When people visit sacred sites they are sometimes unsure of how to behave.

Now part of a forthcoming book: Green Living, Sacred Life by Susan M Phillips and Tye Jamie Coxston (Capall Bann)

WHAT WOULD NECTAN SAY?
By Susan M Phillips

Whilst on a recent visit to Cornwall with my husband and fellow writer Anna Franklin we felt very drawn to visit a local beauty spot called St Nectan's Glen – formerly sacred to the Pagan god Nechtan – an unspoiled valley traversed by a large piece of slate through which a pure white waterfall flows. The sides of the glen rise steeply and light is filtered through the lush green vegetation so that even at mid morning it is not fully light. As is my practice at sacred places wherever I can I removed my shoes and stood barefoot in the icy water of the stream that ran from the waterfall and along the floor of the valley. That’s my way of showing respect and it also helps me to connect with the local energies. The glen must have been lovely once, but what I saw was something of an eyesore. One wall of the cliff appeared to have had handfuls of litter thrown onto it and much of this had settled in a small multicoloured drift of paper and plastic on the floor of the glen hard by the waterfall. On closer inspection I discovered that the litter consisted of small post-it notes with prayers and blessings written on them, polythene bags tied into human likenesses, dream catchers and the like made from synthetic materials and even a polythene bag knotted into a human likeness. Here and there graffiti covered sections of the cliff face and fragments of slate were propped up with writing and drawings etched onto them. Thick fleshy leaves that had been picked up from the ground were also visible with more prayers scribbled on in pencil, although I didn’t mind these so much – they were of the glen and would return to the glen in time.

            I could feel anger bubbling through the water and raging from the rocks. Nechtan’s message was coming through to me loud and clear – as if he were actually talking. I could see only selfishness all this debris and looked askance at Anna. She, too, was shocked and told me that none of this had been present on her many previous visits. It seems that it had all accumulated within a few months. Such practices are not part of the tradition of the glen and do not belong there. The traditional offering to Nechtan is a silver coin. At other places prayers on paper might be acceptable, but the glen is not other places. In any case, the owners have opened up the hermit’s cell higher up the glen where offerings were welcomed and would do no damage, so why all the mess?

            Please, please, when you visit a holy place or place of beauty [which is actually holy, whatever its designation], treat it respectfully and leave nothing that doesn't belong.