The Shortest Day

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

-'The Shortest Day' by Susan Cooper.

A blessed Samhain

Once again the time of the years comes, when the gate between the realms of the living and the dead open, when our ancestors can roam free on our plane, it's time for a merry gathering.

As always Samhain is the time to connect with our loved ones who already left this plane, so we will honor them with joyness and good feelings, and contact them through rituals, so prepare your house and prepare everything to meet up with you relatives today, Happy Halloween!

We can start with a little spell to perform tonight.


Matching Samhain

Colors : Black and Orange

Alternative Names:  All Hallows, Mischief Night, Hallowmas, Saman Night, Samaine, Halloween , All Hallows Eve

Gods : Elder Gods, Goddess in her Crone aspect, the God as the Lord of Shadows .

Herbs : Nutmeg, Seer's sage (Salvia), Mint, Myrrh, Patchouli, Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris), Rosemary, Moss, Calendula, Marigold, Bay leaves, Mandrake.

Stones : Obsidian, Snowflake, Onyx, Carnelian, Black Tourmaline, Amber, Garnet, Hematite.

Activities:

Take resolutions to be put into practice in the next coming year.
Burning solicitations (written on paper).
Crafting a Jack O'Lantern.
Making offerings of bread and apples in the garden to the ancestors.
Divination by Tarot, Runes, Crystal Ball, Scrying through black mirror and cauldrons with water.
Crafting masks to express your shadow.
Crafting brooms.
Craft a Magic Wand.
Make a Witch's Cord (or Witch's Rope) for protection during the course of the year.
Light an orange a candle at midnight to bring good fortune in the coming year.
Erect an Altar with photos of your beloved ancestors and put offerings on it, showing your appreciation and recognition for their deeds on earth.

Sacred Food and Drink: Apple, Pomegranate, Nuts, Cider, Mulled wine, Pumpkin, Herbal tea, Potato.

Burning solicitations

The burning of solicitations is one of the traditional rituals of Samhain. In it we banish everything of negative we this year, and ask for what we want to attract of positive in the magical year that comes.

For this you will need:

Two pieces of white paper;
A pencil;
Grain alcohol;
Bay leaves;

Your Cauldron.

In one of the papers write whatever you want away from your life: obstacles, diseases, unwanted people, difficulties, etc..

The other write whatever you want to attract into your life: health, wealth, love, success, etc..

Be very specific in your requests and do not forget to end signing your name and putting the following sentence: That this is correct and for the good of all.

Put a little alcohol in your Cauldron, light the cauldron and throw the first paper, the one that contains the things that you want to move away, on fire. While the paper burns, mentalize the evil going away. Ask the Goddess and God that all the negative forces are eliminated and that evil is banished.

Wait for the fire go out, then put a little more alcohol in the Cauldron, taking due care, because alcohol when placed in a hot container evaporates and can combust spontaniously. Then throw the second paper, the one that contains the things you want to attract into your life, into the fire. Throw the bay leaves in the flames, always viewing the good things you want to attract into your life.
When the fire is over, concentrate on the smoke caused by the leaves, climbing the heavens, and ask that your solicitations to rise to the plane of the Gods.

Crafting a Jack O'Lantern

The making of the Jack O'Lantern is a traditional activity of this Sabbat. They decorate our whole house during the day, besides serving as indispensable ornaments for the ceremony of this Sabbat .

Place a Jack outside your home on the night of Samhain to ward off evil spirits and unwanted visitors from other planes .

To craft a Jack you will need:

· A pumpkin or squash;
· A knife;
· A white candle;
· An essential oil of patchouli.

Make a lid on top of the pumpkin, remove the seeds, and with the knife slot a face on the pumpkin the way you see fit. Anoint the white candle with the essence of patchouli and place it inside the pumpkin. Light the candle saying:

With this candle, this light and the breeze that comes from beyond
I give a warm welcome to the spirits in this night of Samhain.


Braiding a Witch's rope

Twisting a Witch's rope is a traditional act on the night of Samhain. They symbolize the rope that connects us all to the Otherworld, beyond being a symbolic representation of the umbilical cord that brings all the terrestrial life.

The Witch rope is made ​​using appropriate colors that symbolize what you want to attract into your life in the coming magical year. So choose the correct color for making your Witch's rope is essential:

White: For harmony.
Red: To ward off enemies, overcome obstacles, attract grit and courage .
Orange: For success and prosperity.
Rose: To attract love.
Black: To protect and ward off bad luck.
Green: For abundance.
Yellow: To attract health and be lucky in trade.

If your need is greater than just a color can offer, you can choose up to three different colors to represent your wishes for the coming year.
Take three strings in the color or colors chosen and cut them to the extent of your height. Then start to braid the strings, always viewing what you want to attract into your life, asking the Goddess and the God to assist and bless the rope you are braiding.

When finished, sew or glue some symbols along the string representing your goal. For example: hearts for love; coins for prosperity, etc..

Put your rope on your altar during the celebration of the Sabbath and consecrate it during the ceremony.

Hang your Witch's rope in a place of your home and whenever you view it, remember the goals that motivated the confection it. So your will shall be activated .


The Samhain Ritual

Materials needed :
· Cauldron;
· A black candle;
· An orange candle;
· An apple;
· A bread made by you;
· A pomegranate;
· Two pieces of white paper;
· Pencil;
· A Rosemary;
· A wooden spoon;
· Alcohol cereal;
· The Goblet with wine.

Procedure: Place the cauldron on the altar, and arrange the orange candle on the right and the black candle on the left side. Place the apple near the orange candle and pomegranate near the black candle. Draw the Magic Circle and then say:

On this holy day, in which the veil that separates the worlds is thinnest, we are visited by our ancestors.
That the Crone Goddess and Shadow Lord can bless all the loved ones who come to share this Sabbat Rite

Burn the candles, saying:


'Sacred Ancestors, come to me.
Tonight I sing magic and perform this ritual in honor of those who left to the Summerlands
Thas this rite be pleasing to the eyes of those who have gone.
Blessed are they all."

