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Spending a rainy day reading in bed is certainly my idea of luxury. I have always imagined that one day I may very well end up like the ‘poor poet’ in one of my favourite, charming ‘Beidermeier paintings’ by Carl Spietzwig. In my room, snuggled up with just my bed and books around me. Although hopefully, I won’t need an umbrella like he has, to stave off the leaks when it rains.

My God of Double Happiness his 'Mona Lisa' smile quite grabbed my attention years ago when he was part of a collection belonging to a friend. It's the crinkles around his eyes that drew me in.

In a way surrounding myself with books has been part of my looking to value myself and to conserve my health and wellbeing for a very long time. They have also aided my life’s journey and over the years have practically helped me to plan many adventures with my family, both at home and overseas. For thirteen years they were also freely available to students of The Academy (Academy of Design and Decorative Arts) who spent many a happy hour browsing and researching from them in the Art Deco Academy space in Macquarie Street at Sydney (1992 – 1999) and in The Turret teaching space in the precinct of St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane (2000 – 2005).

When, a few years ago, I was put into a position of having to sell off this fine art, design history and decorative arts library, which had been put together lovingly over forty years, it was like tearing out both my heart and soul. One of the few people who understood why I was so distressed was my eldest son, also a bit of a Bibliophile, albeit on a smaller scale these days. He is collecting books on a Kindle instead of in a bookcase. Certainly much easier to take with you when you move. After making all the arrangements to send them off at the last minute I couldn’t bear to see them all go, because they were so important to my security. Irrational I know, but there it is, I am only human. And I freely admit they were, and are my ‘Linus’ blanket. My books, and my wonderful ceramic God of double happiness are my home, and where they both are you will find me also.

So, the night before they were leaving, and because I wanted to survive well I grabbed back a small cross referenced collection, which included some renowned for their scholarship,  some that placed form above content, some that were old, some rare, and some first editions, as well as one or two from private presses and the like.

For a long time they were unable to be unpacked but they are now and surround me daily in my working space at Melbourne, along with my ceramic God of Double Happiness and a large tapestry that I love. The ‘God’ is really special as he once belonged to a friend of mine whose erudition I admired. He used to visit me often to share his prodigious knowledge. When he passed on into that big library in the sky I secured him at auction.

Being a bibliophile is not only about heartbreak, it is also about happiness too. The ‘smell’ of books en masse has for me at least, has always been very alluring. Especially since many childhood hours spent in the Randwick Municipal Library and later the State Library in Macquarie Street at Sydney.

I have always loved those books ‘bound in Morocco’, a tradition associated with binding books with the skin of goats formerly grazing the grass at exotic Morocco. And what about those with pure gold protecting the edges of their beautiful hand made paper from dust.

For me, and I suspect for many other members of the ‘baby boomer’ generation, part of the process of having an association with books was browsing through the bookstores. Such special places. I have particularly enjoyed hunting about in shops that specialized in antique and out of print books.

Frequent visits to Melbourne were a joy and found me headed straight for Kay Craddock’s basement bookstore on chic Collins Street, which was right next door to the fabulous flagship emporium, Georges, now only a memory too.

Happily I can report from Melbourne, for those that may not know, Kay is now back in her book basement following renovations to the building.

Browsing in the rare division and buying at Berkelouw’s amazing book barn in the Southern Highlands of NSW was an annual joy all through the ’80′s and early 90′s. Often when purchasing old and rare books I would find a personal photo, a cutting from a newspaper, or a letter from a previous owner that had been filed away carefully and then passed along to me. Special.

I remember being in Berkelouw’s store at Paddington in Sydney in the early 90′s and discovering a rare set of all the novels by the controversial (woman dressed as a man) author George Sand (1804 – 1876) brilliantly bound in colourful Morocco. At the time I so wished they could be mine, but they were outside my budget so I had to decline. I was always ‘tough’ with myself about the budget. They were of special interest though and I enjoyed the opportunity to view and handle them wearing white gloves. Not long before this had happened I had seen the movie Impromptu (1991), which starred Australian actor Judy Davis as the writer who dressed like a man, George Sand with Hugh Grant as Chopin and Julian Sands as Franz Liszt. Just brilliant.

Incredibly a few nights later I went out to Sydney airport to pick up my husband from off the last flight from Melbourne. In those days it was easy to go through and wait at the door for the passengers to come off the plane. As I was standing there alone, at about 10 pm amazingly, up came Judy Davis.

Judy Davis as George Sand, Impromptu

Ms Davis was there to also pick up her husband Colin Friels from the same plane. So I plucked up the courage to talk to her and we passed pleasanteries. I told her all about my find and the delightful set of Sand novels in the Paddington store and said that if anyone should own them, she should, having played Sand so brilliantly. When I went back a few weeks later they were gone and I have always wondered if they ended up in her bookcase. It’s a mystery.

Then there is a delightful poem I discovered tucked up in a book about glass. Called Chinoiserie, it was written by someone who remains anonymous.  Click the red link if you would like to read it.

There were constant delights when plotting with a book dealer and friend James Larsen, who was an enthusiastic and important conduit in my search for additions to my ever expanding collection. He would ring out of the blue from unexpected places to report his findings. I remember it took him years in the eighties to find a copy of Nancy Mitford’s large ‘coffee table’ size book of the biography of Madame de Pompadour for me.

Then he endeared himself forever when he also found the biography of Louis XIV The Sun King in the same large edition. James Larsen specialized in finding rare and out of print editions, crime, science fiction, history, biography, and children’s books and still does, in his delightful bookstore at Exeter in NSW. These days he’s also handily ‘online’.

The longest time we spent was about ten years to find a pristine copy of the limited edition of the very rare ‘Castiglione at the Court of the Chinese Emperors’. In all that time I never gave up hope one would turn up as another Bibliophile joined that larger library in the sky. Then out of the blue he rang from deep in one of the states in the U.S.A. to say he had found it and to confirm its purchase.

Remembering that someone else had preserved, and passed a book along to me was what eventually got me through my personal crisis over losing most of my treasured library. I had to keep reminding myself it was all about being a conservator and safeguarding someone else’s imagination, which as 20th century scientist extraordinaire Albert Einstein reminded us, is more important than knowledge.

An early association with books, or learning in any form, is the path to getting in the habit of embracing lifelong learning, which is now an essential aspect of twenty first century life. Encouraging children to read and become used to handling books should happen for any child from as soon after birth is possible. Reading aloud to them is vital in ensuring their path forward will be as good as it can be.

As soon as each of my three sons arrived home from the hospital a colourful heavy card or padded plastic book was the first object that went into their cot alongside a colourful mobile and rattle. By the time they all sat up it was the first thing they reached for.

Reading aloud, and singing a song each night before they went to sleep, became an essential aspect of their daily routine and early education from a few months onward. Reading aloud continued until they were all able to do it for themselves, and even then the youngest would still occasionally ask would I read to him to help him go to sleep.

