the only time during this visit, our torches were switched on as we gathered round to look: once this was finished David and Reena recommended a period of meditation or silence.
We all drifted off to find a place to immerse ourselves: although I doubted very much that my husband would mediate, I knew that the experience had impacted on him, so I left him to his own thoughts and found myself a place between two stones, ‘my’ stones, out of the way of anyone else. My eyes were by now quite well adjusted to the enveloping darkness and I was vaguely aware that there were other people about, I could hear soft footsteps and caught the sound of breathing on the breeze but to all intents and purposes I felt alone: it was as if the place was charmed and I don’t mean by the fictitious Halliwell sisters!
The enchantment was shattered by a sudden, piercing scream right in front of me and as I opened my eyes with a jolt I saw my friend’s daughter staggering away in abject terror. I looked around for whatever horrible apparition had appeared to her and realised, with a sinking feeling, that the vision that had startled her was……me. Now, I know I can look pretty rough some mornings, with or without make up, but it was a bit sobering to realise that, late at night, I could scare someone so much that they would rival a ‘Hammer House of Horrors’ leading lady for screaming. Once she’d calmed down she (attempted to) reassure me that it was the shock of seeing a motionless figure that had scared her, not my face………hmm. All at once I had the sudden feeling that the stones I was standing near, ‘my’ stones, would rather that I wasn’t there: it wasn’t menacing, just a feeling that they were a bit fed up with the commotion – I moved quickly away.
All thoughts of meditation were now out of the window so I wandered off to see what my better half was up to: he was standing motionless, up against a stone, eyes closed and not scaring anyone at all. Seeing my friend and her daughter standing companionably together and Reena meditating I thought I would walk the perimeter, taking care not to fall over any of the stones: as I did so I noticed an indistinct figure coming the opposite way that I presumed was David. As we passed each other I was suddenly aware that it was not, in fact, David as I could see him in front of me and neither was it a guard: I kept walking, swiftly, singing ‘Isis, Astarte, Diana’ to myself - I’m usually as psychic as a brick so this threw my equilibrium of balance……… I approached my husband again and thought he’d dropped off to sleep as he was so still: I was about to wander off to ‘my’ stones again when he opened his eyes, so we walked off together, away from the main body of the stones and stood for some time looking back at them. Above us the stars twinkled and winked at us in the moonless sky and the stones stood silently, as they had done for thousands of years before and, Goddess willing, they would do for thousands of years to come. It was a comforting feeling, to be able to share that sensation of timelessness with someone you love, especially since recent times had been so challenging for us both and we had so little time to just be together, to be still.
For the final time that day, David called us together as our private visit to Stonehenge began to draw to a close. He and Reena presented us with some mementos of the evening and we stood noiselessly for a few moments, each drawing our own consciousness back to mundane reality from the enduring landscape of the stones. As if by magic, (just like Mr Benn!) the Guard appeared to escort us back to the tunnel: the glaring artificial lights intruding upon our still sensitive eyes as we made our way reluctantly back to the cars. The day was at an end and, as we made our farewells, we all commented that it had been a day to remember and not just because of the sights we had seen. Those of us who could, sat slumbering in the car with images of ancient stones, sparkling stars and half seen figures dancing in our heads accompanied by rain, wind, companionship and waltzing umbrellas.
Truly a unique, exhilarating and uplifting experience: seeing Stonehenge in that way, going beyond the fences and barriers, being able to be so close to the stones again is something that will stay with us all for a long time. If you get the opportunity to experience this for yourself, it is wholeheartedly recommended: by the way, if David suggests taking waterproofs………..please make sure you take his advice!
Bright Blessings
July 2009
)0( _________________ Pagan Pride: The God and The Goddess Rock!
He asked me to write up the experience so that it could go on his website.
I did so but you know me, there has to be a bit of irreverance in there somewhere or the ADHD kicks in!
I made it as promotional for him as I could but I don't think it was respectful enough for him originally so I had to add a bit of 'gushing' to it before he could add it to his promo stuff.
I'll never make a good PR person.......but hopefully it gives an idea as to the atmosphere of the stones.
Sorry it is sooooo long but then you of all people wouldn't be surprisd that I would go on..... and on...... and on...... _________________ Pagan Pride: The God and The Goddess Rock!
Hahaha!!
You should have been there mate!!
The experience itself was sound though, I'd go again to get up close and personal with the stones!!! _________________ Pagan Pride: The God and The Goddess Rock!
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