Tuesday 8 October 2013

Fact, fiction or a place in between?


Facts and fiction are about as common place in our human language and understanding as jam and bread!  For some curious reason though,  I have been wondering is there something else - in between?

The cause of my musing was the sight of a White Chalk Horse, carved into the hillside, calling me to drive towards it!


Hackpen Hill, Wilts.



Is it just me who is compelled to turn off my intended route, in order to get up close and personal with hillside etchings? Do others find themselves drawn "off piste" in a similar way?

Why does it lift my spirit just seeing them carved into the landscape?  Is it their connection with the past?  Or because it's an image of a horse?  Am I reminded of "White Horses" the childhood programme that used to sweep me and my imagination away to Austria, every afternoon?

Instinctively I know it's none of the above.  The 'lure' is one of 'spirit' - awakening, calling - call it what you want.  There is something spiritual about these carvings; not faith or religion, spiritual meaning; moving, uplifting, and filling me with a sense of life.  These horses somehow remind me that there is much more to life than the small corners we currently perceive.  These horses are a connection point like a bus terminus between the past, present and the future.

I am sure that some would use facts (indisputable things) to explain their attraction and 'draw' for us -  facts about how long they've been around (impressive as that is). Facts about who first carved them; druids, medieval folk (I actually don't know who).  Facts about their position on lay lines or links with the earths magnetic pull. Robust sounding, convincing facts.

Facts however, don't make me turn off a road and romp, unplanned,  up a hill in my high heeled fashion boots! It has to be something else...

Standing on that hillside, with a 180 degree round view, a warm breeze and rain clouds rolling slowly toward me below an unending expanse of fields, kept me feeling comfortably small.  It is a nice feeling; reassuring me that the universe is far more than 'you and I'. 

Fiction is defined as 'stories about imaginary people or events' or 'invention'. I don't know of any specific folklore behind today's white horse (or any other) and the horses grazing there definitely weren't something I imagined - they are as real as the hill they munched upon.

Neither facts nor fiction are enough to explain why we sometimes do the things we do or the feelings that are stirred by certain events or experiences.

Is there a place in between facts and fiction  - a 3rd plane or dimension between the two? Logic would suggest if there is, its a place of indecision where we only exist while we wait to gather more information to conclude if something is real or not; fact or fiction. 

Mark Twain once said:

"It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense"

The attraction for me in the possibility of there being 'a place in between fact and fiction'. Then it wouldn't have to make sense or  be proven with facts or data.  It could just exist in Nomand's land calling us to our senses if we hear it, to indulge in whatever emotional experience it awakens in us. 

For me, this in part explains why we can be moved to tears by a scenic vista, painting or poem. Is that why these horses were carved in the first place - to unite man with the land?  To dig a deeper connection between us and nature, and to provide an outlet for our expanse of human emotion? 

Next time you notice a two dimensional hillside Horse give a thought to the mythology behind them; their early role in transportation, communication, invasion and conquest.

Ask yourself if you can resist it's power and try to drive on by without a second glance! 

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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11 October 2013 at 19:40

    Debbie - would you please email me? issyclarke@yahoo.co.uk xxx

    ReplyDelete

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