Coin Trees - Wishing Rituals

Coin tree / Wishing rituals 

"The coins are usually knocked into felled tree trunks using stones by passers-by, who hope it will bring them good fortune.These fascinating spectacles often have coins from centuries ago buried deep in their bark and warped by the passage of time.The tradition of making offerings to deities at wishing trees dates back hundreds of years, but this combination of the man-made and the natural is far more rare."

'In Britain it dates back to the 1700's and is said that a sick person could press a coin into a tree and their illness would go away...But If someone then takes the coin out though, it's said they then become ill.'

Coin wishing trees have also popped up in other parts of England and in other European countries. Modern takes on the wishing tree includes hanging trinkets, colourful fabrics or written wishes and worries from the branches. The wishing tree concept is one that has existed in much of the world.

"A wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit saint or goddess fulfilment of a wish." 

"On Isle Maree, a small island in the middle of Loch Maree in the Highlands, an oak tree on the island is festooned with coins, after visitors made votive offerings in the hopes of benefiting from the water's perceived healing powers.Following a visit by Queen Victoria in 1877, who wrote about the mysterious oak in her published diaries, the tree became an even more popular attraction, though copper poisoning posed a bit of a problem later on. The legend of the Money Tree also states that coins that fall from it are wishes that will not be granted."

                                                                                                                                                                   

Reflection

I am deeply fascinated by relics of the past, and find the combination of these natural forms coupled alongside man-made items to be rich in sculpture potential. By defamiliarising the coins from there usual environment they begin to take on a mystical aura, but still retain there inherent value alongside connotations surrounding payment and settlement. I would like to use these similar materials and forms within my growing practice as I believe it is important to use the unconventional in order to truly emphasis out of the box concepts.   

Although it is unclear where this myth started from, it is evident that it carries a strong hold on tourists even to this day, as superstition is still viewed by many as something not to play around with. Not wanting to chance ill health, even those who don't believe, hammer a coin into the wood so as not to offend the tree spirits. Personally I find there to be something folksy and charming about the continuation of myths and legends, as they connect us to our forefathers adding mystery and wonder to an overly analytical, godless society. 

    

                                                                                                                                                                   

Sources 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036581/Mystery-wishing-trees-studded-coins-illness-away-sick.html

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/great-britain-wishing-trees

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wish_Tree

https://stv.tv/news/features/1377353-where-money-grows-on-trees-story-of-scotland-s-wishing-coin-trunks/

                                                                                                                                                                   

Celtic Rituals

 Ancient Celtic Rituals 

Through out Celtic History, Rituals were an ingrained part of life, Carried out in an attempt to secure a desired fate,for example: to win a battle, or to insure a bountiful harvest, happy marriage or complication free child birth. The Celtic people, like many parts of the world at the time had a large variety of deity's that would dwell over a couple of matters, for  example, Abellio,- God of the apple tree. or Cerridwen Goddess of the earth, nature and fertility. Unlike the Christian system of 'one god fits all', the Celtic people believed in a community of Gods and Goddess, that all had there special gifts.Through out a number of rituals, it was customary for the summoning party to offer a gift or sacrifice in exchange for the help of the God, or Goddess in question. Thus completing the transaction.

"Rivers, lakes, springs or wells were focal points for Celtic rituals. Coins, metalwork and animal remains were among the votive offerings frequently found at these sites. Within the context of a pastoral, cattle-based culture that typified much of the pagan Celtic world, it makes sense that these water sites would acquire nurturing and maternal connotations.

Significantly, rivers were often personified as female divinities in the Celtic world. In one myth, a noble Dagda had a well where nine hazel trees overhung and dropped their crimson nuts in the water, causing bubbles of mystic inspiration. Only the Dagda or his three cup-bearers were allowed to draw water from the well. But a young woman, Boann, disobeyed the taboo and the waters rose up, pursued and drowned her. The well’s water formed a river named after her—the Boann or Boyne." -  http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/celtic-rituals-sacred-sites-votive-offerings/

"Although there were ritual centers, every mountain, spring, marsh, tree and outcrop was endowed with divinity and thus ritual enactments could be performed any place. Lakes, rivers, and springs had special appeal as seen from the votive deposits in Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Llyn Cerrig Bach in Wales and the rivers Thames and Witham in England."

                                                                                                                                                  

Festival rituals and ceremonies  

It was general practice for the Celtic people to do some pretty barbaric things, and this was never more the case then at group gathering such as festivals and ceremonies. Acts of ritual and offering were so ingrained in the thread of the culture at the time that many acts of killing or massacre was seen as common place, necessary evils to please the gods.

"Publius Terentius Varro, a Narbonese Gaul (82-36 B.C), writes that with the aid of certain ointments the Druids put on their feet, the Celts would walk over a bed of burning coals at some of their festivals. John Toland said in The Critical History of the Celtic Religion and Learning that it was customary for a noble of distinction to walk barefoot over hot coals trice while carrying a sacrificial animal’s entrails in his hands. Then he would take this offering to the Druid who waited in a white skin at the altar. If the nobleman escaped unharmed, it was reckoned a good omen, but if he was hurt, it was deemed unlucky for both the community and himself.

