​Uffington White Horse 

& Wayland Smithy

The Goddess Conference Fringe event

Saturday 27th July 2019

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MET guide Marisa Picardo and Alastair Newing invite you to join them on a day visit to these ancient and sacred places on the unusual and beautiful hills of the Berkshire Downs. Uffington White Horse is the most ancient of white horses, huge at over 100 metres long, this stylised animal was scoured into the hillside and packed with chalk to stand out vividly in the landscape. It is known to date from the late Bronze Age or Iron Age and could be as old as 3,000 years or more. One archaeologist has recently  pointed to the horse's alignment with the sun, particularly in midwinter when the sun appears to overtake the horse, to indicate that it was created as a depiction of a "solar horse", reflecting mythological beliefs that the sun was carried across the sky on a horse or in a chariot. In addition, the symbol of Rhiannon, lover goddess, the Uffington White Horse is the perfect place to begin celebrating Her as the Sun Lover. 

 

Only a short distance away is the Prehistoric Chambered Tomb known as Wayland's Smithy,  an atmospheric place about a mile's walk along the Ridgeway from the Uffington White Horse. Folklore has it that it was the home of Wayland, the Saxon god of metal working. This sacred place of the ancestors was constructed around 5,500 years ago and at a time when people were making the earliest structures that remain to us today to house and honour the remains of their loved ones.

 

Leaving Glastonbury at 8.30am we shall arrive mid to late morning where we shall view the White Horse from the mysteriously named Dragon Hill and honour Her symbol in the landscape as Sun Lover with simple ceremony together. After spending time in the vicinity we shall make our way on foot in silent meditation along the ancient Ridgeway to Weyland Smithy burial mound where we shall gather to honour the ancient ones. We shall depart the area mid afternoon returning to Glastonbury by 6.00pm.

 

Costs: £60 pp

Leaving 8.30am at Glastonbury Abbey Car Park (return 6pm)

Booking through The Goddess Conference website

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• This visit involves a total of four to five miles walking on easy to moderate terrain so good walking shoes should be worn and clothing appropriate for the weather whether hot and dry or windy and wet.

• Please bring your own packed lunch and plenty to drink since we will NOT have access to a cafe or similar during the day.

• Please note there will be minimal access to toilet facilities once on site.