Raise the Cauldron, saying :

"This is the mother's womb, the Cauldron of ends and beginnings."

Put the cauldron back in its place and take a piece of paper. Init write whatever you want away from your life. Light it into the black candle and let it burn inside the cauldron.
Take another piece of paper and write down everything you want to attract into your life. Light it on the orange candle and let it burn inside the cauldron.
Place the rosemary in the Cauldron, along with the ashes, and start stirring the mixture clockwise, saying:

"That the old man dies and the new may enter.
By the power of Life and Death,
I welcome the spirits of Samhain tonight."

Put a little alcohol into the Cauldron and then light the fire, saying:

"Through this light and the linked sea beyond,
I greet all the spirits of Samhain tonight."

Look at the flames of the fire and mentalize all your desires.

With your Athame, open the pomegranate, with few seeds, while thinking all the negative things you want to get away from your life. Put some seeds in the fire.

Cut the apple in half, eat one part and throw a small piece in the flames of the Cauldron. View now all you want to attract of positive.

With your wooden spoon, stir the contents of your cauldron and then say:

"That the negative becomes positive,
That evil is transformed into good,
As the disease becomes health
And hatred into love."

Drink a sip of wine and pour a little into the cauldron, making a libation, while saying:

"I make this libation in honor of the Goddess and God.
Homage also to all my ancestors.
So be it and so be it!"

Touch your bread with the wand and say:

I consecrate thee in the name of the Ancient ones.
That you bring me health, success, prosperity and love.

Eat a piece of bread.
Sing, dance and feast in honor of the Goddess and your ancestors.
Thank the Ancestors and erase the Circle.

Put the rest of the bread in your garden or at the foot of a tree as an offering to your ancestors.

The mystical lands of Tír na nÓg

Tír na Nóg, a more detailed explanation.

Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. it is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's surface, and was visited by some of Ireland's greatest heroes. Tír na nÓg is similar to other mythical Irish lands such as Mag Mell and Ablach.
Tír na nÓg was considered a place beyond the edges of the map, located on an island far to the west. It could be reached by either an arduous voyage or an invitation from one of its fairy residents. The isle was visited by various Irish heroes and monks in the echtrae (Adventure) and immram (Voyage) tales popular during the Middle Ages. Contrary to popular assumption, Tír na nÓg was not an afterlife for deceased heroes, but rather a sort of an earthly paradise populated by supernatural beings, which a few sailors and adventurers have been fortunate enough to happen upon during their journeys. This otherworld was a place where sickness and death do not exist. It was a place of eternal youth and beauty. Here, music, strength, life, and all pleasurable pursuits came together in a single place. Here happiness lasted forever; no one wanted for food or drink. It is roughly similar to the Greek Elysium, or the Valhalla of the Norse, though with notable, distinct and important differences.
I was looking threw some old folklore books that i had many years ago and came across the story of Tír na nÓg it is indeed in irish-celtic mythology and i thought it would make a great addition that you guys could incorporate into the storyline.


Main story of Tír na nÓg 
It happened that on a misty summer morning as Finn and Oisin with many companions were hunting on the shores of Loch Lena they saw coming towards them a maiden, exceedingly beautiful, riding on a snow-white steed. She wore the garb of a queen; a crown of gold was on her head, and a dark-brown mantle of silk, set with stars of red gold, fell around her and trailed on the ground. Silver shoes were on her horse's hoofs, and a crest of gold nodded on his head. When she came near she said to Finn, "From very far away I have come, and now at last I have found you, Finn son of Cumhal." 

Then Finn said, "What is your land and race, maiden, and what do you seek from me? 

"My name," she said, "is Niamh of the Golden Hair. I am the daughter of the King of the Land of Youth, and that which has brought me here is the love of your son Oisin." 

Then she turned to Oisin, and she spoke to him in the voice of one who has never asked anything but it was granted to her. 

"Will you go with me, Oisin, to my father's land?" 

And Oisin said, "That will I, and to the world's end," for the fairy spell had so wrought upon his heart that he cared no more for any earthly thing but to have the love of Niamh of the Head of Gold. 

Then the maiden spoke of the Land Oversea to which she had summoned her lover, and as she spoke a dreamy stillness fell on all things, nor did a horse shake his bit, nor a hound bay, nor the least breath of wind stir in the forest trees till she had made an end. 

And what she said seemed sweeter and more wonderful as she spoke it than anything they could afterwards remember to have heard, but so far as they could remember it 
was this: 

"Delightful is the land beyond all dreams, 
Fairer than anything your eyes have ever seen. 
There all the year the fruit is on the tree, 
And all the year the bloom is on the flower. 

"There with wild honey drip the forest trees; 
The stores of wine and mead shall never fail. 
Nor pain nor sickness knows the dweller there, 
Death and decay come near him never more. 

"The feast shall cloy not, nor the chase shall tire, 
Nor music cease for ever through the hall; 
The gold and jewels of the Land of Youth 
Outshine all splendors ever dreamed by man. 

"You will have horses of the fairy breed, 
You will have hounds that can outrun the wind; 
A hundred chiefs shall follow you in war, 
A hundred maidens sing thee to your sleep. 

"A crown of sovereignty your brow shall wear, 
And by your side a magic blade shall hang, 
And you will be lord of all the Land of Youth, 
And lord of Niamh of the Head of Gold."

As the magic song ended the Fians beheld Oisin mount the fairy steed and hold the maiden in his arms, and ere they could stir or speak she turned her horse's head and shook the ringing bridle, and down the forest glade they fled, as a beam of light flies over the land when clouds drive across the sun; and never did the
Fianna behold Oisin son of Finn on earth again. 

