{"id":1534,"date":"2013-11-03T15:55:48","date_gmt":"2013-11-03T21:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2013-11-02T16:17:58","modified_gmt":"2013-11-02T22:17:58","slug":"a-year-at-stonehenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2013\/11\/a-year-at-stonehenge.html","title":{"rendered":"A Year At Stonehenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/em>A Year at Stonehenge<\/em><\/a>
\nby James O. Davies
\nhardcover, 112 pages
\n$27.95<\/p>\n

Most of us will never visit Stonehenge.\u00a0 Even those of us who are able to make the trip will only see it once or twice, from behind ropes designed to protect the stones and the ground that holds them (and that have the added advantage of allowing ordinary visitors to get clear pictures of the stones).<\/p>\n

Photographer James O. Davies had an opportunity virtually none of us will ever get \u2013 the chance to photograph Stonehenge many times, from many perspectives, at many times of the day and during many times of the year.\u00a0 The end result is A Year at Stonehenge<\/em>.\u00a0 This book is for anyone who wants a wide assortment of images of this unique monument but doesn\u2019t live in Wiltshire.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Year at Stonehenge<\/em> pp 32-33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sunrise and sunset were Davies\u2019 favorite times, but there are also pictures in the snow and in the mists.\u00a0 Most pictures are of the stones and surrounding landscape, but some include Solstice revelers.\u00a0 There are close-up pictures showing the texture of the stones, as well as some of the unfortunate graffiti chiseled in over the centuries.\u00a0 And there are shots from inside the circle where ordinary visitors are rarely allowed.\u00a0 No single volume can fully document Stonehenge, but A Year at Stonehenge<\/em> is a very nice assortment of images.<\/p>\n

Stone circles can be found around the world and there are over a thousand in the British Isles.\u00a0 But there is only one Stonehenge.\u00a0 Why aren\u2019t there others?\u00a0 As Professor Ronald Hutton<\/a> explained, it\u2019s because Stonehenge was a massive failure \u2013 at least from an engineering standpoint.\u00a0 Many of the stone temples of the ancient Mediterranean were knocked down by earthquakes, but Britain is seismically stable. But when you attempt to erect massive stone blocks using woodworking techniques, you\u2019re not likely to be successful.\u00a0 Stonehenge may have never existed whole in its \u201cfinal\u201d form 3500 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Year at Stonehenge<\/em> pp 104<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although it was an architectural failure, it certainly has been a success in other areas.\u00a0 From at least the Roman period forward, Stonehenge has inspired considerable speculation into how it was built, why it was built, and how it was used.\u00a0 Though the \u201chow\u201d has mostly been answered, the \u201cwhy\u201d has not, and likely never will be.<\/p>\n

Stonehenge had been built, rebuilt, and abandoned long before there were Druids in England \u2013 the Druids did not build Stonehenge or any of the other ancient stone circles.\u00a0 While the Druids almost certainly knew about Stonehenge we have no evidence they worshipped or performed other rituals there.<\/p>\n

But the assumption that they must<\/em> have used it for ritual caused the Revival Druids of the 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> centuries to attempt to \u201crestore\u201d proper Druid ritual there.\u00a0 In Blood and Mistletoe<\/em><\/a>, Ronald Hutton describes some of the battles between Druid groups and the various guardians of Stonehenge over access to the circle for ritual use.\u00a0 Today Stonehenge is open to the general public on the Summer Solstice and thousands crowd the circle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Year at Stonehenge<\/em> pp 94-95<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stonehenge was on my must-see list long before I became a Pagan.\u00a0 My early interest was historical, but once I begin studying Druidry in 2002 I also developed a spiritual interest, and Cathy and I visited it on our trip to England in 2007.<\/p>\n

I left Salisbury with low expectations. \u00a0I knew I couldn\u2019t get close to the stones, and I knew the circle would be full of tourists.\u00a0 But when we came around a curve on the A303 and first saw the circle, my reaction was \u201coh, wow!\u201d\u00a0 Cynicism went out the window \u2013 this was something special.\u00a0 We parked, paid our admission and walked through the tunnel under the roadway.<\/p>\n

I made two trips around the circle.\u00a0 On the first, I was an ordinary tourist admiring the stones and trying to get good pictures.\u00a0 But on the second, I put the camera away and tried to listen<\/em>.\u00a0 And I heard<\/em>.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a strong mystical experience, but something deep inside me recognized why the ancients built Stonehenge where they did.\u00a0 In a letter to my OBOD tutor when we got home, I said \u201cthere was no doubt in my mind that this is a natural place of power, in addition to the power that\u2019s been built up over the centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tentatively planning to visit Stonehenge again next March.\u00a0 I want to take a closer look at the circle, and I want to spend some time in meditation with the spirits of the place.\u00a0 If the trip happens, I\u2019ll come back with a second set of pictures.<\/p>\n

Until then, there\u2019s A Year at Stonehenge<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photographer James O. Davies had an opportunity virtually none of us will ever get \u2013 the chance to photograph Stonehenge many times, from many perspectives, at many times of the day and during many times of the year. The end result is A Year at Stonehenge<\/em>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":1535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[200,947,4,5,68],"class_list":["post-1534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-a-year-at-stonehenge","tag-druidry","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-stonehenge"],"yoast_head":"\nA Year At Stonehenge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Photographer James O. 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