My England Trip Essay

On the 2012 April England trip, the most interesting part of it will be the part when the tour group goes to visit the famous Stonehenge. This will the most interesting part of the trip to me because it is an ancient wonder that many still know little about and I have an important religious connection to that area.

            Stonehenge has captured the fascination and intrest of millions of people around the world. So much of it is unknown and many have tried to find the answers. The latest theories state that the stones used in Stonehenge were erected between 3000 to 2200 BCE, which is still being debated on an exact year. It has also been found that Stonehenge used to be a burial site, since archeologists have found burial remains from 3000 BCE and to 2500 BCE. But so much is unknown still. Who built this massive structure? Were there any other purposes for it? How did they manage to build it? I have also wondered these tings about the famous Stonehenge. I am the kind of person that always asks the questions and tries to put pieces together and get the answers to the unknown, and Stonehenge has been one of those puzzles. So, going to England to see Stonehenge will not only help me with my “puzzle” but will help to ease my curiosity.

            Stonehenge has a great religious importance to my life. I am a practicing follower of Wicca, a neopaganistic religion started in the 1950s in England. So not only is Stonehenge in the country were my beliefs originated, but there is a specific connection to my religion and itself. The Heelstone, a large stone that lays near Stonehenge, if you were to stand in Stonehenge and look at the Heelstone on the Summer Solstice, you can see the Sun rise directly over it. Now, this is important because in Wicca, there are 8 holidays, four of them are the equinoxes and solstices. I know we will not be there during the time of any of my eight religious holidays, but this shows that the polytheistic people who built Stonehenge obviously had an intrest in astrological happenings. To this day, with special permissions, many neopagans are allowed to hold religious ceremonies in Stonehenge, which I won’t be doing there, sadly. This is an equivalent to me as a Jewish member traveling to Jerusalem or a Hindu to the sacred Ganghes River. This is why traveling to Stonehenge is of religious importance to me and why I think it will be the most interesting part of the trip.