Popularity of pagan festival grows as intrigued mums and dads bring their kids to winter solstice Of course, the usual characters were there: Taloch in an antler head-dress, the archdruid Rollo Maughfling splendid in his trademark white robes and a flat cap and Arthur Pendragon, who claims to be the current incarnation of the once, and future, king. But through the icy mist and the smoke of camp fires a different sort of crowd, wearing anoraks and woolly hats rather than ceremonial capes, also emerged to celebrate the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Regulars have noticed that over the last few years the popularity of the winter solstice, a much quieter and gentler affair than the summer version, has grown. As always, the pagans turn up in force to chant and dance and welcome the sun but they are being joined by people of different or no faiths who seem to be there to take a quick break from the pressures of the UK’s ever more commercial take on Christmas. Spiro Marcetic had travelled to the Wiltshire monument from Birmingham with his wife, Alison, and their children – Evie, four, and Hector, two – to get away from it all for a few days. They stayed in a Travelodge down the road (not very druidic) and pushed the children under the subway and up to the stones in a double-buggy. “We’re here for an anti-religious reason, if any,” said Alison. “Pagans seem to have more fun so we’d thought we’d give it a go. We’ll be celebrating Christmas but this is about showing the children that this season isn’t just about getting presents. What goes on here is more basic, more tangible.” Jill and her 10-year-old daughter Jasmine are Stonehenge regulars. But this year they brought along Jasmine’s classmate, Ifu, and her father, Ken, who are not pagans, to show them what it was all about. Ken said: “I think we found it very spiritual, very moving. It’s a great experience.” Jill added: “For us this time of year is about starting to come out of the dark. It’s a very positive time of year.

Original Source Winter solstice attracts more than just druids to Stonehenge