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HISTORY OF CARVING SYMBOLS
Most of the carving designs that have been formed from different cultures
around the world all have something in common. This being that the concept
has its roots in nature and natural form. So whether it is Viking, Celtic,
Maori, Pacific, etc. it all starts with nature and imagination.Ancient carving developed from tools like the stone adze, the bone needle, the bone and shell fishing lure. The ancient carvers developed a love for their tools and adorned them with designs that pleased them and was important to them in their environment. These designs made the tools more special. Magical powers were believed to inhabit the material they worked with, bone, horn, shell, stone, clay, etc. They believed that everything has its own life force. The stone has the life force of the earth itself, the bone the life force of all living things, the shell the life force of the energy of the sea. They found that working with the life force of the material and using the powerful designs from nature that their work would take on magical qualities. For example, a carver uses a bone from his enemy and carves it with stone tools and creates a design using inlaid shell, that tells the story of the natural environment in which they relate to. Then the bone carving has the energy and life force of the slain opponent; the earth energy of the stone tools used the nature energy of the carving design and the ocean energy of the inlaid shell and when its finished it contains all of these energies. The ancients saw these carving/tools as symbols of their life and culture. Ceremony and belief systems were created to honor these magical carvings. People lived, fought and died by these symbols; history was recorded in these symbols. Sounds were created for these ceremonies and once again natural materials were converted into musical instruments, bone flute, shell trumpets, wooden knocking sticks etc. so now ceremonies have magical symbols made from energized materials, the people who could create these pieces were respected and revered. Religions and belief system came along and put a god figure into these ceremonies and carvings, people loved ceremony and reason to carve lavish designs for the gods. There is one reason why even now in the age of synthetics we are still drawn to the ancient materials carved with magical nature symbols and there are still carvers, artists, and tool makers who work with these ancient symbols and nature energies. A simple experiment to do is look at or hold in your hand something that is a pumped out production, manufactured, and a piece that is hand worked and hand carved and see what energy you feel in each piece. As we mentioned at the start art sculpture, tools, carvings have their roots in nature. For example, the native New Zealand tree fern starts off from a spore. A small spiral grows and every time a new branch or frond is formed it starts deep within the trunk as a small spiral fetus and grows through many stages of unfurling spirals till one day it is a branch frond. This process is where the artist's imagination works with the natural growth pattern and a design, symbol, shape takes form and a piece of work grows with the addition of material such as bone or stone, to a completed piece that naturally incorporates all of the history from the first primitive tools to the contemporary work of today. When we look at a fern unfolding, unfurling we see growth, new beginnings, health, vibrancy, hope and love of life. This is what this shape means to the artist. This is what he/she carves into it. This is the symbol for growth, new beginnings. In New Zealand we call this shape the Koru. Woody Woodward 
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