Having a love of reading certainly helped each of them with their study and attaining good averages at school and university. Now all grown up one of them is actually in the book business, one has been in the publishing business, although he has now moved into digital media and the third is in the telecommunications business. I am sure the reading aloud helped shape their future.

Today, I am very pleased to observe they are all still voracious readers and devourers of knowledge. Recently it was revealed that reading aloud and my singing them to sleep at night is among the happiest memories of their childhood, as were trips to the The Children’s Bookshop (1971) at Beecroft in the northern districts of Sydney where we lived for eleven years.

The world is now a changing, with ebooks and ibooks being the way of the future. After this decade to enjoy the tactile quality of books will mean visiting ‘antique’ or ‘vintage’ style bookshops.

Being a bibliophile has been part of my life journey and like most people, it started in my childhood, however it was not as well planned by my own parents, even though my father was in the ‘education’ business. A Headmaster.

It was my mother who first encouraged my interest in reading because her childhood had been virtually bereft of books, except those kept at the tiny one man, one room school she attended as one of the daughters of the Head Shearer on the Belltrees Station at Scone in rural NSW.

Her education ceased at sixth grade Primary School because out of her big family she was the one ‘chosen’ to stay at home and complete domestic tasks and look after her mother. Although she got out of that one by marrying and having seven children of her own. So it was left to dear Aunty Ivy, whose fiancée was killed in World War II, to fulfill that role. She was a great reader too and encouraged me constantly.

As I was growing up my mother was always warning me of the very real dangers associated with ‘rising above one’s station in life’. This was totally at odds with her secretly encouraging me to read and expand my knowledge behind closed doors. My darling grandmother was the most encouraging.

She wanted me to not rise or walk, but to leap forward and embrace life and knowledge. She knew it was the only way to keep ‘moving forward’ as she had done when her husband died dreadfully of cancer at a young age and she gathered up her 9 children (3 fostered) and moved to Sydney so they would all survive.

Following my father’s death, when my mother was 66, she was found every day devouring every word in the Herald newspaper and Women’s Weekly monthly magazine, which were the only luxuries she could allow herself on her Australian ‘widow’s’ pension. I was in a position at the time to indulge her new found love of reading with novels I knew she would enjoy for gifts. She became an armchair traveler until finally in 1999, aged 93 she journeyed on alone.

Heartbreak and happiness is definitely part of the story of a bibliophile. Why I became one? Well that is a another story and for another day.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2010 – 2012

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One of the enchanting figures on the Chinoiserie Style Pavilion in Sansouci Park at Potsdam. Johnn Gottfried Büring was the architect and it was built between 1755 and 1764 by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1712-1786)

What is Art Deco
Art Deco (1920 – 1940) is a design style that reached the apex of its popularity between two global conflicts, World War I and II. It borrowed from virtually all the design styles of the past in order to fashion the future. It was the perfect expression of Paris during the 20’s to the 30’s and embraced every area of design and the decorative arts including architecture, interiors, furniture, jewellery, painting and graphics, bookbinding, costume, glass and ceramics. It was all about glamour. It was also about completing a deeply felt need for a style that would never be threatened by change. Its protagonists wanted to ward off the threat of a civilization dominated by either industry or technology, or both. The idea was to integrate contemporary living with art and turn life into art and for a while they succeeded.

Chinoiserie, More than Fantasy and Fashion
During the eighteenth century in Europe and England all things Chinese had assumed incredible proportions as fashionable society sought to transmit their ideas about the magical land of Cathay through a multiplicity of imagery. It manifested itself in intimate interiors where mirrored rooms reflected scenes of frivolity well. It draped itself delightfully with sumptuous silk textiles that recorded scenes of fashion and folly. The admiration of all things Chinese also led to the ultimate crossing over of cultural influences. On the scale of things a very few people in England and Europe had ever seen someone who was Chinese so their vivid imagination took over and, when combined with a great layering of charm, Chinoiserie was a style that was very fetching.

Jane Austen, more than the cultivation of the mind?
While her only known image may seem to reveal otherwise, there was nothing really plain about Jane Austen 1775 – 1817. Her novels, which have become classics in their own right, allow us today to share the memory of the robust society in which she lived and its privileges of rank. It was a colourful, turbulent and seemingly romantic world in the process of rapid evolution. The English provincial life, as led by Jane Austen and some of her heroines, was one of quality and modesty. A cultivated ambiance of politeness, with a keen though delicate sensibility was well balanced by common sense.

If you would like to watch more videos just bookmark our link http://www.youtube.com/user/carolynmcdowall

Carolyn McDowall, Writer in Residence, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

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Munich in the south of Germany is the capital of Bavaria. It was voted the world's most livable city in 2010. The city father's took a great decision to rebuild it exactly as it had been prior to World War II

The intellectual ideas of every period and culture in world history are reflected in architecture and their are consequences if we tear down our living heritage, even in regard to modern buildings of great merit. Heritage is not about age. It is about buildings that have contributed to the growth and cultural development of a society, a city, a town or hamlet. The decision to be made is really all about whether they can continue to have a role to play by using clever design to incorporate old into the new. Nearly every instance where this happens the result is not only pleasing but helps in aiding people’s quality of life.

Conservation of an amazing building gives a city character. As a bonus for all time, the layers of history can be peeled back to reveal what its citizens have achieved. It can also help inspire and motivate the future we are moving toward. Consider the city fathers and citizens of Munich, who took a decision to rebuild and preserve their old city, despite it being bombed nearly out of existence during World War II. This extraordinary feat means that today. with a little wear and tear, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the old and the new. What is important is the contribution the restored city has made to its economic welfare, which noted in the billions of dollars it attracts as a financial and publishing hub in the south of Germany. The capital of Bavaria, in 2010 it was voted the world’s most livable city.

Careful efforts at reconstruction are underway and have been for twenty years or more. This involves fixing problems from previous reconstruction among other issues

The fabulous stone buildings on the Acropolis at Athens are another wonderful example. They stood for over 2,400 years, despite human folly, bloody mindedness and sheer stupidity. They are a symbolic foundation stone for today’s western culture. There is still so much to learn from, and about them, as currently those working on their conservation and reconstruction can confirm. The ruins remain as visual evidence of a society that had a great grasp on the natural environment and why space should be an integral aspect of, and important to, the production of aesthetically pleasing design. The mathematical genius of the Parthenon whose columns optically stand in a straight line, but are in fact all deliberately curved, is gob-smacking stuff. It has stood on the high ground of the Acropolis for thousands of years. It has been blown, up, rocked by earthquakes and its sculptural treasures plundered. Its aesthetic has been disfigured by people hell bent on destroying humanity. Today in ruin it manages to provide us with a platform of knowledge to learn from, which is nothing short of amazing.

