Pagan Tv Roundup Stonehenge Heritage And Horror

Last week there were quite a few programmes on telly with pagan content - some good, some not so good.

I'll start by talking about Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons, which was on Channel 4 last night. I'll be honest, I was a bit sceptical about Channel 4's hype about the documentary, such as "The results... overturn the accepted view on when Stonehenge was built and what it was built for."

And it seemed I was right. Watching the programme didn't teach me much more about Stonehenge than I already knew - but I guess viewers might have learnt something if they hadn't seen all the other programmes in the past year or so about England's most famous stone circle.

For those who didn't watch it, The Secrets of the Stonehenge Skeletons was about the findings of Professor Mike Parker Pearson, who has analysed bone fragments buried underneath the original bluestones and came to the conclusion that the megalithic monument was built to honour the dead. His study of pig and cow bones found nearby show that Stone Age Britons also had big feasts there at around the time of the Winter Solstice.

Mike Parker Pearson's book, Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery,is much better than the C4 documentary, according to friends of mine who have read it. I think I'll see if my library has a copy I can borrow.

Pagans and Pilgrims - Britain's Holiest Places, a new series about Britain's sacred sites, started on BBC4 on Thursday). Despite the title, the first documentary in the series didn't have much to say about pagan sites, being mostly about cathedrals, but it was interesting. The next episode, which is on BBC4 on Thursday 14 March at 8.30pm, is about holy watering places and presenter Ifor ap Glyn visits Britain's oldest sacred spring. Maybe it will have more pagan content than last week's show.

Immediately after Pagans and Pilgrims on BBC4 there was the start of another documentary series called Heritage! The Battle for Britain's Past. The first episode had the title From Old Bones to Precious Stones and was pretty much all about England's ancient stone circles and other megalithic monuments - and I did learn some new facts. It was about 19th century and early 20th century efforts to save places like Stonehenge, Avebury and Kits' Coty, in Kent, from destruction.

In Victorian times and earlier, landowners could do what they liked with anything on their land. Ancient sacred stones could be removed to use as building material for houses or to give a farmer more field space to plough up. This programme charted the birth of the heritage movement and legislation to safeguard old structures. Much of it was about the birth of English Heritage and, while many modern pagans might disapprove of some of the things English Heritage has done, there is no doubt that the organisation has saved ancient monuments from destruction.

The final TV series I'm going to mention is the supernatural crime drama Mayday. I don't want to give away spoilers for those who haven't yet watched it, but it had a lot of pagan elements. I'd describe it as being reminiscent of Twin Peaks, although not really up to the high standard of that classic series created by David Lynch in the 1990s. However, I enjoyed Mayday and would recommend it if you like crime thrillers with a hint of supernatural horror.

All of these programmes are still available to watch online today, but probably not for much longer. Catch up with them soon if you don't want to miss them.

Links and previous related posts:

Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/03/tv-pagans-and-pilgrims-britains-holiest.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/03/television-secrets-of-stonehenge.html

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p014fxzv

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vm1y7

The Secret Stone Circle Of Stanton Drew

Many an adventure tale starts with being given a map. That is how this story begins too - but it is no work of fiction.

Back in the depths of winter, when I was thinking about places I wanted to explore in the coming year, a friend gave me a map of the stone circles at Stanton Drew. It was a much-faded black-and-white photocopy of a map from a very old leaflet about the prehistoric site. This showed not one stone circle, but three. These, as well as a set of stones known as The Cove, all lay on one side of the River Chew, in Somerset, while an outlying quoit could be found on the other bank of the river.

What made me want to see Stanton Drew stone circles myself was the fact that it is the third largest collection of standing stones in England. Yet, as I learnt when I visited during the glorious Indian Summer weather of early September last week, Stanton Drew languishes in obscurity compared with Avebury, which is England's second largest megalithic complex after the world-renowned Stonehenge.

Pay a visit to either Avebury or Stonehenge and you will find them crowded with visitors. From tourists who feel no holiday in England, or at least the West Country, is complete without a trip to a famous stone circle to pagans who believe a pilgrimage to these sacred sites must be done at least once in a lifetime, Avebury and Stonehenge are on the must-see list. Yet stop any of these tourists or pagans and ask them if they have been to Stanton Drew and the answer is likely to be no - if they have heard of the place at all.

