The Minister [John Gormley] expressed his hope that the website would support tourism and increase both national and international interest in our World Heritage properties. “Tourism is a significant contributor to the Irish economy in terms of revenue and employment and Fáilte Ireland has identified heritage as a potential growth area for Ireland’s share of tourism” he said.

The problem with drawing “international interest” in the sites is that many believe the Irish government has been systematically destroying the Hill of Tara and surrounding monuments with a highly criticized highway expansion. One that barreled through despite protests and direct action, and accusations of the government altering research that didn’t line up with what they wanted. Now TaraWatch, Save Newgrange, and human rights lawyer Matt Schwoebel, are launching an online survey they hope will provide the basis for a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee and UNESCO.

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch and Save Newgrange said:

“Many Irish people feel their human rights to heritage and culture are being continuously violated by the Irish Government, and we are offering them a chance to do something about it.

“We are launching this survey today to protest against the cynical way in which the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, has waited over three years, until the M3 motorway was opened two months ago, to nominate Tara as a UNESCO Site and ask for UN protection.

“We are also asking the UN to intervene immediately and address the threat to Bru na Boinne World Heritage Site, since the Minister Gormley supports the bypass route, and has also delayed delivery the new National Monuments Act by two years, meaning planning permission for the N2 can be granted before stronger protections are put in place,” he said.

If you would like to participate in this survey, you can find it here. Both the Irish government and the activists are now looking to UNESCO, but will pressure from that body, if it comes, stop further motorway expansion? Other World Heritage sites have been deleted for ill-advised construction, and Ireland could be endangering the World Heritage status of Bru na Boinne with the planned expansion. Even if Tara is listed, will it be enough to stave off further encroachment and harm? One has only to turn to Stonehenge in the UK to see how that World Heritage Site has been treated in recent years. Long in need of improvements, the budget for a new visitor center and to close a nearby road was eliminated by the new coalition government (announced right before the Summer Solstice).

Sky, a pagan from Devon, broke off from a drumming session to explain how crucial it was that Stonehenge was improved. “It’s the most wonderful place and it’s a disgrace that we’re still waiting for a new visitor centre and for improvements to the roads. I bring people here from abroad sometimes. They’re amazed by the stones – but also amazed at how crummy the facilities are. I’d like that David Cameron to come down here and tell us why Stonehenge, our national treasure, is being treated so shabbily.”

English Heritage are still trying to move forward with improvements, but I can’t see how anything will be completed before the 2012 Olympics, when a massive influx of tourists from around the world will want to see the national treasure. A treasure made ever more valuable by ongoing discoveries and revelations.

Britain’s Stonehenge once had a long-lost twin just a stone’s throw away from the prehistoric monument, archaeologists announced Thursday. The discovery, made completely without digging, suggests that now solitary Stonehenge may have been surrounded by “satellite Stonehenges,” archaeologists say. “This finding is remarkable,” said survey-team leader Vince Gaffney, an archaeologist the University of Birmingham in the U.K. “It will completely change the way we think about the landscape around Stonehenge.”

Can the government find room in their new austerity to preserve and improve on the site? UNESCO World Heritage might wield political muscle with countries that desperately need the recognition and tourism revenue, but they can only shame more prosperous nations, and that might not be enough to stop highways from being built or to loosen a tightened national budget. For those of us with an emotional investment in these sites, but who don’t live in Ireland or the UK, it can seem like we are merely spectators to the slow erosion of these precious links to our ancient past. But while we may not walk on those lands, we have friends and family who do, and we can light flames of solidarity, stay informed, and participate in the opportunities presented to us, in hopes that it will have some small effect on this process. So that we can see the heritage passed to another generation, so that they can be moved, inspired, and educated by the lands that so many of us honor.

Thanks to Kathryn Price NicDhàna for providing some of the links used in this post.

“Britain has given the go-ahead for a new 25 million pound visitor centre at Stonehenge and will shut a road that runs alongside the country’s most famous prehistoric monument … The Stonehenge Programme Board (SPB) has now given approval “in principle” for a new visitor centre to be built at Airman’s Corner about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the current site. In addition, it has proposed closing the A344 road which takes traffic very close to the stones. The project will now need planning approval and funding, which will come from both private and public sources.”

No doubt this newly-approved plan could unravel if funding isn’t found, but I can’t imagine the government would balk at improving this World Heritage Site and risk international embarrassment. Whether these developments will please Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon, who is risking arrest by camping out in front of the site, remains to be seen. However, it certainly is good news for anyone (including Pagans) who care about the sites future.

