Reflections of a Moment at Stonehenge
Written by those present at a Druid/Druid-Christian/Christian Rite at the temple, with Druids from England, Scotland, Wales and the USA.
The rite took place on 19 July 2003
This ritual was organized by Bill Melnyk (Oakwyse) for which we give him thanks. For all those who have offered their reflections of the rite here, we also give thanks, and once again to Bill for putting them together with the skills of a natural Bard.
Bobcat: From the beautiful wealth of the Druid Camp, Kris Hughes of the Anglesey Druidic Order and I drove through rain and mist to arrive at Stonehenge. Being the first time Kris had been to the temple, I found myself enthused by his excitement, a new energy of anticipation on top of the usual pleasure of knowing I shall have time within that sacred place. Many have heard me stating that a temple should be created for a rite and after the rite we should leave nothing behind but the shimmering of our stories. Yet Stonehenge is a place I have dedicated myself to so many times, magically and spiritually. To walk through the trilithon into the rumbling serenity, that exquisite seething blend of power and peace, is always a soul-deep honour.
On this occasion, it was Oakwyse whose invitation had brought me to the place and now his invitation that inspires me to write about that evening within the stones, the energy of mid July hanging in air as it did. As ever the place was playing with the weather, for although it had been raining, heavy humid drops of cool rain, the power of our prayers concentrated within the air and the skies began to clear, and I found myself looking at the circle of those gathered.
Dobhran: One of the first things that I noticed was that when we were at the entrance, there was this huge dark cloud & a wee bit of rain. But when we actually entered the circle the sun came out. The ground was really warm, not just from the sun.
I always expected Stonehenge to be mysterious, but it wasn't. It really felt like home, as I've been there many times before. When I was standing against one of the stones, I really could feel it's heartbeat, (s)he nourished me, embraced me. It was quite emotional for me to be honest. I really felt overwhelmed. I was only able to put their guidance into words a couple of weeks later, that is how overwhelmed I was.
Nimue: As I approached the Stones I was filled with such wonder and awe that tears blurred my vision. Surely these were the noble spirits of my ancestors, I felt as though I was coming home!
The silence was profound, I knew that every one of the wonderful people sharing the ritual with me were also deeply immersed in the power and majesty of the ancients. As my hands rested on the giant who had called me, a heat radiated throughout my entire being, my very soul was touched with the honour that was bestowed upon me that day - the ancestor whispered to my heart! The ritual itself was very wonderful but it was theStones that held me spellbound that fantastical evening. And still I see them in my mind and talk to them in my dreams.
Eowyn: When we entered the circle I instantly felt a peaceful and happy atmosphere. I noticed that the ground we walked on was warm around the stones. At the beginning of the ritual I could feel that the only thing that mattered was this particular moment in place and time. I didn't think about other things.
I noticed that the sun broke through the clouds and in a strange way it seemed that the colours of the landscape and sky around us became brighter.
I could feel a kind of pain in my lower belly; which immediately gave a "motherly" feeling to me. So I felt I was connected with Mother Earth very strongly.
Raevynfyre:
Camera lens and anxious flesh
hard against the diamond mesh
one hundred yards and several millennia away
they waited,
watching with anticipation
the bizarre, arcane, barbaric
rites they half expected, fully feared
we would enact.
While we, unshod and gleefully reverent
sunwise traced the serpent path
presuming to tread once more
the actual or imagined steps
of those who'd gone before,
suppressing expectation -- embracing mystery.
But they, the stones, expected nothing
and so were most rewarded --
these ancient sentinels
bemused observers of human desire
their height and breadth a silent welcome
their dance a benediction.
Prescient as ever, the stones were right.
Bobcat: So often I am running the ritual within the stones, it was a pleasure here to sit back and let others hold the organization, myself simply being there. The majority, it seemed, were there for the first time, and the awe that is evoked consciously and subconsciously added to the shimmering in the heavy air. There seemed a confusion as to the directions, and I watched as intuition and intellect fought those deciding which way was which, making a common mistake of believing the Hele Stone is direct east. I have seen well-trained priests utterly thrown, confused, by the way the temple holds and distorts energy, and I breathed deep and closed my eyes.