Yet what befell him afterwards is known. As his birth was strange, so was his end, for he saw the wonders of the Land of Youth with mortal eyes and lived to tell them with mortal lips. 

The Journey to Fairyland 
When the white horse with its riders reached the sea it ran lightly over the waves, and soon the green woods and headlands of Erin faded out of sight. And now the sun shone fiercely down, and the riders passed into a golden haze in which Oisin lost all knowledge of where he was, or if sea or dry land were beneath his horse's
hoofs. But strange sights sometimes appeared to them in the mist, for towers and palace gateways loomed up and disappeared, and once a hornless doe bounded by them chased by a white hound with one red ear; and again they saw a young maid ride by on a brown steed, bearing a golden apple in her hand, and close behind her followed a young horseman on a white steed, a purple cloak floating at his back and a gold-hilted sword in his hand. And Oisin would have asked the princess who and what these apparitions were, but Niamh bade him ask nothing nor seem to notice any phantom they might see until they were come to the Land of Youth. 

Oisin's Return 
The story goes on to tell how Oisin met with various adventures in the Land of Youth, including the rescue of an imprisoned princess from a Fomorian giant. But at last, after what seemed to him a sojourn of three weeks in the Land of Youth, he was satiated with delights of every kind, and longed to visit his native land again and
to see his old comrades.

He promised to return when he had done so, and Niamh gave him the white fairy steed that had borne him across the sea to Tir na nÓg, but charged him that when he had reached the Land of Erin again he must never alight from its back nor touch the soil of the earthly world with his foot, or the way of return to the Land of Youth would be barred to him for ever. 

Oisin then set forth, and once more crossed the mystic ocean, finding himself at last on the western shores of Ireland. Here he made at once for the Hill of Allen, where the dun of Finn was wont to be, but marveled, as he traversed the woods, that he met no sign of the Fian hunters and at the small size of the folk whom he saw tilling the ground. 

At length, coming from the forest path into the great clearing where the Hill of Allen was wont to rise, broad and green, with its rampart enclosing many white-walled dwellings, and the great hall towering high in the midst, he saw but grassy mounds overgrown with rank weeds and whin bushes, and among them pastured a
peasant's kine.

Then a strange horror fell upon him and he thought some enchantment from the land of Sidhe held his eyes and mocked him with false visions. He threw his arms abroad and shouted the names of Finn and Oscar, but none replied, and he thought that perchance the hounds might hear him, so he cried upon Bran and Sceolan and strained his ears if they might catch the faintest rustle or whisper of the world from the sight
of which his eyes were holden, but he heard only the sighing of the wind in the whins. 

Then he rode in terror from that place, setting his face towards the eastern sea, for he meant to traverse Ireland from side to side and end to end in search of some escape from his enchantment 

The Broken Spell 
But when he came near to the eastern sea, and was now in the place which is called the Valley of the Thrushes,* he saw in a field upon the hillside a crowd of men striving to roll aside a great boulder from their tilled land, and an overseer directing them. 

Towards them he rode, meaning to ask them concerning Finn and the Fianna. As he came near they all stopped their work to gaze upon him, for to them he appeared like a messenger of the Fairy Folk or an angel from heaven. Taller and mightier he was than the men-folk they knew, with sword-blue eyes and brown, ruddy cheeks ; in his mouth, as it were, a shower of pearls, and bright hair clustered beneath the rim of his helmet. 

And as Oisin looked upon their puny forms, marred by toil and care, and at the stone which they feebly strove to heave from its bed, he was filled with pity, and thought to himself,
"Not such were even the churls of Erin when I left them for the Land of Youth " and he stooped from his saddle to help them. He set his hand to the boulder, and with a mighty heave he lifted it from where it lay and set it rolling down the hill. And the men raised a shout of wonder and applause; but their shouting changed in a
moment into cries of terror and dismay, and they fled, jostling and overthrowing each other to escape from the place of fear, for a marvel horrible to see had taken place. 

For Oisin's saddle girth had burst as he heaved the stone and he fell headlong to the ground. In an instant the white steed had vanished from their eyes like a
wreath of mist, and that which rose, feeble and staggering, from the ground was no youthful warrior, but a man stricken with extreme old age, white-bearded and withered, who stretched out groping hands and moaned with feeble and bitter cries. 

And his crimson cloak and yellow silken tunic were now but coarse
homespun stuff tied with a hempen girdle, and the gold-hilted sword was a rough oaken staff such as a beggar carries who wanders the roads from farmer's house to house. 

When the people saw that the doom that had been wrought was not for them they returned, and found the old man prone on the ground with his face hidden in his arms. So they lifted him up, and asked who he was and what had befallen him. 

Oisin gazed round on them with dim eyes, and at last he said, "I was Oisin the son of
Finn, and I pray you tell me where he dwells, for his dun on the Hill of Allen is now a desolation, and I have neither seen him nor heard his hunting-horn from the western to the eastern sea." 

Then the men gazed strangely on each other and on Oisin, and the overseer asked, "Of what Finn do you speak, for there be many of that name in Erin?" 

Oisin said, "Surely of Finn mac Cumhal mac Trenmor, captain of the Fianna of Erin."
Then the overseer said, "You are daft, old man, and you have made us daft to take you for a youth as we did a while ago. 

But we at least have now our wits again and we know that Finn son of Cumhal and all his generation have been dead these three hundred years. At the battle of Gowra fell Oscar, son of Oisin, and Finn at the battle of Brea, as the historians tell us; and the lays of Oisin, whose death no man knows the manner of, are sung by our harpers at great men's feasts.

