Stonehenge, Wiltshire

Important: The farmer has remarked that he does not want large numbers of visitors to his field, but acknowledges that because of its location it is bound to attract enthusiasts. He has asked that if people must visit that they please stick to entering the field via the tractor lines in the field, rather than trample down any more of his crop. Already this formation has been spoiled by people ignoring this plea and making tracks into the formation and trampling interior details. I cannot understand for the life of me why anyone would think this was acceptable behaviour, its heartbreaking to see this damage from the air. If you plan to visit any accessible formations this summer, please only use the tractor lines to enter and exit the field – make sure you leave the formation exactly as you found it for the enjoyment of others from the ground and from the air and in respect of the farmer.

Any circle at Stonehenge, whatever the year, creates a stir and this one this no exception. Perhaps the most famous formation to appear at Stonehenge was back in 1996, when a Julia Set fractal was spotted in the field opposite the famous monument. The 1996 formation was simply huge and measured 915ft along its spine, made entirely from circles of differing circles, there were 151 circles in total. The 2016 formation was not of the same magnitude, but it did appear on the same date, exactly 20 years since the famous Julia Set of 1996.

This formation measured approximately 160-180ft in diameter and was in a field of still green wheat. The central motif is a seven pointed star and crescent. There are seven diamond shapes in the centre of the star then there is a wide ring enclosing the design. Inside this ring are two rows of standing box shapes, 73 in the inner ring and 82 in the outer ring. All in all, it is a very pretty design.

Seven is the virginal number, so called because it does not mix well with other numbers. It is a prime number and according to the late, great John Michell it is the number of “Spirit, Revelation, the Eternal Feminine and what lies Behind the Veil”. As discussed many times before, seven is elusive number, often associated with the non-physical – notes in the musical scale, and colours in the light spectrum. It is considered auspicious when a seven-fold formation appears. The marriage of the virginal seven and the crescent moon, might indicate the hidden spirit of the sacred feminine at work.

FYI: This formation features in our 2016 Crop Circle Photo Box-Set and you can see a section of 10 x 15 inch Photo Enlargements from this season here and 20 x 30 inch Photo Enlargements here. This formation also features in our Crop Circle Calendar 2017 and our Crop Circle Year Book 2016. Every sale helps us continue our work!

Please Help to keep us Flying: If you have enjoyed this site, looking at our pictures and information please consider making a small donation to keep us flying. There are so few of us left regularly recording the circles it’s really important that we continue. And while some now use drones to record the circles, it is important that there are still images taken from aircraft where the best quality camera equipment can be used and images that include the broad vista of the landscape can be taken.  This kind of photography is expensive and it gets harder with each passing year to raise the funds we need to continue our work, but if everyone who regularly looked at this website made a small donation we would meet the funds we need. You can make a donation here.

NOTE: Some of the images below are beautiful landscape scenes. Click on each image to enlarge them and see the whole picture.

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Geometry Gallery

This formation presents some serious challenges for those attempting to draw it with compass and straight-edge. The central star and crescent moon might be considered straightforward when compared to drawing the squares in the outer ring. This formation is on the drawing board, but it’s going to take some time!!!

Update: The pencil line is almost complete – see images below – but there is still some fine adjustments to be made. This formation was not as perfectly rendered in the field as it is in my drawing, but to understand the geometry of any formation one has to look at what is implied as well as what is manifest. Therefore this is not about correction, but an idealisation to see what is going on. Drawing the squares in the outer ring was every bit as complex as I thought it would be, there are 73 on the inner ring and 82 on the outer ring – and no seeming relation between the two. So each ring had to be rendered separately with the 360 degrees of the ring first divided by 146 (73 x 2) and then by 164 (82 x 2) to create the standing squares and then the spaces between each one. The standing sections right in the centre of the formation were fashioned from the crossing lines of construction of the seven-fold star and as there is no whole number solution for dividing 360 degrees into seven, it was tricky enough getting them to look even on the drawing board, never mind working at a scale of the crop circle in coarse wheat!

Check back for more updates as I have them…