BOUDICCA
(England - 62 AD)

A Sacred Place

Upon the death of her husband, King Prastugus, Boudicca and her two daughters were left half the kingdom, the other half, going by law under Roman occupation, to Nero. Co-ownership of a kingdom with a woman was not acceptable to the Romans who later seized and brutally flogged Boudicca and then forced her to witness the public rape of her two young daughters.

Summoning all the available men and women of the Iceni, Trinovantes, and Calavellauni under her banner, Boudicca led a vast and cumbersome army against the Romans capturing Colchester, London, and St. Albans. Suetonius, the Roman governor, faced Boudicca's vast army (reportedly 80,000 to 100,000). Suetonius had the lesser troops but slayed all 80,000 of Boudicca's less disciplined army. In the end, it was the slender spears and chariots of Boudicca's army which proved no match for the short swords of the Roman army in a vicious hand-to-hand battle.

Boudicca managed to escape, however, knowing there would be no hope of clemency after the horrible atrocities inflicted by her army, she ended her life among the mystical columns of Stonehenge. "Heaven take my soul and England keep my bones."

SYMBOLS

1. Candle - represents the sacrifice of souls. As it spends itself, it is a light in the darkness of life. Also the uncertainty of life, easily extinguished.

2. Stars - represent the undying soul, a continuation of the candle flame eternally.

3. The Spear - in battle was considered the long Arm of God.

4. The tall upright stones of Stonehenge - represent the supreme support of the universe. They are the omphalos, a fixed point where man can regain paradise. A sacred place. The cromlech usually symbolizes the womb.

5. Weapons and booty - The celts dedicated a portion of their booty to the gods -- sometimes buried in a mound or in standing water.