[Stones] A penny for your thoughts?

[Ric]

i find this difficult - i leave a coin at the long barrow [Uffington] because it is 'tradition'; when i visit the Swallowhead Springs, which is a kaleidoscope of Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags, Mexican[?] 'Oyos', papier maché masks, bells, wind-chimes, poems, coins, paper money, someone's woolly jumper (once), ubiquitous dream-catchers, photographs, bits of sarsen, ceramics, metalic goblets, new age figurines - the only thing which really offends (me) is rotting fruit - i mean, i'm sure the intention is sincere, but the effect is of half a discarded, rotten fruit, in the middle of a selected assemblage of contemporary 'made', 'found' and otherwise - folk art
   
   - a lot of which would be completely out of place at the nearby W K Long Barrow, where biodegradation is the order of the day - and mindless tea lights - which arguably cause an eternity of damage to ancient stones ...
   
  being an urbanite in a vastly cosmopolitan context, my way is decidedly plural - some loosely indigenous, some in the Hindu-Buddhist tradition - offered is money, fruit and flowers, but after fruit is offered, it is consumed by the (female) priesthood or distributed ['prashad'] to the worshippers
   
  the worst offending sight i have ever encountered was at Avebury - where a no-brainer had lit a camp-fire by a standing stone, leaving a scorch-mark in the soil: -"brain cell"
   
  r
  

goffik <goffik at gotadsl.co.uk> wrote:
        
              I take a carrier bag with me to clear away any stuff that might be classed as litter
  I know, I know – “one person’s litter is another person’s offering”
  But I think we’re all capable of telling the difference.
   
  At Callanish, there were quite a few dreamcatcher-type-things – all woven from grass and twigs.  Tha’s alright, innit?  Tha’s all gonna biodegrade before too long
  But if someone sees it as litter, then why not remove it?  Nobody would be offended.  The person that left it would be long gone, I suspect.  I’d be happy in my ignorance if someone decided a cloutie I left at a well was litter and disposed of it.  If I were to visit again I’d probably forget which ine it was anyway, or assume it had rotted or blown away.  I honestly don’t mind.
   
  But I’d never leave coins/cups/jewellery/cuddly toys/statues/etcetcetc.  That’s just selfish.
   
  So there.  ;o)
  G x



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