Summer Solstice 2011: Stonehenge Hosts New Age, Neo-Pagan Celebration (PHOTOS)

LONDON (AP) — A damp overcast morning has failed to deter thousands of people gathered at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice. (Scroll down for photos)

Around 18,000 neo-pagans, new agers and curious visitors gathered Tuesday in heavy rain to watch the sun rise over the ancient stone circle on the Salisbury Plain about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London.

The celebrations are a modern twist on solstice celebrations that were a highlight of the pre-Christian calendar.

Police say the event was good natured but 20 people were arrested for drug and public disorder offenses.

Stonehenge was built in three phases between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. It is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions with over 850,000 visitors a year.

1 of 8

1 of 9

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Ratko Mladic Trial Should Start In Weeks, UN Prosecutor Says

Secret Service Scandal Did Not Result In Security Breach, Director Says

Egypt Presidential Elections 2012: Timeline Of Egypt After Mubarak

Bo Xilai Scandal: China Leadership Insists Scandal Is 'Isolated Case'

Turkey: Drones To Be Bought From United States

NATO Summit Chicago: Weekend Agenda And What's On The Table

comments(40)

Total comments: 40 | Post a Comment

1 of 9

Most Festive Shot

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Festive!

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Solstice Shot

loading...

Solstice Shot

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[dna user]

07:17 AM on 06/24/2011

I keep hearing that Christians adopted many customs from Paganism. Which means, they are the original Christians.

[hapkidoblondie]

06:59 PM on 06/24/2011

No, it does not. It means that Christians will beg, borrow, and steal from whatever will benefit them. The original sacred places were primarily pagan and were usurped by Christianity, as were most of what are now Christian holidays. I personally believe that Jesus walked the earth; However, based upon ancient documents regarding the census at the time , there's no way that his birth was December 25, as is now celebrated. The reason Christian's chose December 25 is because of it's importance as a pagan holiday and the same goes for Easter, otherwise known as Ostara. It's a simple concept ~ if you can't beat them, join them ~ and then make it your own.

[dna user]

07:10 PM on 06/24/2011

Were you born into a thousands of years old pagan family? Because if you didn't... you too might have beg, borrow, and steal from pagans for whatever reason you have.

[GEM-592]

02:08 AM on 06/24/2011

Look at all those Jethro Tullers in one place

[ThankGodhesgone]

02:47 AM on 06/23/2011

If you go to England to see Stonehenge, visit the monoliths in Avebury. They are actually more impressive and cover a much larger area.

[Politidelic]

07:17 PM on 06/22/2011

religion is a farce and i include pagans right in there with the rest. the mothership is truly where it's at.

[Roy l Payne]

09:11 PM on 06/22/2011

If you knew ANYTHING about paganism, you wouldn't make such a general statement. Paganism is a broad subject that encompasses a lot of ideas. The center of which the earth figures prominantly.

[Politidelic]

01:48 PM on 06/23/2011

I know enough to understand that it's not for me thankyouverymuch.

[moflard]

02:52 PM on 06/22/2011

The Pagan in me is saying "YAYYYY!!! Solstice!!"

The Archaeologist in me is screaming "GET OFF THE STONES YOU EEDJITS!!!" and "They´re completely NEW religions not the old ones, there´s not enough blood" etc. etc.

Hmm, it appears my archaeologist self is a bit of a grump.

[Pandoras Folly]

08:46 AM on 06/22/2011

the hermetic in me is crying out YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!!!!!!!!! where are the vestments, the ceremony, the unified focus of will or at least attention, the ritual. arrrrrrghh!!!!!!!!

the cult of ecstasy should just hand out drugs pump up the tunes and start flashing their lights.....at least the druids do it right.

[Js420]

12:08 AM on 06/22/2011

Damp overcast made it that much more awesome! My opinion, i was not there.

[PeterOregon]

11:33 PM on 06/21/2011

What the hell? When we were at Stonehenge you couldn't go inside the fence that surrounds it. I guess only dirty hippies are allowed to crawl around on it, they have to touch so they can tap into the cosmic energy.

[LMPE]

11:10 PM on 06/21/2011

3000 BC

OK, that's acceptable. It's less than 6000 years ago, so Stonehenge definitely got built after Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs with Fred and Wilma.

[bridge to somewhere]

05:49 PM on 06/22/2011

What are you talking about? Fred helped build the thing at the direction of Mr. Slate. How else could people move such a large stone...

[LMPE]

06:20 PM on 06/22/2011

Ah, I hadn't thought of that.

[Cannonball Taffy O Jones]

10:09 PM on 06/21/2011

This rabble has about as much in common with the builders of the Henge the modern Egyptians have with the builders of the pyramids.

[moflard]

02:47 PM on 06/22/2011

True enough, except for genetic links. But then how many of the celebrants at York Minster have anything in common with the people who built that, or people at the Wailing Wall with the builders of the Second Temple?

No, the culture and the world-view change but a spiritual centre can still function in a different context.

[artbot]

09:21 PM on 06/21/2011

shouldn't the be called "old age". there's nothing new about their beliefs.

[cliffhammond]

08:46 PM on 06/21/2011

Just another day at the Schizoid.

[MohammedAbbasi]

08:31 PM on 06/21/2011

Nice to know the pre-Christian faith still active :)

Summer Solstice Greetings all!

[dna user]

07:19 AM on 06/24/2011

Is pre a lot of things. Islam is Christianity 2.0

[NonConforming]

04:53 PM on 06/21/2011

In 100 years, the muslim majority of England will built a mosque at site of Stonehenge and ban any public pagan rituals and will claim that Stonehenge was built my muslims.

[cliffhammond]

08:47 PM on 06/21/2011

That depends on if the U.K. becomes a desert by then.

[LMPE]

11:09 PM on 06/21/2011

How's the Kool-Aid treating you?

[Loli O]

03:50 PM on 06/21/2011

Bottom dwellers unite!

[Loli O]

03:53 PM on 06/21/2011

"united"
Lost my "d".

[hapkidoblondie]

07:06 PM on 06/24/2011

I hate when that happens!

[thorrsman]

03:53 PM on 06/21/2011

Care to elaborate?

Or was that just a knee-jerk reaction to those with beliefs different from your own?