Within the Hearth
of the Turning Wheel it has become something of a tradition as with many, to
make a pilgrimage to a particular sacred site or place on one or other of the
Solstices. This pilgrimage which has taken the form of camping trips, short breaks
or simply a one day trip; is sometimes to a local site and sometimes to one of
some notable distance. These trips have happened so often and it is with a nod
to Professor Hutton; that we often referred to them as 'something we have
always done.'
So it was that in
the early hours of the 21st of December 2013 a small number of us
journeyed to Stonehenge by car with the aim of meeting friends and watching the
sunrise. As usual we travelled in hopeful expectation of a visible sunrise, in
the full knowledge that such an occurrence is rare. The further south we
travelled, the heavier the rain appeared to become and we were forced not
unexpectedly, to accept that our hope was a vain one.
Parking up at
about six we found ourselves directed to a lane reasonably close to the stones,
joining a single file of parked vehicles that extended behind us as more joined
the line. This gave us almost an hour before the police would allow access and
so we settled down for a nap, it had been a long enough journey with only one
'refreshment' stop and our designated driver appreciated the break.
During this time
we had a telephone call from the friends we were expecting to meet and were
pleased to discover, that they had parked up only a few cars behind. So it was
that once the all clear was given by the Police, some half dozen of us made our
way along the lane to the gate and our entry into the site.
The weather did
not really improve and I was grateful that I had come in my heavier winter
cloak, as it kept me quite warm and importantly dry, underneath. Standing on
the bank we awaited the dawn, if one can call it that and had a moment of
peace, amongst the grey clouds and the increasingly heavy rain.
We walked our way
around the circle, preferring in my case to keep to the perimeter and avoid the
crowd in the centre. I was rather slower in my perambulatory circumnavigation,
as I kept bumping into people I knew or being asked to stop and pose for a photograph.
You would think people had never seen a man in a woollen green cloak carrying a
horn before.
Amongst these
friendly enquirers was the usual grouping of journalists and semi-professional photographers,
including a young lady by the name of Emma Wood who took the picture I use on
this BLOG post. By the time I had finished playing the part of a media tart,
posing with and for various curious solstice attendees and blowing my horn for
the professionals, my friends had not only completed their own circuit but
started a second.
Photograph of the Summoner at Stonehenge on
the 21st December 2013.
Picture copyright Emma Wood photography
2013: http://www.emmawoodphotos.co.uk/blog/
Post this wet,
grey dawn we travelled on to Woodhenge, so that those members of the Most
Ancient and Venerable Order of the Skylark and Hawthorne, could claim another
mark towards their eventual chivalric knighthoods. Here too the wind and the
rain continued and we were eager to return to the cars and depart for Avebury.
At Avebury as
per our wants and obviously it is something we have always done, our own
tradition as it were, we lunched at the Red Lion before taking our walk around
the stones. Once again we bumped into one or two people we knew, including Bill
Willth Thorpe, a Druid from Swindon. Indeed in the Venerable Order of the
Skylark and Hawthorne, Bill is titled as a Knight of Swindon.
Our walk about
the Avebury Stones themselves, in continuing heavy rain was also subject to
strong gusts of wind. So strong and bearing in mind that many of us had cloaks,
that part of the walk along the bank was at times dangerous. It was however, a
very pleasant and worthwhile day.
On the 22nd
of December and allowing a day for recovery, the Hearth of the Turning Wheel
met at Caer Bran for our Yuletide observance and our usual exchange of gifts. Our
Yuletide ritual includes our version of the Secret Santa, which we like to refer
to as the Secret Odin. This once again has become something we have always
done. This year the ritual was written by Lady Jane, an invited guest who renamed
the ritual as Rudolphmas.
Yuletide is a
celebration and the exchange of gifts, coupled with a little humour, can lift
our spirits in the depth of winter, which is obviously an important element of
any mid-winter festival.
