The Ogham of the Day According to the Wisdom of Finneagas

After Lughnasadh of 2012, I was asked by Finneagas to continue his practice of posting the "Ogham of the Day." He had long provided this service to the world but did not feel he could continue to devote the time to the effort that it deserves. I have not posted an Ogham reading or thought every day either. I choose only to post when the reading or spirit behind it is meaningful or impacts our lives. I trust Finnegas approves of the way I am handling the task that he requested of me:

"I am asking you,since much of the Oghams,meanings we wrote,and the application thereof came from study,and largely YOUR work,and so therefore,would you like to take up that torch."

What follows will be a (growing) collection and sampling of such readings to give an idea of what can be seen beyond the surface of events. The general format of the reading will be the Ogham indicated by the Moon for that Day; accompanied by Finneagas' interpretation of it along with the meanings for it in terms of the Moon from my book called Facing the Sun. Often when staring from these points of origin, the wisdom of the Ogham open doors and take me further in mind and spirit. Those experiences are sometimes also included.

The Ogham of the Day According to the Wisdom of Finneagas is Ruis or the Elder Tree (Summer Solstice 2013)
Transformation is continuous, its the shaping might that needs to be harnessed, to bridle the wild horse is the winding spiral/dance of life itself! Endings are new beginnings, yet all things must end, learn the secret of this aspect of life changes to life, death is but a shadow! The Great Spiral and coming transformations are more apparent in the course of the day. New avenues are opening in your favor.

The Moon pursues the Goad of Lugh (Deled Luigh) which is ruled by Nét (Néit) the God of War and who is married to Nemain, one of the Morrigú. His name means 'battle' and may be the original Irish word for it. Her name means, 'battle fury.' He is also said to be the grandfather of Balor. He is married to Macha in some tales (which might make him synonymous with Nuada from the point of view of the Tuatha Dé Danann). Nemain is also confused with Macha, completing the circle. Prior to the Second Battle of Moytura, Lugh incites his troops by goading them with a rhetoric while he employs 'Crane Magic' (hopping on one leg, with one eye closed, and with only one arm visible.). Lugh himself succumbs to battle frenzy later in the story and leaps from the enclosure of his foster fathers to join the fray. When a goad is used to excite us for a noble purpose, it is a blessing. When goading becomes a source of personal pleasure or a way of increasing self-image, then it can lead to destruction. We all possess great power within ourselves that can be awakened by suitable words. In a sense, this house is about channeling the anger and emotion generated from irritation and goading into useful purposes.

At this time of ther Sun’s Standing all things are amplified to the breaking point. Those who lack clarity now will see these days as disrupted and confused. Those who have a clarity of purpose will be able to transmute the disruptions into useful constructive energy. It is a tiger by the tail but it is a huge wave that can be ridden on to victory and success. Those who will succeed shall respond to coming events in a way that will be unexpected and positive all others will be submerged by the way and will see to shelter in the passing of the wave. They will lie upon the beach seeking the safe way while others will garner these forces and move forward in their life goals. The time for this is short as the shadow of confusion will grow longer after a few days so that the initial charge must direct and spearhead the charge while light is abundent. The ebb is beginning but now we are upon the heights and all things are possibble for the bold.

The Ogham of the Day According to the Wisdom of Finneagas is Saile - Willow (31 March 2013)
Relationships today need a bending a little as like the Willow, too much rigidity, in time will break anything, so learn to relax and flow. Attempt to delve all aspects and sort into facts for usage both mundane and magical, know a given 'plan(s)', an appropriate 'time allocation' to assert ones will. Knowing how the Spiral... is moving will aid in life’s transformations.

The symbol associated with this time and Ogham is a small square that represents the “little cage” of creativity and creation. In some traditions this is drawn as a square but in actuality and Ogham it could also be a spiral in many dimensions, while a square in only two. It is a small place or a large place depending on how many realms that one considers. The Moon empowers its working even while diminishing. The day represents the universe as deity, reflecting the connection to deity from within. This idea reaches across religious boundaries today as this is pretty much what Jesus was teaching from his own Druid-like perspective and in his working. Today’s work for each of us is to find the small cage within that is a square or an infinite spiral. Using the connection it makes, we can manifest the goodness from within that leads each of us to deity.

The large and the small house for these workings is known as Leabaidh Filidh:

This is the Bed of the Poets, the place within and around each of us that shelters our creativity and truth. Amergin is another son of Míl who was the Ollamh of their Draíothe and Filidh. He is noted for his roscana in claiming the land of Ireland for the Mileseans and for stilling the storm of the Tuatha Dé Danann (that sank the ship of Donn). Amergin found favor with the three Goddesses of Sovereignty when he promised to name Ireland for each of them. He also gave the first judgement in Ireland. Its truth saved his life, when he was challenged by the Tuatha Dé to decide what would be a fair thing to do regarding the initial hostilities between the Sons of Míl and Ethor, Cethor and Téthor (the names of Mac Coll, Mac Céacht and Mac Grían). Amergin is said to have slain Mac Grían at the mound of Tailtenn (Teltown) in Meath.

