The Rooster's Immortal Perch, Hand Crafted Weathervanes
The weathervane is most often thought of as a metal rooster on
the top of a barn that points in the direction of the blowing
wind. That is a weathervane point in the direction of the origin
of the wind. A compass rose is fixed below the rooster and
points in the direction of the eight cardinal points of the
earth. North, South, East, West and the four in betweens. Once
long ago, it was believed that the winds were gods and in that
ancient time, flags were used to tell archers the direction of
the going wind. Aiming against the wind in archery and in favor
of the wind in sailing are important things for civilizations at
their birth.
A genius astronomer and architect from Greece built the oldest
weathervane from those myths and legends, to immortalize them in
stone and bronze. That was more than 2000 years ago, but just a
little over a thousand years ago, the rooster became an
immortalized sculpture upon the tops of domes and cupolas in all
the world of Christendom, when the pope proclaimed that in honor
of the apostle Peter, each church should have a rooster
weathervane to remind followers. In Luke 22:34 at the last
supper, Christ prophecies that Peter will deny he is a follower
or even knows who Jesus is exactly three times before the
rooster will crow, and as he denies for the third time that
night, the rooster crows. The Holy Roman Empire of the church
passed this legacy onward and influenced culture the world over.
Even the metal working Vikings would craft weathervanes of
roosters, both for spiritual as well as artistic reasons.
Ever since the very first Merman Warrior weathervane known as a
Triton. The careful melting down or softening of different
metals kept at constant temperatures while mixed with other
elements, pounded, sculpted into weapons and crafted.
Weathervanes have been made by hand. The hands of a metalworker
are usually course and calloused, from the fires and hot coals
of the blowing forge. Billows would be used to heat the raw
material (bronze, copper, iron, steal, silver, gold...) or any
combination of raw materials until such time as the forge was no
longer necessary. But till this very day, the forge and anvil
are used by blacksmiths to mold and carve the general shape and
desired balance of a weathervane.
Sculpting a weathervane however once shaped, can be one of the
most detailed and subtly elegant aspects of the art. It takes a
lot of time and energy to sculpt a piece of solid metal into a
detailed figure, and unless a smith has these skills, she or he
will spend great portions of their time on it. Metal sculpting
in fine detailed chiseling work is restricted to only a precious
few, and those in America that do so are slowly disappearing.
One of the greatest metalworking artesian of the 20th century
said on many occasions before departing from this world; "Mine
is the art of the dinosaur, I will not have my son learn it." -
Grizzly Lee Burton in Portland, Oregon Highland Games, while
forging a Scottish sword.
The weathervane for this reason is a prize possession. The
weathervane is a possession crafted by the human hand with
emotion. Weathervanes are symbolic of a time when things were
simpler and far less stressful than they have become in the 21st
century. The peaceful life on a farm seems to make life slow
down somewhat. Even though time still passes, the sun rises and
sets, the rooster is immortalized upon the roof tops of
churches, barns and homes as a reminder of peace and harmony,
like that of times gone by.