But now the Talkenn*, Patrick has come into Ireland and has preached to us the One God and Christ His Son, by whose might these old days and ways are done away with; and Finn and his Fianna, with their feasting and hunting and songs of war and of love,
have no such reverence among us as the monks and virgins of Holy Patrick, and the psalms and prayers that go up daily to cleanse us from sin and to save us from the fire of judgment."

But Oisin replied, only half hearing and still less comprehending what was said to him, "If your God has slain Finn and Oscar, I would say that God is a strong man." Then they all cried out upon him, and some picked up stones, but the overseer bade them let him be until the Talkenn had spoken with him, and till he should order what was to be done.

Originally: http://www.celtic-heroes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=272

The Truth Against The World

By Rígh-Bhean ©2001 

Since the beginning of human civilization, there have been those who sought knowledge of the universe beyond the limits of physical perception and the consensual worldview of reality. Disciplines have been and are still constantly being developed to alter the normal state of human consciousness and thus enable us to see different dimensions of the ultimate actuality. This search for Truth is the hardest path one can follow, the search for the entheogenic principle. 

The term entheogenic (in Greek, entheos means, literally, 'god within' and -gen, denotes the action of 'becoming') defines the altering of consciousness in order to experience religious ecstasy or vision. Techniques for accessing this state range from sensory deprivation to the use of drugs, from study and meditation to prayer and the invocation of higher powers. The Druids utilize many of these techniques to access the Otherworlds and bring back the information and the sense of purpose that enables them to experience that underlying reality. The Truth Against The World is a rallying cry to those who see that the teaching of society, while not untrue, ignores or misinterprets that Path the Druids follow. It is the Logos of those who are the protectors of the earth, the keepers of knowledge and the guardians of truth. 

Here then is such knowledge. The information contained in the following pages is not widely known nor accepted and represents the opinions of the author. Accept or reject what is contained within as you wish. The Choice is yours. 


Part I The Origin of the Druids 

"Some say that the study of philosophy was of barbarian origin. For the Persians had their Magi, the Babylonians or the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Indians their Gymnosophists, while the Kelts and the Galatae had seers called Druids and Semnotheoi." 
Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers c.250AD 

Caesar tells us that the Druids "have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men." Scientists, philosophers, teachers - the Druids, by their efforts, preserved the common culture, religion, history, laws, scholarship, and science among the Celtic people of the British Isles. 

They taught the traditional doctrine of the soul's immortality. They possessed a knowledge of the workings of reincarnation so detailed that they allowed debts incurred in one lifetime to be repaid in the next. They held paramount authority over every tribal chief. By the sanctity of their office, they moved where they wanted, settling disputes and stopping battles by compelling the rival parties to arbitration. 

They managed the higher legal system and the courts of appeal, and their colleges in Britain were famous throughout the Continent. Up to twenty years of oral instruction and memorizing was required of a pupil before being admitted into their order. Their knowledge and authority was so great that they have become legendary, the very epitome of wizardry and magic, mysterious figures whose powers are hidden from us in the shadowy beginnings of our current era. 

Who were they? Celts, certainly, but Celts of a very special kind, residing only in the British Isles. Gaul knew them only through the teachings from the great schools of those Isles. The Celts of Spain did not have them, nor the Celts of Italy, nor of Germany or Switzerland. As far as we know, Celtic religion in these areas consisted of innumerable cults based around local or tribal deities, with no tradition of the great knowledge and wisdom that made the schools of Britain famous. Those centers seem to have sprung into existence suddenly, about 2000 years ago, their knowledge and power fully developed, their authority full grown. 

Obviously, they had to come from somewhere. Some Celtic tradition of scholarship and scientific lore must have existed to produce these Masters of wisdom. A search of the areas known to be Celtic must give us some clue as to that origin. And it does. That area was known as Galatia. 

A part of the Roman Empire, Galatia was settled by peoples of Celtic origin, the Gaels. Gaels differed from the other Celtic tribes somewhat, belonging to the dialectic group called q-Celtic as opposed to the p-Celtic Gauls and the Brythonic tribes that include the Welsh, Cornish and Breton Celts. In the days of the Roman Empire, the city of Edessa, now called Sanliurfa, in Turkey, was known as the Sacred City, famous for its schools of learning. It was from there that the Magi came, following their star into Judea. And it was from there that the Druids also came, following their own prophesy, west, to the Isles of Britain. 


Part II The Druidic Quest 
To know, to dare, to be silent 

The ancestors of the Celts were an Indo-European culture who lived near the Black Sea around the beginning of the Neolithic era. We now know that the fertile lands in this area were inundated by the Mediterranean about 5500 BCE, creating the Black Sea and displacing the people who lived there. Some migrated in a southwesterly direction to create the cultures of Thrace and Greece; others moved Northwest to form the Baltic, Celtic, Germanic and Slavic cultures. 

A proto-Celtic Urnfield culture has been found in what is now Slovakia, circa 1000 BCE. This evolved into a group of loosely linked tribes that formed the Celtic culture circa 800 BCE. By 450 BCE they had expanded into Spain; by 400 BCE they were in Northern Italy, and by 270 BCE, they had migrated into Galatia in central Turkey. By 200 BCE, they occupied the British Isles, Brittany, much of modern France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, Northwest Spain, and the isolated Galatia settlement in Turkey. 

According to Pythagoras, the Druids and the Magi developed their philosophy long before the Greeks. Hippolytus, in the third century CE, said the Druids used Pythagorean methods in the reckoning of their prophecies. He did not mean that the Druids learned Pythagorean methods but that they used methods later taught by Pythagorus. Iamblichus, in his Life of Pythagorus, states that Pythagorus was acquainted with the Celtic mysteries. Valerus Maximus said, "...what those trousered barbarians believed is the very faith of Pythagorus himself." 

