Some sharp thoughts here… so be seated firmly.. 🙂
Some years ago..after a visit to Stonehenge I was devastated by the rubbish & people standing on stones etc. My friends & I collected about 20 bags of rubbish ourselves that time.
I even went around so angry that I set about doing some `closing pentagrams’. Months later I realised the ego of my self.. and went again to do an open-pentagram at quarters. (for my own peace sake.if nothing else).
Am at a place in life right now..where ..while I do respect ancient things/ material things.. I also feel that none of it matters in a deeper sense of our spirituality. Mine is no longer so tied to material things..and I begin to see the magic that people add ..when they make much merriment at a place like this..
Preserving something that is falling apart by the passing of time amounts to a death/ decay cult..
Ancient man built whatever he / she could with whatever cutting edge technology he had; Great!!
Humankind has so much technology NOW to erect / build such magnificent monuments & temples… of OUR times.. yet all we see are giant skyscrapers.. NO NEW magnificent Temples.. What does it say about us? (0and a few thousand people pinning about stones that are past their fall-by-dates.. Those old decaying monuments are kept up by concrete & metal under it.. There is no undisturbed magical continuity. Modern technology has already permeated and polluted it .. ).
Sp I’d rather see mass merriment at stonehenge… let people experience it…let them drum, dance, smoke whatever, eat. let them enjoy it..
If the stones really are magical and powerful.. then they will do their magic on the people attending..and those people’s live be transformed..
And the stones will survive.. But if there is no magic in them… then they are just old artefacts..art pieces … magical husks.. What’s feeding them is the power of people who are dancing about them.. not the other way around..
So I say.. Let the stones fall.. grind to rubble and dust.. let stars and people burn and be ashes..
That is what every religion says.. They all say reaching God/ Goddess is more important than worshipping material things.. (and stonehenge is a material thing…magnificent..but still a material thing. The moss / lichen on it is not 100s of years old… it’s organic.. it’s new growth.. just like every bits of the human body regenerates every 3-5 months.. There ae no 50 year old cells in the body of a 50 year old human!)
Nothing lasts forever…nothing should.. Only Souls & Spirits matter 🙂
Bright Blessings
-Mani Navasothy
ps. I posted this `Note’ on my facebook wall and created a storm of a debate. I shall select a few responses (preserve the identity of postee) and share below under `comments’ in a day ..
-Mani
QuantumPhoenix 
Arthur Pendragon’s response:
< Oh they're Magic alright and they'll do all right. I shall give here the example I give to the Elitist Druids who complain to me about the 'Party atmosphere' and lack of spirituality when they say to me that many come for all the wrong reasons."You have to remember" I tell them; " It is for many a Secular event akin to Trafalgar square on new years eve. As for 'them' turning up for the wrong reasons, that may indeed be the case but invariably they return for the right ones'"
And I relate the following true story;
One year I was stood behind someone in center circle who was calling out to a climber to,
" Get of the F***ing Stones"
At which point I tapped him on the shoulder and said "That's rich coming from you, you were up there last year."
At which point he span around and said rather indignantly'
"No I was not, that was the year before"
Think about it.
And to those who don't come because it's not spiritual enough, I say;
Robe up! Turn up and make it more Spiritual.
Blessings from the Front /|\
Jackie H:
“Other beliefs seems to have made it into the 21st century with their temples – maybe it’s just Pagans who haven’t, and maybe that’s because we have the whole Earth as our temple?”
Helen W W:
“We built our own temple in MK about 20 years ago the first local authority to to give authority for pagan rituals to take place on its land.
Would like to see every town have its own places… It also gives each generation a chance to add its own sacred places… If you look at all the ancient sites you find the different layers of development of the sites… We need to take back a thousand years of stagnation and make our own mark.”
Caroline W:
“of course it hasn’t reached it fall by date. Do you think that the ancient Temples of Ninevah and Harta and soon Palmyra should have been made to fall too? Stonehenge is the most symbolic piece of the heritage in our land, a valuable and evocative link of this land to prehistory. It needs to be understood in the context of the vast ritual landscape in which it stands. Writers like John Michell and, Paul Devereux are good for that, and the latest new wave of archeology is catching up to and worth investigating. What has perhaps reached its sell by date is modern pagans to dancing on the graves there.”
Kiloran C:
“It is awful how humans litter beautiful places.”
I agree – I have always held the view that roping off ancient sites was wrong – what is the point of a preserving a spiritual site that no one can get near and experience? – let people do what they wish but I don’t think it’s right to leave litter – just as it isn’t anywhere. Why aren’t some bins rolled in for big events to encourage people to clear up after themselves.
Hia ..there are always loads of bins…and they give out plastic bin bags to people freely too. So, sadly, it’s just the individuals who just don’t show enough respect to the land and the sacredness of the place 😦 I agree with King Arthur’s approach …if many of us Pagans turn up in robes.. then it collectively adds more of a visible `spiritual’ feel to anyone else attending.. (white robes are best for this..) BB Mani