Sacredness In Glastonbury

Sacredness is a dictate of collective fiat, a mass of worshipers is a congregation and they congregate in sacred spaces. There is a discussion to be had in the rational individuals uses to arrive at this fiat, but there must be determining factors that predispose a place to become sacred in the first place. Whilst sacredness can be the consensus of adherents, multinational organizations also attempt to assign sacredness; The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), can label places as sacred. Decrees from establishments of authority can be an extension of the consensus of adherents, but also tend to legitimize the location to secular individuals. Sacredness isn’t inherent to a strict religious dogma, it can
also be borne from ancestor reverence or nature veneration. A sacred place, therefore, is of interest to adherent and secular people, who affect a site differently. Regardless of an individual religious affiliation there are a plethora of aspects that entice some and are irrelevant to others, be it a remarkable environment, interesting people, or the quest for enlightenment. Aspects that are similar among sacred sites provide a preconceived idea of what makes a location so, evident in modern places that are designated or designed to be sacred.

UNESCO is a famed organization that preserves over a thousand historical sites internationally, a high authority that states of Stonehenge, 'These holy places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times'. Holy is a synonym for sacred, UNESCO’s dictate of sacredness through some variation of semantics is commonplace, but further commonalities exist among sacred places. Among sacred sites there is a commonality of aesthetics, standing stone circles like Stonehenge align themselves along various astrological axis, that coincide with notable seasonal shifts such as midsummer or a solstice. Astrological interest has often coincided with religious dogma, these clear displays of astrological fascination expressed in stone, predispose sites to a sacredness that is associated with religious dogma. The modern design of sacred spaces takes into account aspects of pre-existing sacred places, the town of Milton Keynes is designed with consideration of astrological alignment, Midsummer Boulevard is aligned along the axis of the midsummer sun. Whilst designed foremost as a town, adherents of Pagan faiths have remarked upon the pleasing nature of the town’s aesthetic, ‘the vibes are good. The energy's here. I feel good, strong earth energy’ (C Nowlan n.d.). The adherent has designated Milton Keynes as a sacred space. Built in the 1960’s, the perceived sacredness of Milton Keynes defies some rationale that a sacred site has to be steeped in history and myth, as will become evident sacred places often conform to many similar aspects, but not all. Milton Keynes further expresses commonality of defining sacredness in a modern format with a Cathedral of trees, designed to emulate that of a traditional Christian Cathedral. The designer of the Tree Cathedral incorporates various other themes of sacredness, such as adding Glastonbury thorns. The town’s Peace Park boasts several other sacred spaces such as a Pagoda that draw influence from pre-existing oriental sacred spaces. Milton Keynes whilst modern, has emulated sacredness in many aspects and locals Pagan’s claim it has achieved it.

A storied history can be an alluring aspect of a sacred site.
Glastonbury serves as a sacred site for Christians in the local cathedral where; allegedly Christianity took root in Britain, or that Joseph of Arimathea planted a staff that grew into a tree, among various other legends. The Christian Minister states of these legends that 'Making a physical pilgrimage to a place like Glastonbury, this confirms that identity for us.' The historical ties to ancestral adherents impart an added sacredness to a location. Pagans draw a similarity of historical importance to a sacred place, a Priestess of Avalon Sally Pullinger states that Glastonbury is 'a very special place in the landscape of the world. People used to journey here, pilgrim here, since before Christianity'. These varied religions claim stake to the same site, whilst differing in faith the adherents similarly recognize the importance of myth. The ancientness of a location can lend credence to ancestor reverence; a common theme among many belief systems. Stonehenge features many burial mounds which are revered by Pagans, who find it objectionable that remains are interred for display at the site's museum. Similar to the abhorrent thought that a church graveyard may be excavated. Ancestor reverence lends credence to many scared activities at sites, the ancient fascination with astrological activity is self-evident at Stonehenge, and upon important astrological events, rituals are held at this sacred place. This legacy
of ancestor reverence reverberates across faiths, Pagans and Wiccans attend Stonehenge festival, and various other faiths claim reverence of sacred sites in tandem. The union of faiths in reverence of sacred sites enhances their spiritual gravitas, states a Stonehenge ritual goer, ‘whether you're religious or not, anybody's welcome. So in that sense, the freedom of coming here is sacred’. Whilst a seemingly profane statement, the implication of a non-denominational sacred site is not a unique one. The environment of sacredness for the ritual goer at Stonehenge is not adherence to a strict dogma but the environment of ritual, as states a different attendant, ‘all the cultures are coming together, melting down, organising around a certain spirit.’ Despite the joy of adherents performing a ritual at Stonehenge, there is little practicality in the structure itself. Most profane places serve some practical purposes, but a sacred place serves its purpose by merely being sacred; academics pondered this idea about Stonehenge, ‘Stonehenge has no obvious practical purpose. It was not lived in and could not have been defended, so there must have been a spiritual reason’ (J Richards 2005). The conclusion arrived by said academics bellies a rule of identifying sacred sites, if a great effort was put into a place but its practicality seems moot, it’s probably scared. Sacred spaces can coincide with profane ones, Glastonbury and Milton Keynes are functioning towns, but at Stonehenge the only secular activity for a layman is tourism. The rituals that take place at sacred places are the inherent purpose. The main secular activity at sacred sites is tourism, whilst perhaps seeming a profane influence, secular tourists are a commonality at sacred spaces. The perceived beauty of rituals, landscape or history is not lost upon the layman, as evident by their attendance. A feeling of joy derived from a location despite a lack of faith is a testimony to a locations sacredness.

