Sacred sites
I feel a particular attraction for stone circles, and other sites used for centuries as sacred places. There must be thousands of sacred sites in the United Kingdom alone, and I'm including just a few that are within easy reach of Bristol - they're the ones I know about!
Avebury
A truly magical place, Avebury is famous for its stone circles. There are two circles at Avebury - an inner circle, and an outer circle. The outer circle is big - it takes about 20 minutes to walk round it - and the entire village is enclosed within the outer ring.
It's a place of pilgrimage for many pagans in the UK, and when I went there to see the sun rise on the summer solstice (21 June), the place was packed!
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Glastonbury Tor
Legend has it that Joseph of Arimethea, Jesus' uncle, came to Glastonbury to trade with the Pagans, and that Jesus spent some of his time here. This is the theme of Blake's poem Jerusalem: "And did those feet in ancient times, walk upon England's pastures green?".
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Whether Jesus and the Pagans ever met in Glastonbury is pure speculation - but it can't be denied that Glastonbury still has the feel of a pagan town to it. Go to the Tor on any pagan festival day - the solstices, equinoxes, Beltane - and it will be packed; not with the usual weekend tourists, but with people who have come to pay their respects to the Earth. And people actually wish you "Happy Beltane" - or whatever the particular festival day is! |
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Glastonbury is steeped in magic. If you're sceptical, just try coming to Glastonbury and spend a couple of hours on the Tor just sitting and taking it all in - then see what you think. Warning: Glastonbury Tor can be very intense, and does give some people a headache after visiting it. If this happens, try closing your chakras after coming down from the Tor. |
Pentre Ifan, West Wales
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Pentre Ifan is in Pembrokeshire, and a bit out in the sticks. It's thousands of years old, and isn't anywhere near as touristy as the other places. |
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Stonehenge
What more can I say? Stonehenge is world famous, and rightly so. Unlike the other sacred sites, entrance is not free.
Other sacred sites
One of the things I love about living in the West of England is that there are sacred sites just everywhere. Near Avebury is the mysterious Silbury Hill, a pyramid thousands of years old, numerous long barrows and hill carvings of horses. In Dorset is the famous Cerne Abbas giant with his unfeasibly large penis, Cornwall has numerous stone circles, Uffington in Berkshire its white horse, far more ancient than most hill carvings; and a particular favourite of mine - Solsbury Hill near Bath, an iron-age settlement with a distinct magic to it (and hero of the song of the same title by Peter Gabriel, who lives near the hill).
