There was ice on the path, the shape of a horse hoof in the half thawed mud and a broken twig of mistletoe. A tractor growled far away, a kite mewed over head.
In a very old church, a skeleton lay exposed to the infrequent congregation, oddly indecent amongst the pews. A prankster stole his skull a few years ago. They say.
On the altar spiders strung their careful webs between the wings of the praying angels and on the spotted altar cloth there was a delicately tied bundle of vine cuttings. Medieval faces of devoation, chipped off by irreligious revolutions, watched impassively as the year turned.
Outside, the churchyard is plump with the granite graves of gilded lettering and pyramids of winter flowers and unlit candles.
As I walked; (careful not to go withershins ) round the old church, brief sunlight illuminated an extraordinary scene on the exterior church wall. This opulent scene must have been covered over for hundreds of years. The old church has just been replastered as this scene of Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem or heaven its self has just come to light again.
Everything is tantalisingly unclear. I can find nothing to explain it.
What do you see in it?
In the U.K. we call it “widdershins”! And, weirdly, it’s the direction I automatically take when walking circuits of anywhere! 🧙♀️
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Same direction, but I avoid it around grave yards!
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Good post, and withershins is a wonderful word. As to what I see in the picture it really is unclear isn’t it. xx
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It is good word isn’t it and you dont often get a chance to use it! I can see domes and towers of a city that is surrounded by a river and a city gate. The blotches in the foreground I think are very large figures, a knight, a priest and others?
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Just wonderful! What do I see? Buildings, domes, steps, and a rabbi. Or maybe nothing at all.
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Just learned a new word, Cathy, had not been familiar with withershins. By avoiding that direction, did you end up walking shins?
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it is an lovely odd word isnt it? I really should look up the derivation. It sounds anglo saxon.
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Fantastic! Dont suppose there was any information about how old they thought it was?
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I havent found any information at all, which is very unusual. I guess 16th century?
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