Even many of the people who live in the village of Stanton Drew seem remarkably uninterested and uninformed about their local stone age megaliths, apart from knowing the field where the main stone circle stands. Although the stones are managed by English Heritage, they lie on private farm land. There is a sign saying access is permitted from 9am until sunset each day and there is an honesty box on the gate with a suggestion that you drop in a pound to pay for your visit - a fair admittance charge I would say. In fact, the field contains two of Stanton Drew's circles - the Great Circle, which is 113m in diameter, and the smaller North East Circle. It also contains the remains of an avenue of stones by which the small stone circle would have been approached in the distant past when Stanton Drew was a significant place of ritual and worship. (You can see a photo of the site at the top.)

Most people in the village also know that the three stones that make up The Cove can be found in the garden of the local pub - the appropriately named Druid's Arms (one of the stones is pictured left). But even the barmaid at the Druid's Arms couldn't tell me where I could find the third stone circle. After ordering a pint of the local ale, I showed her my creased and faded map, which clearly included a South West Circle, some way apart from the Great Circle.

She shook her head. She had never heard of it before, let alone seen it, she said. It was a mystery.

By the time my beer was drunk and The Cove thoroughly explored, the sun was setting. The best course of action seemed to be to put my plans of exploration aside until morning and buy another drink. I decided to switch to cider.

This being Somerset, the home of English cider, I asked what local brews they had. The barmaid pointed to Thatcher's Gold on tap. Now, I have nothing against Thatcher's Gold and I do realise that it is produced in the county, but I was hoping to sample something I couldn't easily buy in London, I explained to the barmaid. I asked if there was anything else available. She paused and glanced at the other people in the bar, the locals. There was a definite lull in the conversation and their eyes turned towards me. So I looked at them, then back at the barmaid.

"There is.... The Rough..." She said, at last. "That's what the locals drink."

Naturally, I asked to try it.

The barmaid produced, from below the counter, a battered plastic container of cloudy yellow liquid and poured a small amount into a glass. I sipped. I've had scrumpy before. It isn't rough at all. In fact it tastes extremely smooth. Hardly alcoholic really. This is deceptive, however. Although it tastes much like plain apple juice, real scrumpy will get you drunk in no time and I am pretty sure its name refers entirely to how you feel the morning after.

"Very nice," I said, and ordered a glass. There was the perceptible sigh of relief from the barmaid and around me the locals picked up their conversations again. I sort of felt as though I had passed some kind of test, though a test of what I wasn't entirely sure...

The next morning, over the Full English and pot of tea that is the standard cure for a hangover, I asked the owner of the B and B I was staying at if she knew the location of the mysterious South West Circle. At first, she seemed just as baffled as the barmaid the night before and said she had never heard of it. But, after a while - and much peering at my map - said she thought that if it really existed I might be able to catch a glimpse of it over the wall at the back of the graveyard behind the village church.

So, that was where I headed after packing my bags and paying my bill. The churchyard was beautiful and peaceful in the early autumn sunlight, full of old weatherworn grave markers and surrounded by a lichen-encrusted stone wall. But, beyond it, where the South West Circle might lie, was out of view. All I could see was a huge and overgrown hedge of thorns and brambles that could just as easily hide Sleeping Beauty's castle as a lost stone circle. I needed to find another route if I wasn't to give up my quest there and then.

Wandering down the country lane beside the church, I spotted a faded and half-broken sign marking a footpath that led towards a farm. It seemed as though it might run in the right direction so I followed it. I could see the high and overgrown hedge to my right. At the edge of the footpath I was following ran an electric fence, and the ground between the fence and the high hedge was dense with nettles and thistles. I became more and more convinced that that hedge surrounded the secret circle, but clearly this was private land and the owner of that land - and the circle itself - did not want trespassers.

What was I to do?

At last I spotted a slight gap in the high hedge where a small kissing gate must once have allowed access to that enclosure, although it was now almost completely obscured in the thorns and brambles.

I looked around. No sign of anyone else in the area. No angry farmer heading my way brandishing a shotgun loaded with rock salt - the traditional way they deal with trespassers in these parts, or so I have heard. Taking a deep breath, I crawled under the electric fence, waded as quickly as possible through the knee-high nettles and squeezed through the kissing gate in the hedge, ignoring the thorns scratching my arms.

And there it was, hedged round so it could not be seen from outside, lying in long grass, were the large stones of the South West Circle. I quickly took the photo you see below and made a hasty retreat - not only from the private field, but from the village too. I might have passed the Cider Test at the Druid's Arms the night before, but nevertheless I wasn't sure what the locals might do to an outsider who had penetrated the secret of the South West Circle of Stanton Drew.

