Bog People…. Natural Sacred Places….Cruella……
by Bernie Bell - 10:25 on 14 January 2023
Bog People….
Someone sent me this… https://phys.org/news/2023-01-europe-famous-bog-bodies-tradition.html , knowing that I’d be interested.
My tuppenceworth’s from previous pieces of writing…….
Firstly, from https://theorkneynews.scot/2021/01/14/on-getting-your-hair-cut-in-these-times/ ……
“In ‘The Bog People’ by P.V. Glob https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/589141.The_Bog_People there are images of ‘bog people’ with styled hair, including this one……
….where the man’s hair is carefully tied in what’s known as a ‘Swabian knot’.
And, from https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/11/29/some-reasons-for-visiting-the-national-museum-of-scotland-edinburgh/ ….
“I encountered this lady/Goddess in the entrance passage to the area which has artefacts connected with Gods and ancestors…….
Here’s the ‘blurb’ that goes with her………
“Oak Goddess, found in a bog, covered by the remains of a wickerwork structure. The bog over-looked the entrance to a sea loch, at Ballachulish.”
Wooden representations of Gods and Goddesses were sometimes placed in bogs. Right in the land – and so, became part of the land. There are so many connections here, including Arno Minkkinen’s photographs of pieces of human anatomy – living human anatomy. https://www.artsy.net/artist/arno-rafael-minkkinen-1
One of Arno Minkkinen’s photographs is of himself, standing with his back to the camera – arms out-stretched. He looks like a piece of wood.
These images are reminiscent of the images of the Bog People in P.V. Glob’s book https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60883/the-bog-people-by-pv-glob-introduction-by-elizabeth-wayland-barber
…where the Bog People often end up looking like wood. The Bog people were also placed in the land – right in the land – and became part of the land.
Wood looking like humans. Humans looking like wood. Both can become earth.”
And finally, from https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/08/19/real-magic-at-northlight/ ....
“My response to Anna’s image entitled ‘Flo’. I asked - “Why Flo?” Anna said “Because that’s her name!”
Anna tells me that, when creating this image, in her mind she had the poem ‘Lorelei’ by Sylvia Plath – and listening to Sylvia reading that poem, I can see the connection…………… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMXLRVNeMMQ
Before Anna told me this, when I first looked at the image, I thought ’dead folk’ – The Bog People, as investigated by PV Glob in his book of that name.
I am fascinated by the Bog People, so, that’s probably something to do with how I saw ‘Flo’. How we interpret what we see, is often a result of our background – our life. I’m of Irish descent, and grew up with tales of bogs and their mysteries and magic – what can be lost in them, found in them, and sometimes, what rises from them. So, it’s not surprising that’s how ‘Flo’ speaks to me – a Bog Lady – emerging.”
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Natural Sacred Places….
Reading this…. https://e360.yale.edu/features/sacred-groves-religion-forests got me thinking about natural sacred sites, and I remembered writing this…..
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/11/05/wells-springs-of-orkney/
It could be said that there’s the whole of what’s now known as The Neolithic Heart of Orkney, which became The Neolithic Heart of Orkney because people acknowledged what’s there by raising monuments….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/08/18/bernie-bell-orkney-walks-with-stories-mid-hillstenness-a-view-from-the-hill-3/
And….
https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/11/16/lochside-viewpoint-exactly-what-it-says-it-is/
I mentioned Staneyhill – here’s a new piece from Sigurd Towrie…
https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/staneyhill-cairn/
Finally…. not part of The Neolithic heart of Orkney, but overlooking it…..the Magic Mountains of Hoy…
https://theorkneynews.scot/2017/06/01/bernie-bell-orkney-walks-with-stories-hoy-the-dwarfie-stane/
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If this all seems a bit bitty – I’m not well, so not so much writing new thoughts as bunging together old ones. Wish me well!
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I received this from ‘Freedom From Torture’.... https://www.freedomfromtorture.org/ …..
“86 year old Holocaust survivor Joan fled the Nazis as a child.
Yesterday, she confronted the Home Secretary Suella Braverman at a Conservative Party event in her Fareham constituency with a powerful message: stop trying to divide us.
You'll want to see this - and share it now.
To be a refugee is not a choice. But the Home Secretary could choose to show true leadership and welcome torture survivors seeking safety, instead of using dangerous language to scapegoat them.
Today is another day we prove the strength of feeling in this country in support of torture survivors and refugees. Thousands of us all over the UK refuse to be defeated by this government’s anti-refugee agenda - and we won’t stop spreading our message.
When they use the language of hate, we choose to use words of hope. When they try to divide people in this country, we always come together.
Whether you are sharing this video, chipping in a little money or taking action in your community - thank you for playing your part.”
In solidarity,
Agustina Oliveri
Senior Digital Campaigns Officer
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Here’s one I made earlier….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/10/02/waste-pot-want-pot/
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