In Gaelic, draoi, or druidh, means a magician or druid. The stem drao means magus, 'One who knows'. The root dru can be interpreted as high, strong or oak. 'One who knows the Oak' has usually been accepted because of the Druids' reverence for the Oak Tree; however, the word may have originally derived from an Indo-European word, `dreo-vid,' meaning `one who knows the truth.' Sotion referred to them as the "Holy Ones" and the Greeks used the word semnotheoi for the them; literally meaning, "revered gods".

What truth did the Druids know? What was the quest that brought them from Galatia in the uttermost East of the civilized world to the mythic Isles of the Western Sea? The code of Druidry is To know, to dare, to be silent. Without breaking that code, we can only relate certain legends and facts. 

As you consider the information that follows, please remember that there have been four major Celtic invasions of Ireland. The first three - the Picts, the Firbolgs and the Tuatha de Danann - were p-Celtic speaking tribes, represented today by the Brythonic languages of the Welsh, Breton and Cornish. Strangely enough, the Q-Celtic, or Gaelic, spoken in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and western Scotland - the language of the Milesians - is the older of the two. 

Cruithin (8th-5th century BCE) ~Picts~ 
Erainn (5th-3rd century BCE) ~Firbolgs~ 
Laigin (3rd-2nd century BCE) ~Tuatha de Danann~ 
Gael (1st century BCE-1st century CE) ~Milesians~ 


The Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Dannan 

The Tuatha De Dannan came to Ireland from four cities of the Otherworld, Murias, Falias, Gorias and Finias, bringing with them four treasures. Mannanan, the Holy Bárd, brought from Murias in the West the Cauldron of Renewal, which has the Power to regenerate life. Those who drink from it do not die, but may pass beyond the Portals to gain the wisdom of the Otherworld and return. Dread Morrighan, the Rìgh-Bhean, brought from Falias, in the north the Stone of Destiny. 

This is the stone of Divine Right on which kings are crowned. Wherever it may be, the Scepter is to be with it. In that resides the wisdom and the spirit of the Mighty Ones, Its guardian has the Power to cross beyond the Portals of Time and Space. Great Lugh of the Long Arm, Warlord of the Dannan, carried from Finias in the South the Spear of Victory. This is the Shining Spear, against which no enemy shall prevail. The guardian of this spear shall be always victorious, for its Power is such that no battle can ever be sustained against it. Ogma of the Sunface, the Lady's Champion, carried from Glorias in the East the Sword of Light. No enemy ever escapes once it is drawn from its sheath. 

It should be noted here that these four symbols of magical elements are reflected in the Sword, the Spear, the Cup and the Pentacle of the Tarot. According to all modern research, the exact origin of the Tarot is not known, but it is believed that it originated somewhere around India and was brought to Europe with the Gypsies. The earliest known Tarot decks appeared around the fourteenth century. 

The Legend of Innisfail, the Island of Destiny 

"Gaedhuil, grandson of the King of Scythia was bitten by a poisonous serpent. His father, Nuil, a younger son of the king, carried the boy to the Israelites, where he asked for the aid of their leader, Moses. The man of God prayed over the child and touched him with his rod. The boy rose up, healed." 

"Moses told the boy that his descendants would go to a land in which no poisonous serpents would live. It would be an island which would be found in the track of the setting sun." 

Ireland has long been regarded as a sacred and special place with an aura of myth and legend. The ancient Greek scholar Plutarch called it "Ogygia" meaning Most Ancient. The Roman, Rufus Festus Avienus, called it "Insula Sacra" meaning Sacred Island and, in the Milesian myth quoted above, it was referred to as "Innisfail", the Isle of Destiny. 

Modern advocates of the Anglo-Israeli connection claim that the Sons of Mil brought with them the Stone of Destiny, the Lia Fail, which they also call Jacob's Pillow. This, they claim, was the stone upon which Jacob laid his head as he dreamed the dream of the ladder that the angels used to descend and rise again to Heaven, the stone Jacob anointed and brought with him from the place he called the Gate of Heaven. 

The Legend of The Magi 

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, Behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." 

Lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. 

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. 

In the teaching of the ancient Druids, there is a Deity known variously as Yesu, Esus and Hesus. This Deity was understood as the personification of God as Savior. It was believed and taught that Yesu would descend to earth sometime in the future as the Savior of mankind. The Hebrew Joshua, when spoken in Aramaic, becomes Yeshu or Yeshua. The Druidic Yesu was considered to be a personage of a Trinity: Beli was the Creator; Taran, the controlling providence of the present; and Yesu was the coming Savior. The Druidic Trinity was depicted as three golden rays of light and this sign became the emblem of the Druids. It is singular thus that the Druid of Britain never changed the name of the God he and his forefathers worshipped, nor has he ever worshipped but one God. The Druids believed, as great Taliesin said, that 'Yesu, the Word from the beginning, was from the beginning our Teacher, and we never lost his teaching'. 

Clearly, the Christianity of the British Isles in the first centuries of the current era was vastly different from the Christianity of today. Differing even from the Church of that day, the Celts embraced the Johannine theology as "taught to them by their Egyptian and Syrian teachers." The writings of St. John focused on the theme of relationship and community rather than on outward acts of righteousness and hierarchies of ecclesiastical authority. 

There was a clear influence of the Jewish Qumran community upon Johannine thought, or St. John on the community, in the relationship of theology and their view of life history. Man and Nature were seen as being in a relationship of balance rather than viewed as hierarchies of power. For this reason, St. John's teaching was accepted by the Druids and whole communities embraced this form of Christianity. This predisposition is evident in how the Celtic communities, such as the one at Iona, were structured around paternal Abbots and in their uncommon view of religious celibacy. 

This last legend concerns the Bishop - or Archdruid - of Iona. 

The Legend of the Book of Glass 

An angel sent to Columba from heaven held in his hand a Book of Glass, regarding the appointment of kings. 

