As our society evolves quickly there is a danger of becoming an all consuming
economy that is rootless from it' origins and traditions. Our cultures and
communities have evolved over thousands of years and we seek to link our rich
heritage of folk traditions with the exciting possibilities of our future.
Folk
music and traditions come from the heart of the community being informal, often
unwritten expressions of creativity and communal festivity. At this site
we bring together the seemingly disparate folk music styles, plays, art,
symbols, customs, festivals and media into a new cohesive expression of communal
life. It does not matter to us if the artists contained in the site define
themselves as 'wyrd folk'. What matters is their expression of creativity
and their interest in moving forward the traditions, inherently or deliberately
of the common person.
Although on the surface possibly incompatible with the advancing media and
technology driven age, this folk tradition provides a harness for our creative
development and a continuity on which to build and extend. A
challenge for our shared future is to maintain the social binding that brings us
together. By promoting the direct music and traditions of the people, by
using ancient and arcane icons, statues and pictures we seek to continue their
relevance and place them into a supportive, contemporary context. If the
site seems mysterious, it is because the past is ultimately lost to us, only
echoes of it remain, it's intentions lost. We can only infer our own
interpretations and seek to build upon the fragments of knowledge that remain
albeit corrupted in our oral folk customs.
We hope that this site can play a small role in helping us
understand ourselves and share an evolving creative experience building upon the
original music and customs of the working people.
What does the symbol represent?
For so long as people care to continue and promote our cultural heritages the
circle will remain unbroken.
The circular symbol we use at this site shown above is designed to represent this
continuing shared tradition. The barley around the edge is the common man,
the toil of labour to provide for the community, the essence of the folk
tradition. The faces to the left and
right show the dual nature of our existence, the creative tension at the heart
of our existence between two opposing forces. This can be man/woman,
day/night, summer/winter, light/dark, birth/death, order/chaos,
regeneration/decline, father/mother, warrior/maiden, wax/wane, left brain/right brain.
Humankind constantly struggle to balance opposing requirements and this has been
a feature of our continued spirituality across and beyond
many traditions.
Early
humankind was defined by it's quest to overcome the cold, darkness of land and
bring in warmth and lightness that would help sustain them and the productive
processes of nature. This is the struggle shown by the
two faces. Over thousands of years this struggle
has extended through human evolution and proliferation
to a quest for knowledge,
fulfillment and sustainability which is shown for us here in the snake which
wraps itself around the circle and the faces.
The UK folk tradition has
been enriched by cultural exchange, alchemical exploration, scientific
development, toiling the land, fraternal brotherhood, musical
progression and communal binding. Folk
music has nothing to lose from change, it's essence stems from the people, the
masses not expressed in higher culture. It sits like blues to the USA at
the heard of our heritage, communicating down the years and informing new music
and progressing itself. The notion of folk purity for us means nothing,
over hundreds or thousands of years the stories and songs were carried aurally,
evolving and changing with time. Folk is about a continuity of expression
for the populace, the inarticulate oppressed who suffer at the hands of our
fate. The more we lock folk away as an ancient, restricted form, the less
relevance and connection it will have and then its role in bringing together old
and new is unfulfilled. It is our duty to bring together folk across the
eras and styles, to show and continued role and support it offers to people,
understanding our past to inform our future.
Therefore, the snake is our quest to
develop, to know, to experience and to live. It is this quest that helps
bring together the opposing forces under the control of humankind, be it land or
the atom, in the opportunity to work together to better our fragile position.
The
hope of humankind, the circle remaining unbroken sits at the centre. Here
we have woman, bringer of life in a foetal position. It is showing birth and
the next generation that constantly offers another regeneration.
Duality sits at the heart of our existence, from the death of
winter to the rebirth of spring. Similarly for us
this also shows new music and evolving traditions. So
regeneration of our natural resources, our environment, of ourselves and of our
art (here in the form primarily of music as a continuum) binds us together and
sustains us.
This
is not intended to be a religious or magical site, but the
symbol and our iconography does embody something powerful and mystical for us
beyond the spiritual and into the very key to our being.
For it articulates the nature of our existence and development,
linked as we are to the earth, dependent upon it and each other, our future
informed by our past. We ourselves are
the circle and our challenge into the future is to be unbroken,
to use our new knowledge to harness our resources to become sustainable, to
ensure we exist.
Where do we take the name?
The
name of the site is taken from a lyric by The Incredible String Band which seems
relevant to this site's intentions..
Seasons they change while cold blood is raining
I have been waiting beyond the years
Now over the skyline I see you're travelling
Brothers from all time gathering here
Come let us build the ship of the future
In an ancient pattern that journeys far
Come let us set sail for the always island
Through seas of leaving to the summer stars
Seasons they change but with gaze unchanging
O deep eyed sisters is it you I see?
Seeds of beauty ye bear within you
Of unborn children glad and free
Within your fingers the fates are spinning
The sacred binding of the yellow grain
Scattered we were when the long night was breaking
But in the bright morning converse again.
'The
Big Huge' part of 'Wee
Tam & The Big Huge' double album, 1968.
