[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

and fantasies on to strange events in the natural world. These projections always reflect the times;
what is known as the Zeitgeist, or spirit of the age, and the meanings ascribed to the appearance of the
circles are an example of this.
Psychology of the circlemakers
Finally in this chapter we turn to the question of the psychology of the human circlemakers. We
touched briefly on their motivation in Chapter 4. The more obvious of these explanations have
parallels in other cases outside the world of crop circles.
Hoax for financial gain has a long history in the art market and, interestingly, the exact status of a
number of works ascribed to great painters, in collections all over the world, is open to debate. In
1983 the Sunday Times newspaper was taken in by a forgery of what they had been assured were the
genuine diaries of Adolf Hitler, having paid a large sum of money for them. In such cases, where there
is a lucrative marketplace, there is a straightforward motive. It is hard to make a direct connection
between circle-making and financial gain, unless one believes that farmers who charge entry to circles
in their fields would produce or commission such events.
Two further motives, circle-making to 'discredit' supernatural explanations and circle-making as pure
mischief making, actually have much in common. Instead of relying on debate and logic, some
sceptics have constructed circles, to 'prove' that researchers are unscientific and credulous and that the
phenomenon is only the result of human activity. It is the covert nature of their work, and the wish to
have their work assessed as genuine, that connects them to the mischief-makers. Doug and Dave are
perhaps the most obvious examples of these, although both men painted, and would probably claim
some artistic intent. Their satisfaction lay chiefly in fooling others and this is evidenced by reports of
their presence among researchers and visitors to circles, observing and questioning people's reactions
to their creations.
The motivation of those who produce circles as scientific experiment and those who do so as 'land art'
are relatively easily understood, but from the psychological viewpoint, those who engage in circle-
making as an act of communication or ritual are more interesting.
In an article entitled "The Templemakers', Andrew Collins looks at 'paranormal aspects' of human
circlemakers' activities, suggesting that the act of swirling a circle can be equated with a ritual
magician drawing down a 'cone of power' in a magic circle. From this idea, it is a short step to
wondering what effect this may have on the circlemakers, and even to speculating that they may not
always be aware of exactly what prompts their behaviour.
Collins says that his enquiries revealed at least one group whose mode of operation he compares to
automatic writing, a process during which a trance-like state is entered and the hand holding a pen is
directed from beyond the conscious mind to produce messages. These circlemakers see their work as
supernaturally directed and every bit the genuine article. Such individuals are deeply caught up in an
obsession with the circles. Even mischief-makers like Doug and Dave have spoken of a sense of
wonder at what had driven them on to create circles.
Any attempt to understand what is taking place in the continuing occurrence of the circles needs to
take account of their effect on humans, both individually and collectively. This aspect of research is as
important as fieldwork in the circles themselves.
References
The concept of domains of intelligence comes from Steven Mithen's fascinating book, The Prehistory
of the Mind. Rorschach tests were designed by Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss Psychiatrist, in 1921 and
use a series of abstract inkblot pictures to reveal the subject's personality and unconscious motivation.
Chris Kenworthy's confessions appeared in The Cerealogist No. 1 1. Wingfield's frustration is
revealed in Harbingers of Change. A good introduction to Jung's ideas can be found in Introducing
Jung. His thoughts on 'flying saucers' can be found in his book Flying Saucers - a Modem Myth of
Things Seen in the Sky. The events at Barmouth are described in Devereux's Earth Lights and Collins'
article appears in The Cerealogist No. 8. (See also Further Reading.)
Practice
The study of the psychology of the circles begins with your own interest in them! What interested you
in them? Recall your first exposure to them and your reactions. Observe your family and friends'
responses to them. What does their reaction tell you about them? What does it tell you about the
circles?
Another way in to this process is through the use of 'active imagination'; try drawing or painting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]