In almost every field of their endeavor the ancient Greeks were pioneers and their achievements in architecture, in literature, thought and science are a part of the Greek legacy to the world at large. It was in a garden dedicated to the Greek hero Academus, hence the word Academy, that Plato taught Greek philosophy. Early Greek philosophy is nothing less than the discovery of the cosmos, i.e. the realization the world as a whole had a structure, revealing it to rational enquiry. The Greek word kosmos means order.

Among other things Plato developed was the art of self-criticism, seeing his own life as a divine mission to his fellow citizens. That required picking out the ‘soul’, and not the body, as that part of a man that required cultivation. As the body is improved by healthy exercise, so the soul benefits from morally right behaviour and ruined by the opposite, the soul was traditionally regarded as the source of life…but we digress.

The word classic means of the first class having acknowledged excellence; the word classical pertaining to the standard achieved by ancient Greek and Latin authors or their works, or the culture, art, architecture of Greek and Roman antiquity generally. The main characteristics are clarity of outline, restrained, harmonious and in accordance with established forms.

Gothic style stables belonging to the Governor now the Conservatorium of Music at NSW

In the late 60’s and throughout the 70′s, the scene that unfolded in most major cities in Australia was also happening in many other parts of the world. At Sydney aesthetically pleasing well-designed solidly built buildings, either domestic or commercial, were biting the dust. I must admit while being a witness to this chain of events I could not foresee a time in the future when we would have any regard, or appreciation, for our built heritage.

It is a miracle really that the ‘Gothic style’ stables, built to be part of the first Government House at Sydney survived to be incorporated into and provide such a wonderful point of contrast for a backdrop of amazing architectural modernity that is the Conservatorium of Music. Learning about music and the harmony of life in such surroundings for students must be a powerful experience and motivator.

When working in the 60′s as a personal assistant (interior design student) to an architect in a building firm heavily involved in small commercial work and the modern renovation of many fabulous large bungalows in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Whelan the Wrecker and his swinging ball was destroying much of Sydney’s early heritage. The interesting aspect of the story is that he got so sick of the destruction himself he had the union impose bans to stop it. Today he holds an important position protecting what remains of Sydney’s heritage.

Goodness, how many fabulous stone and brick buildings did we witness being wiped out in the name of ‘progress’? I was constantly in hot water with the architect for asking why we could not have better solutions to re-arranging a living space without destroying the aesthetic and the architectural integrity of the original house’s design. There was so many quality fittings and superb timbers originally used. And these were being removed. He would tell me I was not to ‘rock the boat’, and ‘I was really too young to know what I was on about’. What we were getting was going to be much ‘better’ and that the clients were going to be ‘better off’.

But are we better off today than we were? And, will we be better off 20 years from now? I am not against change. Personally I embrace it constantly and its part of a progressive society. I also enjoy advancements in the arts, sciences and technology, however I am against change for change’s sake.

Change needs rhyme, reason and intelligent unemotional and unselfish debate.

Federation style Flats, Carr Street, Coogee Beach, Sydney

At the time my architect boss didn’t realize I had lived most of my life in a wonderful old block of what we now describe as Federation style flats near the sea. I just love old blocks of Flats (as opposed to apartments) because they have large rooms with high ceilings, superb architectural detailing, sometimes a walk in pantry or butler’s pantry, milk boxes, letter boxes, a back door and spaces that conformed to the tenets of the golden ratio of measurement. This meant human beings really felt good when they were at home.

One 30′s deco flat I lived in also had its original maid’s quarters. In direct contrast to the Victorian way of accommodating maids in an attic, it was indeed luxurious with a bedroom, sitting room, with built in bookcases, cupboards and easy access to the kitchen.

The block I lived in as a child was vandalised on an ongoing basis by an owner hell bent on dragging the tenants into a ‘promising future’. This meant replacing beautifully rendered in excellent condition timber window frames with mean thin aluminium ones. They were hard to maintain, especially near the sea (you can paint and stain timber) and this was pre-powder coated, which still has to be maintained if its going to continue to look good.

Ceilings were lowered by false ceilings by an ugly board studded with holes. As a child I used to think these were hideous. Today we can perhaps say at least they protected the original ceilings so they could later be restored. Then lovely details like picture rails were also stripped off in the name of fashion. They were usually part of a scheme that divided the room into aesthetic proportions, so that when removed they put the design out of kilter.

Deep open arched verandahs were glassed and boxed in with a combination of dreaded aluminium windows and cheap ply board. This ongoing awful act of ‘modernisation’ (vandalism) sealed my fate. I actively went in search of knowledge about the history of the evolution of design, especially as it related to architecture. I wanted to gain an insight into, and better understanding of, the intellectual ideas that gave great buildings around the world, birth. The objective was of being a fully informed interior designer. It turned out to be so much more of a journey, one I have riding along on ever since.

I still haven’t quite got over the council at Sydney allowing the destruction of one of its most respected architect Harry Seidler’s groundbreaking buildings at the bottom of Macquarie Street during the early 90’s. At the time, after practicing my trade for nearly 20 years, together with like-minded colleagues, I started a lecture series about the evolution of western art and design.

The objective was to use our collective knowledge to raise people’s awareness of the visual arts and also offer an appreciation for our living heritage and cultural inheritance. The first lectures were held in one of the rooms in the concrete modern annexe at the State Library of NSW, Australia.

During the break we would stand out on the roof terrace overlooking Macquarie Street and discuss how we all felt a great pit of despair inside as we viewed the sad and sorry state of the Macquarie street-scape.Ghastly late 60’s and 70’s brick buildings had replaced many of the beautiful nineteenth century Sydney sandstone classically styled town houses and commercial buildings that had made this one of the most classy and elegant streets in the country.

Between the wars these quite wonderful buildings had been interspersed with some other very good buildings, such as the first Sydney New York Gothic style skyscraper (BMA House).  It did add up to a very charming mix.

When they were torn down they were replaced by quite simply dreadful box style buildings, whose interiors and exteriors were proportionally disparate. Bland beyond belief they had ubiquitous low ceilings, that made people feel claustrophobic with often awful consequences. Many had crumbling mortar and were dotted with mean rust-ridden air condioning boxes that stuck out of previously fashionably framed timber windows – replaced by those mean metal windows. They dripped stale water onto all those walking along the street below, while slowly staining the walls on the way down. ‘Yuk’ was the only word that came to mind as we stood there looking at them. Here was visual evidence of the ‘good life’ we were all aspiring to and the riches money could buy and, as we were constantly reminded, all in the name of ‘progress’.

But did that mean it was going to be better? An article by Richard Reeves in a 2005 Journal of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in England entitled ‘The Sun sets on the Enlightenment’ poses many interesting questions. One point he makes is that ‘only by having a clear view of where it is we want to go can we stand any chance of determining our path. We need to rejuvenate the spirit, reinvent the sense of progress or be condemned to managerial politics bleached of idealism and vision, corporate short sightedness and disillusionment’.

Powerful stuff.