For what we had brought to the temple was an extraordinary mix of energies. With his vision of Christianity and Druidry meeting at the rite, both within and between souls, Oakwyse had invited myself, Philip CarrGomm, his wife and girls, and a handful of OBOD members I didn't know. I had invited Kris and an evangelical Christian priest, Steve. As a completely muddy Pagan, an animistic polytheist, the merge of Druidry and Christianity into one spirituality has always been an intriguing, beautiful and utterly incomprehensible practice to me. Kris is as Pagan as I, yet I needed with me the presence of someone I knew to be as Christian as I am Pagan, open-minded yet in no way a liberal within his tradition, and Steve was that soul. It felt deeply important for him to be there - for myself, and because of the nature of his job within the Church.
OakWyse:
Before these stones were here
our ancestors walked this holy plain;
before the stones stood out against the blue sky
our fathers hunted and searched the stars,
our mothers healed and gave birth.
Before these stones were hewn from the womb
of Earth, our First Mother
and set on end to reach for Father Sky,
we were here;
they are our children,
our sign of wonder and faith.
For we are the ancient ones;
we are the new.
Before even our forebears walked this plain,
in the earliest of days,
the plain was here;
earth and sky,
far sea, and shining stars.
They are the oldest, and we are made of them.
In earth, sea, and sky,
In ancient rock and hewn stone,
In woman and man,
there is the anointing of holiness, and the presence of the all.
There is Awen; there is Christ.
Bobcat: The sanctity of the space was acknowledged, affirmed and invoked. We shared a version of Iolo's Gorsedd Prayer, one that I use in Gorsedd rites myself but whose words I find immediately inaccessible. Hearing Kris say it in his beautiful (north) Welsh was moving and stronger for me. Raevynfyre's version of the Christian Lord's prayer I found I couldn't say aloud, but I watched as its energy shimmered too around the stones with the echoes of Iolo's words.
Each one of us spent time in meditation within the rite, taking time in silence with the spirits of the temple, and when we each shared what had happened, with a look or a few words, the most poignant vision seemed to me (in my memory as I now write) something similar to that sense of bewilderment, beyond understanding. The violence and tranquility, the rage and silence, the energy of death and new life, community and isolation, light and dark, all here seemed to be evident, demanding acknowledgement without compromise of idealism.
Eowyn: When we sat near the stones I could feel their warmth and caring character. I didn't really talk to the stone(s), but I felt secured and protected. As like the stone put his arms around me, to take care of me and protect me.
I couldn't meditate, because Ailsa and Caitlin needed my attention as well. After that Caitlin became a bit busy, so I went for a walk with them. That didn't matter, because it was really interesting and wonderful to see the rest of the ritual from outside the circle. I couldn't hear what was said inside the circle, but at the end I could hear the lovely "singing". That was marvellous to hear. Even Caitlin stopped her walking to listen to that. The idea popped into my mind that Stonehenge must have been used for acoustic and "sound effects" purposes as well. Because the sound from inside the circle seems to flow across the fields surrounding it. As like the stones reflect and vibrate the sounds everywhere.
Bobcat: Oakwyse had asked each one of us to share aloud and I began that part of the ritual, encouraging others to follow me. It had been my intention to call to my goddess and the ancestors with clear focus and celebration, but in the event I found myself drifting too on the energy that had been invoked by our intention and presence, and I spoke words that more easily glided on its thermal. Once everyone had spoken, that energy was poignant: it was more than acceptance, for it seemed to me to be beyond understanding.
Kate:
Pillars of Stone, Stone Guardians of this place,
Mapping the sun's long path through time and space.
Borne here by human will - or glacial ice -
Marking the solstice - or the sacrifice.
Watching the centuries, as swift they go;
Watching the flood-tides flow, and ebb, and flow;
Watching the forests vanish from the plain;
Watching for us to know your powers again.
"Stonehenge" we call you, in our modern tongue;
Wrap you in myths we later find are wrong.
"Lords of Creation, we" - or so we claim -
We have forgot your story, purpose, name.
Pillars of Stone, Stone Guardians of this place,
Mapping mankind's short path through time and space;
Help us remember, help us understand
Our role and yours, in this, our sacred land.
Dobhran:
The stones are shapeshifting.
For what was important then,
doesn't have to be important at this moment.
Remember the ancestors,
but look at us the way we are now.
The present is important,
for you are living now,
not in the past,
nor in the future.
It doesn't matter where we came from,
or who put us here.
Just accept our existence,
and accept that we'll still be here long after you're gone.
We are your brothers and sisters,
your family & friends.
Let us embrace and nourish you,
and everything will be fine.
