The Hare's Vision: A new Irish myth - Softcover

Methven, William A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0993395023 ISBN 13: 9780993395024

Publisher: Temair Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

"Father Cormac is a good and a brave monk, honed by the desert. He is not so simple. Aba James speaks well of him. I would trust him. Yet he's whimsical like many Celts. He is known to converse with a hare who claims to be the soul of the prophet Zachariah."

So it was that the Patriarch of Alexandria chose Father Cormac mac Fliande for the task that would bring light to the Dark Ages.

It is a bewitching story of the odyssey in the sixth century of a devout Irish monk, Cormac, his muse Zachariah the hare and their strange band of companions who struggle from Egypt to Ireland to protect The Word, from those who would suppress its inspiring and radical message

In 36AD radical Jewish teacher and zealot, Yeshua ben Pandira lies dying of his wounds in Judaea. Disturbed by a vision that his teachings will be misused by the Roman Empire, Yeshua lives long enough to dictate his final testament, later known as The Word, to Joseph of Arimithaea. However because of its radical teachings, The Word is suppressed by the early church and completely disappears in the third century.

Then in 2015 The Word is re-discovered buried under the ruins of an ancient church in Ireland. How did it get there from biblical Judaea and what are the implications for the modern world of its radical message?

An Irish desert father, Cormac mac Fliande, is called upon by the Coptic Patriarch in Alexandria to deliver these scrolls to Ireland; far enough away from the established church which fears the radical challenge to its authority contained in The Word. Cormac is forced to return to the land of his birth: a land he fled after the death of his wife and children during the Justinian Plague in 540AD.

Cormac's companion on the journey and muse is a mystical golden hare who claims to be the reincarnated soul of the biblical prophet, Zachariah. They are accompanied to Ireland by a Greek philosopher, pagan priestess and close friend, Melania, who is escaping persecution in Egypt; along with a young Judaean scholar, Brother Simon of Bethaza. In Ireland they are joined on their odyssey by a young Irish poet, Bretha and helped the eminent Celtic abbot and High Druid, Colum Cille.

Sixth century Ireland is a mystical land where the old pagan beliefs peacefully coexist beside the new Christian religion. In Ireland Cormac and his companions are helped by Iucharba of the Tuatha De, a magical subterranean fairy folk who once ruled Ireland and Feth Fio the ferryman, a changeling who is part otter, part man. This is a world before scientific thought, where the membranes between worlds are very thin. Imagination and superstition are as real as everyday experience and the interactions between humans and the natural world are very different from today.

In this time Rome wishes to suppress all potential challenge to its growing religious power and sends its fearsome emissary, Augustine of Nubea to Ireland to find and secure The Word for the Holy See. On his way through France to Ireland Augustine enlists the support of the legendary British military leader, Artur of the Gododdin and plans are laid to invade Ireland to capture The Word.

Cormac's mentor as a young monk was Colum Cille, an eminent abbot and High Druid within the Celtic Christian church. He has a troubled past for which he seeks redemption. Guardianship of The Word offers Colum Cille an opportunity to build a church that would become the salvation of western Christendom.​

Then in modern times The Word is discovered on an archaeological dig on the north coast of Ireland with few clues as to how it got there. Its discovery once again challenges those in power.

About this title

About the Author

I grew up in Northern Ireland during 'troubles' in the late 1960s and early 1970's. The experience taught me at first hand the damage religious dogma and conflicting cultural loyalties can cause. As a young man I travelled and worked widely in Europe and the Middle East. I trained in hotel management in England and Switzerland and in my early career worked in business management in hotels, in retailing and property development in the UK and Europe. Through this I have extensive experience of public relations, media communications, business marketing and social marketing. I have lived in a kibbutz, in an eco-village in Ireland and in a new age commune in Scotland as well as living in suburbia and working as a business executive for twenty-five years. I have had a lifelong interest in history and politics, particularly in the way history has shaped contemporary beliefs and behaviours. I first became interested in the historic origins of Christianity while living in the Middle East during the late 1970's and working on archaeological digs. I was inspired to write The Hare's Vision during time spent working in Scotland and studying early Scottish history with its strong links to Ireland. Disillusioned with big business in my later career, I began to use my business skills to create and support social enterprises and self-help groups in the areas of men's health, social housing, fuel poverty and environmental protection. My career has involved me in a high degree of public speaking to a wide variety of groups including senior executives, government ministers, university and school groups and community organisations. I am currently retired from paid employment and work as a full time writer.

Edition details

• Publisher: Temair Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0993395023
• ISBN 13: 9780993395024
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 554