Having received the Book from the hand of the angel, the venerable man, at his command, began to read it; and when he was reluctant to appoint Aidan king of Dalriada, as the book directed, the angel, suddenly stretching forth his hand, struck the saint with a scourge, the livid marks of which remained in his side all the days of his life. 

And he added these words: 
Ò Know for certain," said he, "that I am sent to thee by God with the Book of Glass, that in accordance with the words thou hast read therein, thou mayest inaugurate Aidan into the kingdom of Dalriada." 


Part III The Ward of the Druids 

Phoenix Cycle: The Spiral Circle 

Four waves of Celts swept across Europe, meeting with a clash of arms on the green shores of Ireland, the Promised Land of their prophecies. That there was a prophecy, we can be sure. The legends of the Laigin and the Gael are clear on that point. Ireland was the Innisfail, the Island of Destiny. Exactly what that destiny was to be, however, was never revealed. 

Some indication of it may be gleaned from the study of Pythagorean philosophy, since that philosophy was derived, according to Hippolytus and others, from the Druids. This philosophy was based on number. The mystery schools of Edessa believed that, at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature. The mystical significance of certain symbols and numbers can be found in many forms, but the greatest is reserved for the stars, which foretell the fate of nations and of kings. 

The Phoenix Cycle, derived from Egyptian legends of the Bennu bird that rose from its own ashes every 500 years, figured in many of their prophesies. With each Phoenix culmination, a new spiral in the great circle of the Earth's history begins, influenced by the life of that incarnated being whose death it marks. 

Through the studies of Tacitus and Plinius, we know that the Phoenix was not immortal but lived the equivalent of a Platonic year. This is the time that the Sun and the planets need to return to their original positions. Translated to our calendar, this represents a period of 12,920 years, giving each Phoenix Cycle a span of about 508 years. 

Interestingly enough, Climatologists have identified a drought cycle which occurs every 510 years and has had a direct effect on the history of Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. In the past, these droughts were accompanied by cold weather, civil wars and invasions. They can be tied directly to the collapse of various civilizations. Awareness of this correlation would make the identification of the Phoenix of paramount importance; the difficulty of doing so was staggering. 

Toward the end of the 1st Century BCE, the Magi of the various schools began searching for the Phoenix whose death would mark the end of the current Cycle, a death which would fall somewhere around 29 CE in our current reckoning. At about this same time, the Gael, under the guidance of the Druids, invaded Ireland. 

That these 'Milesians' were said to be the fourth wave of the Celts to invade the Innisfail was no accident. Four was the number that held the potential for perfection. The mystery schools considered ten the perfect number, for all men count as far as ten, the Decad, and when they get as far as this they return to the Monad, the first principle. The perfection of the power of ten is potentially present in the number four, the Tetrad. The reason for this being that, if one adds one and two and then adds to them three and four, he will fill out the number ten. This is called the Tetractys, the Sacred Symbol. 

The legends of the Innisfail and of the Magi are indications that the Druids believed the next Phoenix Cycle would be influenced by the Jewish people. It was the Cycle after that which they believed would be their destiny, the Cycle of the Celts. 

For those who are interested in the Phoenix Cycles: 
0479BCE - Death of Confucius. In the last chapter of the works of Mencius, that philosopher says that 'from Yaou and Shun to T'ang,--a period including all the dynasty of Hea--were 500 years and more; from T'ang to king Wan the period of the Shang dynasty--were 500 years and more; and from king Wan to Confucius were 500 years and more.' 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL CYCLE 
0029 CE - Death of Jesus of Nazarene 

THE NAZARENE CYCLE 
0537 CE - Death of Artur at the Battle of Camlann. The Battle of Camlann was fought in 0537, according to Annales Cambriae. Death or 'unspecified other demise' of Artur, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. Death of the historical Artur actually occurred in 0540. 

THE CELTIC CYCLE 
1045 CE - Death of Rognvald, Earl of Orkney. Some sources say 1046, others that he died in December, 1045. Rognvald was the ancestor of Robert the Bruce. His death led to the family's removal to Normandy. 

THE NORMAN CYCLE 
1553 CE - Death of Edward VI of England. Edward VI was brother to Mary and Elizabeth. His death eventually led to Elizabeth's ascent to the throne of England. 

THE BRITISH CYCLE 
2061 CE - End of the current Phoenix Cycle 
The labels given the Cycles are strictly my own and used for the purpose of illustrating this article. 


Part IV The Druidic Right of Passage 
ceart tar críoch 

Ireland before the coming of the Laigin (Tuatha de Danann) was a country unified only by culture and language. It was divided into about 150 miniature kingdoms, each called a 'tuath'. A minor king ruled a 'tuath', subject to a more powerful king who ruled a group of 'tuath', who was in turn subject to one of the five provincial kings. This caused constant shifting in power among the most important contenders. 

The Ireland of the Erainn and the Cruithin had a simple agrarian economy. No coins were used, and the cow was the unit of exchange. There were no towns. Society was stratified into classes, and was based largely on the concepts of the 'tuath' as the political body, and the 'fine', or extended family as the social unit. 

The last of the Brythonic-speaking peoples, the Tuatha de Danann, arrived in northeast Ireland from northern Britain around the middle of the third century before the current era. The de Danann were part of the migratory wave that reached Britain from the continent, probably from the area of Armorica in northwestern France. These latter Celts, the Cimmerians or Cimry, brought with them the more sophisticated iron age culture of the continent. They advanced across the island of Britain slowly, clashing with the entrenched society of the older bronze-age culture for several hundred years before the splinter group we know as the Tuatha de Danann was compelled to flee across the Irish Sea. 

