iona-digest Saturday, July 24 1999 Volume 1999 : Number 029 . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List (digest) http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 00:06:39 EDT From: RLongman1@aol.com Subject: Re: [iona] Open Air Huenigen - The Irish / Celtic Festival - coming soon . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ In a message dated 7/7/1999 5:03:34 AM, re H=FCnigen event, you wrote: <> I'm assuming that to be a musical group, since it's listed with the Electric= s=20 and Iona. If so,=20 (a) does anyone know what they sound like, and=20 (b) isn't the name, and thus also my question (a) about them, just a wee bit=20 of an oxymoron? Bob Longman http://www.spirithome.com/ Spiritual steak on the Web. ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 00:56:23 -0500 From: "couscous" Subject: Re: [iona] Open Air Huenigen - The Irish / Celtic Festival - comingsoon . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ lol- good question about silence- i never heard of 'em either ken ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 00:26:11 -0700 From: "Charles Crossley, Jr." Subject: Re: [iona] Open Air Huenigen - The Irish / Celtic Festival - comingsoon . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ Silence isn't much to listen to . . . . Charles Crossley, Jr. - --==okay, that's a really bad pun==-- ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 02:53:44 -0500 From: "couscous" Subject: Re: [iona] Open Air Huenigen - The Irish / Celtic Festival - comingsoon . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ hey, i thought that pun was pretty good. besides, silence IS golden ken ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 20:31:56 EDT From: SEH41967@aol.com Subject: [iona] Joanna's site . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ Just thought that some of you may not have seen this yet. and with nothing else going on it is at least something to talk about. Joanna's site at forefront records. http://www.forefrontrecords.com/artists/joanna.html Back to lurking Steve h. ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 22:34:27 -0400 From: Anthony DeBarros Subject: [iona] New album news! . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ Folks, Recently, I posted a question at the official Iona Web site asking about the band's plans for album releases. I was pleasantly surprised today to receive the following e-mail from Phil Barker. I present it to you un-edited: * * * * Hi Anthony, There willl be an album of the concert called, The Woven Chord, released in September/October in the U.k. you could soon obtain a copy through the website merchandise page. THe Studio Album "Songs of Ascent" will be available Spring 2000 All the Best Phil Barker * * * * Isn't that GREAT news??? TWO Iona projects to look forward to! Peace, Anthony ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 23:36:04 -0500 From: "couscous" Subject: Re: [iona] New album news! . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ woo hoo!!! hey, somebody tell me when they go up for sale on the sight!!! kw ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 06:52:03 PDT From: navigato@excite.com Subject: Re: [iona] New album news! . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ On Fri, 16 Jul 1999 22:34:27 -0400, Anthony DeBarros wrote: > . _ _ _ > |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com > Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ > _______________ > > Folks, > > Recently, I posted a question at the official > Iona Web site asking about the band's plans for > album releases. I was pleasantly surprised today > to receive the following e-mail from Phil Barker. > I present it to you un-edited: > > * * * * > > Hi Anthony, > > There willl be an album of the concert called, The Woven Chord, > released in September/October in the U.k. you could soon obtain a copy > through > the website merchandise page. > > THe Studio Album "Songs of Ascent" will be available Spring 2000 > > All the Best > Phil Barker > > * * * * > > Isn't that GREAT news??? TWO Iona projects to look forward > to! > > Peace, > > Anthony > ______________ > To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com > In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona > or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html Hey, Nothing in the world could have made me happier. That's great news . Keep me posted . Blessings, <>< _______________________________________________________ Get your free, private email at http://mail.excite.com/ ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 14:11:03 +0200 From: Vaughan Granier Subject: [iona] My trip to Iona . _ _ _ |(_)| )(_| mailto:musictus@musictus.com Discussion List http://www.gospel.it/iona/ _______________ Hiya, guys I was over in the UK end of May and June, and I managed to make it to the Woven Chord concert. Didn't know how to find any of you who were also there, so I was unable to make contact with you. What I did do, though is visit Iona on my way across to Ireland, and I thought I would just pass on to you the relevant portions of a series of emails that I sent to my friends on another list. It is a bit of a longish email, but if you have any interest in Celtic Christianity and the ruins that remain on Iona and in Ireland, then this is an email you might enjoy... Here goes: The Celtic Christian Experience... Picking out more the highlights, since at almost every turn there was a ruin deserving of at least a second look, and in the context of my seeking out Celtic Crosses wherever I could find them, I would not want to bore you all with too much detail here. Reading through it after writing it though, it is a bit of a tome - I guess my passion showed through... :-) Enjoy!!! JEDBURGH ABBEY This old ruin, dating from about the 1100's as far as I could gather from the locals (it was closed) is an awesome sight along the road from Hadrian's Wall to Edinburgh. Just a ruin - not by attack but by attrition - it dominates the little town around it. The carving and brickwork is beautiful - I simply wish it had been open on the day.