“[King Arthur Pendragon] believes visitors should be allowed to walk close to the stones and touch them rather than being confined to a visitor centre and a pathway well away from the monument. Pendragon also believes the fence designed to keep visitors out has a damaging impact on the stone circle itself, holding it “in a stranglehold like a snared animal”. Wiltshire county council launched legal proceedings to force Pendragon to move away. Salisbury crown court granted a possession order, in effect giving him until Sunday to pack up and leave. But outside court, bearded Pendragon, who was flanked by supporters in white robes, said he would not be budging.”

Pendragon has already vowed to fight the issue in court and to stay in his camp despite threat of arrest. The Druid leader also claims to have the full support of the Council of British Druid Orders (though it is unknown how much support among modern Druidry that really entails). There are certainly British Pagans who do not support the idea of allowing unfettered access to Stonehenge, especially considering the damges that were inflicted on the site leading up to imposed restrictions in the 1970s. Meanwhile, while Pendragon kept his vigil, British beuracracy continued to slowly trawl forward in finding a solution to Stonehenge’s issues. Specifically the now-published and approved proposal from the Future of Stonehenge Public Consultation.

“Although the Government decided that the A303 road improvements were unaffordable, it has made a commitment in December 2007 to review the Management Plan as the overarching strategic document for the Site, and to complete environmental improvements at Stonehenge, including new visitor facilities, in time for the 2012 Olympics. This work includes examination of the case for closing the A303/ A344 junction to improve the setting of Stonehenge. A new Stonehenge Project Board, chaired by the Ministers for Culture and for Transport, has been set up to oversee this work.”

While Pendragon’s stance may be noble and heroic, it is far more likely that the impending 2012 Olympics will finally spur the government to make the needed improvements in order to avoid international embarrasment over the state of a World Heritage Site. Still, you simply can’t buy the kind of publicity that gets you listed in all the major British newspapers, so I suppose this is something of a PR coup for Pendragon and his followers. Whether anything constructive will come of this limelight remains to be seen, but having raised the stakes it’s jail or go home now.

The National Trust, which owns much of the village, has found itself caught in the middle of several different interest groups: English Heritage wants to preserve the stones, the council wants to keep roads open, the police want to stop anti-social behaviour, the pagans want to uphold their right to their religious observances and residents want the three-day ‘invasion’ kept to a minimum.

For now local residents have decided to continue allowing limited camping near the site, not so much for selfless reasons, but because they are genuinely afraid of “significant problems” if they outright ban camping at the site. Many still recall with dread observances from 2005 and 2006 when disorder and chaos ruled the day and seek to avoid a repeat if they can.

In 2005 and 2006, residents complained of chaos and anti- social behaviour with complaints of drunken revellers urinating in gardens, rubbish left everywhere and emergency service vehicles unable to get through the village. The situation has improved in the since with first police and council officials clamping down on cars parked outside the designated car parks and then the National Trust not allowing camper vans and travellers’ vehicles into the main car park. It has meant numbers at the solstice have more than halved, with many travelling on to Stonehenge.

Despite the popularity of the site and the thousands of visitors, the residents are facing a town in slow decline without a proper post office, no school, and until very recently, no local shop. It’s little wonder the remaining residents are ambivalent about their seasonal “guests”. Meanwhile, due to the global economic downturn, sites like Avebury and Stonehenge are being starved of much-needed funds that could go a long way toward making improvements and easing tensions between locals and visitors.

I think it’s hard for Americans (and other non-UK residing Pagans) to understand the emotional and spiritual resonance these sites hold for the British Pagans (and the British in general), so I won’t venture to guess as to what could solve all the problems faced here. I suppose that time will, in the longer run, finish off the last vestiges of the declining village at Avebury. Allowing The National Trust (which maintains the site and the village) to transition the site into a purely tourist-going affair. But in the meantime, tensions will no doubt persist, and one hopes that local Pagan leaders will be at the forefront of ameliorating mistrust and fear among Avebury residents.

The right-wing site NewsBusters, who expose liberal media bias by reveling in their own conservative media bias, takes a few pot-shots at Margot Adler’s coverage of Dylan Mortimer’s Public Prayer Booths for NPR. NewsBuster Tim Graham seems particularly unhappy they sent a “pagan witch” to cover this story.