© Carolyn McDowall The Culture Concept Circle 2009 – 2011

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Celebrate the festive season with good cheer, a little wine and sweet words. This is the time to be thankful to your host, resolve to give joy to others and, to praise and celebrate life. Over this period taking time for rest and recreation is the key to good health for the year ahead. We’re taking a break at the Culture Concept Circle from Christmas Eve until January 6th 2012. We have provided some links below to posts that have proved popular this year, although not in any particular order.

Thank You subscribers, supporters and. to you for visiting our Blog. If it is your first time if you Subscribe you will receive our monthly newsletter Muse~News free.  You can also enjoy many of our articles and watch videos on our You Tube channel for free. Join us in 2012, when we look forward to your company and bringing on-line some new innovations. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

Carolyn McDowall, Writer in Residence, The Culture Concept Circle

Access the posts below by pointing to it and then clicking its title

Notebooks by Betty Churcher – My Favourite Book 2011
Reading, TV and Music Choices for Festive Season 2011/2012

What is: Art Deco
Andy Warhol Pop Art Prince – King of People’s Perceptions
What is: An Ancient Roman Villa, the cultural ideal of rural life?
Nordic Cuisine @ NOma World’s #1 Restaurant & Masterchef ’11
What is: Palladian Style, more than a villa in the Veneto?
The Impressionists – A Painterly Pleasant French Revolution
King James Bible – Celebrating 400 Years Conserving the Word
Women of Influence, Marquise de Pompadour
First Impressions – Monet, Pisarro, Sisley & Renoir
Culinary Delights in Australia from Rationing to Riches
Changing Opera Culture in Australia: Vision & Taking Action
The Celts – Gathering to Celebrate Life & Culture Heroically
The Australian Ballet – Legendary Dance Liaisons
Tartan, Plaid, Kilts, Clans and Customs – Scotland the Brave
Glorious Music that Resonates – Masque to Mozart
Lasting Impressions – Paintings, Pools & Plants at Giverny
Profound Happiness: Beauty and Bonsai – Garden Art in Japan
Costume a footnote to culture in Downton Abbey and the King’s Speech
Towers – Symbols of Hope and Freedom
Beau Brummell to Benedict Cumberbatch – Savile Row at London
Classic Architecture, is it more than a Column?
Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons, The Adventures of Tintin
Pan Am – Come Fly with the World’s Most Experienced Airline

* Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

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A Celtic hero, Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance by Brian McEvoy

The Celts were, and are, exceedingly fond of gatherings, which I think is such a lovely word for bringing people together to celebrate a culture, whose origins go back into the mists of time. If you have any Celtic connection no matter how small, get out and get into it and, you will find that celebrating life with the Celts can be an amazing experience. If you grew up with a proud Scottish grandmother as I did then you will know the emotive responses to the words, the legends, the dances, stories and songs of the ancient Celtic race, because they stay with you the whole of your life. It is very hard to stop your foot tapping when you hear Celtic music, or control your urge to want to sing out loud when traditional songs are sung.

Throughout history the Celtic culture, wherever it found itself, met the challenges of each age heroically, despite many tragic occurrences. Through its deities, mythology and language today it expresses unyielding hope in the song and dance forms that celebrate the richness of its cultural heritage. In antiquity Celtic tribes and groups could be found from the British Isles and Northern Spain as far east as the Black Sea coast and Galatia in Anatolia. Some were absorbed into the Roman Empire as Britons.

The oldest evidence of their existence in archaeological terms comes from Hallstat nearby to Salzburg in Austria, where excavated graves of chieftains have revealed treasures from the Iron Age around 700 BC. This was when the Celts controlled trade along the Rhône, Seine, Rhine and Danube rivers. While some countries around the world remain Celtic, others are peopled by only pockets of Celts.

Today they try to remain individual, while sharing a common ancient Celtic ancestry. Consequently they have a common musical heritage, although no one is really sure what it is. This is because over a long period of isolated evolution, each community of Celts has developed a distinctive style and characteristics of its own. Discovering the secrets of iron was of great importance and it pervaded every aspect of their life linking them to the supernatural force watched over by their priestly class, the Druids. According to Roman author Pliny the Elder nothing was more sacred to the Druids than mistletoe, an ancient symbol of fertility that was also considered an antidote to poison. Kissing under the mistletoe is a tradition that emerged out of early rituals and mythology, although the details remain lost in the mists of time.

The Celtic Cross of Avalon

The Celtic cross, is a powerful symbol of its meeting with Christianity containing an ancient pagan symbol, the wreath a symbol of victory.  Emerging out of central Europe the Celts migrated through Gaul (France) to Britannia, where they laid down solid foundations. That is until the Romans, Vikings and Normans set out to wipe them out. Those that survived retreated into Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the Isle of Man and Brittany,  where the natural topography of the land allowed them to defend themselves.

Celtic Cross on the facade at St John's Cathedral Brisbane, blessed by Dean David Thomas

In popular legend St Patrick (387 – c493) is said to have introduced the Celtic Cross to the Irish. Although there is no documentary evidence of it at that time. When I was living at Brisbane in the Turret of St Martins House in the precinct of St John’s Cathedral between 2000 and 2005, it was wonderful to be on hand to kiss the Celtic cross blessed by the Dean, before it was hoisted into place on top of the facade of the Gothic revival designed St John’s when it was nearing completion after 100 + years of construction

St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane was designed by English architect John Loughborough Pearson late in the nineteenth century. At that time Celtic symbols were very much part of the Gothic Revival architectural movement in England. It was led by architect/designer Auguste Welby Pugin, who also designed the Houses of Parliament at London. J.B. Pearson was an avid disciple and follower of Pugin and his work. As the cross was Celtic and also because the Oxford Movement had taken the Anglican church back to its ‘catholic’ roots, it was very appropriate to incorporate it into the design of St John’s. The design of the cross itself is a combination of a simple Christian cross with a round wreath in memory of Jesus’s sacrifice. The wreath, prior to the birth of Christ, had been given to victorious athletes in the pagan states of ancient Greece and Rome as a prize.  In the Christian world hanging a wreath on a cross at Easter in remembrance gradually, over the centuries came to represent his triumph and victory over death, as well as the promise of a new life to come.

Reynolds, Kelly and O'Connor saying Good Morning, from Singing in the Rain

Life is lovely in Brigadoon...

Whenever I went to visit or stay with my grandmother when I was growing up she always had me sing for her Scottish poet and lyricist Robbie Burns famous song Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon. It, and Danny Boy were her first and foremost favourites. That is until 1954 and the Hollywood musical Brigadoon burst onto the big screen. Although the critics didn’t like it the public did and she and I went together. She loved the musical score and the dancing and didn’t stop talking about it for weeks afterward, even years. Starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Van Johnson her favourite songs included  “I will Go Home with Bonnie Jean” and “Almost Like Being in Love”. 

