Page 239 - Guerin Media | The Wild Atlantic Way
P. 239
e If Ireland had a song e
To the Irish monks who occupied the Island the psychologist C. G. Jung identified as the collective
monasteries from Skellig Michéal to Inisgluara, God unconscious. This reaction included not only the
and Creation, in the form of the natural world – were political and the cultural but also a spiritual revival
not separate. We see this too in the song of Amerghin expressed in an interest in the metaphysical.
– a deep knowledge of the Oneness of creation. In the Among those reacting in was the Irish poet William
prayer known as “Faeth Fiada” or St. Patrick’s Breast- Butler Yeats. The leader of the Irish Literary Revival,
Plate, this patron saint of Ireland also evokes this was among those reacting in what the Italian author
Oneness. and metaphysician Evola called “the revolt against
Today’s world is rife with duality, with suffering and a the modern world” . Yeats was winner of the Nobel
deadly detachment from our natural world. A vision Prize for Literature in 1923. Although he was born in
of a benevolent creator- of the abundance of nature, of Dublin(1865) Yeats spent his childhood holidays in Co.
essential human goodness is all but eclipsed by the drone Sligo. Despite his English and Protestant roots he was
of economic necessity. As you speed along Irelands’ involved in the Young Ireland movement and much of
roads, hurdling through a flashing landscape you may his poetry celebrates the Irish rebellion and its heroes.
embody a vision of power and success but remember it Yeats also became an early member of the Dublin
is in stillness that one may makes lasting connections. Hermetic Society, studied Hindu philosophy under
In our world of sound-bytes and speedy electronics, the Theosophist Mohini Chatterjee, and joined the
mobile phones and internet – we may appear to be Theosophical Society in 1895.
connected but it is perhaps a boutique existence. We take Moving to London in 1897, Yeats joined the Hermetic
pictures and record our experiences for later enjoyment. Order of the Golden Dawn, one of the primary
But what of the quality of the moment? Let us seek out influences in the revival of interest in metaphysics. For
the simple pleasures and take this as a challenge for Yeats the mystical was the basis of both his poetry and
our sometimes overstimulated minds. Close your eyes his political ideas. Yeats was particularly interested in the
and open your ears to listen to the sounds of the ocean. Irish mystical tradition and folklore. He saw that rural
Breath into this moment and you can return to it again values were necessary to revive against the onslaught
and again. The sound of the waves crashing against the of materialism. He aimed to found an Irish Hermetic
shore, sea gulls – the smell of salty sea air. Allow this Order substituting the alien Egyptian deities of Golden
moment to be enough. Dawn ritual with those of the Irish gods and heroes.
The rise of industrialism and capitalism during the 19th Yeats saw the mythic and spiritual as the basis of a
century brought with it social dislocation, rural decline, culture, providing the underlying unity for all cultural
growth of urban centers, and the rise of commercial manifestations, a “unity of being,” where, writing in
interests. Smashed asunder were the traditional organic reference to the Byzantium culture: “[The] religious,
bonds of family and village, rootedness to the earth aesthetic and practical life were one… the painter,
through generations of one’s offspring and to the the mosaic worker, the worker in gold and silver, the
cycles of nature. With the ascendancy of materialism illuminator of sacred books were absorbed in the subject
a human’s identity began to be determined by what matter, and that of the vision of a whole people.”
one could possess. Loosened were the bonds of family This year is Yeats 100th anniversary. In Sligo especially,
and community that once held all in common unity, Yeats work is celebrated by the Internationally famous
giving meaning to even the most downcast. Economy Summer School. Yeat’s deep appreciation for a simple life
began to take centre stage as a political force through close to nature and the peace one can find in Ireland’s
both Free Trade capitalism and Marxism. A new belief pristine countryside is clear from his poem:
in rationalism and science began to displace faith, the "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
mysteries of the cosmos and the traditional religions.
The forces of money had by now defeated everything of W.B. Yeats
the Spirit. As the German-philosopher historian, Oswald
Spengler explained in his Decline of the West. Western
Civilization entered an end cycle. Such forces had
been let loose as long ago as the English Revolution of
Cromwell and again the French Revolution.
However, there was a reaction to this predicament.
