Alien central

Speaking of Zierenberg, it turns out to be the centre of crop circle activity in Germany; a new one appeared just a few days ago. You can see it here.

www.ufoinfo.com also has this report from a few years back:

"Since 1998, the area around Zierenberg, near Kassel, has become Germany's crop circle hotspot. Each May 1 (Beltane), a new formation has been found each year in this vicinity."

"Eight days later," on Tuesday, May 8, 2000, "Klaus Listmann discovered a single circle of about 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter in a field of oilseed rape at Gut Rangen, again near Zierenberg."

German cerealogist Wolfgang Ring "reported that it was nearly impossible to enter the field without causing a track by walking through the one-meter high rape that had grown into each other, creating a non-walkable 'jungle.' Neverthless, the circle itself showed no entry tracks. Nor was it connected to any walkable path." (Vielen dank zum Andreas Mueller von International Crop Circle Archive for this report.)

Pagan gods, witches in gingerbread houses, now alien visitors... it's a wonder anyone ever leaves Hessia alive.

Preparations

Only two and a half weeks to go now. The car is ready, though the ferry isn't yet booked. My German is brushed up, or at least a little less scruffy than it was a month ago. The cottage is reserved and thanks to the marvels of Google Earth you can even see it on a satellite photo:

The cottage is in the hamlet in the middle of the picture, called Friedrichsaue; the small town at bottom right is Zierenberg. This next picture is looking from the hills on the far side of Zierenberg towards Friedrichsaue:

Incidentally, the two forested peaks in the centre of the horizon are Groß-Gudenberg and Klein-Gudenberg - Big and Little Wodan's Hill, Wodan being the ancient pagan god known to the Vikings as Odin.

I'll be spending a lot of time from June to September wandering around such hills with their weird pagan names. Hessia is chock full of springs, forests and peaks whose names recall an entire landscape of pre-Christian mythology that was otherwise wiped out by missionaries from the eighth century. It's my mission this summer to rediscover it...