Nature is the real treasure

A BEJEWELLED  Celtic brooch, fit for Guinevere’s robe, or a design to be wrought in the most precious of metals and gemstones on King Arthur’s shield? There is more to this design than an elegant amassing of rubies, sapphires, emeralds and gold. Its four-fold symmetry equates it with the natural world of the four elements, the four points of the compass, the four seasons, the four ancient humours.

 

While all cultures have attached great value to precious metals and stones, they are only a tiny part of the bounty of nature, and by no means the most important part – if there is no water to drink, how much will we care about the gold cup we are holding? Treasuring and giving value to the natural world around us creates a truer, deeper picture of our state of abundance than the numbers on a balance sheet.