Stonehenge, Sacrifices, Druids & Drums - My Strange Experience During Solstice At Stonehenge - Jockey Tails

After 16 years of denied access we were finally allowed to celebrate solstice at Stonehenge in the year 2000. This was the first solstice of the new millennium. I was there and it was a totally bizarre and unforgettable experience!

When we look at Stonehenge in the context of the other megalithic sights around the world it seems to have always been a place for solstice worship. Yet the further I dig into the history of Stonehenge the odder the story seems to become.

I think there is more going on here than meets the eye!

Access Denied!

This was the first time that the public had been allowed to celebrate the solstice at Stonehenge since 1984. During the previous years there had always been clashes between police and a small but committed bastion of crusties, druids, new age hippies, travellers and other wonderful oddballs over access to the site on solstice.

In the year 2000 the authorities finally relented and allowed the people into the site under certain conditions such as no amplified music. The energy was electric as 6000 of us gathered in the darkness between the huge stones. That night will live with me forever...

The Strangest Of Nights

We set out from London on a typical English summer night: dark and pouring rain. Our driver had just received her drivers license that day and was not competent to drive the 80 miles to Stonehenge. I sat nervously in the back as she swerved dangerously between trucks in the torrential rain. In the end I gave up worrying and drank some vodka. I shut my eyes but couldn't get her nervous shrieks out of my ears.

Finally in the darkness we arrived at Stonehenge!

This was not my first trip to the stones but they seemed to radiate a strange energy in the darkness. As we walked towards the stones we were were carried along in a throng of bodies. The police had banned all powered sources of music but you could her thousands of people screaming. Many druids in their long robes and staffs were walking through the darkness.
Down the hill was a stand of woods and I could see fires and figures under the trees.

As we got closer to the stones the energy and rain increased. Those stones have some crazy energy!

The Wizard With The Sword!

We had made our way to a small circle of drummers and I broke out my Djembe and joined in. I had with me a very large beautiful African drum known as a Djembe which has deep bass tones and well articulated high slaps. I remember clearly that I was trying to drive the bass rhythm of our drumming.

The rhythm got more furious as the circle of drummers grew larger. Eventually I estimate there were 30 or 40 of us in a huge circle about 15 meters in diameter. We were all drenched in the rain but I was protected by a thick Nepalese woollen jumper.

As the rhythm gained momentum my hands were flying across the Djembe's wet skin. We were all jumping up and down, fuelled by the dancing and screaming around us. Then I saw him. A tall, thin black figure in a cape and hood striding towards the centre of the drum circle. He reached the centre and stood stone still with his head bowed and covered by his hood. We all love a bit of performance art and this is what I thought was going on.

All good.... except in a flash he pulled from his cape a huge double edged sword. Even in the darkness and rain I could tell this sword was very sharp and shiny. It was long and he needed both of his hands to hold it. He was standing directly in front of me and looking directly at me he lowered the sword and pointed it at my chest. This was no ordinary sword. It looked like how I imagined King Arthur's legendary Excalibur must have looked and must have been capable of severing a man's arm! 😮

I was mesmerised. All I could see was his nose poking out from the shadows of his hood and the long sharp sword pointing directly at me. The screaming and drumming surrounded me and my hands never missed a beat on the skin. I was shocked and in awe. When the sword came out the entire drum circle, almost as one unit took a step backwards, bumping into dancers and widening the circle by a few meters.

Slowly the cloaked figure began to turn moving the point of his sword as he rotated, holding the huge sword in both hands. I was relieved when he moved on from looking at me to the next drummer. Moving around in a clockwise direction he pointed the sword at each drummer in the circle and slowly rotated back to me.

The Wizard's Apprentice!!

I had been watching the sword very closely. I was on edge and prepared to run, yet I was mesmerised by the drumming and danger. What I hadn't noticed was that the wizard's apprentice had sidled into the circle. Now as the sword turned full circle back to me I noticed the apprentice standing next to the wizard. The apprentice was short but also hooded and was holding with two hands a hessian sack with something heavy in it.

The sack was wriggling around in the apprentice's hands. To my eyes it seemed as if there was a lamb or small goat in the bag. We all realised what the wizard wanted to do, he wanted to use the energy of the drum circle in the stones to carry out some kind of blood sacrifice with the sword. The drumming increased in intensity and power. I felt that all of us in the circle were willing him to leave and go away. I had made up my mind to throw my heavy drum at him if he wanted to kill what was in the sack. I was going to run into the crowd and disappear.

In the end sensing the hostility of the circle the wizard and his apprentice slunk out of the circle. The last I saw of them they were heading into the woods together with the sack still wriggling...

Merlin The Owl!!!

We left the drum circle and pushed into the main centre of the stones. It was still dark and raining. Thousands of people were screaming and shouting. The sonic reverberations of the stones were spectacular. Lasers and whistles sang out.

At one point I was standing with my friend amidst the throng of bodies and peering through the rain I could see a smaller standing stone about shoulder hight. The top of the stone had been carved into the shape of a huge owl almost a meter tall. I got my camera and pointed the carving out to my friend through the rain and moving bodies.

Just at that moment my friend and I were looking at it the stone statue turned its head right around and stared directly at us. It was the largest live owl I have ever seen and was sitting on the stone completely still amid all that screaming and mayhem. Was it Merlin reincarnated as a giant owl come to join in the revelry on that rainy night. The camera was in my hand and I snapped a photo of that huge magical owl. I wish I could show it to you!

It All Vanished?

I don't really remember the rest of that night. I think someone gave me some mushrooms but I cannot remember for sure.

The entire experience was very psychedelic!

I woke up in a small two person tent with four guys crammed inside. A policeman was outside knocking on the tent.
We piled out into the morning mist to find that we were completely alone with the policeman in a field that had once been full of cars. We waited several hours and finally got a lift in a bus heading to Glastonbury where more adventures awaited me.

I wonder if any of you Steemians or perhaps future readers were there amongst those 6000 people at Stonehenge that night? That would be amazing but not impossible.

I have been to Stonehenge several times but that solstice experience inspired me. I went to solstice again another year but it was just a bunch of young hippies in the sun. There was none of the mayhem that I saw that first time.

Since then I have researched the site and have come across some interesting things like moving the stones and what has happened now. These must surely be future posts! 😃

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Image sources 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

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Jockey loves you All and wild adventures! 😉

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