Jacqueline Widmar Stewart

HALLSTATT'S WARRIOR WOMEN https://youtu.be/DjHhXJHFKCY We've uncovered riches about our shared past and we've anxious to show you our findings. Let me fill in some background, if I could. After revising my Finding Slovenia book. Recently I found correlations in Austria too. We hope that you can see what we see. In a nutshell, I found golden portrayals of women, done in the Celtic way of honoring heroes. We actually had to redo this film as the path unfolded. I took another look at photos from a couple years ago and saw the sword. Witch trials. I hadn’t even noticed the sword when I took the picture and I wouldn’t have thought of witch trials without seeing the memorial in Slovenia. Salzburg witch trials – the medieval seat of Bishops of Salzburg who took over Slovenian lands. Salt. The Salzkammergut. Fabulous pre-Christian wealth in this natural trove of iron and salt.. Put one clue on top of the other. Christianity recognizes only male gods. A church named after a woman with a gilded interior that exalts women – really? It is surely a Celtic fest hall despite the overlay of clergy and crucifixes. Now, in two striking instances we have seen heroes halls link to women burned as witches. These tributes are magnificent, both in painting and sculpture. Vivid colors, precisely decorated pillars and exquisitely intricate framing techniques interweave strands in characteristic Celtic styles. Here again in both Slovenia and Austria, as we’ve seen repeatedly across Europe, the way to survive Christian censorship is to add Christian elements. But just look at the overall context of these exquisitely rendered tableaux. They speak loud and clear: Celtic veneration. 
 Blank out religious fictions. Rely on your own eyes and knowledge. Then light will flood darkness to show A fabled ancestral world. Raise a glass to the keepers of the flame – May we do as well in protecting our family and lands. All best from Jacqui and Blair