Highlander playing the pipes in a glen, shades of Brigadoon

My Nan, as we called her, loved the pipes and if there was a Highland Marching Band playing anywhere we always went to watch and listen. A member of the Clan Campbell, she wore her tartan on special occasions.

When you and I were Young, Maggie was the Scottish song my mother liked to sing and play on the piano about her own mother. Her favoured rendition was by Irish singer John McCormack. The week before she gave up her spirit aged 93 in 1999, my mother sang it for me from her hospital bed one last time. It was a very difficult moment.

On my mother’s father’s side they were Scottish, Irish and Spanish and on my father’s families side they were Cornish. So one could say I am a Celt through and through, including that part of Spain some of my mother’s family came from.

In Portugal and Brittany in France (Gaul) pockets of Celtic peoples still celebrate life and their cultural heritage and music festivals are a regular occurrence. When I was in my formative years during the 50′s my family would go to the movies regularly on a Friday night. My favourite movies were those that included tap dancing, a performance art form that crosses all cultural divides with its influences from the Juba dancing of Africa, English clogging, Irish step dancing, Scottish reel, plus the fire of Spanish flamenco. All these have cultural connections.

It was great in those days as you often got to see old pre-war tap dancing movies as a second feature. So I also remember the outstanding dancing talent of Eleanor Powell tapping up a treat solo, or with Fred Astaire in Broadway Melody 1942. And how could anyone who saw them dance together could forget Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor, as they were dancing and singing in the rain. After that it was always a Good Morning.

Eighteenth century Jacobite glasses for toasting the king over the water, or sea

Nan used to immerse my brother and I in tales of her mother’s Scottish homeland. We could vividly imagine the highlands covered in the soft flowering lilac coloured heather. We could see the stone castles and keeps set on the side of lochs and sitting prettily in a glen, just from her vivid description of them. It was all amazing really because she hadn’t been there herself, such was the power of her own mother’s retelling of the stories that she passed down to us.

We would sit and listen eyes wide open as she told us all about England’s “Glorious Revolution” of 1688-1689, a period of great strife. It had its origins in 1669, when James II, the Roman Catholic son of Charles I of England, fled the throne of England replaced by the Protestant monarchy of William III of Orange and his wife, Mary, James II’s daughter.

The inglorious defeat of James by William was something the Stuarts did not take lying down.  James II’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie failed, despite substantial, if often furtive support from the “Jacobites”, who championed their cause. Jacobite societies had to be secret since they were officially banned.

Nevertheless, they met frequently and, over a bowl of water, toasted “the King,” using glasses engraved with Jacobite symbols. The toast was well understood as a tribute to the “King over the sea,” or James III, as James Edward Stuart styled himself.

God bless the King! (I mean our faith’s defender!)
God bless! (No harm in blessing) the Pretender.
But who Pretender is, and who is King,
God bless us all! That’s quite another thing!

Traquair House, in the borders of Scotland

When I went to Scotland  for the first time I just had to visit Traquair Castle on the banks of the Tweed River in Scotland. It became the home of the Earls of Traquair and is still lived in by their descendants, the Maxwell Stuart family. It is the oldest inhabited and most romantic house in Scotland. By tradition a loyal Jacobite, the Fifth Earl of Traquair, is associated with one of the most romantic episodes in the history of the house; the closing of the Bear Gates.

One late autumn day in 1745 he wishes his guest, Prince Charles Edward Stuart a safe journey and gave him a promise that the gates would not be opened until the Stuarts were restored to the throne of England. That means the gates have remained closed ever since.

It was extraordinary to go there and see if for myself after hearing the story for most of my young life. It was a connection to a culture and tradition that transcends both time and space.

Today Wales is considered perhaps the most modern Celtic nation, and their people are renowned for a rich heritage in voice and music. The Welsh eisteddfod, a festival of literature, music and performance still continues at home as it does in many other parts of the world where Celtic people form themselves into societies and interest groups to preserve the very best aspects of their culture.

In Scotland and Ireland the wearing of the kilt, the involvement of children in its step dancing traditions and a sense of fierce national pride is still very much in evidence. Belonging to a clan and attending gatherings is part of a way of life that is both comforting and uplifting.

My Nan (Clan Campbell) died before my children were born between 1968 and 1973. And although my mother tried to give my three sons the sense of their tradition as they grew up, it was a very different world to the immediate post war period I grew up in when people were, understandably revisiting and clinging to tradition. It was all about a sense of security. Whereas our lives had been survival, there’s was to be all about self-expression.

As my sons were growing up we entered a whole new era of world politics and cultural divides. This new world grew to the pulsating  rhythms of rock and roll and a whole new genre of pop music, which inevitably for them growing up with it, won out. In the 90′s when Mel Gibson was at the height of his popularity as an actor his portrayal of William Wallace in Braveheart (1995) wearing blue woad on his face and wearing his kilt on a horse, helped bring the Celts back into contention on the world stage.

Wallace’s famous inspiring speech in defiance of tyranny stimulated a desire it seems to know what once was, in order to drive forward the impetus for what is yet to be.

Michael Flatley, Lord of the Dance leading the Celtic charge Photo by Brian McEvoy

My sons were in their early 20′s by then and I was still searching for an opportunity to give them at least some understanding of the beauty and power of the traditional heritage to which they belonged. So it was with some excitement I discovered a pending visit to Sydney by Irish superstar dancer Michael Flatley and his dancing troupe. We all met one evening at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, because by now they were all well out of home forging a life on their own. They were agog when they found out I was taking them to see a show about Irish dancing, but they didn’t protest too much or for too long, mainly because there we so many pretty red headed girls milling nearby. My family has always admired Titian locks.

When we settled into our seats, at what was to be an incredible concert, we looked out onto a sea of red hair everywhere, a sure sign it was a true Celtic occasion. Then the lights went down, the music thundered out and the Lord of the Dance flew through the air to land tapping his feet at a rate that seemed inconceivable. It was quite literally breathtaking. Flatley and his troupe gave a knockout performance, which for us all is now a treasured family memory.

Flatley  broke his own record for tapping the following year in February 1998, by achieving 35 taps per second and that to me still seems miraculous.  But it is there in black and white on his website. He also received the Guinness Book recognition in both 1999 and 2000 for being the highest paid dancer, earning $1,600,000 per week and for having the highest insurance premium placed on a dancer’s legs at $40,000,000. It was all quite simply CELTIC WOW.

Lovely Brisbane born Australian soprano Mirusia performed in a concert called Scotland the Brave, which is also the title of the unofficial anthem of Scotland, before she left to perform overseas with Andre Rieu. I was pleased to have been there to see her perform before she left to build her brilliant career.

In the decade 1999 – 2009 producing musical events at Brisbane and working with such talented ‘Celtic’ performers as mezzo soprano Kathleen Procter Moore and sensational coloratura Liza Beamish was a joy.

