Bringing In The Light With The Winter Solstice
by Mara Baudais
I struggled against the wind and rain as I carried a knapsack and pulled a suitcase up the steep incline from the parking lot towards Newgrange, one of the Passage Burial Tombs in east coastal Ireland. My red umbrella continued to turn inside out. I felt constantly confronted yet also exhilarated with this fierce encounter with an early autumn storm.
Rising seventy metres on a black shale bench above the glacial silt plains of the River Boyne sit three megalithic tombs of the Neolithic or Late Stone Age also known as Passage Tombs or burial tombs. They date around 4000-2500 BC – Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth being the major ones – and are situated midway down the east side of Ireland.
They were built up to 6000 years ago in an area already settled by farmers in a very fertile area of Ireland. Part of this geographical island lying in the Bend of the Boyne, Bru na Boinne, was clay soil, another part gravel soil and yet another, slate like. The varied soil types meant that neither extreme drought nor rainfall could destroy all the crops. It had built-in weather safeguard. It was also a more protected, drier part of Ireland in general. The consistency of the climate gave rise to farmers who became increasingly wealthy and who, with the storage of varied crops, could afford the luxury of surplus time and energy to focus on extra non-productive activities such as the building of great stone monuments and other smaller stone structures. Practices, over time, were part of a cult of honoring dead tribal leaders which probably included rich ceremonial social interaction. Legend says the tomb was dedicated to Dagha, the sun god of pre-Christian times and later became the burial spot for the pagan kings of Tara only fifteen km away.
Passage Tombs have several common features: a mound in the shape of an egg called a tumulus. It is 85 meters across, 13 meters high and covers one acre. It is defined by a ring or kerb of 97 stones, a passage way and a chamber. I knew without doubt that this is where we got our word, curb which has the same basic use today – to define a certain boundary The building of the three Passage Tombs above the River Boyne seems to have developed over several hundreds of years, the design finally climaxing in the shaping of a cross. With a central space at the end of the passage way it also has a chamber on each side and also beyond it, making a very crude cross shape.
These Passage Tombs are known to be burial-places built from huge rocks. The passage way is built of large upright stones known as orthostats, averaging l0m in height and lead to a burial chamber. Both the 24m-long passage and burial chambers are roofed by large lintels or roof stones which fit into exact place. In Newgrange Passage Tomb the roof is held in place by the weight of the mound and the alternating layers of stone and sod which extend over the entire tomb. The entrance faces south-east. Kerb stones, 3 metres by l metre, laid end to end, keep back the earth and stone around the perimeter of these tombs. Artistic designs – usually circles, spirals, zigzags and triangles – are etched into their surface. I marveled that after all the past centuries these designs are still very clear.
Waiting for my group of ten to enter the passage way, I wandered around the outer path surrounding this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Returning to the opening I suddenly found myself alone. The site’s guide and the group had disappeared into the Tomb. I had to find a place to leave the umbrella and luggage and strapping my knapsack onto my chest I ducked low under the stone lintel of the entrance. All was darkness. I had to move sideways for most of the passage was very narrow. I could hear voices ahead. I was well aware that I was walking where my Irish ancestors had walked, where they had brought their dead to cremate. I finally came out to a dimly lit rounded chamber where a large three-spiral stone sat in a recessed part of the earth floor. Small chambers opened off the larger chamber to roughly take the shape of the cross. Three large stone basins, each about one metre wide were thought to have been used in cremation ritual. The tomb was plundered in the late 800’s AD by Viking raiders and after its recent excavation there is nothing left but the stone structure.
During the early days of Newgrange’s excavation there was a growing belief that the rising sun, at some unknown time, used to light up the three-spiral stone at the end of the passage. Finally on December 21st, 1969, the excavating crew investigated this idea. They recorded that the sun appeared above the horizon and a small shaft of light about the width of a pencil entered the roof-box. It was an aperture like as in a camera, l meter by 0.25 meter, and had been built behind the first lintel and below the second. This very narrow shaft of light shone along the whole passage to reach to one of the basin stones in the end chamber. Quite quickly the light widened to a 17 cm shaft and swung with a life of its own across the end chamber and the tomb was entirely lit. Shortly this 17 cm band of light narrowed and finally ceased to shine at all into the tomb. The tomb was again in darkness. For seventeen minutes, it was recorded, direct light entered Newgrange, not through the main door but through the specially designed slit which laid under the roof-box at the outer rim of the passage. It was most obvious that a specialized ritual of bringing the light into the tomb during the winter months was established. Since the burial tombs were a place of reverencing the dead, it is thought that the purposeful entering of the light was possibly symbolically giving the dead a passageway to the afterlife. Six thousand years ago, our ancestors had developed a ritual honoring the winter solstice—the sun’s rising on the shortest day of the year. I was in awe at the knowledge these ancient ones had possessed and had passed to us. I stood where ancient ritual had taken place and felt part of the eternal link that connected us all and I felt gratitude.