Giraldus Cambrensis (1146-1220 AD) in Expurgatio Hibernica, gives an account of the ritual slaughter of a mare. The king-elect eats its flesh, and drinks and bathes in a broth made from the carcass. This was considered a ritual union through which the king seeks fertility for himself and his kingdom." - http://www.linneatanner.com/blog/celtic-rituals-sacred-sites-votive-offerings/

The most famous Druidic ritual, thanks to the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) is the cutting of mistletoe from a sacred oak with a sickle on the sixth day of the moon followed by the sacrifice of two white bulls. He reports, “They believe that the mistletoe, taken in drink, imparts fertility to barren animals and that it is an antidote for all poisons.”

One divination ritual was connected with the election of the High King of Ireland. A Druid would eat the flesh of a slain bull and drink its blood. He was then put to sleep by four other Druids, and the person of whom he dreamt would be the future High King. If he lied about his dream then the gods would destroy him.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

Sources 

http://www.gaelicmatters.com/celtic-religion.html#poly

http://www.angelfire.com/wizard/celticdeities/

http://linneatanner.com/celtic-rituals-sacred-sites-votive-offerings/

http://www.sacredfire.net/ritual.html

Dry-point etching / automatic drawings

Dry point etchings derived from automatic drawings 

                                                                                                                                                                   

Reflection

This series of etching were derived from a collection of automatic drawings, I made whilst attempting to clear my mind. As my mind cleared different thoughts would flash across my head, each joined with an emotion, these emotive thoughts would be subconsciously documented through the lines of my pen, creating fluid gestural motions coupled alongside sharp barbs and erratic ink splodges. Once the drawing was coupled I slowly etched over the top of them creating several etching plates of painstaking slow movements, this sharp contrast between the thoughtless movement of the automatic and the thoughtful movement of the crafted is extremely rich in content. Having to retrace all of the marks I made produces disciplinary and moral implications, which can only  be rebelled against by the over inking of the etching plate, thus creating one of a kind back grounds, which allow the forms to appear to float around in mid air. I am keen to try out further printing process, in order to look into all areas of potential.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Wood Carvings - Riverside walk

Wood Carvings - Riverside walk

                                                                                                                                                                 

Reflection 

I came across these carvings quite by chance, as I was walking by the riverside. Immediately I was taken aback by how they resemble a dismembered totem pole, the shapes of the carvings seem to have a primitive ritualistic dialogue. I was careful not to move the sections from there resting places as I felt it would be disrespectful. Traditionally myth has it that carved trees are used as talismans, which are said to posses magical powers. The gestural nature of these carving intrigue me,as I wonder where they came from. I would be open to using this technique within my own work, by collecting other natural materials and making my own set of carvings.



                                                                                                                                                                 

Celtic Symbols

The Pendle Witch Child

The Pendle Witch Child

During the sixteenth century whole districts in some parts of Lancashire seemed contaminated with the presence of witches; men and beasts were supposed to languish under their charm, and the delusion which preyed alike on the learned and the vulgar did not allow any family to suppose that they were beyond the reach of the witch's power....At the assizes at Lancaster in the autumn of 1612, twenty persons, of whom sixteen were women of various ages, were committed for trial, and most of them tried for witchcraft.

Their names were:

• Elizabeth Southerns, (alias Demdike)
• Elizabeth Device (daughter of Demdike)
• James Device (son of Elizabeth Device)
• Alison Device (daughter of Elizabeth Device)
• Anne Whittle (alias Chattox)
• Anne Redferne (daughter of Chattox)
• Alice Nutter
• Jane Bulcock
• John Bulcock (son of Jane Bulcock)
• Katherine Hewitt (alias Mould-heels)
• Isabel Robey
• Margaret Pearson
• 
  

Margaret Pearson was tried 1st for murder by witchcraft; 2nd for bewitching a neighbour; 3rd for bewitching a horse; and, being acquitted of the two former charges, was sentenced for the last to stand upon the pillory in the markets of Clitheroe, Padiham, Colne, and Lancaster for four successive market days, with a printed paper upon her head, stating her offence.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Description of the Witch Demdike

She was a very old woman, about the age of four-score years, and had been a witch for fifty years. She dwelt in the Forest of Pendle, a vast place, fit for her profession: What she committed in her time, no man knows.

Thus lived she securely for many years, brought up her own children, instructed her grand-children, and took great care and pains to bring them up to be witches.

She was a general agent for the Devil in all these parts: no man escaped her, or her furies, that ever gave them any occasion of offence, or denied them anything they stood need of: And certain it is, no man near them, was secure or free from danger.

Description of the Witch Chattox

This Anne Whittle, alias Chattox, was a very old withered spent and decrepit creature, her sight almost gone: A dangerous witch, of very long continuance; always opposite to old Demdike: For whom the one favoured, the other hated deadly: and how they envy and accuse one another, in their examinations, may appear.

In her witchcraft, always more ready to do mischief to mens goods, than themselves.

Her lips ever chattering and walking: but no man knew what.

She lived in the Forest of Pendle, amongst this wicked company of dangerous witches.