Bobcat: The temple showed us every colour of its history. As ever it simply concentrated all that we had brought to it, intensifying into raw simplicity that intention we'd analyzed in our minds. It took the breath of our words and gave us air in return, and it felt to me that each one of us was amazed by that air.
Nimue:
The Giants are calling me
they say "We know you, we've seen you before,
many years ago, through the ages"
and I say "But who are you?
Who brought you here - and why?"
"ahhh" they whisper knowingly "You have much to learn,
and learn you will - in time."
"What have you seen?" I ask, with eager curiosity
of one born with the thirst.
"Much suffering and pain, but also joy, great joy."
They sing to me
They stir my Celtic blood
They touch my burning heart.
Memories are buried deep within
a tortured troubled soul
are reborn again, I can see them all
reaching out to nurture me
to ease my pain awhile.
"Nimue you are, this and much more,
have you been and still will be."
sing the noble spirits to me.
"Come, do not fear, you are not alone,
for you are one of us"
I smile, for I am filled with great gladness,
"Thank you" I whisper, my feelings are true,
"For I am so happy to be here with you."
Bobcat: As an interfaith rite, in the event it wasn't about sharing wisdom, understanding, or finding a new level of tolerance. It didn't even seem to be about acknowledging difference. Into the pot we poured our difference energies, and that pot distilled all we were, all we are, and gave us back an inspired brew that was simply humanity. It was shocking, and sufficiently so for the power of the rite to remain with me as a reminder of how little we understand, and how little we need to.
OakWyse: To the West, along the same line of power upon which we stand, the ancient Tor of Avalon calls to us of an earlier time, a time when all traditions were more magical than they are today.
In silent dark before the coming of the sun
a Druid priest upon a pallet stirs
and, casting off the realms of night, and dream,
and sleeping furs,
looks out upon the Star of Morning's gleam.
Within that very darkness by the tor,
a priest of Christ the Matin's ringing hears
and, casting off the realms of night, and dream,
as morning nears,
is moved to prayer by that same Starlight's beam.
Into the aging night the Druid goes
and, deeply filling lungs with crystal air,
looks upward toward the heavens where the stones
upon the bare
crown of the tor sing out, in wind-swept tones
The stones that raise the tower of the church
are cold, as in the darkness prayer bells peal.
But, standing in the chapel yard below
the Priest can feel
a candle-warmth of Presence Light aglow.
And upward now, upon the spiral path,
the Druid enters silently within
that ancient circle standing on the tor,
so to begin
the ancient sun-rite at the morning's door.
And mounting now the sanctuary steps,
the priest in reverent silence steps within
the holy space around the Table there;
so to begin
the newer son-rite, in the brightening air.
A Chalice, filled with sacred wine of life,
the Druid raises, giving thanks to all
the holy Realms of Earth and Sea and Skies.
Then, at this call
the sun, in morning triumph, does arise!
In joyous triumph, also giving thanks,
the Priest of Christ, with weathered hands, lifts high
a gleaming Chalice, filled with sacred wine,
and, at this cry,
the vessel in the morning sunlight, shines!
For those with eyes to see and hearts to feel
the all-embracing loveliness of God,
the Druid and the Priest together raise
from common sod
a holy Cup of Blessing and of Praise.
Bobcat: Oakwyse had invited everyone there to join together afterwards to share a drink, some food and ideas. In fact, the flows of life were taking everyone off in their different directions immediately afterwards, and as a gathering we seemed quickly to scatter to the winds. I got the feeling that the spirits of the temple were watching us, wondering.
Eowyn: After the ritual I just felt happy and at peace with everything. It was a wonderful and magical experience which I will treasure all my life. Even Ailsa and Caitlin are still talking about it. I really hope that they will remember this ritual for the rest of their lives; because it's such a blessing and honour to have been there. In a way the stones feel like "family" now.
I'm not learning for a Druid, neither am I a Christian. I think I would like to call myself a paganist. At Stonehenge I could feel Mother Earth very strongly and nature is very pure over there. It seems like it's own special place, very sacred and powerful. In all these thousands of years the stones have been there and probably had different purposes along their way. They're caring and helping, in spite of all they've suffered
Raevynfyre:
But they, the stones, expected nothing
and so were most rewarded --
these ancient sentinels
bemused observers of human desire
their height and breadth a silent welcome
their dance a benediction.
Prescient as ever, the stones were right.
* Circle Sunwise inside the sarcen circle, and exit at the northeast.
© 2003: copyright remains with the original writers and most particularly with Bill Melnyk, who can be reached at OakWyse [at] att [dot] net
