smokingboot

We then went on to the Musee De Cluny. This rather gorgeous little museum has two things I wanted to find; the first was the pillar of the Nautes. Now, as a pagan, I was expecting this to matter to me, for this pillar, found beneath Notre Dame, dates from the time when that place was a temple to Jupiter, and by gum, they are all on there; Mercury and Esus and roman deities and celtic deities...and Cernunnos. Genuine, time honoured historical depictions of this god are extremely rare, but it's him all right. It's even got his name, the horns, all that. But it didn't touch me. The spirit of the wild is not a named thing, not a tamed thing, not connected to the bearded guy on the post, or at least, I don't feel that connection. I don't know what I am feeling when I try to connect to the Masculine divine. Overemphasis on it has led to so much damage, and yes, it feels really nice, but no, when it comes to Pan, Herne, Cernunnos, I am shy and don't know what I'm doing. It is not the same as the feeling at Findhorn beach, and it is not the same as the feeling in Notre Dame.

Lets face it, I have no clue about anything that matters.

The Musee De Cluny is famous for a series of medieval tapestries called, 'The Lady and the Unicorn.' Each tapestry in the series depicts a lady between a lion and a unicorn, and their story is very rich, rich as the fabric, as the intricate design, as the rabbits and ferrets and kestrels and deer and dogs and monkeys that leap across the background of indigo and scarlet. Add to all this that each tapestry is dedicated to a sense, until the sixth, where...but the story will have to remain untold by me. Each must see it for themselves.

One of the strange things is that later restorers had far less skill than the original craftsfolk, for attempts to restore damage have had almost comedic results; one tapestry depicts the lady showing the unicorn its own beauty in her mirror. How romantic! Alas, the lady's face has been damaged and restored, and looks like Camilla Parker-Bowles on prozac. Poor dear has every reason to avoid her own reflection, bless her. This is unfortunate, but not as unfortunate as the fate of the lion in another tapestry, where the poor beast really does look as though it's suffering the onslaught of a backdoor lapine invader. Avoid improvers and later versions, that's all I can say.

Oh, and to mention that apparently there is a park nearby called 'La Foret de la Licorne,' which is based on the flowers in the tapestry. Doubtless it's charming, but we never got near it.