Mythic Images
“Daedelus and Icarus”
11"x14" 2002
Egg tempera with gold, silver and copper leaf on handmade paper
While
lying asleep one evening Angus was visited by a fair maiden of the Faery named
Caer Ibormeith. So taken with her beauty was he that when she disappeared as he
woke he could think of no other, the thought of being without her caused him to
fall ill, in essence... Love Sick.
Angus
enlisted the help of Bodb and together they managed to track her to a Loch where
she was living with 149 other maidens each in the form of a swan. Each Swan
Maiden was bound by a silver chain, which as in all good tales could only be
released by true love.
To
gain her love Angus transformed himself into a Swan upon which the chain that
held his love broke in two therefore freeing her. Reunited with Caer
Ibormeith the lovers flew around Loch Bel Dracon three times singing a song so
sweet all who heard it fell asleep for three days.
Angus is known in Celtic Lore as a God of Love and with his Swan Maiden they are said to have returned to Bruig na Boinne, otherwise known as New Grange. The tale of Angus and his search for Caer Ibormeith is recorded below in the poem by W.B. Yeats.
"Wandering Aengus" 11" x14" 2002
The Song of Wandering Aengus
I
WENT out to the hazel wood,
Because
a fire was in my head,
And
cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And
hooked a berry to a thread;
And
when white moths were on the wing,
And
moth-like stars were flickering out,
I
dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When
I had laid it on the floor
I
went to blow the fire aflame,
But
something rustled on the floor,
And
some one called me by my name:
It
had become a glimmering girl
With
apple blossom in her hair
Who
called me by my name and ran
And
faded through the brightening air.
Though
I am old with wandering
Through
hollow lands and hilly lands,
I
will find out where she has gone,
And
kiss her lips and take her hands;
And
walk among long dappled grass,
And
pluck till time and times are done
The
silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
By William Butler Yeats