| Ramblings...... |
| I expect we all have that certain something that we really want to do. If you're like me there's probably several certain somethings waiting to be done, but always being put off. You know..."the time's not right",...."got to think of the kids"...."the cat needs another coat of varnish"...there's always some very good reason for not doing what you've been promising yourself for soooo long! Not forgetting the biggest reason for not "doing".......fear of stepping outside of your very comfy, every day life, where you know all the rules, and have control, to some extent, of your own environment. This one has certainly been "a biggy" for me, and one that I have over he last few years been learning to get over. One of my personal longings had been to go to the Glastonbury Festival. So, in 2000, which was also my 40th year on this wonderful Earth, I went. Here're some notes by the way.........(just incase you have difficulty sleeping!!) 20th June 2000 Glastonbury: evening; bright, sunny, feeling 'light'. Walk to the Tor, meet Lyndsey and Jon sitting by the wayside, halfway up the hill,"Happy Solstice" they say, 'Happy Solstice' I say, and join them where they sit amongst the summer grasses. They offer me water taken from the chalice well, and smiles. Drumming from a group further down the Tor drifts up, mixed with the sounds of Steve Hillage that's belting out of a beat up camper parked in the lane. Lyndsey and Jon are nice, we finish the walk to the top together, then part; they to The Riflemans Arms in the village ( very wise) while I stay on the Tor, intending to see the sun-rise at the turning of another season,( definately stepping off the path here!). On the Tor I am stood at the hub of a great wheel, I can see for miles all around me, more and more people are gathering now, and a sense of occasion, of moment is building. The bright evening turns to threatening gloom, as a huge pall of blackened cloud ( perhaps it got too close to the sun!) looms from the west. Before the sun can set, it is wrapped and hidden from view, night falls! The Tor is throbbing now. Drums and people. Incessant pulses. Such a diversity of folk drawn to this spot, the Energy is tangible, and very, very Real. The rain sets in, driven from the west by a roaring wind, it is horizontal, appropriate in this land of broad horizons!(although I didn't think so at the time!!) The wind is bitter, the rain is cold and wetter than usual at this time of year, and I can't stop smiling; I am sitting on the edge of a hill, in the driving rain, in the pitch dark with a whole bunch of strangers and wearing gloves on my bare feet, and I simply can't stop smiling...I am HAPPY! The Pagans have taken up the inside of the tower on the Tor, and have been banging away heroically for hours, accompanied by the cries and chants of an incredible woman whom I 'd like to think, was their priestess. Then there is a respite, and I am suddenly aware of a person stood behind where I am still sitting, and out of the darkness, into the storm a river of clear, bright syllables ring. She is singing, the priestess is singing out into the void above me, the storm abates, silence, but for her song hangs in the night, then as suddenly as she came, she is gone, back to the tower, and the raw power of the nights work. I was blessed! The night passed, the drumming never ceased, they were just incredible. I witnessed a pagan hand fasting, where the couple, very pissed, jumped the broom stick together. I was vaguely threatened by one guy who thought I had taken his photo, and as such was an agent for the DSS ( I was shooting the tower), and I think I was propositioned by another drunken male who asked "have you got a smoke brother" and then offered me a "free passage" whatevere that is (better informed, more worldly readers please e-mail me on this one!), anyway, he got a bit unnecessary, and had to be dealt with firmly. It must have been about 0445 am, when, still without the slightest trace of lightness on any horizon, and the storm still blowing for an Oscar, I headed off down the Tor to the village to find my car. On the way down I was passing people dressed in clothing appropriate to the weather, who had clearly spent the night in a warm bed, who were now making their way up the Tor for the dawn. At this time of year, in this part of the country, as at many, many similar sights across the globe, likeminded people were being drawn by this unspeakable power to celebrate how they may. We Are One. 21st June 2000 Woke up feet caked in cow shit! I faintly remember slipping on something coming down off the Tor this morning and put it down to that. I've had a couple of hours sleep in the front seat of my car;feeling stiff I get out and stretch. It's still early,sevenish I think, and I'm feeling a little self concious, being aware that I have just climbed out the front seat of a car on a public car, feet caked in cow shit, and probably looking no better my self, then I look around me, this is Solstice City, there are folk in similar states of disarray to be seen all around. I join the early morning promanade, and go in search of brekkie! I find "Graftons" cafe, which like most cafes in Glastonbury are open early for the solstice revellers. I eat my mushrooms on toast while listening to David, a very talented Irishman sat in the corner, who sings folk songs, and plays a variety of instruments. David looks very tired, like he's been up all night, I look for signs of cow shit on his footwear! People wrapped in their strangeness come and go at Graftons. It's a colourful world, and I'm glad to be here. I'm off to the festival now. Need a ride |
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