Boyne Valley Hill of Tara and Kells Private Tour from Dublin
If You Go:
Newgrange cannot be directly accessed. You must be on a guided tour that sets off from the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre, however you reach the centre.
To Get to the Centre:
From Dublin: M1 motorway heading north and turn onto Donore Exit near Drogheda. Travel six kilometers to Donore, turn right near the bar and restaurant, travel one kilometer to the Visitor Centre OR take a day tour that leaves from Dublin.
From Drogheda: Bus Eireann runs a bus to the Visitors Centre. It takes 20 minutes and runs from 10:15 am to 4 pm.
Other Sites To See:
Knowth: Another Passage Tomb; Also close to Newgrange; associated with the summer and spring equinoxes.
Dowth: a lesser of the three Passage Tombs in the same area.
Hill of Tara: 15 km from Newgrange; a Passage Tomb known as the ‘Mound of the Hostages’; thought to be where Scotland’s ancient kings were crowned.
About the author:
Mara writes creative non-fiction, travelogues, short philosophical essays and poetry. These are mainly based on traveling and/or a deeply insightful experience. Besides extensively traveling in Europe, she has visited North Africa, Thailand, Nepal, Israel, Turkey, China, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Sri Lanka after the tsunami, Guatemala, Canada (coast to coast), local areas of the B.C. coast and the Yukon. She has recently returned from a six month trip that stretched from Great Britain to the Black Sea. A photographer, artist, teacher and writer Mara Baudais can be reached at m_baudais@yahoo.ca
Photo credits:
First Newgrange stones photo by: John5199 / CC BY
All other photographs by Mara Baudais.
The Italian government has done a great job instructing visitors with strategically placed information about the site. We also liked the fact that they give you the freedom to discover Ostia on your own. Signs warn visitors to have respect for the artifacts. Because of atmospheric exposure and those created by the nearby airport, some of the monuments are wearing down. We wandered off the Decumanus, and. onto narrow paths scattered with pine needles, ducking under archways, and poking around alleys.
Just beyond the warehouses we climbed the few steps on our right. Here were the Baths of Neptune, a gathering place for the locals. An amazingly preserved mosaic, measuring 55 feet by 36 feet, is of the sea god riding a chariot drawn by four pawing horses.
We pictured the locals sitting in baths, then walking down the Maximus to imbibe a few cups of wine at the Insula of the Thermopolium.
The first excavations were started in the late 1700s and work has continued ever since. A roped-off area of white tents showed us that restoration was in progress. An employee with a high power water gun was spraying a mosaic. She told us that 21st century pollution makes it very difficult to keep them clean.
After navigating almost the length of the Maximus, we came to the Forum, the main square of the town. Here were the remains of important government and religious buildings. Many of the pillars and building foundations have been left standing. The huge Capitolium Temple dominates the right-hand side. Most Roman forums were dominated by a temple – to bring the deity to the people. The Capitolium Temple was dedicated to the pagan trinity of Juno, Jupiter and Minerva. Columns flank the massive staircase leading to the entrance. At least two stories are visible. Before heading back, we stopped at the near-by museum to view the busts and statues of the local citizenry. Most amazing is the detail to features, hair styles, and dress. My favorite was a soldier in a pleated kilt, headpiece, shoes, and weapon. There is also a room with more of the marble sarcophagi showing carvings of Dionysus, the Greek God of wine.
We headed for this scenic route, officially inaugurated on 25 May 1975, on a sunny day in July. It took us less than one hour, by taking the N13 from Caen, to reach the starting point of the Cider Route, Cambremer.
Cider-makers on the Cider Route compete annually and those selected display the sign “Cru de Cambremer” on the roadside at the entrances to their farms. Nineteen producers have been awarded the “Cru de Cambremer” in 2010 and nine of them offer guided tours. The specified products of these “Cru de Cambremer” can be marketed under the label Cidre du Pays d’Auge (AOC), Cidre du Pays d’Auge Cambremer (AOC) or Calvados du Pays d’Auge (AOC).
We were looking at the seemingly boundless farmland while our guide went on with her talk. “The yield per hectare is limited to 30 tonnes for low-stemmed apple trees and 20 tonnes per hectare for high-stemmed ones. This ensures the quality of the apples. Many farms prefer the low-stemmed apple trees nowadays as they can be machine harvested which saves a lot of manpower.”