“NPR sent reporter Margot Adler – the pagan witch – to address this issue, and she just happened to stumble across the New York City Atheists as she opened the story … it’s hard for most listeners to buy the argument that Bronstein [of the New York City Atheists] “just happened to be walking by.” If Adler didn’t contact him beforehand … another reason for skepticism: Adler failed to just discover a protester in August as she delighted in a piece of public art that satirized waterboarding SpongeBob Squarepants … There’s no spokesman for “organized religion” in the prayer-as-art story…”

It seems that Graham’s biggest problem with Adler is that she isn’t a conservative Christian, that an atheist was hanging around when she recorded the report, and that she didn’t talk to some conservative Christians. Oh, and she didn’t find a (Christian or conservative) protester to talk to in a completely unrelated story. Mr. Graham obviously hasn’t done much in the way of “man on the street” reporting (too busy writing about Hillary Clinton I expect), or he would know that you take what you can get, and sometimes it isn’t completely and perfectly ideologically balanced.

The Oregonian positively reviews a new play by Marc Acito entitled “Holidazed”, a comedy that follows a normal Christian family who take in a homeless Pagan teenager.

“Susannah Mars shines at the story’s center as Julia, a typical suburban mother trying to survive a mother’s many holiday duties. This year seems like any other until she gives a bag of Halloween candy to a homeless girl. When the girl asks her name, a random act of kindness becomes a personal encounter, prompting Julia to take her home for the night … As played by Ana Reiselman, Luna makes a wonderful catalyst for change. Sassy but loving, tough but fragile, she is first and foremost a human being, deserving of love and dignity. While paganism may seem strange in a holiday play, Luna’s knowledge of it strips away the family’s illusions about where their supposedly Christian traditions began, opening their eyes to simpler truths.”

The play runs at the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon through December 28th. You can also read about the process of making “Holidazed” in this separate Oregonian article. If any of my readers in Portland end up going to this, please post a review!

The Scifi blog IO9 points us towards an upcoming mythical indie film about Thor’s last day on Earth.

“Don’t let the generic indie guitar music fool you, this looks like quite a little cutie. The film follows Thor, the Norse God on his last day on Earth, as he knows he must die to save the planet. On his final day the fearless warrior traverses about a little suburb meeting people and causing a chain reaction through each character.”

The film’s official site can be found, here. A film about Thor with “themes about goodness and the power of cool”? Count me in.

Pope Benedict XVI in questioning interfaith dialogue shocker!

“Pope Benedict XVI cast doubt on the possibility of interfaith dialogue but called for more discussion of the practical consequences of religious differences. The pope’s comments came in a letter he wrote to Marcello Pera, an Italian center-right politician and scholar whose forthcoming book, “Why We Must Call Ourselves Christian,” argues that Europe should stay true to its Christian roots. A central theme of Benedict’s papacy has been to focus attention on the Christian roots of an increasingly secular Europe.”

Marcello Pera, a conservative backer of Silvio Berlusconi, has long railed against post-Enlightenment attempts to “build up a society without God”. Yet, long before Europe’s “Christian heritage”, it had a vibrant pagan one. Pera and Benedict have both intimated that Western democracy can’t survive without God, but fail to mention that Western democracy wasn’t invented by the “Judeo-Christian” tradition.

In a final note, a wealthy Druid and his hereditary Witch wife, when forced to downgrade from their Weymouth mansion to a detached house in Dorchester, decided to take their megalith with them.

“The stone circle megalith was originally erected in the grounds of Abbotts Court by Burberry fashion house founder Thomas Burberry in the early 1900s. The Burtons bought the mansion in the 1980s and could not live without the monoliths when they downsized to Dorchester. Neighbours watched in bewilderment as druid John and hereditary witch Suky used a crane and a huge truck to transport the 6ft stones to their new abode. The couple – both antique dealers – aligned the stones at special points along a powerful ley line around the garden to encircle themselves with positive energy.”

Now that’s what I call landscaping!

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/11/pagan-news-of-note_24-5.html/feed 0 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/10/winning-battle-of-stanton-moor.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/10/winning-battle-of-stanton-moor.html#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:32:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/10/winning-the-battle-of-stanton-moor.html Emily Dugan of The Independent profiles the tree-sitters and eco-warriors who have spent nine years living in the trees at Stanton Moor in the Peak District National Park. Their goal? To stop the planned re-opening of two mines that threatened the Nine Ladies stone circle.