Duo Diva, Kathleen Procter Moore with Liza Beamish sharing a Celtic heritage

They shared my love of having a Celtic heritage and, when they performed as Duo Diva, there was sure to be a Celtic segment of songs. As a result there was, quite often, not a dry eye in the house. Kathleen, a Scot through and through with a lovely lilt in her voice to match has left her Celtic Footprints everywhere.

In America there is a group of five Irish guys and one Scot call themselves Celtic Thunder. They have gradually taken each state they perform in by storm. Although they are singing popular covers songs as well. When they appear on stage in customized suited kilts to sing Ireland’s Call the audience goes wild. Check their coming shows on their website

Catrin Finch, Queen of Harps

In Wales, the home of the Celts, there is the Queen of Harps herself, Catrin Finch. Her website says that she has an interest in Welsh mythology and traditional Welsh music.  Her performance playing Palladio on composer Karl Jenkins 60th birthday in 2008 gained world wide acclaim.

Watch the video or check up on Catrin’s whereabouts on her website

Then if we want to bring it into a pop idiom there is Cold Play, whose new single Paradise sounds as if it grew out of a highland gathering.

That incredible man with the feet of flames, Michael Flatley, after a successful return from early retirement on Dancing with the Stars in America in 2008 has made a comeback with his show the Celtic Tiger and you can see that his style of step dancing is certainly destined to make you fit.

Even the Greeks have claimed a connection to the Celts.

On Britain’s Got Talent, when Stavros Flatley and his son took to the stage mixing levity with cultural creativity, the audience and judges were left speechless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHvATmUsSg

The Celt’s aren’t a coming, they have always been here.

They are a pretty passionate bunch too, so if you are contemplating getting among them, watch out you might find yourself singing and dancing before you know it.

Enjoy

In Australia contact Celtic Council of Australia if you want to find out about the next Celtic gathering.

Celtic Countries:
Scotland
Wales
Ireland
Isle of Man

Celtic Regions:
Cornwall (County of England)
Brittany (Part of France)
Nova Scotia (Province of Canada)

Non-Celtic Countries with pockets of Celts:
Spain
Portugal
England
France
United States
Italy
Canada
Australia
Argentina
New Zealand

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2010, 2011

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Croatian Cellists Luke Sulic and Stjepan Hauser - 2Cellos

Along with a passion for early music is the enjoyment and love of music written for my favourite instrument, the violoncello. Often shortened to Cello. I would ride through storm and tempest to attend performances played by renowned modern cellists such as Steven Isserlis and Peter Wispelway, especially when they perform with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Over the centuries the instruments that have been played and the voices that have either sung, or narrated to music, have been a powerful force affecting the lives of many people.  English actor Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of 1938 about an invasion of the world by aliens, against a backing of a music show terrified millions. In more recent times Elton John’s rendition of the poignant song Candles in the Wind at Princess Diana’s funeral touched the hardest heart.

Music expresses emotions and ideas in significant forms with rhythm melody, harmony and colour elements contributing to creating an art of sound. It can have both darkness and light, as opposing forces in its make up, highlighting its ability to represent both evil and good. It creates camaraderie, and has been proven to have many therapeutic qualities, including providing an atmosphere wherein calm can prevail in a very busy world.

More recently I have enjoyed the innovative brilliance of the acclaimed 2Cellos, Croatian musicians Luke Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, who performed with Elton John on his 2011 tour.  If you haven’t caught up with this divine duo yet, now’s the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UyEtlJfG_Q

When it emerged during the seventeenth century from a more modest position among a group of instrumentalists, the art of violoncello playing became valued first in Italy, which became overpowered by the love of opera, while Germany and France went on to cultivate its solo playing as the art form.

If you want to understand the style of music originally designed for the cello as a solo instrument, The Cello Suites is an extraordinary tale, beautifully crafted and terrifically told of an epic quest undertaken by Canadian rock critic Eric Siblin. a great book about the search for a Baroque masterpiece, a score specifically written for the cello.

It seems Eric Siblin had an epiphany of sorts when he attended a recital of J S Bach’s six Cello Suites, falling completely under the spell of this classic musical masterpiece. He decided to go on his own journey to learn all about the works and their composer and to record his findings. By all accounts he certainly got more than he bargained for. Along the way he unravels three centuries of mystery, intrigue, history, politics and passion and his compelling work is part biography, part music history, and part literary mystery as it follows three diverse trails on an ever evolving story.

The first is a dramatic narrative featuring eighteenth century composer Johann Sebastian Bach and his missing manuscript; the second traces the journey of Spanish musician Pablo Casals and his rise to fame playing the suites; and the third is Eric Siblin’s own discovery of, and infatuation with the transcandental quality of the music itself.

“It was a powerful experience for me,” he said. “It was like being struck by lightning in a musical way.”

His journey takes him from the back streets of Barcelona to a Belgian mansion, and bombed-out German palace.

He has interviews with renowned modern day cellists Mischa Maisky, Anner Bylsma, and Pieter Wispelwey. He digs into archives, follow festivals, attends conferences, and investigates certain cemeteries.  He also takes cello lessons himself all in pursuit of uncovering the mysteries that continue to haunt this piece of music more than 250 years after the composer’s death.

He turned up some fascinating details about Bach….”His life wasn’t as deadly dull as most people imagine it to be” said Siblin. Up until he was ten years old Johnann Sebastian Bach was taught by his father, however following his death in 1695 he and his brother Johann Christoph studied organ in Ohrdruf and he also developed an interest in organ building.

He was a Court Composer at Weimar for two ruling Grand Dukes 1708 – 1717 and then, at Cöthen for a youthful Prince Leopold.  He wrote works for small court orchestra, including toccatas, capriccios, fantasias, fugues, variations, suites, sonatas, and miscellaneous shorter pieces for teaching.

Bach’s six acclaimed Brandenburg Concertos were dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721.  In 1723 he was employed as Cantor for the Choir School of St. Thomas in Leipzig where he was given responsibility for the music at five principal city churches. This is the period when he composed a huge amount of choral works and also took charge of the University Collegium musicum. His collected works were first published by the Bach-Gesellschaft (Bach Society), 1851-1900 using the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Thematic-Systematic Listing of the Works of J.S. Bach) devised by Wolfgang Schmieder.

The rendition of 2Cellos ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns N Roses is so awesome it has to be seen to be believed. Bach would have surely approved of these boys and their magical music making on the violoncello.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AYEgwwCYWw

Carolyn McDowall The Culture Concept Circle 2009 – 2011

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That great festival of love Christmas is nearly upon us once more, when telling stories about life during Roman times and making music is part of a feast of ideas celebrating both community and culture. It is a time when we celebrate the birth and life of Jesus of Nazareth and listen to the message he sent to the world. This important festival has survived to come down to us through the ages. It is about his words and actions that, as he grew from a baby to a young Jewish man, were so convincing.

