Someone asked me to write a bit about crop circles literally months ago, so I might as well skip some other obligations and finally look into it. To tell you the truth, I've never been so much into them, but his enthusiasm made me do a bit of research, especially since he was particularly eager to find out more about the interconnection between crop circles and psychedelic culture – if there is one anyway...
Crop circles are, at least from my point of view, considered as completely different things by different individuals or groups – like most things, right? So there are the aliens-are-leaving-their-marks theories (although there’s supposedly also a Google-trademark-shaped one), thoughts of their relation to dreams, scientific researches and much more. I’ll simply name some of them and try to make something out of it – at least in my way...
What I found online at first wasn’t very encouraging (except some French and Brazilian blogs and such), so I’ll start off by saying something about crop circles in general. I’ll do my best not to take sides considering the theories and approaches, but simply to enlist some views and ideas about these forms.
First of all, I’d like to point out that this article is located under Art, since I find it that way – if they’re made by extraterrestrials, by human hand or something third, it must’ve taken a lot of effort and pre-calculation, so there you go.
A tad in general
The best known theory (and probably the most interesting one) is that crop circles are by-products of aliens visiting our planet – and by our i mean Earth. Crop circles are, according to Wikipedia, "patterns created by the flattening of crops such as wheat, barley, rye, or corn" and due to their sudden fame, entered the Oxford Dictionary as a new term in 1990. The first crop circles were created (yes, created - as a hoax by a couple of locals) back in 1978 and many more were made during their popular period in the 90’s.
I don’t mean to discourage anyone, but it’s said that there still is no official evidence which would prove that crop circles are anything but a man-made hoax. Nevertheless, numerous and various alternative explanations have been given from many different sides, so let’s just cover a few. I don’t wanna do all the reading for you anyway, so feel free to google a bit as well...
This phenomenon has been explained as product of certain natural causes (thunder, wind and alike), but I’m not sure actually how likely that is. What’s interesting is that crop circles are more or less present as isolated cases, although specific regions or areas have been known for frequent appearances (like England). Coincidence or not - it’s up to you to figure out.
The inspiration behind
When it comes to patterns, crop circles usually come in circular (doh!) shapes and various sizes and are often of a more complex geometry, which might imply some forms of ancient geometry and symbolical connections. They’re also said to be inspired by religious or animal symbols – which reminds me of different things that have been enshaped to be seen from the air as something familiar (Nazca and such). Some groups (circlemakers.org) have even been asked to create some crop circles afterwards, either for commercials, film shooting or something alike.
 There’s been some theories that eventual crop circles were the real thing, but those were soon confronted by people who actually made them. Eyewitness testimonies, photos and alike haven’t been taken as real proof, so the main idea and the actual meaning of crop circles is left to each individual.
The complexity of the creations is not to be left unmentioned though, as well as the idea that stands behind it. Whether it’s considered artistic or not, I reckon it takes tons of effort, patience and organization, especially if one is doing it secretly, quietly and hurriedly, which in fact just as well might boost up the excitement during the (creativity) process...
Some have even claimed to be responsible for crop circles, like Jerry Seinfeld (when he was trying to pick up a girl in an elevator), Sponge Bob and Futurama characters, just to name a few. ;) But seriously – there’s actually tours you can take and go around the most famous spots in order to “experience the science, history, art, culture and mystery”. The different backgrounds, ambitions and goals behind the whole story have been various, so they range from deeply spiritual to incredibly finantial.
Different approaches
On the other hand, those who represent the let’s say extraterrestrial side of crop circles accuse those who claim to have made them of being sociopaths with no real life. Some simply appreciate the effect (never minding the origin) that crop circles have made on thousands of people who have been engaged by researches, studies and more.
"I believe that throughout the universe we meet many wonderful and unique individuals, each travelling on their path to happiness, insight and knowledge.
We are all souls who have spent time on this Earth in order to learn lessons and share information with our fellow beings. Before we depart this three dimensional existence we give back a little part of the universe in the form of love, knowledge and conscious awareness. The planet as a whole will benefit from our love and caring.
Crop circles have had a profound effect on thousands of people who have witnessed and studied them through the years. Irrespective of origin, they have acted as a catalyst to learning, understanding and spirituality as we strive to understand the meaning and purpose behind the genuine crop circles.
I created this web site with the aim of sharing information and creating a forum by which people of like-minded souls around the planet can communicate with each other in order to spread love, light and positivity to the planet.
Together we can make the world a better place."
(Quote taken from cropcircleresearch.com)
This part reminded me of the psychedelic or even trance aspect of it all. I reckon that anything could be psychedelic if you look at it that way, but crop circles have often been connected and compared to fractals, which are (in different amounts, depending on the people) an important part of the whole psychedelic idea.
Psychedelic doesn’t necessarily have to be associated to wild, loud and fast – in fact, in my case it’s often more on the natural, quiet, easy-going and relaxed side. Far from the actual eagerly-craved idea of a tribe (which often proves to be understood completely different and in fact fatally anti-tribe orientated), the idea of a transglobal awareness can be implemented into literally anything – so why not crop circles as well?
I personally found it extremely hard to stop going through the photos of various crop circles, since I felt so interwoven after a while. The mere sight of them seems to give a specific amount of calmness and serenity, so I bet seeing them in the natural environment beats everything we’ve ever thought about them.
Other aspects
Another extremely interesting connection has been established by people who are working on projects that have to do with sounds, harmonics and vibrations. Certain individuals are exploring the possibilities of possible healing, therapy and psycho-kinetic effects of sounds and music. Those thought were started after it was reported that actual sounds were recorded in crop circle vicinities, but read more about that (and much more) on cropcircleresearch.com/articles/sound.html.
All in all, I haven’t found any evident signs (or I haven’t looked enough) that link crop circles to the psychedelic culture besides eventual workshops at larger festivals, individual interest and alike. There's still a lot more to investigate though...
For more on this theme, please feel free to check the following links:
- http://reatdreams.com/crpcirc.htm to read some more about dreams,
- http://greatdreams.com/crop/hoax/hoax.htm for some arguments against the hoax theory,
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines for the comparison with similar (and possibly connected) phenomena,
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoglyph for some more info on geoglyphs or
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring for something naturally interesting.
And of course, feel free to comment and do some research of your own... Cheers!
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