The history of the de Danann in Britain can only be inferred, for nothing but the legends have come down to us from that time. It is possible that the Four Cities of legend were located somewhere in northern Britain, although no trace of them has ever been found. More likely, this is a story, carried down through the millennia, possibly of the original homeland of the Celts, lost in the great flood that overtook that antediluvian land now covered by the waters of the Black Sea. That the de Danann were fleeing Britain, not bent on expanding an area of conquest, is implied by the burning of their boats when they reached the shores of Ireland. If so, the de Danann were more successful in their new land, for they overcame the Erainn and Cruithin and forced them into partial serfdom. 

Up until this time, the societal culture of all British Celtic peoples was much the same, with two principle classes, one being the free and landed nobles and priests and the other, the bound slaves and peasants. Under the de Danann, the priestly class was further divided into the judges and lawmakers who were called Brehons, and the Bards, storytellers and historians. The term Druid has also been applied to the priests of the de Danann, and may have been used by them, but, as we will see, the Druids of the de Danann were not the same as the Druids of the Milesians. 

As Isaac Bonewits has pointed out, the original religious beliefs of the Indo-Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the territories through which they passed, the acquired beliefs that evolved during the migrations, and the high religions of the separate Indo-European cultures all combined to create distinctly different belief systems. The Brythonic culture that produced the Tuatha de Danann was vastly different from the Gaelic culture that produced the Milesians. The power of the Brythonic priesthood was subordinate to the kings and nobles, and the resulting society less centralized. 

The Milesian Druids, on the other hand, were often accorded authority over the king. This, along with the Right of Passage without limit, which was the privilege of all Druidic classes, ensured a continuity of ritual and belief and an intertribal communication system and served not only to keep their religion more homogeneous but promoted the unification of larger areas. 

Two of the major Brehon laws also contributed to this unification; the law of Tanistry and the law of Gravelkind. Under the law of Tanistry, the successor of any royal line was selected by the Druids from within a group of extended families. This was usually the eldest of all the relations in the male line of descent for four or five generations - but with the provision that the Tanist, or heir thus chosen could be put aside if he was deemed incompetent to rule. 

The law of Gravelkind defined the rights of society in regard to the land. Under Gravelkind, land was held as the common property of society, subject to the preferential, but not permanent, rights of families who worked or lived on it. Although the king nominally owned the land, he did so only as the trustee of the people, for he could not dispose of it. Thus, with their scholarship insuring that the training of the noble class was under their control, the Milesian Druids could establish policies that would endure and stabilize society over long periods of time. 



Rígh-Bhean ©2001. All Rights Reserved

Taken from: http://avalonoftheheart.yuku.com/topic/6861#.UijR7hu1GvU

Wosketlon (The tale of the boat)

Wosketlon

Gaulois Ancien (Senobrikhta)

§1 Awis maguy esat taratows widuas ollodunnas ad agyan in tegyay aryi esyo. Widua esat werdruta, wrankas andewekhtas esant, yowinkowiros gutsu adpiseto nemos.

§2 Yowinkyos sindos tokingeto ad ambos maron biyatoyo widuan. Esatid nawotogyon lawon glannay eti sodese rammiyonawa esat netsata. Magus in naway swelulowge eti reraye ad glannan komarepennin.

§3 Andon in dinawimay, memner "Nawa si moy esat brigomara, wella gabagla esyas kanti moy". Yowinkowiros toni nawan lulowge wer kebenan widuank inrate esatyo slitsyay syay komandewekhta widui slitses allas. Are adboyu sodesu, manti nawas werindedoyge ad tikhtan mallan kaletank.

§4 Derkawnu esatyo wella woadgabagla nawillas, magus wertetset ad glannan eti andon eyan dede eri anawnu esat oygetos alli. Su betsu, gala esat yuy du taratow swadu widuas eti aku tokammane ad tegyan aryi. 


The Tale of the Boat

§1 A lad needed to go through a very dark forest to get to the home of his lord. The forest was too dense, the branches of the trees so intertwined that the young man could barely see the sky.

§2 This young man came to a large river that cut the forest. There was a small anchorage in the margin and in it a boat with oars was tied up. The lad put himself in the boat and rowed to the opposite bank.

§3 Upon landing there, he thought: "It has been valuable to me this boat, better take it with me". The young man then put the boat on the back and entered the forest, which was on this side so closed as the forest in the other side. For this reason, the size of the boat forced him to advance slowly and with difficulty. 

§4 Seeing that it would be better to leave the boat, the boy returned to the bank and deposited it there, so that it was waiting for another traveller. In this way, he might go through the forest easily and come with speed to the house of the lord.

