Stonehenge summer solstice celebrations see thousands gather

DougC · #1 by **DougC** » Jun 21, 2014 10:51 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-27954267

B.B.C. Article
An estimated 37,000 people gathered to watch the sun rise on the longest day of the year, with a small number of arrests reported by police.

Wiltshire Police said the 25 arrests were mostly for drugs-related offences.
Druids and pagans are among those who mark the summer solstice at sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury.

(Continues)

Weaver · #2 by **Weaver** » Jun 21, 2014 10:56 pm

Bunch of idiots playing dress-up - and probably facing the wrong way to boot.

http://www.cosmicelk.net/Stonehenge.htm

chairman bill · #3 by **chairman bill** » Jun 21, 2014 10:57 pm

I know quite a few of them, and dismissing them as idiots betrays the fact that you probably know none of them.

Calilasseia · #4 by **Calilasseia** » Jun 21, 2014 11:01 pm

Sadly, there appear to be no Natasha Khan lookalikes forgetting their clothes ... :mrgreen:

Weaver · #5 by **Weaver** » Jun 21, 2014 11:01 pm

Perhaps - it's quite unlikely that I know any of them. However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

DougC · #6 by **DougC** » Jun 21, 2014 11:05 pm

Weaver wrote:Perhaps - it's quite unlikely that I know any of them. However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

Be fair, there was Aztecs.

JVRaines · #7 by **JVRaines** » Jun 22, 2014 5:26 am

Weaver wrote:Bunch of idiots playing dress-up - and probably facing the wrong way to boot.

http://www.cosmicelk.net/Stonehenge.htm

When I visited England in 1994, I ended up at Stonehenge on the day of the winter solstice quite by accident. There were a few midwinter nuts trying to get into the circle, which was at that time completely off limits. What I shall remember most, though, is the icy wind blasting over Salisbury Plain! No wonder they prefer midsummer.

chairman bill · #8 by **chairman bill** » Jun 22, 2014 9:33 am

Weaver wrote:However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Actually, it appears that this wasn't its function, that it actually had more to do with funerary rites, with Woodhenge, the river Avon and the Avenue all linked & part of a massive ritual landscape. And there are clear alignments to the summer solstice.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

A feature of a minority of those attending

Fallible · #9 by **Fallible** » Jun 22, 2014 10:00 am

I'd go if I lived nearer, for the experience. In fact I did live very near (Street in Somerset) many years ago but I was a kid and my parents weren't interested. I used to go there a lot, but not on the solstice. In those days you could wander freely among the stones. I touched them and read the graffiti. :lol:

Evolving · **#10** by **Evolving** » Jun 22, 2014 10:06 am

I went there with my daughters last year, on a cold, windy day, and I had to remind myself that it is 5,000 years old and I shouldn't be disappointed that it seemed a bit small!

I saw a programme recently setting out the theory that Stonehenge, at least in part, had a medicinal function, in that people believed in the healing properties of the stones; and they described a man who seems to have journeyed there all the way from the Alps with his son (or some other close relative) to heal a terrible wound that he had, and was buried there when, unsurprisingly, it didn't work. What an astonishing and tragic waste of time and effort.

EDIT: here is a newspaper report about the theory. The Amesbury Archer, that was the fellow.

kennyc · **#11** by **kennyc** » Jun 22, 2014 10:25 am

DougC wrote:
Weaver wrote:Perhaps - it's quite unlikely that I know any of them. However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

Be fair, there was Aztecs.

See I knew the Aztec's and Inca's had advanced tech!

kennyc · **#12** by **kennyc** » Jun 22, 2014 10:32 am

37,000 people! My Lord! I'm with that girl in the video, too loud, too noisy, too many wackos.....RUN AWAY! Come back on a non-solstice day!

CdesignProponentsist · **#13** by **CdesignProponentsist** » Jun 22, 2014 12:04 pm

kennyc wrote:
DougC wrote:
Weaver wrote:Perhaps - it's quite unlikely that I know any of them. However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

Be fair, there was Aztecs.

See I knew the Aztec's and Inca's had advanced tech!

What the fuck are you talking about? That's a 4s he's holding there. Ancient!

kennyc · **#14** by **kennyc** » Jun 22, 2014 12:51 pm

CdesignProponentsist wrote:
kennyc wrote:
DougC wrote:
Weaver wrote:Perhaps - it's quite unlikely that I know any of them. However, the site is most likely designed for observation of the mid-winter solstice (it is highly important for primitive societies to know when the Sun is going to "turn back North", much less so than it is to know when mid-summer is.

Add in wearing modern-ish robes and carrying utterly fanciful swords ...

Be fair, there was Aztecs.

See I knew the Aztec's and Inca's had advanced tech!

What the fuck are you talking about? That's a 4s he's holding there. Ancient!

yeahbutt check out that antenna on his head!

Nebogipfel · **#15** by **Nebogipfel** » Jun 22, 2014 3:21 pm

Aztecs at Stonehenge? WTF?

By the way that chief druid is a dead ringer for Christopher Lee playing Saruman...

laklak · **#16** by **laklak** » Jun 22, 2014 3:52 pm

I know a few pagans, nice people mostly, if wooish. Dated a druid chick once, she was hot. I prefer them to Christians.

DougC · **#17** by **DougC** » Jun 23, 2014 4:56 am

laklak wrote:I know a few pagans, nice people mostly, if wooish. Dated a druid chick once, she was hot. I prefer them to Christians.

I would have bet money on this. :smoke:

DougC · **#18** by **DougC** » Jun 23, 2014 5:13 am

DougC wrote:

The g/f would like me to point out that if this guy had no tats, lost a few pounds and had a goatee, he would be me

Evolving · **#19** by **Evolving** » Jun 23, 2014 6:42 pm

Evolving wrote:I went there with my daughters last year, on a cold, windy day, and I had to remind myself that it is 5,000 years old and I shouldn't be disappointed that it seemed a bit small!

I saw a programme recently setting out the theory that Stonehenge, at least in part, had a medicinal function, in that people believed in the healing properties of the stones; and they described a man who seems to have journeyed there all the way from the Alps with his son (or some other close relative) to heal a terrible wound that he had, and was buried there when, unsurprisingly, it didn't work. What an astonishing and tragic waste of time and effort.

EDIT: here is a newspaper report about the theory. The Amesbury Archer, that was the fellow.

I feel rather foolish because I see that the programme I was talking about is on BBC iPlayer right now: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00dtjy4/timewatch-20082009-1-stonehenge.

catbasket · **#20** by **catbasket** » Jun 23, 2014 7:04 pm

Thanks - watching that now!