StoneHenge
The Dorset Grove is pleased to say that we had a very enjoyable Solstice ritual within Stonehenge on Saturday 28th June.
With over 60 people in attendance we would like to thank all those who took park and English Heritage for making this such a special occassion.
for Pictures click here
fox@dorsetgrove.co.uk
Stonehenge Temple or
Tourist Attraction
What is Stonehenge? The question that people have been asking for generations. Pay a visit there on any Saturday in the summer and you will see hundreds of tourists with their cameras clicking away hoping for the perfect picture. But look closer and you may see some people dressed in long white robes carrying staffs.
Who are these people? I hear you say. Why do they seem to treat this place differently to the general public? And what’s more why are they allowed into the stones while we have to stay behind the barriers. Read on and I will attempt to answer your questions.
These at first glance strange looking people are the same as you are made up of everyday folk, Doctors, nurses and Bakers in fact people from every walk of life. They have one thing in common though and that is they are all Pagans. Some are like Me Druids some are Witches and some Heathens. But all without exception view Stonehenge as sacred ground their Church if you like, and when you see them inside the stones where you are not allowed it is for the sole purpose of holding a ceremony or as we call it a ritual.
For what purpose I hear you ask? The answer is varied. To honour the Gods and Goddesses of the land for one, and to honour our ancestors for another. Some will during these rituals be married or as we call it hand fastened and others will bring their children along to be named or blessed all done in the sight of their deities.
While we do not know for sure what our ancestors did at Stonehenge I cannot help but feel that they were no different to us, having the same wants and desires as we do today. So does it stretch the imagination to think that maybe they used Stonehenge in the same way that we do today.
One thing is for sure it was certainly a place of great importance placed where five great track ways from all over Britain as it was 5,000 years ago met in a kind of Neolithic spaghetti junction. People would have met there, lived and loved there, and worshipped their Gods there all in all not that much different to today in fact.
So next time you visit Stonehenge remember that you are walking on what is to some sacred ground.
Pangur-ban
Every thought is a whispered prayer