The Nine Ladies

“There has been no shortage of locals keen to dismiss the Nine Ladies protesters as New Age hippies who should “go out and get a real job”, but their achievement in saving this idyllic corner of Derbyshire has not gone unnoticed by their nearest neighbours. Geoffrey Henson, a pensioner whose home lies just outside the protest camp, admits that the onset of the dreadlocked army was a shock. But he says he has been pleasantly surprised. “We were a bit taken aback when we saw what looked like these scruffy long-haired layabouts arrive,” he explained. “But they stuck it through all winds and weathers for nine years, which is more than we could have done.” A friendly vicar also charges their car batteries, and some well-wishers have let them use their showers.”

Now awaiting the official letter from Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears confirming their victory, the tree-sitters spend their last days saying goodbye to what has become their home, and wondering how they will re-enter normal English life.

One of the tree-houses.

“The next morning, protester Ben Hartley, 38, pondered, like his 14 compatriots, the end of life in their treetop homes. Many have no ties to the “normal” world of consumerism, jobs, mortgages and the credit crunch. ‘A lot of us have spent huge parts of our lives here, so we’ll be really sad to go,’ he said. ‘It’s the end of an era.’”

One hopes that the admirers and supporters of the Nine Ladies will be able to help the protesters re-acclimate to the modern world after living a Robin Hood lifestyle for nine years*. This is truly a group who “walked the talk” of wanting to save England’s heritage. To read more about the history of this protest you can head over to the Nine Ladies Collective web site, or the Nine Ladies page at The Modern Antiquarian. As for Stancliffe Stone, the company that wanted to re-open the Lees Cross and Endcliffe quarries, they will be allowed to extend an existing quarry in exchange.

* I hope I’m not the only one who noticed the mythic resonances of protesters sacrificing nine years of their lives in order to protect the Nine Ladies.
]]> http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/10/winning-battle-of-stanton-moor.html/feed 2 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/what-to-do-about-stonehenge.html http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/what-to-do-about-stonehenge.html#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:10:00 +0000 Jason Pitzl-Waters http://patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2008/07/what-to-do-about-stonehenge.html Though the Summer Solstice revelers have moved on, that most famous of British neolithic monuments, Stonehenge, remains in the news. First off, somewhat controversial Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon (no, not that Arthur Pendragon) is camping out near Stonehenge, and vows to continue to do so until long-promised improvements to the site are made.

John Rothwell, aka Arthur Uther Pendragon.

“Demonstrating on behalf of the Council of British Druid Orders, King Arthur Pendragon, has been camping close to the World Heritage site since the Summer Solstice on June 21. Pendragon, 54, is hoping his protests will encourage the Government to remove the fences around the monument, build a tunnel over the A303 and grass over the A344. He said: “That’s what they promised to do but the Government said they couldn’t afford the tunnel. “It’s too commercialised. We want something exactly like Avebury. Those fences have been here since 1978.” … He said: ‘The visitor centre, set up 14 years ago, was supposed to be a temporary building. It’s awful. It is a national disgrace so what I am hoping to do by my protest is embarrass the Government into raising the issue.’”

However, this outrage over the condition of Stonehenge isn’t isolated to Druids and Pagans, and with the Olympics coming to London in 2012, there has been increased pressure to improve the state of England’s heritage sites. One manifestation of this willingness to do something about the state of Stonehenge is an upcoming three month public consultation on the future of the site. Organizers are no doubt hoping that this period of public input will quell criticisms of governmental negligence, and spur renewed action.

Stonehenge

“English Heritage is to launch a public consultation to find a new site for its long-planned Stonehenge visitor centre. The news comes more than six months after it scrapped Denton Corker Marshall’s design for a centre. That scheme, which had been granted planning permission in December, was shelved after the government decided not to fund a £500 million A303 tunnel. Heritage Lottery Funding had been conditional upon the tunnel going ahead. Denton Corker Marshall won a competition to design the facility in 2001 after EH had ditched a previous scheme by Edward Cullinan Architects. From July 15, members of the public will be able to offer feedback on EH’s review of the World Heritage Site Management Plan, and proposed environmental improvements to the roads around the monument, as well as possible locations for the new visitor facilities.”

Perhaps the fear of worldwide embarrassment over the care of Stonehenge will do more to motivate renewed care and attention to the monument than any protesting Druid could ever hope to achieve. In the meantime, King Arthur camps, and we wait to see if the government and English Heritage can finally find a long-term solution for the site’s care and maintenance.