From The Wonderful Discovery of Witches 
in the County of Lancaster, 1613
Thomas Potts (clerk of the court).

                                                                                                                                               

The twelve persons already named were styled Witches of Pendle Forest.

The following eight were called
Witches of Samlebury:

• Jennet Bierley
• Ellen Bierley Daughter of Jennet Bierley
• Jane Southworth
• John Ramsden
• Elizabeth Astley
• Alice Gray
• Isabel Sidegraves
• Lawrence Haye

The last four were discharged without trial.

The sensation produced by these trials was immense, not only in this, but throughout neighbouring counties, and Thomas Potts, the clerk of the court, was directed by the judges of assize, Sir Edward Bromley and Sir James Altham to collect and publish the evidence and other documents connected with the trial, under the revision of the judges themselves.

From Lancashire Folklore, 1882
John Harland and T.T. Wilkinson.

                                                                                                                                                                   

BBC Documentary 

                                                                                                                                                                   

Sources 

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/pendle-witch-child/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv-JDUfADiw

http://www.pendlewitches.co.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14490790

Craft Magazine - reflection

Craft Magazine 

                                                                                                                                                                   

Reflection 

 This edition of craft magazine, features forms both primitive and modern. The materials at the top of the page possess a rustic charm that forms a charismatic warmth to the items them selves. It is plain to see the distinction between practicality and function and those images that are largely ornamental and decorative. The colourful waxy piece at the bottom, inspired my use of wax within my "scrying" sculptures. Due to the forms illustrated above, I chose to use different colours of wax to make the resulting creations visually appealing even though they would be burnt away in the forge. The action of crafting something from scratch, by using techniques and processes handed down to you, has a originality and craftsmanship to it that I find to be refreshing. Within the current industrial, mass-made society the majority of products are bulk made. I find this very sad, as the strength of humanity is the ability to create bespoke items. I will be using a lot of hand crafted processes within my own practice in order to revive some long forgotten traditions.

                                                                                                                                                                  

Joseph Beuys : Artist Research

Joseph Beuys 

The visual language of his drawing describe the delicate and fragile nature of society. By only giving us enough to identify and object Beuys allows us to project our own picture into the image. I am highly interested in this way of working, as I develop my practise in emotional reactions to drawing strategies.  The occasional bold use of colour suggests a certain importance as to the figures, vermilion, a colour rich in connotations of violence and rebirth.

"Thinking Is Form: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys reveals how Beuys’s identity not only as an artist, but as a teacher, performer, political activist, and social reformer, can be traced through his drawings. Beuys’s drawings also provide a crucial key to the artist’s theory of “social sculpture,” a phrase which describes both his own mission and his conception of society and the world as a vast work of art existing in a process of constant transformation. “Beuys designated all of life as a creative activity,” Bernice Rose writes in her catalogue essay, “with humanity as its central subject.... Beuys is best known for his sculpture, with its many unorthodox mediums and materials, and for the “Actions” (performances) which made him one of the most visible figures in the art world. But it was in his drawings (generally agreed to exceed 10,000 sheets) that he diagrammed his ideas and first revealed his creative identity. Beuys often likened his drawings as a whole to an energy bank, a vital source of ideas. In her catalogue essay, Ann Temkin writes, “Beuys has been described by those who knew him as constantly drawing; he drew while travelling, while watching TV, while in private discussion, while in performance. Beuys’s attitude toward drawings implied it to be as intrinsic to him as breathing.”

Thinking Is Form: The Drawings of Joseph Beuys includes some 180 examples in a variety of mediums, from traditional ones such as pencil, watercolour, oil, and collage to less conventional materials such as hare’s blood, beeswax, chalk on blackboard, and chocolate. The works show how, over the course of five decades, Beuys’s drawings moved from the sketchbook page to the blackboard, from private to public. They also reveal the rich variety of sources that inform all of Beuys’s work, including alchemy, Christian tradition, mythology, literature, anthropology, and science.In the early 1960's, Beuys allied himself with the FLUXUS movement, where he first emerged in his public role as performer. He became one of the most prominent figures in that movement’s festivals and events, and many of his drawings from this period serve as scores or plans for “Actions.” Beuys’s increasingly public concerns, and the transformation from performer into political activist and social reformer, may be traced through the drawings of the late 1960's and 1970's, which show his expanding concept of art and the role of drawing within it. His concern with social and intellectual reform led him into politics in the 1970's, but also into a new artistic territory of drawings both diagrammatic and emblematic which he used to illustrate his thought.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Reflection:

Storytelling, ritual and myth have always played a significance in the life of Joseph Beuys. Throughout his career as an artist, he never stopped using narratives whether fictional or not, as a tool to open the eyes of the viewer and engage them into seeing his work in a different light.  Claiming “A powerful myth contains more truth then everyday reality” he saw myth as a realm within a realm where anything could have truth if the story was potent enough. The use of myth within society harks back to the beginning of time, where problems were dealt with and cures were made, purely by whatever was close to hand at the time. This ancient knowledge as it was known is largely made from a mixture of bricolage and homeopathy, and developed through a process of trial and error by cunning folk. 

                                                                                                                                                                   

sources:

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/387?locale=es