Nemetona's Summer Solstice

And here is my latest painting completed……

Nemetona's Summer Solstice

As a child I loved mythology, it didn’t matter whose and I was able to keep my Norse, Celtic, Greek, Roman and Germanic apart, age has fuddled that all up but with the Goddess Nemetona 'she of the sacred grove'', I don’t need to keep my mythological wits about me.

Nemeton is the Celtic name for a sacred grove, Nemetona the goddess who was worshipped across the Celtic world from Ireland to Portugal and beyond, the Nemetes were a Germanic tribe whose name was possibly Celtic, living around Trier, they obviously were in a contact zone with Celts and the Romans, there is in Bath an altar dedicated to Nemetona and Loucetius Mars, so Nemetona is a ''fusion'' goddess.

I am a proud Celt and I'm happy to have returned to an area of Germany that was inhabited by the Celts ….. and even better, we were responsible for bringing wine drinking to Franconia and Würzburg in about 500BC. Yey! I'll drink to that, we were the start of something big! Ok, we just liked to drink it but we obviously got people hooked and wine growing has been going on in Franconia since 777 AD. 

Just as mythology and gods and goddesses are interwoven between cultures, the concept of sacred groves is also universal;  rituals and worship taking place outside in the open, nature’s cathedrals. You will find Hindu sacred groves in India, Germanic ''Heilige Haine'', Celtic Nemetons,  holy copses in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Greeks and the Romans celebrated religious ceremonies in their sacred groves, these groves are thresholds into the world of the gods. 

The trees that are seen as holy maybe different, sacred oaks, the Banyan tree, birches, olive trees, the rituals may be everything from drunken orgies to human sacrifice but the idea that groups of trees are special is so universal that it’s breathtaking. Although I'm starting to sound like a tree-hugger, I'm not but when you enter into a sun filled glade, or are in the midst of a dark and silent forest, it is no surprise to feel the magical pull and power of such places, regardless of race or religion. Sacred groves are universal because we sense that they are special. 

Nemetona's Summer Solstice, reminds me of pagan rituals in nature’s cathedrals, the fluffy foliage looks to me like a religious procession going to worship at the feet of their deities. 

Am I beginning to sound like I've had too much wine? Well, you can’t blame me, that’s what we Celts do, we awaken love for wine, look what happened to Würzburg. Those first Celts imported wine in 777BC (the drinking vessels and jugs were found on the site of the Marienberg fortress and now Franconia has about 3,500 vintners. Come to think of it, shouldn’t I be made an honorary citizen? What with my Celtic background and all the wine I've drunk, time to harvest the fruits I'd say, in liquid form please! Looking at these grapes, I'm going to have to wait a bit!