Vocabulaire 

1. ad – vers, DLG, 430
2. adboyon, -i: (no) – motif, cause | v. irl. ad.ben, apa
3. adpiset (BII), adpistyu:, -onos (no) - voir, DLG, 51 (dans "appisetu")
4. aget (BI), agya:, -a:s (fa:) – aller, mener
5. akus, -u – rapide | DLG, 31
6. allos, -a:,-on - autre, deuxième | DLG, 39
7. ambos, -esos (ns) – rivière | DLG, 41 (dans "ambe") 
8. ana:t (AI), ana:tus, -ows – souffler; attendre; rester | DLG, 44 (dans "ana")
9. ande – três | DLG, 430
10. andon – là, à l'intérieur, DLG, 48 (dans "andogna") 
11. are – (+abl.) parce que, en raison de; (+acc.) devant, près de, à l'est de; (préfixe) pré- | DLG, 52 
12. aryos, -i: (mo) – seigneur | DLG, 55
13. awis, -e:s (mi) - désir, envie | DLG, 61 (besoin)
14. betsus, -ows (mu) – moeurs, habitudes, manières | DLG, 74 
15. bi:na:t (BIV), bi:yon, -i: (no) – couper | DLG, 75 (dans "-biion")
16. bri:ga:, -a:s (fa:) – force, vigueur, valeur | DLG, 88 
17. bri:goma:ros, -a:, -on – précieux, v. bri:ga:, ma:ros 
18. dagos, -a:, -on – bon | DLG, 134 | Degrés de comparaison: kondagos, -a:, -on, aussi bon; wellos, -a:, -on, meilleur; werowos, -a:, -on, le meilleur
19. derket (BII), derkon, -i: (no) – voir | DLG, 140 (dans "derco-") 
20. det (BII), danon, -i: (no) – mettre, poser | DLG, 124 (dans "condate")
21. drutos, -a:, -on - fort, exubérant, vaillant | DLG, 151
22. di: - de-, ex- (préfixe, valeur intensive et aussi privative) | DLG, 143
23. di:na:wi:t (AII), di:na:wi:ma:, -a:s (fa:) – débarquer; v. dī, nāṷā 
24. dunnos, -a:, -on – somber | DLG, 154
25. slitsis, -e:s (fi) – côté | W. ystlys, OIr. slis 
26. eni- > in – dans | DLG, 163
27. enina:wi:t (AII), enina:wi:ma:, -a:s (fa:) – embarquer; v. eni-, na:wa: 
28. eri – (+abl.) pour, dans le but de; (+acc.) lorsque, pendant, au cours de; autour, alentour; (prefix) peri- | DLG, 166 
29. eti, etik - de même, encore, et | DLG, 167
30. gabyet (BII), gabagla:, -a:s (fa:) – prendre | DLG, 173 (dans "gabi") 
31. gala:, -a:s (fa:) - pouvoir, vaillance, bravoure, vapeur |v. irl. gal, br. galloud
32. glanna:, -a:s (fa:) – rive | DLG, 179
33. gutsus, -ows (mu) - valeur, force | DLG, 184 (abl. gutsu:, "à peine, par force") 
34. inretet (BII), inretus, -ows (mu) - entrer | DLG, 33 (dans "adret-, adress-")
35. kaletos, -a:, -on – dur, difficile, cruel | DLG, 98
36. kanti – avec, ensemble | DLG, 103
37. kebena:, - a:s (fa:) – dos | gall. cefn
38. kom-, kon-, ko- avec, ensemble, également, con- (préfixe, préposition?), DLG, 121
39. komarepennis, -i – opposé | DLG, 53 (dans "arepennis") 
40. kori:tro (DAII), koros, -i: (mo) - placer, lancer, mettre | DLG, 125, 190 (racine/thème verbal cor-) (dans "corro-, corro-"; "incors") | v. irl. .cuirethar, I. cuir
41. lawos/lowos, -a:, -on – petit, léger | DLG, 208
42. leget (BI), legos, -esos (ns) – placer | DLG, 211 (dans "lunget")
43. manti:, -ya:s (fi:) – grandeur, taille, quantité | v. irl. méit, gall. maid
44. magus, -ows (mu) - enfant, servant, valet | DLG, 214 (garçon)
45. mallos, -a:, -on – lent, parresseux | DLG, 214
46. ma:ros, -a:, -on – grand | DLG, 218
47. meyos, -a:, -on – petit | DLG, 223, 241 (dans "ollos")
48. monyetro (DBII), menman, -nos (no) – penser | DLG, 225 
49. netsa:t (AI), netsa:tus, -ows (mu) – lier, attacher | DLG, 233 (dans "neddamos") 
50. nawson, -i: (no) – navire | DLG, 232
51. na:wa:, -a:s (fa:) – bateau | DLG, 232 (dans "nauson")
52. na:wotogyon, -i: (no) – hangar à bateaux, v. nāṷā, togīt
53. nemos, -esos (ns) – ciel | DLG, 234
54. oyges, -tos (mt) – voyageur; convive | v. irl. oígi
55. ollos, -a:, -on - grand ("tous") | DLG, 241
56. ra:mmiyos, -i: (mo) - rame, aviron | gall. rhwyf, v. irl. ráma 
57. ra:yet (BII), ra:mus, -ows (mu) - tirer à la rame/aviron | ir. iomramh > *ambirāmus; rámh
58. swallis, -i - petit, insignificant | DLG, 284
59. swadus, -u – doux, facile |DLG, 284
60. tara:t (AI), tara:tus, -ows (mu) – traverser | DLG, 291 (dans "taro-")
61. tares (+ acc.) - à travers | DLG, 291 (dans "taro-") | v. irl. tar, ir. thar
62. te:get (BI), tikhta:, -a:s (fa:) – aller | DLG, 230 (dans "moritex")
63. tegya:, -a:s (fa:) – maison | DLG, 294
64. togi:t (AII), togos/togon, -i: (m/no) – couvrir | DLG, 60 (dans "attegia") | gall. ardwy >*aretogyon, Ir. éadach > *enitogon
65. tokinget (BI), tokamman –nos (nn) – advancer | DLG, 116 (dans "cinges") 
66. toni - et aussi, et puis | DLG, 299
67. wegyet (BII), wegyon, -i: (no) – tisser | DLG, 308 (dans "ueadia") 
68. werdinget (BII), werdoygon, -i: (no) – forcer, opprimer, contraindre | v. irl. for-ding, nv. fortige 
69. werti:t (AII), werton, -i: (no) – tourner | DLG, 316
70. widua:, -a:s (fa:) – forêt | DLG, 320
71. wiros, -i: (mo) – home | DLG, 321
72. wobera:, -a:s (fa:)/wobernon, -i: (no) - bois, forêt | DLG, 325
73. woadgabyet (BII), woadgabagla:, -a:s (fa:) – laisser, quitter | v. irl. fó.acaib
74. wranka:, -a:s (fa:) - branche | DLG, 328
75. yowinkos, -a:, -on – jeune | DLG, 191

DLG - Delamarre, Xavier. Dictionaire de la Langue Gauloise; une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique Continental. Paris: Errance, 2003. 

By Bellovesos Isarnos, originally posted on Celticaconlang