Picts

Sacred Scotland

Those acquainted with the art created for over a quarter of a century by Marianna Lines in response to Scotland’s sacred places will recognise the delightful artistic sensibility that permeates the pages of her Traveller’s Guide to Sacred Scotland - an artist’s perspective that makes it unique. On the practical front, the Guide is model of concision, clarity, organisation and documentation. Designed for consultation in a high wind and pocket-perfect, it looks slim, yet at nearly 350 pages, it is comprehensive. These features qualify it as the companion of choice for those in search of the ‘pulse of the past’ in Scotland, but it is the wealth of colour illustrations, their selection and focused juxtaposition, that make it an absolute treasure.

Photographs on almost every page show details of ancient stone carvings, buildings and circles, and often provide landscape context. These images are accompanied in their dance by the author’s own artistic interpretations: ox, pony, deer; seahorse, salmon, serpent; cup, ring, crescent; Z-rod, spiral, triskele.

A founder of the Pictish Arts Society, Marianna Lines has found unending inspiration in the symbol stones and her life as a visual artist has been an odyssey of connection with the the sacred places of Scotland. There are many contesting theories as to their meaning, but the subtle charge of her paintings and batiks goes deeper than words and draw you into receptive contemplation of these ‘touchstones of the past, beacons of the future’.

 

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You can buy the Traveller’s Guide Sacred Scotland : A Guide to Scotland’s Ancient Sites and Sacred Places by Marianna Lines through Word Power Books.

Find out more about Marianna Lines.