Here’s a crazy little story for your sheer amusement. I went out to a local diversity fest, one of many that can be found throughout the summer months here in the South suburbs of Chicago. This one was dedicated to the Scottish. There were bagpipes, dancing competitions, music performances, clan parades, and lots of vendors selling food of Celtic origin, beautiful jewelry, clothes, and crafts. Many attendees wore kilts – not me, but I have nothing against it – and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m not Scottish. In fact I’m only about 5% Irish, but for a long time I’ve had a deep appreciation for Celtic culture and history, particularly it’s myths and legends. It was fun to see the influence of that history on the wares I found there.
I attended this fest with my friend RadioStar, who is a new fan of Stargate – one of many people that I have introduced to the show and successfully hooked – and an avid follower here on the WormholeRiders blog. She invited me out, and I was happy to be able to accept. As we wandered through the vendors tents, chatting about everything from family to Stargate, we came upon a wood carver’s stand. I was taking notice of a particularly ornate carving of a horse’s face when RadioStar said, “Um, look at the one below it!” How she had spotted it before I did, I can’t fathom. Perhaps because I was so far from expecting to see such a thing, I wasn’t bothering to look? I looked for what she was indicating and my jaw dropped. It was the Earth symbol, plain and simple, and almost as recognizable as if it was on the Stargate itself.
My next thought was to ask myself if there was some significance to the symbol in Celtic mythology – it would make sense to the writers, wouldn’t it? If the Ancients built the Stargates, and then came to Earth, their influence would have been found in many different cultures, including the Celts. The writers would have worked backwards to make these connections, finding aspects of a culture with unknown origins and then working them into the series as result of the influence of the Ancients. So, why not the Earth symbol?
Mind racing, hypothesizing, theorizing, the truth was too simple for me. I picked up the carving to examine it more closely, and I read the tag: “Stargate – The Earth Symbol”. That’s right. The crafter of this carving was such a fan of the Stargate franchise that he spent time and resources to make this piece, a piece that would only have significance to a fellow Stargate fan. On some level surely he had to have known that his chances of selling it were a bit slim. They would have increased of members of the Save Carson Beckett Campaign had been in attendance, but as much as I would have loved that, the chance of that was equally slim.
I contemplated buying it myself – it was a reasonable price, and it shocked me and made me laugh so much it would have been worth it just for the memory of seeing it for the first time – but my Stargate loot is already threatening to escape it’s designated space in my room and I couldn’t think of a place to display the carving. At about 10 inches tall and 8 inches wide, it would have been pushing the envelope to add it to my display. I settled for asking RadioStar to take this picture of it for me. If I attend the Scottish fest next year and should happen to see that the same wood carver has created another Earth symbol carving, I will not hesitate to give him my business, even if my display has to go through a complete redesign to make it fit!
Awesome !!!
I’m Scottish and I have loved the Stargate franchise since the original movie in 1995 (came across your Site today for Chicago Creation Con reports, fabulous, btw !!!)
*hugs* from Scotland xoxo
Ha ha! My eyes were sharper than yours! Always be on the lookout for Stargate items! You never know where you’ll find them!
In truth, immediately i didn’t understand the essence. But after re-reading all at once became clear.
I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!
YAY ‘Grand!” way cool! Great post! Sounds like it’s time for a single malt Scottish beverage to celebrate this post! LOL!
Hey, not only do the Scottish love Stargate, so do the Irish and English! How Do I know? My Mother is 100% Irish, Dad is English, and I am 1/2 and 1/2 and we all love Stargate!
Thanks!