Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T20:19:04.237Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

3 - Paganism, popular music and Stonehenge

from Part I - Histories

Rupert Till
Affiliation:
University of Huddersfield
Donna Weston
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Australia
Andy Bennett
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Australia
Get access

Summary

Places associated with ritual activity have a particular ability to connect individuals to each other and to the ecology of the local geography. This certainly seems to be the case at Stonehenge, a megalithic site that has a particular resonance within both popular music and Pagan traditions. For thousands of years, people have gathered at Stonehenge to watch the rising of the sun on the summer solstice or the setting of the sun on the winter solstice. The site is arranged to fit this solar alignment, and in recent years as many as 20,000 people have congregated at this ancient monument on the solstice, trying to connect with what they perceive as ancient Pagan traditions. Such congregations, as well as the many other traditions that have grown up around the site, have sacralized the space, turning it into a place that has complex meanings.

This chapter aims to explore the relationships between Stonehenge, popular music and Paganisms. It begins by exploring attitudes to physical and situated culture within Pagan and popular music cultures, and looking at how this has created oppositional dynamics with Christianity. This is followed by an exploration of how Stonehenge became associated with popular music in general, and rock music in particular. It investigates the field of Stonehenge, including its acoustic field, discussing the importance of sound in Stonehenge's ritual culture throughout history, helping it to become an iconic representation of Pagan spiritualities.

Type
Chapter
Information
Pop Pagans
Paganism and Popular Music
, pp. 24 - 42
Publisher: Acumen Publishing
Print publication year: 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×