On Christmas Day as we enjoy a day of being with the people we love and care about should we engage in a conversation about what the message of Christmas truly means in a simple and unemotional way? Or has the message truly become lost, buried under a mountain of tinsel and toys?  If that message is still important then is it perceived now by Australians as only the province of those who declare they are religious? I like to hope not.

In his own time Jesus was regarded by many as a troublemaker, by some as a prophet, by others as divine, and by an increasing number as God himself. He cared for those who came into his sphere of influence. He had the courage of his convictions, offered compassion to those whose only response to his words was betrayal or violence. And, most importantly he did not stop loving those around him who doubted him or his message, even unto death.

Jesus was directly connected in mind, body and will to the ideas and promises that had been made to the Jewish people since the dawn of time. So many forget and want to deny that he was Jewish. But, he was. The cross he was eventually crucified on by his own people was made from a tree that once stood tall and strong in a forest. It has become symbolic of his birth, death and resurrection. The Christmas tree, like Jesus, is cut down in its prime, resurrected to stand tall, and then clothed in light.  Like the use of a crown, it was light that characterized and differentiated his person, as well as exalted and distinguished it.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

It was in the late Renaissance period that Michelangelo Merisis da Caravaggio (1571-1610) became a master of light in painting.

Caravaggio’s Jesus is a man made of flesh and blood, not a disembodied spirit. His resurrection is apprehended in literal terms, and therefore all the more miraculous.

The other two disciples, whose hands are concealed are not questioning Jesus’s identity.

They flank the doubting disciple Thomas, who is carefully prodding the wound in Christ’s side because he did, like many still do, doubt Jesus’ authenticity.

‘Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed; blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed’.

Caravaggio was always concerned with portraying the humble humanity of Jesus and people who were conscious of their ‘human’ flaws…so they were not depicted as being heroic…but real.

The models he chose to portray them were too, and his art abounds in symbolism. Caravaggio embraced the reality of the misery, injustice and sorrow in the world. He fostered a belief in the transcendent power of humility, resignation and faith.

Although his works speak through the visible, they always speak of the invisible. While they focus on a man’s body, their interest primarily is in a man’s spirit and soul.

They are truly great works of art.

Caravaggio found meaning, spirit and purpose in everything around him, while revealing to us the intangibles that so often occlude the truth with a riveting and powerfully humanistic reality.

Being real is an important focus for religious leaders today. Too 0ften in the past they have been perceived as being lofty, almost unapproachable, as if their leaders were not real people at all. This is partly their own fault, but also the media must take a great deal of responsibility for the images they create and portray.

During my time living in the precinct of St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane (2000 – 2005) I would often observe a media photographer literally get down on his knees to take a photograph of the Archbishop, or a priest involved in a story they were reporting.

This technique produced an image that looked ‘up’ rather than directly at the person in question.

When published it gives a false impression to the populace who view the image. They have a perception that the person is unattainable, rather than one who is both open and honest.

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, Primate of the Anglican Church is one of the most attainable, approachable, compassionate and caring of church leaders. And, you can trust him to say it how it is no matter how much that might make you squirm.

Pushing people beyond the boundaries they create for themselves is not a bad thing.

In his Easter Sermon for 2011 Archbiship Phillip Aspinall said

“The Christian faith is not about rescuing people and plucking them out of a messed up world to fly away to some safe haven called heaven. Christianity isn’t about escape from a world that’s heading for destruction.

It’s about the transformation of the world…

…there’s no shortage of work to be done. It would take a very short time to come up with a very long list of things in our world that need transforming. Our newspapers and televisions are full of them every day.

The misery caused by problem gambling.
The pain and suffering caused by holding children in detention camps.
The risk caused to the aged and vulnerable by the prospect of legalized euthanasia.
Lives and families knocked for six by natural disasters.
The depression, isolation and hopelessness of many with mental illness.
The blot on society that is human trafficking.
The scourge of rampant domestic violence.

All these manifestations of death and corruption need ultimately be transformed”.

The future relies on each and every one of us embracing the Christmas message ­ – caring, courage, compassion and love. It requires that we gain an empathy with each other, by learning how to have a regard for each other’s ideas and opinions and also how to respect other people and their beliefs, religious or otherwise.

Developing our culture means the little things must be observed. How we meet and greet each other, conduct ourselves in regard and respect for those around us, through the every day rituals we perform and by displaying our manners and etiquette.

Culture in the twenty first century is about how we make love, maintain bodily health, mental strength and inner wellbeing. It is also about our behaviours and beliefs, our moral and social mores. It relies on each and every one of us to promote the emergence of new ideas, to encourage the raising of positive voices and to provide a practical benefit for the marginalised sections of our society.

Importantly, as Jesus encouraged – we must talk about the things that hurt.

All people, regardless of race, ethnicity and creed, who live in Australia from the 21st century onward will need to pull together as one, if we are to define and shape the continuing development of our nation and its multi cultural concepts. And we cannot do that without complete respect for each other’s stories.

Currently Australians are involved in many great endeavours around the world.  Daring to imagine and plan for what it might be possible to accomplish has been made possible through the significant achievements of our ancestors. In historical terms it is the stories of Australia’s indigenous people that are told first and that is, and should remain a priority. However we also need to close divisive gaps between the diverse groups of peoples now integral to our population, so that they do not feel, or believe, that they are on the outside looking in.

We need to be inclusive and show respect and regard for each other.

We also need contemporary leaders who will come together to offer our growing global multi cultural society new options, new policies, other ways of doing things and, considered choices. Most importantly leaders need to empower communities to transform themselves. Then it will really become empowerment of, by and for the people.

Good citizens who believe they are consulted will help keep our cities safe, our communities thriving and our country and its established democratic freedoms and culture, both active and alive.

Carolyn McDowall The Culture Concept Circle 2011

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, Primate of the Anglican Church in Australia offers his words for people to consider if not in a church, in their own time and place. His sermons, from time to time are available on line Anglican Diocese of Brisbane

* Manning Clark Reflection (1988, 62)

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All cultures on earth, just like individuals, have distinct modes of existence. Creation stories are something they all have in common in a logical attempt to rationalize the presence of humans on earth. Early progressive civilizations, around 5600 years before the Christ event, were sited on the plains of the Indus Valley of Pakistan, around the convergence of the Lower Tigris and Euphrates rivers near modern day Iraq and in the Nile Valley at Egypt. Their peoples practiced primitive forms of agriculture and animal husbandry.

At first they hunted prey. Then they learned to tether and pen animals and to look after grazing animals. Sheep and goats were among the first to be domesticated. They collected fruits and berries, raised crops, propagated grasses as cereals. They learned to plait fibres and used them to make gathering bags to collect their produce and for fastening the garments they made to protect themselves from the harshness of the elements. Finally from being nomadic they established permanent settlements. They developed houses from simple mud and beehive huts to the more sound foundations of post and lintel construction.