=20 ST. MARGARET'S CHAPEL Inside Edinburgh Castle, this is the oldest surviving portion of the entire fortification - dating from about 1200 AD. Refurbished recently and therefore dressed in a shiny white coat of paint on the inside, it is a bit artificial, but it has a humble serenity and meekness that is truly endearing. In the midst of a battle fortification such as this castle, it is an anomaly that is truly refreshing to step inside of. IONA Iona is a place steeped in history, tragedy and fortitude. Set just across the sea from the little town of Fionnphort on the west coast of the Isle of Mull it engenders a sense of awe just seeing it across the water. Landing on it's shores, on your right is the beach where in 807 AD the Vikings landed and massacred the monks where they stood. Iona has seen invasion after invasion over the 1500 years of it's history, and the loss of many peaceloving and innocent lives. There remains a distinct sense of their presence even now... The Nunnery, built in circa 1200, is an open ruin now, although the majesty of it's stonework is clear, and a very powerful reminder of the skill of the original craftsmen of the time. The abbey, of which the earliest part also dates to 1200 AD lies to the north of the modern village, along the coast line. Rebuilt often over the years, it's restorers were faithful to it's early designers, and it carries with it a rich history. Two crosses stand outside the entrance - one is St. John's cross, a replica of the original which now stands in the old infirmary (converted to house the most delicate of the ancient stonework of the island). Along with the second cross, which is to the best of my knowledge original, I believe they date from approximately 800 AD. The abbey's centre square is lined with ancient gravestones dating from 600-700 AD onwards - all exquisitely carved in relief with celtic knotwork, swords, images of their one-time inhabitants and inscriptions telling of their creators, their purpose and sometimes dating them accurately. The infirmary is repository to ancient stone relief carvings of Crusader figures, dating from 1100 AD or thereabouts, crosses, portions of exquisite stonework. Church services are held every hour, I believe - short items for the constant stream of pilgrims (funny, that - most everywhere I went, there was a touristy atmosphere - even for the most sacred of sites - except Iona and the Skelligs. These two had the aura of a place of pilgrimage, and a sense of an impregnability - no amount of tourism is going to change what they were) My feelings while there?=20 A tremendous sense of a courage and a conviction far exceeding currently my own wildest potentials - living here on this windswept isle, caught up in their vision of God's will to the extent of total self denial, there is a realisation that we in our modern age may well have lost the meaning of true passion. We like our conveniences too much, and perhaps we have measured (and thereafter pursued) success and fulfilment by inadequate means, and fail in our understanding of passion, sacrifice, and purpose, and we do not give ourselves over completely to the passions that beckon us onward...and upward... The place is serene and gentle in spite of that - it encourages reflection and lifts one's spirit up - there is evidence of an unquenchable fire captured so well in the stonework - the crosses especially for me are symbols of this. The deepest impression left with me was a sense of the personal and individual passion of the stone workers and the monks who lived there - somehow their faith and their commitment was not preserved in anonymity - it was almost as if their names, and their faces, were only just outside my conscious grasp as I walked around. I was clearly reminded that life is a path walked in the presence of a great cloud of witnesses, unseen to us but present nonetheless... The graves of Royalty from all over Europe line the graveyard - again, a sense that people have long so revered Iona and the passion of it's founders that being buried there was of major importance to them...it would please me greatly to join them when I too must leave, but that is not a possibility anymore.=20 ST ANNES CATHEDRAL This Belfast cathedral is relatively young, no more than 100 years old. It is exceptionally beautiful, but for me, while it was faithful to many concepts belonging to Celtic Christianity, it remains merely a Church for me. This is not to detract from it's grandeur, it's stonework, and it's conceptual design - it is majestic in many respects with regard to these, and I would be doing it a disservice if I detracted from it for these= reasons. KILFENORA This is a small town in the area of the Cliffs of Moher - surrounded by the similar villages of Lisdoonvarna, Ennistymon and Ballyvaughan (hehe - since my name is Vaughan, I was intrigued to note the Gaelic spelling "Baile Bheachain"). Kilfenora has an old church there - nothing but a ruin with a fantastic relief carving of a bishop set into one wall, and a number of Celtic High Crosses in the area. One such is known for it's exceptional relief carving of a bishop, complete with Crozier, at the top. It stands in the churchyard, amongst the gravestones there. As an aside - I got really spooked by a stark black granite gravestone, inscribed with just one word - "VAUGHAN". Weird, I tell you. No dates, nothing. No story of the wife and kids like there normally is. Just my name. Hoooaaaaahhhhh. Weird. THE SKELLIGS This was the highlight of the trip for me. A 40 minute boat ride in 10 foot plus swells, and deep mist all around. The first Skellig rose out of the mist like an abandoned ship, with all 40 000 gannets screaming in our ears. Not much to see there, except some really impressive natural rock arches. Skellig Michael is the purpose of the trip. It is a stark, sheer