Paper short abstract:

The paper reviews attitudes and agendas in relation to Malta's Neolithic temples, concentrating mostly on one group of Maltese for whom the temples hold deep spiritual meaning and significance: Maltese Neo-Pagans.

Paper long abstract:

Malta's Neolithic temples, claimed to be the oldest free-standing stone monuments in the world, may have first become a destination for religious pilgrims several millennia before Christ, if we accept the suggestion of a tourist video titled 'Sacred Island' screened at the Emigrants' Commission in the capital Valletta. The narrator, whose script was written by a prominent Maltese priest and philosopher, begins by suggesting that 'people from all over the Mediterranean came to worship here since before the dawn of civilization'. From the Bronze Age onwards, the temples were appropriated and contested, re-interpreted and re-used by a host of foreign and local groups for a variety of economic, cultural, historical, scientific and religious purposes. In the last 15-20 years a new group of spiritual tourists, Goddess followers and Neo-Pagans mostly from the UK and the US, has begun visiting the temples wanting to learn more about Malta's Neolithic past and 'see for themselves' its remains, claiming an affinity with the earth-honouring beliefs of the temple-builders, and seeking a personal experience of the numinous.

For most Maltese (and most tourists), however, the temples are not part of a contemporary sacred landscape, at least not in the religious sense of 'sacred'. The sites and their associated artefacts have been symbolically employed as cultural icons in the creation of a Maltese national identity and as unique 'attractions' in tourism advertising, but have no contemporary spiritual relevance. Their current values have to do with history and heritage, science (archaeology) and the economy. While the temples are important symbols of Maltese heritage and cultural identity, this is not linked with a strong sense of cultural ownership. Maltese insist that as World Heritage sites, the temples are 'to be shared by everyone'; they are not owned by Maltese, simply on Maltese soil.

The paper reviews attitudes and agendas in relation to the temples, concentrating mostly on one group of Maltese for whom the temples do hold deep spiritual meaning and significance: Maltese Neo-Pagans. It discusses the place of the temples in Maltese Pagan identity, imagination and practice and briefly compares these with British Pagans' engagements with sacred sites in Britain. Heritage Malta's plan to cover Haġar Qim and Mnajdra temples with protective coverings in order to conserve them is discussed from Pagans' perspectives.

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