No. 1

COURTING PEACOCKS

The image of the peacock can be found in many cultures and traditions. The early Celts looked to the beasts of the earth, sky and sea in an attempt to understand life and believed animals taught them how to live in harmony with Nature itself. The peacock appeared as a symbol of beauty, paradise, rebirth, pride and the incorruptibility of the soul. It also tells the story of the heavens and the rays of the sun. As legend had it, the peacock’s flesh did not putrefy, so the Celts considered it a symbol of the Resurrection and everlasting life. Hence, it is widely used throughout early Christian Celtic manuscripts as a representation of Christ.

 

No. 2

ST. BRENDAN THE NAVIGATOR

St. Brendan was born in 486 AD and founded a monastery at Clonfert, County Galway. Brendan travelled widely; he was said to have set sail with a handful of monks on a perilous seven-year quest across the Atlantic in a boat of wood and oxhide. En route, legend tells us that they were raised up on the backs of “sea monsters” (whales), they passed by “crystal columns that rose up to the sky” (icebergs) and they were pelted with “flaming, foul-smelling rocks” (from a volcano). Eventually, the intrepid voyagers arrived at a beautiful land they called the "Promised Land of the Saints", an island which became a standard feature on maps for the next millennium. It is widely believed that St. Brendan the Navigator and his monks had in fact arrived in America almost 1,000 years before Christopher Colombus.

 

No. 3

ST. PATRICK

Patrick, who became the patron saint of Ireland, was born into a Roman ruling family in 390 AD Britain. At the age of 14 he was enslaved by a gang of Irish raiders and spent the next 6 years as a shepherd on a mountain top in County Armagh. A vision of ships persuaded him to escape. He later studied for the priesthood, was made a bishop, and returned to Ireland as a missionary in 432 AD. Many Celtic kings were converted with all of their people. Many legends are told of that time; he banished all snakes (a symbol of evil) from Ireland. The painting uses many other symbols: the shamrock (the Trinity), the harp, peacocks and angels (a calling from God). The conversion of Ireland to Christianity by St. Patrick did not destroy the original culture or cause a single martyrdom; a situation unknown in the rest of Europe.

 

No. 4

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

A stunning interpretation of the classic Christmas song in Rachel’s inimitable style. It was illegal to be a Catholic in England from 1558 to 1829, so this was written as a catechism song to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. Since it sounded like rhyming nonsense, Catholics could sing it without fear of imprisonment. The song had hidden meanings; "true love" refers to God and "me" refers to the church. The twelve gifts also had their meanings. On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me twelve drummers drumming (the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles’ Creed), eleven pipers piping (the eleven faithful apostles), ten lords a-leaping (the ten commandments), nine ladies dancing (the nine fruits of the Spirit), eight maids a-milking (the eight beatitudes), seven swans a-swimming (the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments), six geese a-laying (the six days of creation), five golden rings (the first five books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch"), four calling birds (the four Gospels, the four evangelists), three French hens (faith, hope and charity), two turtle doves (the Old and New Testaments) and a partridge in a pear tree (Jesus Christ, symbolically presented as a mother partridge that acts as a decoy to save her helpless chicks from predators).

 

No. 5

CARPET PAGE

A carpet page is a page of pure ornament, looking rather like an oriental carpet, with brilliant colours, active lines and complex patterns. They are commonly found in books in the Insular style, that is, the illuminated Celtic manuscripts produced in Irish and British monasteries from 600 to 900 AD. It has been suggested that the complexity of the ornamentation in carpet pages was believed to confuse evil spirits, thus keeping safe the sacred information contained in the chapters to follow. Some art historians have found ties between Insular carpet pages, Middle Eastern decorative text pages and oriental carpets. In this carpet page by Rachel Arbuckle, the artist has combined the geometric, angular lines of Moorish art with the softer curves and intricate interlacing of the Celts. The central structure of the design is a cross shape which is often found in Insular carpet pages, except in this case the artist has altered the proportions to suggest the four gates of the Tibetan mandala. Dogs, which are used as ornamentation throughout the design, feature extensively in Insular art and appear to have been adapted by Irish and Scottish monastic artists from a style of animal pattern which was found in Germanic art at the time. The result is a contemporary Celtic design which draws on an eclectic mix of styles and cultures, reflecting the possible influences from more exotic climes in Insular art.

 

No. 6

FUCHSIA FAERIE

The hedgerows of West Cork in Ireland are lined with this decorative evergreen shrub with its delicate, pendulous flowers which are borne in profusion throughout the summer and autumn months. A common sight in West Cork is a road or a “boreen” lined with these striking plants that can reach up to 10 feet high. A less common sight however, is that of the Fuchsia Fairy. A cheeky playful creature, she looks after the plant, keeping it strong and healthy, clearing away dead leaves and ensuring it has enough food and water. The Fuchsia Fairy is a shy creature and wary of humans, so sightings are rare. But if you are very quiet, and with the luck of the Irish, you just might spot one early on a summer’s day as she plays in the morning sun.

 

No. 7

RED DRAGON

In the Welsh story of Lludd and Llefelys, the Red Dragon fights with an invading White Dragon. His shrieks cause women to miscarry, animals to perish and plants to become barren. Lludd, king of Britain, goes to his wise brother Llefelys in France for advice. Llefelys tells him to dig a pit in the centre of Britain, fill it with mead, and cover it with cloth. Lludd does this, and the dragons drink the mead and fall asleep. Still wrapped in their cloth, Lludd imprisons them underground in a stone chest at Dinas Emrys in Snowdonia. This tale is one of eleven Mabinogion tales which draw on pre-Christian mythology, international folklore motifs and early medieval historical traditions.

 

No. 8

GREEN MAN

The Green Man is a motif found in many cultures around the world. The representation of a face surrounded by or made of leaves; it is interpreted primarily as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring. Perhaps a fertility God, the beneficent spirit of vegetation or a tree spirit, the Green Man motif was still being built into European churches even after 1000 years of Christianity. Here the artist has depicted the Green Man as the centre of the life cycle of the Oak tree. Oak was a sacred tree for the Celts, thought to have special powers and to serve as the abode of the fairies. In reality the oak tree supports more insect, bird and animal life than any other. The Dagda, the powerful God of Celtic tradition, is likened to the oak, never failing to give hospitality to all who asked for it.

 

No. 9

PASSION FLOWERS

The Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea), is a vine native to South America. It is popular with gardeners because of its intricate, scented flowers which attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The unusual shape of the flowers has led to it being associated in Christian symbolism with the passion of Jesus; the three stigmas representing the three nails used to nail Jesus to the cross, the ovary and its stalk represent the chalice of the Last Supper, the five anthers represent the five wounds, the corona represents the crown of thorns, the ten ‘petals’ (five petals and five sepals) the apostles (save Judas and Peter), the old leaves also represent the hands of those who persecuted Him, the young leaves the point of the lance used to stab Him, and the tendrils the whips of those who beat Him.

 

SIZE OF FINISHED PUZZLES:

1,000 piece: 50 x 66.5cm or 19 3/4" x 26 1/4"

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