rock, protruding without any warning out of the Atlantic, about 200 metres into the air. It is at first glance totally impassable and unclimbable, and at second glance not much better. In about 600 AD, a community of monks seeking a more ascetic lifestyle sailed out to Skellig Michael (8 miles out to sea) and began the 100 year process of building an access route to the top, and there constructing out of bare rock firstly a plateau on which building could take place, and thereafter actually constructing dwellings and a church and the basics of a community which went on to survive for at least another 600 years. The settlement is 180 metres up, near the top of the Rock, and was originally accessed by stairs cut straight up the cliff face, almost vertically. Almost immediately after the original access was built a (only) slightly more accessible route exists, using 365 stairs up the Southern face. These are treacherous in the extreme - slippery, and sloping down the rockface, not into it, thus making each step something of a gamble. An impossible journey if one has any fear of heights, and I cannot imagine doing it barefoot or in primitive footwear such as sandals. My African Hiking Boots were barely up to the task on the day...and the old monks used to carry supplies up that route!!!!! Beehive dwellings, still in immaculate condition and dating from 600 AD...a open roofed church, walls still fully intact ...graveyards, two of them, each with rough hewn stone crosses dating back to 700 AD at least...a view of the Atlantic and of Little Skellig, with the mainland and Puffin Island in the distance. What a place. It is a monument to passion and perseverence, and self sacrifice. The rocks themselves testify to these things - it is the hardest place to live I have ever seen, and somehow, somewhy, these twelve monks made it a home for themselves, for their entire lives. It engenders a sense of awe, and of mystery. In truth, I got the impression that the creators of this place are unknowable, unique individuals with unique passions and perspectives. The greatest mystery perhaps is what they learned of God=20 in such a place, and what they did with that knowledge. I will ask them oneday... THE HIGH CROSSES AT AHENNY AND KILKIERAN Mute testimony to a bygone era - the days of the subsumption of the Old Ways of the Celts by Chrsitianity - these crosses are magnificent - up to 4 metres (12 feet) tall, carved in impossibly intricate knotwork, and still standing after 1300 years. They stand alone in two deserted Grave Yards - I guess they are the source of my passion for the High Crosses of Ireland. Before the days when scripture scenes were carved into the faces of the High Crosses, these monuments are intricately carved with Celtic symbols and knotwork, predating the High Crosses in the rest of Ireland by a good few years. They are the only real examples dating from the time when Ireland was in transition between Christianity and the Old Ways. THE ROCK OF CASHEL This is a massive monastic fortress situated on a 300ft high limestone outcrop overlooking the town of Cashel in Co. Tipperary. Originally fortified by pagan Kings it was donated to the Church in the 9th Century AD, and became a focal point of the Christianisation of Southern Ireland. Destroyed by Cromwell in the 17th Century, it remains uninhabited since then. Outstanding are the Round Tower, the Cross of St. Patrick, the 11th Century crypt and the ruined churches on the site. JERPOINT ABBEY A 12th Century Cistercian monastery. Not too much to speak of here - just the carving of a Butler Knight on a pillar of the cloister. GLENDALOUGH This is a monastic settlement founded in the 6th Century AD by St. Kevin, a monk who sought a life of ascetism. He got followed, so the solitary life was out, and he ended up establishing a monastic community in what is arguably the most beautiful valley in all Ireland. If only I had a scanner so you could see this place... Again, wonderful ruins, speaking of a passion that defies modern logic.... a 31 metre (100ft) Round Tower - the best preserved in Ireland...ancient churches that remember history and mutely communicate something of it to those with ears to hear... beautiful indeed. The rivers are crystal clear, the mountains high and green, the trees lush and gentle, and the birds plentiful. Kevin chose his place well - - I am envious of him.=20 THE HIGH CROSS AT MOONE Hidden away a good few kilometres from anywhere, down a little side road, and down a worn path past a farm, there is a little church, mostly ruins. As you step through the side door of the building, you are greeted by the tallest High Cross I have ever seen - 7.21 metres tall (25 ft). I am 5ft 8" (short, I know), and I barely clear the base of this cross. Carved in awesome detail with Scriptural images, it has been rebuilt from the pieces that were found lying in the churchyard. It is a very lonely Cross - weird to say that, but I got a sense of tremendous loneliness there...I dunno. Beyond explanation, I guess. Well, other than the Guinness Brewery, which according to most Irishmen is the most sacred of all sites in Ireland, that is about the best I can do for you on this trip that I had. I hope I didn't bore the uninterested, and I hope even more that I excited the travellers to get on their horses and see Ireland if they haven't already. VAUGHAN Go lasa an ghl=F3ir D=E9 cos=E1n as do chuid am at=E1 caite chuig do thodhcha=ED, agus go raibh an t-am i l=E1thair gan sc=E1th i l=E1thair A =E1illeacht. May God's glory light a path from your Past into your Future, and may your Present be shadowless in the presence of His beauty. ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html ------------------------------ End of iona-digest V1999 #29 **************************** ______________ To unsubscribe send an e-mail command to musictus@musictus.com In the body of the message type ONLY the following: unsubscribe iona-digest or visit http://www.gospel.it/iona/mailingl.html