| |
|
How's about shee-field, then?
Very nice, thank you, Abs.
Of course, the common derivation of the word Sheffield -- "the sheep field" -- is wrong and, frankly, slightly naive. "Sheffield" can be best be construed as "The land of Sheila-na-gig", or "Sheila's field". This refers to the Olde Englishe acre of holy land now occupied by the Cathedral, which was the site of hundreds of goddess shrines (and mediaeval fast food emporia) right up to the Reformation.
It lies perfectly geomantically placed within a septangle formed by the seven holy mountains of Sheffield. An immense network of secret tunnels connects this omphalos with what later became the old castle, the site of John Lewis (famous for being built on a haunted stone-circle-cum-sacred-highway) and the tobacconists on the end of Division Street -- a location whose provenance and history has never been satisfactorily researched. "The Sheeee Field"'s obvious past as a temple of sacred prostitutes continues to resonate when, past 8 o'clock, it becomes a haven for streetwalkers -- a cruel patriarchal irony.
Sheffield's incredible occult history lives on with the nickname of one of its football* teams -- the Hashishim-inspired "Red and White Wizards", or United -- and the hermetic design of Meadowhall, long known to be a druid grove, which is now a transcendental maze of commerce.
Next week: the story of Dore - a village entirely enclosed by a vast stone circle, which was Britain's first capital city, and is now a leafy Sheffield suburb famous for its peripatetic ducks and haunted social centre.
* two sided, not three-sided, obviously. |
|
|
