Solstice at Stonehenge

I went to visit Steve at his girlfriend Catherine’s house in Hampshire, so for Winter Solstice, we planned to go to the sunrise at Stonehenge and meet up with Katya and Tom. It is a very rare occasion that I will get up at 4:30 to do something.

Steve, Catherine, Megan, and I had arrived with plenty of time to spare, so we wandered around the site for a while and took in the sights. Stonehenge is obviously very iconic, but standing close to them, gives a lot more scale than when you see it against an empty field. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the stones were stolen from Irish giants by Merlin, who then assembled them at Stonehenge, but that slightly conflicts with the archaeologists who say that they were from around 2000-3000BC. 

Normally, the stones are roped off, but for Solstice, they take the ropes down. This is largely due to Arthur Uther Pendragon, who changed his birth name and gave himself the title “Titular Head and Chosen Chief, 
Raised Druid King of Britain.” After reading a book on King Arthur, he believed he was the reincarnation of the Once and Future King. He protested English Heritage charging at Stonehenge, and entered into legal action with them to make the rocks accessible on the solstices since Stonehenge has been a site used for Neo-druid ceremonies since the beginning of the 20th century.

There were plenty of people wandering around in very nice capes, but a few other people who certainly drew attention. There was a choir of people, dressed from head to toe in red, who were chanting various songs around the stones, a person with a unicorn mask, a dancing woman with a skull strapped to her head, a “viking” (I can’t emphasize the air quotes enough since he was just in trousers, with dark black eye make-up and an oddly-shaven head), and a man, in what can only be described as a conical fabric strip tent, who was playing the accordion. There was also an interesting array of scents wafting around as well, the sweet-scented clouds form various vapers, the fragrance of burning incense and sage, and the recognizable bouquet of weed. At the centre of the action was Pendragon, leading the Neo-Druids in a ceremony to welcome the sun back.

The sun did rise and no one even had to be sacrificed.

Steve was delighted to inform Katya how much she missed him and was very eager to conclude his transaction with Tom. Now, for context, Tom had agreed to give Steven a sword in exchange for a collection of my baby photos. Steve had delivered. Tom had not. So Steve was happy to escort Tom to his car to collect his prize. Katya and I, suspecting entertainment, had packed bags of popcorn to eat while viewing the proceedings for visual comic effect. Tom unveiled the foam sword, and Steve, less than impressed considering the agreed upon arrangement had been for a metal Witcher sword, quickly attacked him. Foreseeing this eventuality, Tom drew a secondary foam sword and they had a sword fight in the parking lot, much to the amusement of the spectators. Steve should really get into re-enactment, and has also learnt his lesson about dealings with Mercians.

I’d love to come back here sometime when there aren’t tons of other people around, but it was a very memorable first time at Stonehenge. Of course, now Steven has foam swords, I’m sure no harm will come to those.