It may have been the gray, overcast December sky and cold winds blowing over the barren plain at the time of my visit, but I still remember the eeriness and sense of dread all about the place. In the pop culture vernacular of today, it was apparent the place had "unresolved issues”.
Even when I walked away from my traveling companion on a solitary stroll around the stones, I felt something or someone was near me. It was a very strange, unsettling place for me and I’m not eager to return there.
Well written.
Interesting. I've never heard that before.
although i've never seen stonehenge in person,
your description sent chills up my spine.
What an unsettling experience you report. Perhaps some souls are not at rest there. I'll scratch it from my list and just stay in Scotland.
I had almost the identical experience, including the weather. I just felt that there was something ... wrong ... about that place. I don't know whether to credit it to preconceptions or power of suggestion or something extra-ordinary. But I left there thinking it was one of the most troubled spots on earth ... like it was near Hell's front porch or something.
I went there about 10 years ago. As you come over the hill...you realize that the exit is approaching and suddenly you are there at the parking lot. The entire surroundings...360 degrees...looks like a cow field. There are no other structures other than the kiosk for tourists...perhaps planned that way.
I felt the unsettling effect as well. Our group was there for 90 minutes. I felt prepared to leave after 15 minutes. I will only say this in passing...I went to Dachau back in the mid 1980s...and felt the same way there. I will not make a comparison between the two...but it was the same precise feeling...needing to leave shortly after arrival. I've been to WW II cemetaries, Normandy, various castles throughout Europe, the Tower of London, and even the Shiloh battleground...none gave me that immedate feeling of needing to leave except those two locations.
My suspicion is that something else went on there besides the measurement of the year. Perhaps the early Celtics weren't the easy-going types that we often dream of.
I visited Stonehenge this past May. The sky was gray and it was drizzling. Unfortunately I was on a bus tour and because it was a Saturday, there were many other people there as well, so I really wasn't able to pick up any feelings about the place. But I do know what you mean about a "foreboding experience" and feeling of "dread" about a place. My first visit to Andersonville Prison (Civil War POW) in Georgia made me feel that way. I was practically alone walking around the grounds. I couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that had come over me. It wasn't until I had left the place and was on the road that I started feeling better.
Probably full of demonic spirits, too. Brrr.
And my guess is that they're going to get "resolved" much to the original participants great chagrin ;o)
I liked Stonehenge, felt it was a place where some sort of entertainment took place. Now with neighboring building sites emerging, I imagine it as some sort of Stonehenge MegaMall. Come to buy and sell, give thanks at the temple, catch a performance, quaff a mead, enjoy your stay. Ancient people had the same needs and desires that we have.