Raven Warden I

Raven Warden I is my first wood relief, a circular work built around watchfulness, memory, and protection. The raven spreads its wings around a central triskele, holding the composition between movement and stillness.

The bird is framed by carved words and a continuous circular boundary. The Latin inscription around the raven reads: Protectio ab oculo diaboli, maledictio in intrusum — “Protection from the eye of the devil, a curse upon the intruder.” It states the protective intention of the piece directly: to guard what lies within the boundary and warn anyone who would cross it as an intruder. Together, the raven, triskele, and ring create the feeling of a guardian at a threshold: a presence that watches what passes between the visible world and the Otherworld.

The wider meaning of the raven as a bird of battle, prophecy, memory, and protection is explored in the article The Raven in Celtic Mythology and Tradition — Between Battlefield, Memory, and the Otherworld.

A guardian of memory

This is a personal symbolic composition rather than a reproduction of a historical artefact. The raven represents attention, intelligence, and the courage to remain present at the edge of uncertainty. Its wings do not close around the triskele as a cage; they hold it like a sign entrusted to the guardian. The surrounding inscription completes that role: protection for those within, and a warning to anyone who would violate the space.

The roundel belongs to a private collection.

May this guardian keep watch over the place where it finds its home, and remind those who meet it to observe closely, remember what matters, and move through change with awareness.