Ireland and Me: The Allegory of the Celtic Tiger

No matter where one places astrology in ones belief system the content of Steffan Vanel's article - The Allegory of the Celtic Tiger - tells a compelling story. I found it especially engaging due to my long-time connection to Ireland through my Irish-born grandmother, my Irish citizenship and my years (2000-2006) of creating productions based on Irish culture and performing them for the Peace and Reconciliation Process in Belfast - as well as performing throughout the Island. I've immersed myself further in things Irish by creating the Gateway Irish Mummers who perform locally here in Atlanta and also internationally - most recently at a festival in Denmark that included a scientific seminar on Scandinavian Mummers. The soulful sounds and soaring sights of Atlanta's recent 18th annual Celtic Christmas still reign in my memory as the most sustaining offerings of the holiday season.

In Vanel's article I discovered that Ireland (as a country) has its sun in Taurus - as I do. I deeply relate to his emphasis on the power of unconditional love and it's challenges - as this has been and remains at the core of my life. Perhaps it's because Ireland and I share the sun in Taurus or maybe it's because unconditional love offers human existence's greatest challenges and lessons to everyone.

The first is the fact that Ireland has the Sun in Taurus. Someone who is Taurus is someone who has, in previous lives, developed a quality of love at a very high level. Taurus is ruled by Venus. This can be seen in the Irish love for Ireland and love for being Irish. This love for the land in Ireland was made more poignant by 800 years of English occupation of their land. ... The lesson for a Taurus, according to Hilarion, however, is to be able to give that love unconditionally. If they have difficulty giving that love it may instead turn back towards themselves, focusing on their senses or an over-valuing of money, possessions, and material security.Steffan Vanel

Vanel's article and other accounts of Ireland's current plight have brought Ireland - one of the great cultures of the world -even closer to my heart.

Popular posts from this blog

Composers Datebook for October 28, 2011

Image
  Prompt to hear today's music is just under the date header.         SPONSOR Produced in association with the American Composers Forum Friday, October 28 Play today's show | How to listen A "pathetic" symphony by Tchaikovsky In St. Petersburg on today's date* in 1893, Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky conducted the first performance of his latest Symphony, his Sixth. From the beginning, this symphony has been commonly known by its French subtitle, the "Pathétique," a designation suggested by the composer's brother, Modest. Now, in Russian,"pathétique" translates into something like "passionate" or "emotional," with overtones of "pathos" and "suffering," but in plain old English,"pathétique" translates as "pathetic," a word with a whole slew of negative connotations.** The French sounds much better, thank you. Tchaikovsky himself had originally intended ...
Read more

# Bildbauten by Philipp Schaerer

Image
The series of images created by Philipp Schaerer entitled Bildbauten (built picture in German) includes twenty five rendering of monolithic buildings that seem to have been produced by their environment in some sort of camouflaged bunkers. Here is the description thanks to which the Swiss artist describes his work: The series of images with the title „Bildbauten“ deals with the effect and the claim to credibility of images of architecture that appear to be photographs. It further questions the medium “photograph” as a documentary piece of evidence depicting reality. Frontal views of fictional architectures serve as an example. By means of their exaggerated and orchestrated way of representation, they model themselves on the object-like appearance and the formal language of contemporary architecture in a rather ironic way. All images try to reproduce a reality. They are not a photograph; instead, they were newly designed and constructed from scratch by means of image synthesis and dig...
Read more

Composers Datebook for November 21, 2011

Image
      SPONSOR Produced in association with the American Composers Forum Monday, November 21 Play today's show | How to listen Hindemith in E-flat (and in Minneapolis) On today's date in 1941, the famous Greek-born conductor, Dimitri Mitropoulos, led the Minneapolis Symphony in the premiere performance of a new symphony by the German composer, Paul Hindemith, who came to Minnesota for the performance. Mitropoulos was an ardent promoter of new music, but few of the contemporary works he programmed were welcomed by audiences or the critics with much enthusiasm. Hindemith's reputation as an atonal composer had preceded him, but, surprisingly, his new piece for Minneapolis was billed as a "Symphony in Eb Major" and, much to the delight of all concerned, featured recognizable tunes. "His themes were melodious, instantly recognizable and easily followed," wrote the critic of the Minneapolis Tribune, concluding, "It was mar...
Read more