The Sumerians were the first linguistically identifiable urban literate society, and one of the first documented in human history. With the invention of writing during the third millennium before the Christ event at Sumer, information about higher crop yields could at last be recorded in a retrievable form. This in turn facilitated the efficient administration of other activities becoming an essential aspect of urban life. Their organisational system was a theocracy, a form of government in which the rulers and their policies identify with the leaders of the dominant religion. A theocracy can also be exercised directly by the clergy or, indirectly through a King, who is also the head priest.  This system once established offered a measure of prosperity and for a long time there was peace.

Economic life flourished and improved agriculture permitted the support of an increasing population while urban life, in its turn, allowed for a greater specialisation in arts and crafts. However, as is the case in the histories of all early civilisations when one city or kingdom was seen to flourish and perceived to be successful, along would come one warlord, or another, to conquer or destroy it.

The shape of the Ziggurat at Uruk is believed to have inspired the design for the later smooth faced pyramids at Egypt. Uruk in Sumer was also the home of legendary hero Gilgamesh, who played an important role in the mythology of a variety of early Mesopotamian civilizations.

It is important to clarify the use of the word legend as some may be fearful a lack of truth is suggested. However, that is not the intention. Originally a legend was understood to be an illustrative story, one that conveyed a profound spiritual truth in an attempt to explain the inexplicable.

An icon of popular culture The Epic of Gilgamesh is a heroic tale rooted in the ancient wisdom-tradition of mankind by perhaps the oldest known human author who lived 2750-2500 BCE.

Originally written in cuneiform (which means ‘wedge-shaped’) script on clay tablets, modern generations know the story from the fragments recovered in 1853 from the remains of the extensive library of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal (668 to 627 BCE) at Nineveh, the last capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet
how Gilgamesh went through every hardship.
Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance,
he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild bull.
He walks out in front, the leader,
and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions.
Mighty net, protector of his people,
raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone!
Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is strong to perfection,

The Epic of Gilgamesh reflects a Sumerian worldview at the time, as well as that of the Babylonians and Assyrians, who later conquered the Sumerians and assimilated their culture. Like all such narratives it contains historical and mythical elements.

Modern archaeologists have found a great deal of relevance to both ancient sites and cultural practices in its prose. At its heart are the human themes of friendship and courage needed in abundance by each and every one of us so that we may gain the skills necessary to deal with the finality of death while learning about, and searching for, the meaning of life.

In the Nile valley the ancient Egyptians established a civilization envied and admired for 3000 years. They became very civilized, cultivating their fields, learned to store crops against times of famine and to gauge the rhythm of the river Nile, whose life giving waters were central to both the organization and political unification of their country.

The grape vine was one of the first plants domesticated, although its nature required certain conditions of geography and climate for it to flourish and produce fruit.   ‘A little wine makes glad the heart’ and there is many that would agree with this observation, including Noah whom the first book of the Bible, Genesis tells us was a man of the soil, the first to plant a vineyard, drink the wine and become drunk. This was an experience that would have left him not only worse for wear but also ashamed, because in early cultures it was not considered hospitable by your peers to overindulge. The juice of the grape was to be enjoyed in an air of conviviality and communion and over the centuries it also became an instrument of religious experience, a practice that continues unabated to the present day.

Wine making developed, alongside a variety of food processing techniques, made possible when nomadic groups of peoples began permanent settlements. Staying in one place allowed time for experimentation and a variety of food processing techniques slowly evolved. These included producing bread, an array of meat and grain dishes, as well as beer. Crafts, important for food preparation, storage and service advanced hand in hand with Neolithic cuisine. Storage vessels made from local clays were crudely made at first however, as time went on production was gradually refined, their surface becoming a vehicle for individual self-expression.

The ancient Egyptians created a civilization that lasted for over 3,000 years. It has been calculated that during this period more than half a billion people existed on Egypt’s soil. Thebes was the ceremonial capital on the West Bank of the Nile. They developed a remarkable knowledge of astronomy, engineering, mathematics and medicine and had an organised taxation and legal system with a police force and courts.

Women had more legal rights than those in some countries today and wore fine clothing and used a wide range of cosmetics and beauty products. Four Queens ruled Egypt in their own right. Two are obscure and two are famous: Hatshepsut and Cleopatra..while the beautiful Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaten may have held sole power after her husband’s death. We owe our calendar of 365 days to the ancient Egyptians. They were the first to divide the day and night into 24 hours….they were truly amazing.

Making superb objects for Pharaoh became an ‘act of love’ for many craftsmen, particularly if Pharoah had gained their respect. The ancient Egyptian desired gold as a symbol of survival and eternity and their myths describe the gods as possessing ‘silver bones, golden flesh and lapis lazuli beards’. Jewellery permeated every facet of Egyptian civilisation and was revered at every level of society. It later became the perfect motive for tomb robbers to desecrate the sacred graves of their Pharaoh’s and one inscription found tells us

‘The noble mummy of the king was entirely laid over with gold….and…we found the queen likewise; we collected together all that we found on her also…and… divided it into eight shares.

A great deal of skill is needed to produce a great work of art. First of all there is vision and inspiration. Then the vision has to be combined with great technical ability to produce the work, as well as the spiritual uplift and inspiration, which is unseen but nevertheless, expressed in the figure that can be seen.

The tomb of Psusennes 1 Pharaoh of XXI Dynasty 989 – 943 B.C.E. could be perhaps one of the most underrated discoveries in the scheme of things at Egypt. His name means “The Star Appearing in the City” and his name has been linked with the legendary Jewish prophet and King David, who was renowned for his skills as a warrior and for writing the Psalms, poems put to music, which are published in The Bible.

The great strength of Egyptian culture was that religion and life were interchangeable as well as interdependent in their approach to, and understanding of, their existence. They did not seek to separate themselves from their faith, actions or beliefs in their daily occupation.

The stunning jewellery found in Psusennes’s tomb displayed skilled workmanship of the highest order. Psusennes identified himself with the sun god Ra, in order to attain divine immortality. In Egyptian symbolism Ra is represented with the head of a falcon, surmounted by a solar disc, surrounded with the Uraeus, or sacred flame-spitting cobra who offered protection to Pharaoh and is featured on the crown of Egypt rearing up over the forehead.

‘My heart is the heart of the sun the heart of the sun is my heart’.

Psusennes 1 highly refined gold death mask was to be his face in the after world. Many prefer its simple gold luminosity to the highly decorated mask of the boy king, the youthful Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

We could be entirely cynical and consider that perhaps Tutankhamun has assumed a far greater importance than he would have otherwise attained had his value and worth been measured by the words, deeds and actions of his brief life’s journey rather than by the fabulous and vast collection of worldly goods found in 1932 by Howard Carter (1874-1939) for Lord Carnarvon.

All these were provided to enrich his journey to, and in the after life and that concept of their culture is certainly in direct contrast to the modern conviction… you can’t take it with you.

Carolyn McDowall ©The Culture Concept 2010, 2011

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