The morning glory has spread to cover much of the calf of the Emperor’s right leg, but I want to show more of it reaching up to pass his left foot, perhaps even stretching out tendrils toward his abdomen and increasing the feeling that he is being overwhelmed by the creeping vines. Working on the [...]
I feel extremely fortunate to have seen as much Neolithic art as I have. Here on Anglesey there are some excellent examples of rock art still within its context, dating from four thousand years before the current era. It’s incredible that it’s still here to be seen. First four pictures are at or around Barclodiad [...]
Having been held up in both Los Angeles and Heathrow airports, I’ve arrived in Edinburgh with our students and made a delightful trip to Rosslyn Chapel, where Christian symbolism runs riot in an extraordinary display of stone carving. Here allegory is the language of the masons who built this lovely little chapel, almost bringing musicians, [...]
Today’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, when the sun at sunrise reaches the most northern point of its journey across the horizon. Depending on where you are on the earth, at midsummer the sun rises roughly North East, setting at the end of the day roughly North West. At mid-winter it rises [...]
After seven days off sick, I’m finally feeling semi-human again. I’ve been thinking about elements. During the trip to England we visited a number of places which were ruled by the old alchemical elements in quite clear ways: AIR At Glastonbury we climbed the tor to the empty and ruined church tower on top, where [...]
After a five hour drive we arrived in Salisbury, where we were privileged to be able to spend dawn within the stones at the greatest of megalithic monuments. It’s hard to describe how this felt, as the last time I was among the stones was at the 1984 festival, when I followed the druid procession [...]
Tagged megalith, neolithic, stonehengeWe made it to St. Michael’s Mount, which is an island at high tide, but part of the land at low tide. It’s a wonderful in-between place, used by Neolithic folk as a location where they could meet ship born traders in search of tin. Pytheas the Greek visited this place in 350 BC, which [...]
Tagged hurlers, moor, neolithic, stone circleTintagel castle is associated with King Arthur because in the 1200′s a local nobleman decided to construct a castle suitable for the legendary Englishman. There is almost no evidence that Arthur ever came near here, but it’s still a fabulously beautiful location. I found many crows at Tintagel who were very happy to [...]
We have had a fantastic two days at Avebury, the greatest megalithic temple in the world. It’s a giant circle of stones surrounded by a deep ditch and embankment combining to an impressive thirty feet or so in places. When it was built four thousand ago the embankment and ditch probably reached up to sixty feet in total depth [...]
Here, resting in the British Museum, lie the remains of an ancient Briton. This fellow was placed in a crouched position with a beaker marked with the impression of a piece of cord. The people who made the great stone circles were the same as contemporary humans: equally intelligent, just as worried for the futures of [...]
Tagged ancestors, archaeology, art, bones, megalith, mystical, neolithic
