Manhattanhenge:
Not Exactly Artsy But Cheap

Druid Convention

Location: Somewhere in Upstate New York
Cost: Unknown
Bohemian Factor: I can only begin to speculate.
Geek Factor: Unknown

Manhattanhenge

Location: Manhattan, Everywhere north of 14th Street
Time: May 28, 2006; 8:16 pm
Cost: Free
Bohemian Factor:n/a
Geek Factor: n/a

May 29, 2006

And here I thought the Comics Convention was a good exercise in modern cultural anthropology, but clearly that was merely the tip of the iceberg. Recently, All Things Considered revealed a fabulous tidbit of information in passing (god bless NPR). This weekend, a group of committed pagans are coming to upstate New York for a Druid convention. A perfunctory internet search was not very fruitful, although I suspect anyone a tad industrious about plugging in various permutations of “pagan” “May 2006” and “upstate New York” into Google will be more successful than I was in tracking down when and where these neo-Celtics will converge.

The convention, sadly, lies enshrouded in mystery, which I find truly unfortunate, as I think it would be fabulous to see what kinds of activities are on the agenda. Are Druid conventions like a social networking occasion for an otherwise underserved minority? (And here we thought everyone just used JDate …) Is it more like an academic conference, where people present papers: Iolo Morganwg and Eisteddfod: Was the Disintegration of Celtic Culture a Result of Proper Nouns that No One Could Easily Pronounce? Or, most curiously, are they all about ritual, like the end of Norma, where everything just deteriorates into a conflagration of self-immolation and redemption on the funeral pyre? (Although, come to think of it, an Italian opera about a homicidal high priestess is probably closer to Days of our Lives than actual druid theology)

The “Arch Druid” interviewed for the story on his cell phone was rather mild-mannered, with a voice that was more suited to being someone’s accountant than sacrificial rites. He’s probably a number cruncher at Morgan Stanley who just happens to lead a double life as a Arch Druid on the weekends.

His testimony was not, in fact, about the covert activities of a Druid convention, which he happened to be en route to, but rather on what NPR calls a “cosmic coincidence” more accessible to New Yorkers. On Sunday night, May 28, the rays of the setting sun “align perfectly with the cross-streets of Manhattan,” allowing any of us privileged enough to be looking westward a view that illuminates both the North and South sides of the street equally, with no shadows.

While this is not necessarily an artsy event per se, watching the sunset is in fact, free, and apparently there is deep cultural and spiritual signficance, if you have any druidic inclination. It might be worthwhile to make the effort to head north of 14th Street during the next one, on July 13. I was in the West Village during the hour of reckoning, so I’ll have to settle for this:



Of course, every City with an East-West grid of streets will have a similar opportunity twice a year, though not at the same dates. Although the NPR guy did note that “’Manhattanhenge’ may be a little more catchy to us New York-centrics than, say, ‘Salt Lake Cityhenge.’”