Jenny Blain

Sites, sacredness, and stories: Interactions of archaeology and contemporary paganism

Folklore has, until very recently, been at the fringes of archaeological research. Post-processual archaeology has promoted plurality in interpretation, however, and archaeology more widely is required to make itself relevant to contemporary society; so, contemporary folkloric practices vis-a`-vis archaeological remains are once again receiving attention. In this paper we examine contemporary Pagan understandings of and engagements with “sacred sites” in England. Specifically, we explore how Pagan meanings are inscribed and constituted, how they draw on “traditional” understandings of sites and landscapes, and instances in which they challenge or reify the “preservation ethic” of heritage management. From active interactions with sites, such as votive offerings and instances of fire and graffiti damage, to unconventional (contrasted with academic) interpretations of sites involving wights and spirit beings, Neolithic shamans, or goddesses, there are diverse areas of contest. We argue archaeology must not reject Pagan and other folklores as “fringe,” but, in an era of community archaeology, transparency and collaboration, respond to them, preferably dialogically.

Pasts and pagan practices: moving beyond Stonehenge

Abstract Theorizing the past is not restricted to archaeology, and interpretations of ‘past’ both influence and are themselves constituted within politicized understandings of self, community.and, in certain instances, spirituality. ‘The past in the imagination of the present’ is appropriated, variously, to give meaning to the present or to justify actions and interpret experiences. Summer solstice at Stonehenge, with an estimated 21,000 celebrants in 2005, is only the most publicized appropriation (by pagans and other adherents of alternative spirituality and partying) of a ‘sacred site’ and conflicts and negotiations occurring throughout Britain are represented in popular and academic presentations of this ‘icon of Britishness’. This paper presents work from the Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights Project (http://www.sacredsites.org.uk) project, a collaboration of archaeology and anthropology informed by pagan and alternative approaches and standpoints, investigating and theorizing discourse and practice of heritage management and pagan siteusers. Whether in negotiations around the Stonehenge solstice access, or in dealing with numerous other sites,boundaries between groups or discourses are not clearly drawn - discursive communities merge and re-emerge. But clearly ‘past’ and ‘site’ are increasingly important within todays Britain, even as television archaeology increases its following, and pagan numbers continue to grow.

Negotiating archaeology/spirituality : pagan engagements with the prehistoric past in Britain

Our Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights project examines contemporary Pagan engagements with pasts in Britain, focusing on archaeological monuments and associated material culture held in museum collections. These engagements take diverse forms, from protesting against road-building and quarrying affecting monuments, and performing public and private rituals at “sacred” locations including sites and museums, to leaving votive offerings or clearing the ritual litter of previous celebrants and taking an interest in the curation of ancient human remains. Discourse between Pagans, archaeologists, museum curators and heritage managers results, involving tension, negotiation and attempts at understanding. In this chapter, we situate ourselves reflexively as scholar-practitioners, summarise our findings pointing to issues of difference and convergence between the interest groups, and focus on Pagan interest in human remains, from “respect” to reburial. Issues emerge of competing claims on “heritage”, how “ancestors” are constituted, contest regarding institutional authority and the diversity of Pagan voices, from those committed to the “return to the earth” of all excavated pagan remains to those adhering to the “preservation ethos” of scientific archaeology and heritage management. We conclude that in order to move on from entrenched stereotypical attitudes, all interest groups need to engage in dialogue and be prepared to re-negotiate their positions.

Contested Meanings: Earth Religion Practitioners and the Everyday

In many ‘traditional’ cultures, religion and magic are not easily separated from people’s everyday existence. Today, an increasing number of people within North America are drawn to some form of earth-centred spirituality, whether as solitary practitioners or members of Neopagan circles, Wicca covens, Heathen kindreds or Druid groves. For many of these people, religion and spirituality do not form a closed category of their experience: they inform, and are formed by, events of their lives as distinct or diverse as childbirth, gardening, social protest, sexual expression, and everyday occupations of work and leisure