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STONEHENGE
“From Persepolis to Stonehenge”
An article by Sarah Rose
for the MDM at Wonderlance |
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When I left my hometown Tehran for Europe, I found myself in search of similar things that could reassure me and make me feel at home. Things that were the same everywhere, such as kindness of people’s hearts, colour of the sky and the clouds, beauty of nature, change of seasons. I was lucky as in most cities where I lived, I could distinguish the four seasons just like they were back home. I celebrated the Persian new year on the first day of Spring which coincides with blooming of hyacinths and looked for similar celebrations and rituals that reminded me of who I was. So after my first spring and its festivities, my attention was turned to magnificent and mysterious Stonehenge. I was already familiar with the summer solstice as it marks the beginning of the Persian month of Tir, the first month of summer. My fascination grew even stronger when I became aware of its link to the legend of King Arthur who had been the ever present companion of my childhood years through comic strips and illustrations of the little boy who managed to take the sward out of the stone and become king.
Why so much fascination for Stonehenge? Nearly 20,000 people visited Stonehenge this year at the stone circle on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. The sun rose at 04:52 and 15 arrests were reported overnight for minor public disorder. Every year Stonehenge attracts a variety of visitors, neo-druids, pagans or neo-pagans, hippies, sun worshippers, Wicca devotees or just ordinary people in search of the midsummer dream, who are curious to experience the ancient festival and see the first sunrise of summer. In the crowd, a number of recreational drug users may often be spotted. Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage, and its related ceremonies are mainly considered to be a means of reconnecting with Nature. The first record of Druidic ceremonies date to 1905, when a ritual took place by the Ancient Order of Druids. Between 1972 and 1984, Stonehenge was the site of a free festival, and after the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985 this use of the site was stopped for several years. Currently ritual use of Stonehenge is carefully controlled.
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The true purpose of this construction is yet unknown. Stonehenge may have been a temple for worship of ancient earth deities, an astronomical observatory or a sacred burial ground for high classes. Although its construction has been attributed to Druids, stones had been standing for 2,000 years, and we know that Druids worshipped in forest temples and did not need stone structures. There is little or no direct evidence for the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders. Some believe that supernatural methods were used, as any other way seems impossible.
The legend has it that a giant helped Merlin build Stonehenge. This is the oldest reference to the monument in a manuscript of the Roman de Brut by Wace that can be found in the British Library. Having been fatally wounded in battle, Arthur is carried to the mystical Avalon, apparently the underworld, home of the Celtic god, Afallach. The immortal Arthur is said to be sleeping in one of numerous caves waiting to return and lead his people.
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the rocks of Stonehenge were healing rocks brought by Giants from Africa to Ireland. These rocks were called The Giant's Dance. Later on in the 5th century, Aurelius Ambrosias decided to build a memorial for the 3000 nobles who had died in battle with the Saxons and were buried at Salisbury, and he chose Stonehenge to be their monument. So the King sent Merlin, Arthur’s father Uther Pendragon, and 15,000 knights to Ireland to retrieve the rocks. They slew 7,000 Irish. At first, the knights tried to move the rocks with ropes and force, but they failed. Then the clever and skillful Merlin, using his magic tricks, managed to dismantle the stones and sent them over to Britain. Shortly after, Aurelius died and was buried within the Stonehenge monument, or "The Giants' Ring of Stonehenge".
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According to modern theories, the stones were dragged by roller and sledge from the inland mountains to the headwaters of Milford Haven. There they were loaded onto boats and sailed along the south coast of Wales, then up the Rivers Avon and Frome in Somerset, then taken overland to a place near Warminster in Wiltshire. From there, through the River Wylye to Salisbury, then up the Salisbury Avon to West Amesbury, near West Amesbury to the Stonehenge site.
Whether Stonehenge was built by Merlin and his giants, brought to earth by extraterrestrial spaceships or built by ordinary humans using basic machinery, there is a huge part of history that has not been written, that we may never find out about. However, this need and fascination for antiquity and solid values, whether for an established religion or a pagan belief, strengthens us in our humanity and aspires us to search higher. The ruins of Persepolis, the sanctuary of Lourdes, the great pyramids, the black stone of Mecca, Stonehenge and all the similar sites whether they are sacred places of pilgrimage or just ancient remains of a superior and solid civilisation, they are all reminder of something magnificent that existed in the past. The past times when so much was possible, the time of miracles in which all the fairy tales took place, when God spoke directly to Man and it was at any time possible to fall down a rabbit hole and find a magic realm. So next time you go to Stonehenge, sharpen your senses and watch closely.
You may find that the portal leading to wonderland is just around the corner. |
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