[Stones] Longman of Wilmington Abuse

[Andy Norfolk]

littlestone wrote: 
> The Independent's article quotes one  Druid as saying, "We, the 
> pagans, would not in our wildest dreams consider putting female 
> breasts and clothing on effigies of any Holy Prophets, be it Jesus 
> Christ, Buddha or any other revered figure of another faith. Why then, 
> does ITV commission Trinny and Susannah to do so at the Long Man of 
> Wilmington?"
>  
> Conservation considerations aside, the above comment says it all 
> really - ie that the Pagan community in this country is still not 
> taken seriously; in fact, while the leaders of the various 
> faiths might show some degree of respect for each other's religions 
> (in public at least) the same cannot be said for some leaders of the 
> Christian church with regard to the Pagan religions.
>  
> Should just add that I'm neither a pagan or indeed belong to any 
> religion - just concerned with respect for our monuments and for those 
> who consider those monuments sacred to their beliefs.
I am a Pagan and have been fairly publicly so. Some of you may know 
about my work relating to sacred sites protection over the years, The 
'99 eclipse, The Rollright Stones, Stonehenge etc. (The latest thing I'm 
involved with is a project to buy and re-erect Carwynnen Quoit near 
Camborne. http://www.sustrust.co.uk/new_projects.html - I'm one of the 
trustees of the Sustainable Trust. Yes, some money from you would be 
useful!)

If Pagans want to be taken seriously then I think we need to pick our 
battles carefully and m,ake sure we are sure of relevant facts. This is 
one kerfuffle that I think will have given the media entirely the wrong 
impression of us. Any journo worth his or her salt will have quickly 
found out that this is a fairly new monument probably made in 1545 and 
it just provides them an opportunity to make fun of us.

I do wonder occasionally about the wisdom of some things other Pagans do 
(me - I never do anything stoopid :)) This fuss about the Long Man does 
not seem to me to be the best use of the energy involved. I agree the 
site appears to be relatively recent and not an "ancient sacred site", 
however despite this it has become sacred to many. Even if it is a 
sacred site to many it seems to me that little damage could have been 
caused to the concrete blocks which now mark out the figure by Trinny 
and Suzanna's band of tranny operatives. The blocks in any case replaced 
bricks placed to mark out the figure in Victorian times. So what is the 
damage that has been, or could have been caused? Would the grass have 
been scuffed up much more by this little escapade than by the huge 
numbers of people who visit this site each year? I doubt it.

Andy N






---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 000754-4, 06/07/2007
Tested on: 10/07/2007 10:51:27
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2007 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com