By: Francesca Mundrick
Places of mass death, seem to connect with us deeply as humans. What brings us to these places? What forces make us ponder what has occurred? Why do we feel the way that we do in these spaces?
Culloden Battlefield in the Scottish Highlands is physically an open boggy meadow with a plethora of life. Spiritually, it is extremely complex. Culloden Battlefield is an intersection in time. In this place, like so many others throughout history, the fate of a people was determined. The tragic loss of the Jacobite Rebellion to the British Empire at Culloden in April 1746 literally shaped the culture of modern Scotland.
Memorial Cairn, Culloden Battlefield, July 2023, Francesca Mundrick
Bustlingly with visiting observers, Culloden Battlefield of the present is a place of peace and tranquility. As I walked the paths of the field, I thought on my opening questions. Why do people come to see these locations? My opinion- we, as humans, like to know that in our moments of greatest challenge, loss, darkness, and hopelessness there is survival. There is hope. Where loss is experienced, there is somehow growth and the continuation of human perseverance. I think that beyond this, we like to understand and visualize a journey. These historical places of loss represent where humanity once was and, as we stand here now with modern challenges, these spaces represent where humanity is currently. What is different? What is the same? Have we learned from the moments in our journey?
Culloden Battlefield, July 2023, Francesca Mundrick
If we think more on the human relationship with locations of historical loss or change, it is noticeable that nearly all these locations, similar to Culloden, host beauty, peace, and an abundance of life in the present. Humans have always immortalized mass loss with ceremony, place-based remembrance, and the fostering of life-plants, trees, insects, wildlife- at significant locations. Our intention in preserving remembrance makes these places peaceful where they were once chaotic. Perhaps it is our human respect for the death of other humans that makes these places special. Maybe it is our own feelings of ego that push us to pursue safeguarding spaces of loss- we want to be remembered one day too. Perhaps we foster natural life in these locations to remind us of the significance of life itself.
I invite you to ponder the same questions and more. Always look to better understand the past so that you may connect more deeply in the present.
Culloden Battlefield, July 2023, Francesca Mundrick
With inspiration in sustainability,
Francesca Mundrick
WEGSS Founder & Team Member
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