I still don't know what rites or rituals the stones were built to honour - or what uses they have been put to since. The English Heritage website gives few details and even my photocopied leaflet said the origins of the site are surrounded in mystery. I have seen that a book was published in 2012 called The Sacred Stone Circles of Stanton Drew,which I intend to read to learn more. I might have seen all the circles, but I know the story won't be ending there.

Links and previous related posts

The Sacred Stone Circles of Stanton Drew

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stanton-drew-circles-and-cove/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanton Drew stone circles

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/09/pagan-eye-stanton-drew-stone-circle-in.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/12/photos-of-avebury-stone-circle.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/08/a-few-views-of-stonehenge.html

Stonehenge

STONEHENGE LIES ON SALISBURY PLAIN IN THE COUNTY OF WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND. The whole area is regarded as mystical, with an abundance of ley lines, and is widely accepted as the centre of the crop circle phenomenon. Stonehenge itself was constructed in three stages. The first began in about 3,000 BC, when a circular ditch was dug around the site and a raised bank two yards high and 106 yards in diameter was formed. Just inside the bank, 56 shallow holes were dug and then refilled and the first rock, the 'Heel Stone', was introduced. This was positioned to mark the axis of sunrise at the summer solstice. Two smaller entrance stones were put in place, then 40 wooden posts, marking positions of the sun, were erected.

In around 2,000 BC, a two-mile avenue to the River Avon was created. From southwest Wales, the builders imported 82 'bluestones', weighing over four tonnes each. To reach the 70 site they would have had to travel 240 miles over land and water. These bluestones were used to construct a double circle inside the site. It is believed the builders never finished this design because they already had the idea to erect the third, and most impressive, phase.

This started in around 1900 BC, with the selection of 75 loose blocks of sandstone, known as sarsens, from Avebury, 20 miles away. Using rollers and ropes, these 25- tonne, 17-feet-long rocks were pulled to the site where they were then shaped and lifted into upright positions. The architectural detail of this stage is phenomenal, and the lintel stones that cap the pillars are actually curved to fit in the large circle. The Welsh bluestones were repositioned, and the structure was complete.

In each stage, the stones were placed at specific points demonstrating the position of the sun and moon at important times. The site was in continual use until about 1,000 BC, but we still do not know exactly what it was used for. Very little human or cultural debris has been found on the site, so there can be no definitive answers.

Some experts say that this absence of historic litter leads to the suggestion that the structure was a temple or sacred site. Many of the other 900 stone circles in Britain served many uses and were often meeting places, so they often have remnants of ancient day-to-day life. Similarly, the amount of trouble endured, and the sheer scale of the project, indicates that Stonehenge was something of immense importance. The blue stones brought from Wales were exceedingly valuable to the Ancient Britons, and were ideal for a temple.

The possibility that it was partly used as a burial site has also been considered - during limited excavations it was discovered that the 56 shallow holes dug during the first phase contained cremated bones. There are also barrows, or burial tombs, of later Bronze Age warriors dotted around the outlying area.

Because of Stonehenge's obvious correlation to important astronomical events, a whole host of other theories have arisen. It may have been used as an observatory, or even a gigantic lunar calendar. In 1965, Gerald S. Hawkins, an astronomer at Boston University, published a book entitled Stonehenge Uncoded. In it, he claimed a computer had proven that Stonehenge marked many astronomical alignments. He even went so far as to say that Stonehenge was a computer itself, designed by the Ancient Britons to read the stars and calculate upcoming eclipses, but many experts feel he has not discovered the true significance of the structure.

In the seventeenth century historians believed the structure had been built by ancient Celtic priests, and many modern druids feel it is their right to perform rituals and ceremonies at the site. They are now no longer allowed to, and for good reason. Not only was damage occurring to the area, but modern druids have no connection to their Celtic namesakes. Anyway, Stonehenge was built over 1000 years before the Celtic druids existed.

Unfortunately, in the last few hundred years many of the stones have been stolen, lost or collapsed, and poor restoration work has been performed on some of the stones that remain. But the magic of the site and the design never dissipates. One legend says the most famous of all Britain's magicians, Merlin, summoned the stones and set them in place. It is a story in keeping with the mystical tradition of the area. Maybe the simple fact is that modern minds have just not imagined the true use of the site yet.

Origin: master-of-pentagram.blogspot.com