Spread Conciousness
Tara Brooch
The other day I was looking at a picture of the Tara brooch. It really is simply magnificent- craftsmanship unsought and unattained today (you can find a picture of it quite easily through google or wikipedia). The story goes it was found in a small wooden box on a beach in county Meath (a likely story). Silver, gold, enamel and amber draped in filigree in a synthesis of styles not seen in Ireland since Rome drove all of the 'Celtic' brethren of the Irish into slavery or military conscription, or to the Scottish Highlands, or to Ireland. In those days, the coming together of such far-flung yet close-knit people brought new traditions of burial, and new traditions of art. It is not unreasonable to imagine that with these came new traditions of mourning (keening for) the dead, and new traditions of honoring the living.
The Tara brooch was the culmination of these blended 'Celtic' traditions, perfected and internalized over time, and revitalized, both in terms of design and material, by the influence of the Vikings (or their forebears and brethren the Angles and Saxons and Danes and company, who would later return as Normans and Anglo-Norman English). The Persian gold and Baltic amber that became available when the Viking sails appeared on the horizon were themselves an inspiration.
Sadly, where wealth goes, so often follows treachery, and soon after the time the Tara brooch was made (~AD 700), the relationship between the Irish and the Vikings soured considerably. It was during those times that the defensive network that is the Royal Demesne of Tara was once again called into action, as stones were lain for souterrains, provisions stored, and the Raths and Rings manned, as a war that would last some 300 hundred years began. And so the Tara brooch was hidden in a box and buried or lost.
The brooch was a work of art fit to honor the Wife of Good King Cormac, draped in purple. And I wouldn't be the least abashed to say that if Finn Mac Cumail had the fieriest red Persian gold, and the purest Baltic amber, he would lay it before both brother and king for the crafting of such wonders. And though it is certain that scholars cannot say whether Cormac or Finn ever existed, it is as near to certain as science arrives that those who built the souterrains recently unearthed at Tara hill, and those who manned her fortresses and died for Tara's king- those who once lay buried in the newly desecrated Ardsallagh cemetery, and those whose fortune it was to wear the Tara brooch, did tell those tales of Finn McCool and Cormac Mac Airt, to stir the spirit and throw back the chill.
And this is just one of many reasons we raise our voices for Tara, even we across the sea who should put our noses elsewhere, but cannot; for the loudness of our consciences, and the pulling of our hearts cannot bear our silence. Please, support those in the Vigil Camps and write to your representatives, and to your Fían-Chief, an Taoiseach.
www.savetara.com
The Tara brooch was the culmination of these blended 'Celtic' traditions, perfected and internalized over time, and revitalized, both in terms of design and material, by the influence of the Vikings (or their forebears and brethren the Angles and Saxons and Danes and company, who would later return as Normans and Anglo-Norman English). The Persian gold and Baltic amber that became available when the Viking sails appeared on the horizon were themselves an inspiration.
Sadly, where wealth goes, so often follows treachery, and soon after the time the Tara brooch was made (~AD 700), the relationship between the Irish and the Vikings soured considerably. It was during those times that the defensive network that is the Royal Demesne of Tara was once again called into action, as stones were lain for souterrains, provisions stored, and the Raths and Rings manned, as a war that would last some 300 hundred years began. And so the Tara brooch was hidden in a box and buried or lost.
The brooch was a work of art fit to honor the Wife of Good King Cormac, draped in purple. And I wouldn't be the least abashed to say that if Finn Mac Cumail had the fieriest red Persian gold, and the purest Baltic amber, he would lay it before both brother and king for the crafting of such wonders. And though it is certain that scholars cannot say whether Cormac or Finn ever existed, it is as near to certain as science arrives that those who built the souterrains recently unearthed at Tara hill, and those who manned her fortresses and died for Tara's king- those who once lay buried in the newly desecrated Ardsallagh cemetery, and those whose fortune it was to wear the Tara brooch, did tell those tales of Finn McCool and Cormac Mac Airt, to stir the spirit and throw back the chill.
And this is just one of many reasons we raise our voices for Tara, even we across the sea who should put our noses elsewhere, but cannot; for the loudness of our consciences, and the pulling of our hearts cannot bear our silence. Please, support those in the Vigil Camps and write to your representatives, and to your Fían-Chief, an Taoiseach.
www.savetara.com
Comment
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Comment by Lateral Exploration on March 8, 2008 at 11:44pm -
Why aren't these historical sites, and ditto with other endangered cultures today, viewed as sacred by our society. If the masses held these above 'progress' the depth that it would add to our lives would be immeasurable.
Not to mention that 'progress' itself would be enhanced as new/creative/innovative ways are found to design and grow technology without destruction.
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