October 25-- Mystery of Bridget


I’m still trying to catch-up on the trip West for the wedding of my niece, Cathy. I’ve been hoping to post this one for days, it is a picture of the 1’ x 1’ x 1” Indiana limestone tile I carved for Cathy in honor of her wedding to Mike B.

Limestone is a very soft rock, so much so that before it is sealed there is considerable dust apparent. It weathers and wears over time. Here in Chicago it was used as a stepper for schools and homes. Over the years the pounding of children’s feet have made grooves in the thick blocks used for steps. It is so cool to walk past a school and see the grooves made (left and right) of the feet of generations of children.

Locally I’ve been rescuing the stone from building that are about to be demolished, when I have the chance. There’s lovely carvings in some buildings, though they are sold to collectors. I usually pick-up a window sill or a door sill. The garden has several hundred pounds of stones littered about, waiting to be worked.

I learned the work from Eadhmonn Ua Cuinn at the Augusta Heritage Center and later polished (that’s a stone carving joke) the technique working with Laura Travis of AS202.

The design followed a discussion with Cathy’s mom, Winnie. Winnie had told me that Cathy had a deep Christian faith and was also proud of her Irish heritage. Thankfully, this was an area I had looked into previously. I talked to some friends who also identified themselves as Christian about an idea for representing the cross and the Trinity on the stone. They said that shouldn’t upset anyone. I think they were shocked that I proposed carving the stone myself.

I guess I was apprehensive about this as my own Christian faith is considered “out there.”

So, the initial idea was three tiles, a fish, much like you see on those car bumperstickers, a Bridget’s cross and a Triskel. The first tile was to be the Bridget’s cross.

Bridget the saint shares a history with a mythical person, a Celtic goddess. It is difficult to separate the two. I have doubt whether Bridget actually existed. But the spirit of Bridget is important. In Christian lore, she was a key evangelist in Ireland, bringing Christianity to the island. According to the lore, she prepared crosses like the one that is pictured, out of reeds, to hand to the people.

People still make them and use them in homes. Our home has several, above doorways of the home and the bedrooms.

In addition, she prepared three legged crosses that demonstrated the idea of the Trinity to the rural Irish. Patrick is better known for plucking three-leafed shamrocks to demonstrate the same idea. But this cross is a symbol of Irish Christianity that is not associated with drunkenness and green beer.

The Triskel in the center came about as I completed the legs. The initial plan was to continue to build the legs of the cross inward. However, it was clear that the space could be used for the Triskel too. That would break from tradition and make a unique interpretation of the Bridget's cross.

Triskel’s have existed long before there was a Christian faith. I would assign them to the LaTene period of Celtic art. Correct me if I’m mistaken. However, they have taken on the symbolism of the Trinity since the dawn of Celtic Christianity. So that was a nice way to finish the piece off.

The piece, which I call the Mystery of Bridget, weighes about 20 pounds and is unsigned. There isn’t an up or down on the piece, although I perceive one of the edges as being down. The photo was taken before the rock was sealed. The sealant was Butcher’s Boston Polish. The sealant gives the piece a darker color and a smell, which I hope goes away, of a just- polished shoe. It took about 20-30 hours to complete.