Heroes Not Zombies

I was born in Scotland and lived there for the first sixty years of my life. So these Celtic designs are very, very familiar to me. They aren’t quite a symbol in the way a Christian crucifix or the Asian yin yang symbol, but they have the power of a symbol for me. They are more than just a design or a pattern.

For me they convey two fundamental characteristics of reality – interconnectedness and flow.

You can’t see a start or a finish in any of these typical Celtic motifs – whether you look at a small one, such as the three loop structure on the horizontal arms of this cross, or at the larger ones which cover the uprights. You can start anywhere, follow with your eyes, or trace with a finger, and you’ll eventually end up back where you started.

This demonstrates a third feature of reality. The constant flow along a completely interconnected system produces a rhythm of cycles, or of seasons. It inspires me to think of both dynamic complexity and non-linearity, both of which are key to understanding living creatures.

The smaller designs on this cross are three interwoven loops, and this motif of a triad is very, very common in Celtic art. In fact they have a special name – a triskele. Google that word and see how many variations there are.

I’m particularly fond of the triskele – it speaks to me of wholistic perspectives, of body, mind and spirit, something which is at the heart of my understanding of human beings and human health.