Celtic Torque of Snettisham

Thinking Through Henri Bergson (1859-1941)’s “Creative Evolution”

• Theme: Elite tribal power embodied in gold

The Celtic Torque of Snettisham is not merely a decorative object; it is a metaphysical emblem of tribal force, crystallized in the spiral energy of pure becoming. For Bergson, art is intuition made visible, a transposition of inner duration (durée) into material form. The torque’s tightly coiled gold strands—braided with unparalleled technical precision—are not a static representation of power but a pulsation of lived memory and collective identity.

This object radiates a dynamic energy rooted in the instinctive élan vital of pre-Roman Celtic society. It cannot be adequately reduced to the sum of its ornamental design elements; rather, its “art” lies in the resonance it creates within the viewer’s own intuition. Gold here is not dead matter but a medium through which a living force is carried. In wearing such a torque, the chieftain or warrior becomes a moving center of tribal memory, myth, and potency. Like the spiral of a galaxy or the twist of DNA, the torque incarnates the rhythm of life evolving through time.

What makes this torque metaphysically significant is that it embodies a force-before-form. It is not form imposed on inert matter but force becoming form, a manifestation of social cohesion as felt movement—a durational unity of power, honor, and the sacred. The torque is the threshold where consciousness merges with instinct, and social hierarchy becomes intuitive and sensed rather than dictated. It is Bergsonian in essence because it is a vector of intensity, not a symbol of ideology.