HE WHO
Seated god
Says:
“your eyes
are held
Captive
To my stillness.”
He who,
nameless,
named
Now sits,
throned naked
In memory halls.
He who,
voiceless,
whispers
In echoing soul.
Tied by more
than chance,
Tied by here,
by holding stare.
He who
holds steady
the golden promise
Of sun’s journey –
torc horizon,
Aloft,
glinting heavy.
Joined:
the two apart
woven now
To strong chain.
Just like this.
Eye locked,
mind forged,
Welded,
hammered
across lifetimes.
He who,
naked,
needs no armour,
Who,
cross-legged,
needs no defence.
Mountain looking,
ocean speaking,
Still as centuries.
He who,
hair braided,
hair cloaked,
Looks out from,
in to ,
Within, within
This circle,
This heavy
wheel horizon.
He who,
Is.
—-
This is one of the most enigmatic of coin art images, as the simple ones sometimes are. A naked seated male figure. Either with long braided hair or with a woven cloth or rope over his head. A ring or a torc held up in his right hand. Cross-legged male deities appear several times in ritual contexts ( the stone sanctuaries of the South of France and the Gundestrup Cauldron spring to mind). The head covered and the staring eyes suggest a divinatory procedure, or some ritual darkness, perhaps. Full face images are not that common in coin art – profile is used a lot. Full face images often depict semi-divine , severed heads with squiffy, dead eyes. This motif also occurs in deity/druid images like the Petersfield Curnunnos, and may represent a psychopomp role or a squinty shaman. The face here is classically Celtic with large eyes and the suggestion of beard and mustache. If the mouth is open, that too, may be a trance motif.
simonhlilly 