Symbolism of the CentreBy law the king had always to have about him three groups of three,
Druid, Judge, and Prime Minister; bard, chronicler, and physician; and the three
controllers, or managers, of his family affairs. The corners of the central chamber
connect with the corners of the outer court, dividing the outer area into four sections
which converge on the center (fig. 108).
Fig. 108: Plan of Celtic Court
In the earliest civilizations all over the world, this
central dais, upon which the god/king sat, was raised. From this simple architectural form
arose the mighty ziggurat overlooking the city in Middle-Eastern and Middle-American
cultures.
So far we have been comparing a great variety of related
strands, which soon need to be drawn together. There are a great many synonymous symbols
of the center: the holy mountain and the cave; the tumulus, mound, and the chambered
grave; the arrow and the heart; the grail and the sword; the diamond and the cross; the
warp and weft; the axis and the hub; the tree and the garden; the stone and the straight
track; the needle and the thread. It could be that in describing that part of the nature
of things that cannot be expressed in words, that has no name, there arise so many
symbolic images, so many mythical analogies, that the mind is entangled like the prince
who has to hack his way through the forest to arrive at the palace of the sleeping beauty,
rather than confronted with an aid to concentration. Herein lies the effectiveness of the
simple ornament as a symbol: within it we can discover the same reference, expressed
non-verbally, silently, and by every mind according to its capacity.
