Magic circles

The county of Wiltshire is most famous for the great stone monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, and the huge earth pyramid of Silbury. No written records exist of the origins of these features and they have always been surrounded by mystery.

Stonehenge is the best known and probably the most remarkable of prehistoric remains in the UK. It has stood on Salisbury Plain for about 4,000 years. There have been many different theories about its original use and although modern methods of investigation have extended our knowledge, no one is certain why it was built.

One theory is that it was a place from where stars and planets could be observed. It was discovered that the positions of some of the stones related to the movements of the sun and moon, so that the stones could be used as a calendar to predict such things as eclipses.

At one time, people thought that Stonehenge was a Druid temple. The Druids were a Celtic religious group who were suppressed in Great Britain soon after the Roman Conquest. Some people believe that they were a group of priests, while others regard them as medicine-men who practised human sacrifice and cannibalism.

Because Stonehenge had existed 1,000 years before the arrival of the Druids, this theory has been rejected, but it is possible that the Druids used it as a temple. The theory is kept alive today by members of a group called the 'Most Ancient Order of Druids' who perform mystic rites at dawn on Midsummer's Day (24th June). Every year, they meet at Stonehenge to greet the first midsummer sunlight as it falls on the stones and they lay out symbolic elements of fire, water, bread, salt and a rose.

Another interesting theory is that the great stone circle was used to store terrestrial energy, which was then generated across the country, possibly through 'ley lines'. 'Ley lines' is the name given to invisible lines which link up ancient sites throughout Britain. They were thought to be tracks by which prehistoric man travelled about the country, but now many people believe that they are mysterious channels for a special kind of power. Ley lines are international. In Ireland, they are known as 'fairy roads', in China they are known as lungmei and are believed to extend all over the Earth, and in Australia, the Aborigines make ceremonial journeys for hundreds of miles along these secret tracks.

Alongside the theories of the scholars are local legends. Here is one.

Stonehenge was built by the devil in a single night. He flew backwards and forwards between Ireland and Salisbury Plain carrying the stones one by one and setting them in place. As he worked, he laughed to himself. 'That will make people think. They'll never know how the stones came here!' But a friar was hiding in a ditch nearby. He surprised the devil, who threw a stone which hit the friar on the heel.

Is the story true? Well, the stone which the devil threw, known as the 'heel stone', can still be seen by the side of the road. However, geologists have shown that the stones came from South Wales and north Wiltshire, not Ireland!

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 73 f.