An Intriguing Proximity. Coincidence or Significance?
With the new season almost upon us now I am wondering if the proximity trend from previous years will continue. I had been helping the farmer at ‘The Rose’, Broad Hinton for ten days doing CGI when I had a knock on the MUI (Mobile Information Unit) door at 0730hrs on the 25th July. I was told a new CC was pretty much right in front of where I had been parked. As you can imagine I was almost speechless...which is most unusual for me! That night, as usual, I had to get up and go outside to answer ‘a call of nature’… early morning actually, not sure exact time but I was not aware of any unusual activity, lights or noises on or near the hill in front of me. If there had been any flashlights on that hill I would most probably have seen them; the moon was in it’s 1st quarter at 10days and clear so there was some light there. As I always instinctively have a look around. Any figures would have been silhouetted against the skyline in clear view. As you can see from the photos I had clear line of sight from where I was relative to the position of the new 'Eagle' CC on the very top of the hill.
Bottom line here is that the Circlemakers had the whole of Wiltshire, indeed the UK (or world) to do what they did and chose, for whatever reason to do it right in front of where I was camping! You could be forgiven for thinking that in a way they approved of what CGI were doing and offered a little encouragement at a time when 'The Rose' was getting very near to its end-date and visitors becoming far far less. In that respect the timing was perfect! Certainly that was fateful as this was THE seminal moment when farmer and CGI bonded a commitment to the future and set the precedent. I remember the farmer's response when asked..."Shall we repeat what we've done at 'The Rose'?...and he agreed!! "We've got to go for it really haven't we". Yesss!!! We went on to raise over £6000 which will turn out to be a turning point in CC PR history.
Photos copyright Paul Jacobs.
Nothing would surprise me anymore within the wonderful world of Crop circles. This is not the first time such ‘convenience’ has occurred. In 2014, I with CGI were helping a farmer with CC down in Dorset at Shapwick near Badbury Rings, well away from the usual areas in Wiltshire, where at the time all was unusually tense with the farmer situation provoked by an attempted and unwanted 'access' scheme. I had been at Shapwick for 12 days and donations were running at £2400. On the 29th June information came through there was a new CC at Sixpenny Handley again in Dorset about half an hour away from me. This may sound a distance but when you consider there was very little CC activity in the usual Wiltshire locations that year and this area was not used to having them, to have two relatively close, both as it turned out, with friendly farmers, it seemed convenient. It was almost as if the Circlemakers were shying away from the tension and manoeuvring in Wiltshire.
Shapwick CC near Badbury Rings CC. Copyright Paul Jacobs. The timing was perfect as we had done a good job at Shapwick, nearly time to leave and the farmer was getting ready, very near to harvest the barley which is always before the wheat. This was the same ‘end date’ scenario as at ‘The Rose’. Coincidence? Maybe. We immediately drove up to meet the farmer at Sixpenny after a good reference from our existing farmer who knew him personally. This CC was on the (Lord) Shaftsbury Estate, somewhere you are just NOT going to engage with unless endorsed internally. It was agreed and we installed the following day and spent nearly three weeks there successfully collecting £1400 for local charities. Again it seemed like the Circlemakers knew exactly where we were, what we were doing and the probable outcome. Thinking on this possibility for me is truly mind-boggling!
Sixpenny Handley CC 2014 Many thanks to MrGiro for photo. That's not the end of the story though! The year before that, in 2013 (the year all the ‘access’ nonsense kicked in) CGI had secured management of a CC opposite Silbury Hill.
Silbury Hill CC 2013 with the Celtic Ogham encoded message...'ARISE'. Many thanks CCC for photo. We had collected nearly £800 at Silbury Hill when another CC alert came through on 15 July; there was a new CC on Hackpen Hill near Broad Hinton. I knew the farmer and he agreed to CGI services so we re-located immediately. The 'Dream-Catcher' CC as it was to be known was popular and donations were generous. But on the 13th August another (necklace shaped) CC occurred immediately in front of our (MIU) camp place. More coincidence? Perhaps. This CC was later to have a ‘phase two’ addition infilling its central area. (The phase 2 happened just after I had left the location to go home immediately before harvest!) So now CGI had two CCs to manage, both less than a 100 metres in distance right in front of the MIU (Mobile Information Unit) van!
‘Coincidence’? Thanks to CCC for photo. My honest gut feeling with all this (and at the same time being very mindful of seeming, but not trying to make myself ‘special’ in some way) is that the Circlemakers are monitoring CGI progress, approve and are encouraging by facilitating convenient opportunities for us to continue our work. I am well aware this notion sounds outrageous and no doubt will be shouted down by the ‘nay-sayers’ who don’t wish to see good or progress in anything unless the limelight is on themselves… or so it would seem. But if you come from a position that accepts the Maker’s capabilities are way beyond remarkable as I now have to do, as is evident in the complexity of the vast majority of CCs, then it would be well within their capability I imagine, to 'manage' us humans as described. Throughout the preceding three years of political turbulence in the CC world I always had an uplifting, positive feeling and events always seemed to roll in our (CGI) favour. A higher order of intelligence one could speculate, would favour a charity initiative over, let’s say, politically motivated, controlling, ego-led or commerce any day, don’t you think? It's just far more humane and in line with their signals and symbols of PEACE.
Harvest of' The Necklace' CC together with its Phase 2 infill. Copyright Gill Hussey 2013. Of course, this could all be just my imagination running away with me and I do concede it may be absolutely nothing but there really does seem to be a pattern emerging here, a clear trend of recurring events over time. What do you think? Coincidence or significance? Paul Jacobs (CGI) |