Shifting Sands

“Mar not my face but let me be

Secure in this lone cavern by the sea

Let the wild waves around me roar

Kissing my lips forever more”

These words are etched into the rock inside a cave on a Celtic coastline. They can only be seen after particularly fierce storms when the sea has battered the shore, washing away the sand, and are quickly hidden when the tide returns to cover it over again.

The poem relates to the image of a woman’s head engraved alongside, the outline following, and inspired by, the natural fault lines within the rock. The language used, and the style of the woman’s hair and bonnet suggests it might have been created in the 1920’s or 30’s, but that is just a guess.

The artist is unknown but they left this enduring mark, a glimpse into their time and their world, which appears and disappears with the shifting sands.

And so, as the sands of time cover, uncover and re-cover the secrets of the past, I invite you to join me on a journey to find the truth and the hidden stories of history, as I cast a critical eye over the established narrative of mankind’s past and re-examine the ancient books, the legends and the physical evidence.