A spiritual and cultural reaction came from artists,
poets and writers who reach beyond the material and
draw their inspiration from the well-springs of what
237
To the Irish monks who occupied the Island the psychologist C. G. Jung identified as the collective
monasteries from Skellig Michéal to Inisgluara, God unconscious. This reaction included not only the
and Creation, in the form of the natural world – were political and the cultural but also a spiritual revival
not separate. We see this too in the song of Amerghin expressed in an interest in the metaphysical.
– a deep knowledge of the Oneness of creation. In the Among those reacting in was the Irish poet William
prayer known as “Faeth Fiada” or St. Patrick’s Breast- Butler Yeats. The leader of the Irish Literary Revival,
Plate, this patron saint of Ireland also evokes this was among those reacting in what the Italian author
Oneness. and metaphysician Evola called “the revolt against
Today’s world is rife with duality, with suffering and a the modern world” . Yeats was winner of the Nobel
deadly detachment from our natural world. A vision Prize for Literature in 1923. Although he was born in
of a benevolent creator- of the abundance of nature, of Dublin(1865) Yeats spent his childhood holidays in Co.
essential human goodness is all but eclipsed by the drone Sligo. Despite his English and Protestant roots he was
of economic necessity. As you speed along Irelands’ involved in the Young Ireland movement and much of
roads, hurdling through a flashing landscape you may his poetry celebrates the Irish rebellion and its heroes.
embody a vision of power and success but remember it Yeats also became an early member of the Dublin
is in stillness that one may makes lasting connections. Hermetic Society, studied Hindu philosophy under
In our world of sound-bytes and speedy electronics, the Theosophist Mohini Chatterjee, and joined the
mobile phones and internet – we may appear to be Theosophical Society in 1895.
connected but it is perhaps a boutique existence. We take Moving to London in 1897, Yeats joined the Hermetic
pictures and record our experiences for later enjoyment. Order of the Golden Dawn, one of the primary
But what of the quality of the moment? Let us seek out influences in the revival of interest in metaphysics. For
the simple pleasures and take this as a challenge for Yeats the mystical was the basis of both his poetry and
our sometimes overstimulated minds. Close your eyes his political ideas. Yeats was particularly interested in the
and open your ears to listen to the sounds of the ocean. Irish mystical tradition and folklore. He saw that rural
Breath into this moment and you can return to it again values were necessary to revive against the onslaught
and again. The sound of the waves crashing against the of materialism. He aimed to found an Irish Hermetic
shore, sea gulls – the smell of salty sea air. Allow this Order substituting the alien Egyptian deities of Golden
moment to be enough. Dawn ritual with those of the Irish gods and heroes.
The rise of industrialism and capitalism during the 19th Yeats saw the mythic and spiritual as the basis of a
century brought with it social dislocation, rural decline, culture, providing the underlying unity for all cultural
growth of urban centers, and the rise of commercial manifestations, a “unity of being,” where, writing in
interests. Smashed asunder were the traditional organic reference to the Byzantium culture: “[The] religious,
bonds of family and village, rootedness to the earth aesthetic and practical life were one… the painter,
through generations of one’s offspring and to the the mosaic worker, the worker in gold and silver, the
cycles of nature. With the ascendancy of materialism illuminator of sacred books were absorbed in the subject
a human’s identity began to be determined by what matter, and that of the vision of a whole people.”
one could possess. Loosened were the bonds of family This year is Yeats 100th anniversary. In Sligo especially,
and community that once held all in common unity, Yeats work is celebrated by the Internationally famous
giving meaning to even the most downcast. Economy Summer School. Yeat’s deep appreciation for a simple life
began to take centre stage as a political force through close to nature and the peace one can find in Ireland’s
both Free Trade capitalism and Marxism. A new belief pristine countryside is clear from his poem:
in rationalism and science began to displace faith, the "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"
mysteries of the cosmos and the traditional religions.
The forces of money had by now defeated everything of W.B. Yeats
the Spirit. As the German-philosopher historian, Oswald
Spengler explained in his Decline of the West. Western
Civilization entered an end cycle. Such forces had
been let loose as long ago as the English Revolution of
Cromwell and again the French Revolution.
However, there was a reaction to this predicament.
A spiritual and cultural reaction came from artists,
poets and writers who reach beyond the material and
draw their inspiration from the well-springs of what
237