Exceptional topography is a joyous thing for many tourists who seek beautiful vistas, this is another notable similarity of a sacred space, that they are often in a remarkable environment. Sacred spaces are by design supposed to be striking and unordinary; an unusual environment assists in creating this image. Adherents of Goddess worship claim of Glastonbury that they feel ‘they can discern [the Goddess] in the very landscape of Glastonbury’. What makes a landscape remarkable to an adherent can widely vary, the landscape of Stonehenge is marked by manmade features, earth barrows, ditches and trenches litter the fields. Stonehenge’s sacred landscape is vastly different from the natural features of Glastonbury. With rolling hills, forests and springs it is a more natural environment, devotees of the Goddess claiming, ‘The goddess is very much the land. The goddess is the earth. The Goddess is the landscape’. Stonehenge and Glastonbury are similarly remarkable and unique, but one venerates constructed features, the other natural ones. Milton Keynes whilst a cityscape, uses its environment in a remarkable way, conforming roads along an astrological axis and perforating the city with parks that employ sacred aesthetics. All these places are sacred but with differing topography, the binding aspect being that the environments are remarkable.

Sacred sites coincide with the location of adherents, it is the local adherents that often give a place it’s sacredness.
Religion is based upon subjective rationale, but some common ethos is found in similar activities at sacred sites. There is a Christian tradition of processions at Glastonbury, juxtaposed by pagan processions that also march through the town. Pagans and Christians are seemingly diametrically opposed from a sacred viewpoint, however, from a secular viewpoint they are very similar; a group of people walking down a street in unusual clothing, whilst brandishing iconography. The presence of unusual behaviour is a commonality at sacred places; odd activities that wouldn’t be done with a lack of faith, processions, ritual or unusual construction. Adherents rationalize their activity at sacred places by stating the place has something unquantifiable, such as the astrological influence of Stonehenge during the solstice making for a rewarding spiritual experience. This unquantifiable nature expresses itself as a search for spiritual apotheosis at these locations, as one adherent at Glastonbury states 'Sacred means that you have respect first, Sacred also means that the place helps you to reach a higher level of consciousness', or a priest remarking of Glastonbury ‘When we as Christians want to have security and strength and to be emboldened in our faith. We come to a place which gives us that security and strength’. The search for religious affirmation is a
commonality at sacred spaces, seemingly regardless of religious affinity. Religion can, however, often divide aspects of the world into sacred and profane; religious or not. Tourists with differing religious affiliation often frequent sacred sites, this similarity seems at odds with a place of sacredness, for if only non-adherents visited a sacred place it may become profane. Whilst Stonehenge was a sacred site it lost that meaning in the middle ages, 'Stonehenge had long lost its meaning as a temple'. In the modern age, Stonehenge's now sacred status coincides with the increase in tourism. With a higher profile and travel infrastructure in place, Stonehenge has become a more desirable location for the secular and adherents alike. As the profile of a site is raised the touristic influx creates associated commerce, Pagan and Christian shops are prolific in Glastonbury, this commerce further propagates the faith as the core aspect of the tourist experience. This commerce has created the Goddess Temple in Glastonbury, which as its name implies operates as a sacred place, but is also a private capital institution. This combination of commercial and sacred would not be possible if a site was not considered sacred and desirable tourist destination, it requires both. Tourists and religious adherents work together, to financially support religious sites for future tourists and adherents alike.

The sacred spaces explored have revealed key similarities, whilst some similarities might be missing if a place conforms to a majority it is probably sacred to somebody. This somebody is concerned with spirituality not necessarily religion, spirituality has been in a state of flux since its inception and what is sacred will change as it has in the past. A location derives its sacredness from a collective dictate that states as such, be that from UNESCO or Pagan revellers. A location can also be sacred because it conforms to the pre-established rules of sacredness. One can be sure they stand on hallowed ground if; people act strange on designated days, there are tourists, a unique landscape and it’s old. But a list of demands for sacredness is at odds with the varied nature of spirituality. The true defining factor of sacredness is: if it’s believed to be so, the highest authority for a places sacredness, are the people who frequent it.