Breathtaking . . . stunning . . . bewitching; I was bowled over by this site. After a few sharp turns round country roads, the stones suddenly appeared, the size of the place became evident, and the impulse to get amongst them was huge. Like the delightful Jane, I was out the other side of the car before it stopped moving, haring up the slope before the handbrake had been applied. Thank the stars for a very understanding driver!
Long Meg herself is wonderfully powerful, and a fabulous embodiment of the Earth Goddess. She’s constructed from red sandstone, contrasting wonderfully with the Daughters (or Lovers). I found her superbly pregnant, and so intriguing.As was the circle itself. The most obvious thing was the total lack of a sense of scale, which was very weird. Also fascinating is its construction on a slope, so that it was impossible to see the whole of it in one go – from certain angles, anyway. Had the earth shifted since it was built? Whatever, it certainly contributed to a fascinating energy.
And this energy became very prevalent when I began taking photos. (No word of a lie, it interfered completely with my composition, which was very bizarre. Even when applying the rules of composition, many of the stones said “No, we’d look better in mirror image; which you can’t do, so there!”) I wondered if it was because I was walking anti-clockwise round the inside of the circle, so tried it different ways, but I still didn’t feel entirely happy with what I was photographing. I remarked on this to Mum (who had waited to get out of the car, once it had come to a complete halt), and she said “Well, maybe you’re not supposed to be photographing from inside the circle; they might not be looking in, but looking out.” So I tried that, and it all flowed together much more easily. Switched on woman, my Mum.
And the Goddess seemed to approve of Mum's take on things, because literally out of nowhere in a dark and cloudy sky, the sun miraculously broke through, blessing us all with twenty minutes of gorgeous modelling light. Hooray! (Jane and the rest of the party told me later that I was running around like a mad woman, yelping with glee, and pumping loads of film through the camera). No Spaniards, either. (See Castlerigg . . . )I guess I just naturally assumed all stone circles were facing inwards – of course, it makes infinitely more sense to have them facing out, thereby protecting the energy within. (OK, so a few of us are slow on the uptake).
Whatever was going on, Long Meg and Her Daughters/Lovers is a magnificent site, and worth a Cumbrian weekend away as soon as possible! Prepare to be spellbound and enchanted; meanwhile, I’ll wait for my photos to be developed – and I get the feeling that they’re not going to be *quite* what I’m expecting . . .
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Posted by treaclechops
31st August 2003ce
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