Celtic knot Stone Celtic crosses, such as this, are a major source of our knowledge of Celtic knot design. Carpet page from Lindisfarne Gospels, showing knotwork detail. Almost all of the folios of the Book of Kells contain small illuminations like this decorated initial. History[edit] Examples of plait work (a woven, unbroken cord design) predate knotwork designs in several cultures around the world,[2] but the broken and reconnected plait work that is characteristic of true knotwork began in northern Italy and southern Gaul and spread to Ireland by the 7th century.[3] The style is most commonly associated with the Celtic lands, but it was also practiced extensively in England and was exported to Europe by Irish and Northumbrian monastic activities on the continent. Examples[edit] See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Tattoo Brighton About Tattoo Brighton: Tattoo Brighton. I have so much respect for people whose vanity is such that they would indelibly mark their skin just to look good. I started this blog on a whim but have become more and more impressed by the art of tattooing. Please feel free to submit images to me for inclusion on this site. Tattoo parlors, shops and studios in Brighton. A Short History of Tattooing The firs recorded tattoos were found on the fossilised skin of early cave dwellers dated from around 50,000 years ago. X Pole I've got a new hobby and maybe I'll get quite good, but for now I'm just practicing. Next onto the tattooing scene were Babylonian fishermen.
Ancient Egyptian religion Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, funerary texts, and temple decoration. The details of these sacred events differ greatly from one text to another and often seem contradictory. Mythology profoundly influenced Egyptian culture. Origins[edit] The development of Egyptian myth is difficult to trace. Another possible source for mythology is ritual. In private rituals, which are often called "magical", the myth and the ritual are particularly closely tied. Much of Egyptian mythology consists of origin myths, explaining the beginnings of various elements of the world, including human institutions and natural phenomena. Definition and scope[edit]
Horned God The term Horned God itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th-century syncretic term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god with pseudohistorical origins[4] who, according to Margaret Murray's 1921 The Witch-Cult in Western Europe, was the deity worshipped by a pan-European witchcraft-based cult, and was demonized into the form of the Devil by the Mediaeval Church. The Horned God has been explored within several psychological theories, and has become a recurrent theme in fantasy literature.[5]:872 Horned God of Wicca[edit] For Wiccans, the Horned God is "the personification of the life force energy in animals and the wild"[6] and is associated with the wilderness, virility and the hunt.[7]:16 Doreen Valiente writes that the Horned God also carries the souls of the dead to the underworld.[8] In the name of the Lady of the Moon, and the Horned Lord of Death and Resurrection[12] Names of the Horned God[edit] Horned God in psychology[edit] Jungian analysis[edit] Humanistic psychology[edit]
Making Celtic Knots Here are some examples of Celtic knots and how to draw them yourself. I have written a Kindle book: How to design Celtic Knots - a guide for beginners - Buy UK - USA (or look up Jo Edkins in Amazon) Celtic knots are patterns representing ropes or threads tied in a knot. They are really mis-named. They appear in Roman mosaics, and were made by Vikings and Saxons as well as Celts.Many knots are continuous, with no loose ends, and these are also called Gordian knots or Gordic knots. This refers to the myth of the knot of Gordias. Outside links "Program to assist the creation, design and editing of 'celtic' style braids" - free OpenSource softwareSoftware for creating Celtic knots as a fontCeltic knot typeface - free to download, image, and Celtic knot generator.Hypknotix - Celtic knots website, software, artwork and resources My links You may also be interested in my website on mazes or mosaics or Greek keys or any of my other websites. © Jo Edkins 2003
Chinese mythology Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China: these include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current administration of China).[1] Chinese mythology includes creation myths and legends, such as myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state. As in many cultures' mythologies, Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Thus, in the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.[2] Historians have written evidence of Chinese mythological symbolism from the 12th century BC in the Oracle bone script. Major concepts[edit]
Celtic polytheism Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism,[1][2][3] comprises the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts the British and Irish Iron Age. Celtic polytheism was one of a larger group of Iron Age polytheistic religions of the Indo-European family. It comprised a large degree of variation both geographically and chronologically, although "behind this variety, broad structural similarities can be detected"[4] allowing there to be "a basic religious homogeneity" amongst the Celtic peoples.[5] The Celtic pantheon consists of numerous recorded theonyms, both from Greco-Roman ethnography and from epigraphy. Among the most prominent ones are Teutatis, Taranis and Lugus. In the later 5th and the 6th centuries, the Celtic region was Christianized and earlier religious traditions were supplanted.
Interlace (art) Intricate braided and interlaced patterns, called plaits in British usage, are found in late Roman art in many parts of Europe, in mosaic floors and other media. Coptic manuscripts and textiles of 5th- and 6th-century Christian Egypt are decorated with broad-strand ribbon interlace ornament bearing a "striking resemblance" to the earliest types of knotwork found in the Insular art manuscripts of the British Isles.[1] This new style featured elongated beasts intertwined into symmetrical shapes, and can be dated to the mid-7th century based on the accepted dating of examples in the Sutton Hoo treasure.[1] The most elaborate interlaced zoomorphics occur in Viking Age art of the Urnes style (arising before 1050), where tendrils of foliate designs intertwine with the stylized animals.[4] Illustrated article by Peter Hubert on the origins of interlace sculpture.
Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Mesopotamia, is considered the world's first truly great work of literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about 'Bilgamesh' (Sumerian for 'Gilgamesh'), king of Uruk. These independent stories were used as source material for a combined epic. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later "Standard" version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru ("He who Saw the Deep", in modern terms: "He who Sees the Unknown"). The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop him oppressing the people of Uruk. History[edit] Versions of the epic[edit] Standard Akkadian version[edit] (Based on Andrew George's translation)
Green Man Types[edit] Lady Raglan coined the term "Green Man" in her 1939 article "The Green Man in Church Architecture" in The Folklore Journal.[3] Some commentators conflate or associate the term with "Jack in the Green".[4] Usually referred to in works on architecture as foliate heads or foliate masks, carvings of the Green Man may take many forms, naturalistic or decorative. The Green Man appears in many forms, with the three most common types categorized as: the Foliate Head: completely covered in green leavesthe Disgorging Head: spews vegetation from its mouththe Bloodsucker Head: sprouts vegetation from all facial orifices (e.g. tear ducts, nostrils and mouth)[5][6] In churches[edit] To the modern observer the earlier (Romanesque and medieval) carvings often have an unnervingly eerie or numinous quality. Later variations[edit] Modern images[edit] Green men, and variants on the theme, frequently occur in modern fantasy literature and science fiction. Related characters[edit] Neo-paganism[edit]
Celtic art The reverse side of a British bronze mirror, 50 BC - 50 AD, showing the spiral and trumpet decorative theme of the late "Insular" La Tène style Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic languages. Celtic art is a difficult term to define, covering a huge expanse of time, geography and cultures. Both styles absorbed considerable influences from non-Celtic sources, but retained a preference for geometrical decoration over figurative subjects, which are often extremely stylised when they do appear; narrative scenes only appear under outside influence.[4] Energetic circular forms, triskeles and spirals are characteristic. Background[edit] Carved stone ball from Towie in Aberdeenshire, dated from 3200–2500 BC[7] Pre-Celtic periods[edit]