“Seek on earth what you have found in heaven” - the words of power Æ offered the novelist L.A.G. Strong
Like a deleted scene from Robin Williams' film, “The Dead Poets Society”, I was first introduced to the work of George William Russell at the age of 17 by an inspirational school teacher who also managed to turn me on to WB Yeats, Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard amongst others. Since that first lighting of the candle I’ve enjoyed delving back into the depths of AE’s work time and time again for inspiration, insight and illumination. George William Russell was a seer and mystic as well as gifted painter and poet. In addition to these things, he was also a vocal Irish Nationalist and prolific writer who has left a lasting legacy for the world. Russell was born in the grey town of Lurgan (Irish “ an Lorgain”) in County Armagh, Ireland on the 10 th of April 1867. At the age of eleven his family moved southbound to Dublin. A few years later as a young man, he developed enduring friendships with W B Yeats and Art O’Murnaghan. Somewhat simi...