"Stopping off in Glastonbury last summer it was evident just how overloaded such a dogma has become; a conservatism entirely at odds with the freedoms it would otherwise claim to espouse."

Over the years Glastonbury has become a clearing house for all manor of neo-pagan tat. It's got worse over the years and even worse since the excellent George and Pilgrim was taken over by someone who doesn't allow dogs in any more. I still like going, the Tor and the Well still have an air about them and the Abbey grounds are always a joy and some interesting people still turn up there.

However, the sort of dogma SOB mentions in his post has existed in the community for years. I one wrote to Paul Deveraux when he was editing The Ley Hunter (sigh . . .) and suggested he might like to hoof it up here to the Peak District and check out some of our slightly more remote spots where the presence of the 'earth spirit' was almost tangible, and he replied in terms of "sure it is" but didn't seem interested that wasn't on a ley line (or 'spirit road' as they later became).

I decided many people weren't particularly interested in actual 'pagan' sites and folklore but simple wanted a theology that included the glossy bits but not the muddy bits. Ever Read Ross Nichol's book on Druidry? Case in point.