Lugh, the Celtic god of Sun and Light, celebrates the sun’s annual path across the sky. Each of the year’s solar events — solstices and equinoxes and the midpoints between these — marks the passing of the seasons on Earth. I have written the name of each solar holiday in Runes around the sun’s face and marked him with Celtic knots that represent this unending cycle.
~ Helen Seebold
(36th Annual Sculpture in the Garden)
Great artwork!
Agreed! It will be interesting to see if Helen Seebold will have something new in this year’s coming exhibition.
Funny, but I hadn’t noticed the Celtic knots until the quote pointed them out — and here I’m Irish, ha!
I’m kind of wondering about the one under the mouth — it seems more like a spiral than a knot. But I guess Celtic spirals are a thing, too. 🙂
“Lugh” is the gift that keeps on giving this Summer – that’s for sure!
I’m sure the Irish, with their mild, cool summers, appreciated Lugh’s gifts much more than we do!
Yes, we could do with a few cool days – we got our cooler, less-humid days, but the wildfire smoke has been bad and will be bad the rest of this cool period, so I decided best not to take the camera out in it. I can put on a mask (I have N-95 masks I use in Winter for errands) but they kept saying “the particulate matter gets in your hair, on your clothes, etc. and you bring it into the house” … I decided it was not worth it. I need to take my car for a run … unbelievably it’s been 10 days since I had it out again. It’s as bad as in Winter.
I heard on the news last night that Detroit had the 3rd worst air quality on the planet yesterday. Yikes! I thought of you, and wondered what all that smoke looks like when you look out your window, as I can’t imagine you going out into it. I hope you’re doing okay. I remember when I was a child and New York City had such bad air pollution. When we’d go to the city to visit our aunts we could feel how dirty our hair and faces were getting. It got better after 1970 when the EPA started regulating the polluters.
Thank you for thinking of me Barbara and yes, what a statistic for the Detroit area to have. On the planet! Today was the 8th day in a row with record-breaking wildfire smoke. I saw photos of Downtown Detroit, about 13 miles from here, where the sky was a dark gray with an almost fluorescent sun at sunset on Monday night, the worst day/evening so far. It was eerie looking. I ran out for the garbage as it was garbage day and that was it. Today was bad too, but here the rating was 100, which was considered moderate and okay unless you are compromised with breathing or cardiovascular issues, where 150, yesterday, was considered unhealthy for all types. It will finally moderate tomorrow, but that comes with the return of hot, humid temps and stormy conditions off/on for five days. Not the Summer I dreamed about in the dead of Winter with the ice and snow. I can remember seeing photos of NYC, maybe in “Life” magazine back then. I understand it is not likely getting better in Summer, nor Fall.
I’ve seen pictures of the haze in Detroit, too — it was incredible. I can’t imagine what it must smell like. This is definitely not the summer you were hoping for. Sadly, climate change is going to be very difficult to adjust to in the coming years.
I follow a Michigan blogger who lives in Downtown Detroit (which was worse than some of the suburbs from the Canadian wildfires). This blogger is a photographer and posts his pictures as well as other Michigan photographer’s pics of various topics, including the wildfires and the incredibly smoky skies at sunset – they say we are getting gorgeous sunsets. I don’t look out as my view is obliterated by trees and houses. It amazes me how the fires begin on their own – lightning strikes usually and areas too risky and impossible to get in to fight fires except from above. I saw some incredible footage today of a plane dropping fire retardant on the wildfires. Climate change is wreaking havoc on everything … there may come a time that you and I will have fewer and fewer interactions with nature because of it – less butterflies, birds, all suffering from smoke and pollutants … not what we expected at all. Today I read a story that for extreme smoke, for those who must go outdoors for work especially, that every home should have a room with an air purifier and sealed-off windows and that room’s door remains closed so people can be assured of safe and clear breathing in one area of the home.
Wow, Barbara, not only is this a beautiful and cheerful piece of art but writing in runes is extraordinary. Lovely, thank you.
I’m so glad you appreciated this artist’s work, Jet. I’m looking forward to seeing what she will offer for next year’s exhibit.
Cool sculpture! I have an Irish friend with a tattoo of the sun on his upper arm that looks similar in shape to this sculpture.
Cool! I wonder if your Irish friend celebrates Lughnasa? I’ve been fascinated with the Irish holiday ever since I saw the movie Dancing at Lughnasa with Meryl Streep.