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REVIEWS < TIME STANDS STILL: New Light on his new afterword he recommends the books —_ admirable job. The language they spoke Megalithic Science of several authors who have added to his was Brythonic, the forerunner to Welsh. by Keith Critchlow original thesis: John Martineau and Robin The Gododdin were never conquered by Floris Books, Edinburgh, 2007 (first pub. in Heath in particular. In discussing the golden _ the invading Romans (whose administrative 1979 by Gordon Fraser Gallery, London) mean within the cosmic scheme, he says that _ records shed little light on the tribe, known once we concede that number is our unique to them as the Votadini), but, when the entrance to our understanding of the univer- | Romans quit Britain around 430 AD, this sal order, we shouldn't be surprised that tribe and their lands were threatened by unresolvable values such as the golden mean marauding Picts, Anglians and Saxons. A can be expressed clearly in the geometry of _—_ great warrior-king, called Loth (titled after the five-pointed star. Brilliant! their god) came to prominence in the period accessed means that humanity can partici- . 410-440 AD and protected the lands and pate with the Divine mind and bring the LAND OF THE GODS: How a Scottish _ people, but after two centuries of relative spiritual into the material world. So con- landscape was sanctified to become peace the Gododdin, now based at Din cludes Professor Keith Critchlow in the new Arthur's "Camelot" Eidyn (today’s Edinburgh), were defeated : : rae : a and fled to Wales where they immortalised foreword to this revised publication of his by Philip Coppens their history and landscape-dreaming in the ISBN 978-086315-587-1 (239pp I/f tpb) Available: http://www. florisbooks.co.uk he four "true" arts/sciences common to all cultures are arithmetic, geometry, harmonics/music and astronomy. They rep- resent timeless scientific values that when seminal 1979 book Time Stands Still. Frontier Publishing, Amsterdam, 2007 lesend of Kine Arthur. Interestingly. a land- The evidence suggests that in Neolithic ISBN 1-931882-69-X (238pp tpb) sca e feature hat towers over Edinban his Britain, mankind had a special connection Available: www.frontierpublishing.nl; knewn as "Arthur's Seat" ens with the unseen, able to combine intuitive www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com This fascinating overview. with a section sourcing of information with the logical he original Camelot may well have been wy j - thinking required to apply it in a practical in the Lothian and Borders region of of b&w photographs of landscape features, is a reminder that having a "sense of place" sense. The ancient Britons shaped Platonic —_ Scotland and perhaps was Tantallon Castle, i. intrinsic to having an identity, solids and created 3-4-5 right-angled trian- east of North Berwick, says Philip Coppens gles out of knotted cord thousands of years in Land of the Gods. The land was inhabited before Plato and Pythagoras. Knotted cords _ by a Sun-worshipping Celtic tribe, the with 12 and 13 intervals, for instance, could = Gododdin, whose capital was Traprain Law, be used to mark out ground plans precisely a volcanic hill that dominates the landscape for temples and observatories, whether cir- and is surrounded by megalithic standing cular or egg-shaped, which conformed to stones. Indeed, it's not widely known that multifold geometries. The ancients knew Scotland is littered with megaliths and tors, that the golden section permeates the world suggestive of a landscape worship tradition and cosmic time cycles, so the cosmos is preceding the Celts by several millennia. based on intelligible principles. The Gododdin apparently also regarded the Prof. Critchlow acknowledges Prof. landscape as sacred and intrinsic to their Alexander Thom's groundbreaking work in mythology and rituals. The name of their surveying Britain's megalithic structures, as Sun god was Loth, preserved in the name of published in his 1967 book Megalithic Sites the locale. With records of this ancient tribe in Britain. He also lauds photographer Rod _ being almost nonexistent, it was quite a task Bull, whose beautiful colour prints of for Coppens to piece together their history, Neolithic sites adorn these pages. And in social mores and beliefs but he's done an his new afterword he recommends the books of several authors who have added to his original thesis: John Martineau and Robin Heath in particular. In discussing the golden mean within the cosmic scheme, he says that once we concede that number is our unique entrance to our understanding of the univer- sal order, we shouldn't be surprised that unresolvable values such as the golden mean can be expressed clearly in the geometry of the five-pointed star. Brilliant! LAND OF THE GODS: How a Scottish landscape was sanctified to become Arthur's "Camelot" by Philip Coppens Frontier Publishing, Amsterdam, 2007 ISBN 1-931882-69-X (238pp tpb) Available: www.frontierpublishing.nl; www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com lhe original Camelot may well have been in the Lothian and Borders region of Scotland and perhaps was Tantallon Castle, east of North Berwick, says Philip Coppens in Land of the Gods. The land was inhabited by a Sun-worshipping Celtic tribe, the Gododdin, whose capital was Traprain Law, a volcanic hill that dominates the landscape and is surrounded by megalithic standing stones. Indeed, it's not widely known that Scotland is littered with megaliths and tors, suggestive of a landscape worship tradition preceding the Celts by several millennia. The Gododdin apparently also regarded the landscape as sacred and intrinsic to their mythology and rituals. The name of their Sun god was Loth, preserved in the name of the locale. With records of this ancient tribe being almost nonexistent, it was quite a task for Coppens to piece together their history, social mores and beliefs but he's done an 68 = NEXUS admirable job. The language they spoke was Brythonic, the forerunner to Welsh. The Gododdin were never conquered by the invading Romans (whose administrative records shed little light on the tribe, known to them as the Votadini), but, when the Romans quit Britain around 430 AD, this tribe and their lands were threatened by marauding Picts, Anglians and Saxons. A great warrior-king, called Loth (titled after their god) came to prominence in the period 410-440 AD and protected the lands and people, but after two centuries of relative peace the Gododdin, now based at Din Eidyn (today's Edinburgh), were defeated and fled to Wales where they immortalised their history and landscape-dreaming in the legend of King Arthur. Interestingly, a land- scape feature that towers over Edinburgh is known as "Arthur's Seat". This fascinating overview, with a section of b&w photographs of landscape features, is a reminder that having a "sense of place" is intrinsic to having an identity. Land of the Gos www.nexusmagazine.com DECEMBER 2007 — JANUARY 2008