A project powered by dreams
Contemporary Artists Claire Cote (New Mexico) and Anna Keleher (S. Devon) inhabit the ancestral homelands of Marble Arch Caves in Ireland for 40 days an 40 nights from June 3rd 2011.
Invite them on an adventure, meet them on a crag or drop by their weekly storyblog episode to influence how they engage with this X- border Geopark?
Supported by Marble Arch Caves Geopark and funded by National Lottery through Arts Council England this project seeks to enrich natural, social and cultural ecologies. http://www.marblearchcaves.net/
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Dreamscape…….in the land of thin places! Anticipating wonders.
You’ll never guess – they’re happening already! We’ve already felt fairy tales weaving themselves around us as we explore the geopark. What do you know about Irish myths and legends?
Just that there are a lot of them! And they tend to be, from what I’ve been exposed to, less straightforward than European fairy tales. The “good guys” are often very flawed and the fairy folk are wild and unpredictable. There’s lots of trickery. Things are often not what they seem.
I’m more familiar with the Celtic version of Christianity which grew out of that mythic connection –an emphasis on Three-ness (3 goddesses — virgin, matron and crone — for example) which dovetail nicely with the Trinity, an abiding sense that the Holy is manifested in the daily, hence a huge compendium of blessings and invocations for damping down the fire at night, and stirring it up in the morning, and going out the door and coming back in, and setting out in the fishing boat and returning home, and planting the seed and harvesting it, etc. A strong sense of communal energy being horizontal not hierarchical. And a happy tendency to make pre-Christian mythic figures, like Brigid, into saints who continued to exercise their ancient powers none-the-less.
When we lived on the west coast of Ireland for a month I experienced that the veils between levels of reality were very permeable and that the Old Ways are just under the surface waiting to percolate up when invited. We were there during Beltane and the energy was wild, fecund, intense. Will you be there for the Solstice?
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Your observation of the “less straight forwardness” of the tales here is interesting. We are exploring the thin veils to which you refer as best we can, along with the old ways “just under the surface”. We will be here for solstice and will be attending a Mummer event, at which we expect to encounter straw men and fire-jumping. Will keep you posted…..
The Solstice celebration sounds like it has the potential to be a true thin place.
May the wind and sun be your guides! xP
(and just a thought–get rid of the animated ‘Blackberry’–or ANY–adverts below your ident paragraph! Looks like corporate sponsorship, yuk!)
Thanks Prana! And thanks for the suggestion – not sure if we can turn off ads on the site without paying a good sum…..but agree ads are the pits!