I began writing this post in December 2023, before I went to Stonehenge for the Solstice. Seeing the image of the Stonehenge Cup online must have triggered something in me because a week later I had a strong impulse to go and visit Salisbury Plain. The excitement of finding the story behind this object opened a way forward. Often this is how we are led towards a place we need to work in. Something triggers an energy deep inside and we are propelled by a sense of exploration and adventure towards discovering a new piece of the puzzle.

This particular part of the puzzle is still playing out for me, and may well last the entire year, maybe longer. We’ll see. Here is the object that triggered my excitement and the post I had begun to write about it…

---

While doing some work online, I came across an image that made my heart flutter. It was an image that told me something about Stonehenge that I probably would not have accepted before, but because this information came from the burial of a woman in a round barrow close to Stonehenge, and within its sacred boundaries, it was impossible not to accept. Not only could I not not accept it, it opened my eyes to what I had been unable to see before, and which explained an aspect of the rituals in Stonehenge that made absolute sense to me.

The cup is not a cup, as such, but a replica of the stone circle itself … complete with a thatched roof and a large opening in the centre. Stonehenge must have looked like this at some point in its long life and light, part of its ritual use. When a light is placed inside the model, it shines out through the gaps … when lit in the dark. Effectively, it is like the solar light shining out through the stones. It made me wonder whether there was any evidence of fires having been burned in the centre of the circle or purely energetic.

During sacred solar ceremonies, the sun’s light is energetically ‘brought down’ into the centre to fertilise the waiting womb beneath the earth. I know this is part of Stonehenge’s function because it is one of the things I recognised early on in my work when I did Reiki attunements in the circle. My later experiences at Broomrigg stone circle in Cumbria also taught me what the sacred ceremonies in the circles were really about and inspired me as to why and how Stone circles may have been created.

The opening at the roof of this thatched building is like the cervix, the entrance to the womb, opening to the fertilising energies of the sun during the Winter Solstice and on into February. Stonehenge, like many sites, is a Sheelagh na Gig site, a Winter/Crone site that opens to the masculine solar light when it becomes the maiden of Spring. Priests and priestesses, channels for this light, would bring the sun’s energy through their bodies and energy fields, allowing solar energy to pass into the waiting, receptive earth beneath their feet.

The light of larger sites, such as the Stonehenge Complex, travelled along energy lines connected to the henge. Other places, such as menhirs, smaller circles and especially rivers, then sent that energy further into the landscape benefitting all who lived upon it. Light is life. Our ancestors understood the earth to be the body of the Mother. She fed them; nurtured them; gave them shelter, and in death, they returned to her.

I can just imagine what it might have been like to participate in one of their rituals. Standing under the cover of the thatched roof, waiting expectantly for the sun to shine its rays of light, both physical and energetic, into the womb of the waiting mother. Everyone is watching. They can feel the energies radiate, touching them all, making their skin tingle, their bodies fill with light. A sense of elation as energy leads to lightheadedness. Awe as the sun’s rays move into the landscape – their landscape – fills them with joyful, and trusting, anticipation of the abundance that will follow. The unshakable knowledge that they are loved and supported by both Mother Earth and Father Sun, gives them assurance that all will be well. It is a joyful, uplifting and connecting celebration as all the tribes gather to participate in the yearly ritual of abundance and sharing.

We get some sense of this wonder and attunement at modern gatherings at the Solstice. But in the past, they knew what they were doing. They knew this ritual of bringing down the light would benefit everyone. What we see now is a good start, however. People are feeling the old energies again. Wanting to join together in the ancient ritual of tribal celebration. There is a powerful sense of connection in these gatherings as people from everywhere come on this night to be together, each understanding why the other is there. There is something magical about the atmosphere. We are All One, together, honouring and loving the ancient place, taking in the special energies of the time.

The discovery of the miniature ceramic Stonehenge Cup made me wonder who the buried woman was. Burial mounds contain the bodies, or ashes, of significant people who both ruled, and carried out sacred service. Their energies remain at these sites and can be accessed with intention and a willingness to serve the whole. She may have been a priestess, a ‘Mother’ connected to the sacred landscape. In life, she may have had a replica Stonehenge to burn incense in, possibly to maintain her intention for the henge and to hold the sacred site within her energy-field. It is much the same as having an altar space in your home, lighting candles and incense and connecting to the energy of a place, or people. It might have been a loved object , connecting her to the place she loved, the place of the Mother. And, of course, it may not be the only one, simply the only one they have found, so far.

On the other hand, the incense cup could have been buried with her to allow her to take the light of Stonehenge into the earth, back to the Mother, a little part of the light she might have worked with most of her life. It reminds me of my aunt’s funeral in southern Ireland. She was a very devoted Catholic. After the traditional wake, which was wonderful to attend because her spirit was joyful that she was ‘still alive’, we went to the funeral mass. Afterwards, her coffin was brought to the cemetery in Kilmacow, beside St Senan’s Church, where it was put in the ground, on top of my great-grandmother Johanna’s coffin; her favourite grandmother. (My mother was one of the models used for an angel mural in the Church of St Senan, when she was a child. She is the third angel from the right, lower three, playing a trumpet).

When my aunt’s coffin was in the ground, I saw a vertical shaft of pink light enter her heart area, through the wood of the coffin. It remained anchored there, a pillar of pink energy, as though her physical body was its anchor. The pink was the ray of Love and would be henceforth accessible to all who visited the graveyard. A lovely gift to leave after physical life. I have seen the same thing with ancient burial sites too.

Our ancestors held different beliefs, but energy is energy, and they knew it far better than we do. We are only learning what they knew, thanks to their physical remains and ability to communicate with us, thousands of years later. Their bodies, within the burial mounds, can still share energy and information, if we remain open. I have learned to understand the ancient rituals through connecting with the spirit of these people who are happy to share their history and knowledge. They want us to know how to venerate the earth and its many dimensions. They want us to remember. And we can, by going to their places, tuning in, and trusting what they give us.

All we have to do is ask.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/featured-object-grape-cup/