Our next stop was the distillery for making calvados – an apple brandy produced from cider by double distillation. The liquid, which was just 10% in volume of the pre-distilled cider, was kept in large oak barrels between three and 30 years to give different brands of calvados.
Out here in the open, away from the confines of the city, the unique light of the Veneto takes centre stage and the whole lagoon becomes bathed in pure luminosity. It is a scene of wide horizons where sea and sky merge into a pool of rainbow like reflections. The light continuously shifts and I am lulled into a tranquil, hypnotic state, lost in an other world of translucence.
Torcello was the first island to be settled in the lagoon, long before the present day Venice. Its origins are founded on a series of mystical revelations. The people of the lagoon were originally from the Roman city of Altino which came under threat in the 5th century from barbarian invasion. As the Germanic hordes from the north approached Altino many of the residents fled in blind terror, but some remained under the leadership of the Bishop who waited for divine inspiration.
Until the 10th century Torcello was the greatest commercial centre in the lagoon, full of palaces, churches and even a grand canal. Like the lost mythical Camelot, Torcello offers a tantalizing glimpse of a golden utopia, where an egalitarian social hierarchy developed which was uniquely progressive for the time. Cassiodorious wrote “There is no distinction between rich and poor, the same food for all; the houses are all alike and so envy – that vice which rules the world – is absent here.” Here we see the roots of the liberal democracy which became such a feature of the Venetian Republic.
Today Torcello is largely deserted with probably no more than twenty people who are actual permanent residents here. It has a rustic and decaying atmosphere with just a few houses dotted about among the overgrown meadows leaving the island in an other worldly limbo of tranquil silence. Apart from a few farmers with small holdings most of the people who work here are involved with the tourists who come to see the few places of interest remaining on the island: the two churches. a small museum and the restaurant.
Next to the cathedral is the little church of Santa Fosca. This simple but charming Romanesque construction provides the setting for romantic weddings which are discreetly open to public view. In Venice it is so easy to casually become part of some intimate and private ritual. I remember being here once when a wedding was taking place and a crowd of people were milling around, peeping into the church with hushed curiosity. I had earlier seen the bride arriving in traditional Venetian mode: the young beauty standing motionless in her gondola, a vision in white, drifting gracefully along the canal.
Augustus the Strong, the Prince Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was jealous of great Catholic cathedrals, so he had this Lutheran house of worship built between 1726-1743 by George Bähr (mostly completed by 1736). Johann Sebastian Bach gave an organ recital there in 1736.
In 1982, the ruins became an area for protest gatherings against the Communist regime. But in January 1993, original plans from the 1720’s were used to reconstruct the church, using thousands of recovered stones which were put back in their original place (including ones darkened from the firebombing. This is why you see the exterior walls in checkered patterns). Photos and computer technology were used to reconstruct the church in as close of detail as possible, which took until 2005, costing 100 million Euros, 90 percent of that coming from global donations. The church is 92 meters high (about 302 feet) and you can take in a view from 85 meters (about 279 feet), according to the guided tour I took. You must climb some 220 steps to get up there. Near one of the Frauenkirche’s entrances are remains of the World War II destruction (that look like a sculpture) for people to ponder.
This Catholic church was built between 1739-1754 so August the Strong could become King of Poland, a Catholic country. It has the look of Roman Baroque style and is a stone’s throw from the River Elbe. The crypt contains the heart of August the Strong, too. The only aspect of the church building that was reconstructed from the ruins of World War II is the organ backdrop, containing a restored Sibermann organ that contains 3,000 pipes, in which I heard a beautiful Bach organ concerto playing during the noon hour. There are 78 figurines on the exterior of the church that were created by Lorenzo Mattielli.
The church has been onsite since 1215, making it the city’s oldest church. It held the first Lutheran service in Dresden, Germany in 1539, and has been destroyed several times: by fire in 1491, 1699; by war in 1760 (Prussians); and much of it was destroyed in the February 13, 1945 bombing raid. I toured the venue that was rebuilt and reconsecrated February 13, 1955. Professor Anton Dietrich’s painting, called Golgotha, survived the World War II bombings and subsequent fires but lost its luster until it was restored in 2001. This church has the second largest peal bells in Germany weighing over 28 tons, according to one of the church’s English brochures. They are still in disrepair, according to the church attendant I spoke to there. But the church can hold 4,000-5,000 people currently, making it the largest house of worship in Dresden.
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