The Ogham of the Day According to the Wisdom of Finneagas is  Huath - Hawthorn (20 March 2013)
Definitely a time to ponder things in retrospect. The possibility of sudden dangers arising with lack of awareness. Begin the process of transforming bad patterns especially the destructive ones, seek out wisdom with a disterning eye, be aware of hidden enemies and their actions. Put aside fear, it will only lead to fai...lure, keep to your path it will become a comfort.

The Moon is in the House of the Two Vessels and has two choices to make between its two possibilities. Currently the chice is a positive one and will manifest opportunity if boldly pursued, If this choice is not made now then the pathway of rejection and decline will soon make such things as difficult as they can be. Each Moon we have these choices to make. Learn from the last, Make a decision now and look to the next time that power comes to help you.

“HORROR, SON OF TERROR”
“I have an axe;
Let one of you take it in his hand and cut off my head today,
and I will cut off his head tomorrow.”

(Uath Mac Imoman - The Champion’s Portion from Bricriu’s Feast)

It is no time to be timid or shy in making decisions no matter how difficult they may be. The time is now for increase or else accept the decrease that follows.

The Ogham of the Day According to the Wisdom of Finneagas is Blackthorn - Straif (Imbolc 2013)
Be expecting unexpected change today, oftimes the path of Fate and circulating influences cannot be avoided. Cast off negative thought patterns, anger and unfruitful emotions as they will not serve you with Blackthorn. A good time to build magical might and reinforce your will, but seek truthful clarification about those who you suspect l...ie and deceive.

The Moon is in the Cró of Lugh

(The Hidden House of Lugh)

Lugh was the Tuatha Dé Danann God of the Sky and Air. His weapon was lightning and his voice was thunder. It was he that brought the rains and storms as well as the light of the clearing day. The Cró of Lugh has two meanings: It is the move that Lugh invented in the chess game of Fidchell from which there was no escape. It is also the name of the enclosure of his foster fathers who attempted to shield him from battle at the Second Battle of Moytura. When the battle was joined, Lugh was overcome with passion and the spirit of battle. He was able to leap out of the Cró, escaping his own 'circle of spears.'

The day will provide a time when one's preparation make it opportune for taking action. Be ready to leap and focus your rnrthies and abilities to create a prosperous future but be cautious in picking and choosing your battleground.

The Ogham of the Day According to Finneagas is Coll - Hazel (14 January 2013) 
As the Hazel says the height of the Sun today and its inspiration will lead to poetic verse and time to 'unfold' into the light of Beli during this time, the tongue creates the strains that resembles Awen in full glory. Begin to awaken the senses, draw deep into self as a Earth connection and centering needs to be realized. Meditations will yield wondrous results, an inner journey awaits you.

We are coming out of the darkness of the Moon. The spirit has abided in solitude and contemplation. On this day of the Moon with the Sun returning on its greater path, insights and imbas will be empowerded. This is the time of the two Finns: Finneagas and Fionn; the master and the student. Fec’s Pool surrounds us and collects the power of the Sun within its depths. Eating the Salmon of Wisdom today will bring clarity of vision and prophecy. We have survived the darkness, Creativity appoaches us with wonders and gifts. The Serpent will soon rise from the depths and we shall find our twin in wisdom and learning. It may well be our selves that we discover.

The Ogham of the Day according to the Wisdom of Finneagas is Holly or Tinne (24 November 2012)
Possible conflicts may arise today, be aware of the true nature of it. A dynamic reality with an aspect of combination energies, leads to changing currents at this time. Look deep within yourself with zeal, overcome lazy thoughts and ideals, you can be victorious in your efforts. Begin the process of returning darkness... to where it originates.

The Moon has entered the House of the Eye of Goll. Within is the fire of sacrifice. One must maintain dedication and energy to keep to a purpose so that it can be achieved. This can mean working with those that normally are in opposition because mutual success is there providing prosperity for everyone involved. Honoring one’s commitments is also required, even if the success may not be yours but another’s.

The Ogham of the Day according to Finneagas is  Heather or Ur (6 November 2012)
This day has deep rooted Spiritual impulses at work and play, as things MAY seem chaotic the tide is formulative. Look to inner healing energies today, send healing thoughts and deeds to someone who very much needs it. Now is the time for community building in truth, as untruths will fall to the wayside. The transformations are happenin...g in full power now. Enchantments are afoot, both light and dark.

The Moon is in the House of Bres which means that prestigious office is at hand and its symbol is a throne. The question here is concerning Lugh and Bres with one replacing the other. Time and the voters will give us an opportunity to see who is a pretty face and who will get some work done to insure prosperity for the people.

The lesson to be learned in the House of Bres is that a gaining of prosperity is not in itself a gift or an advantage unless that prosperity also brings prosperity to others. This experience is sometimes symbolized within the tales as a gift from the gods (or even a wife of the Sídhe). The reception of such good fortune is usually accompanied by a prohibition to reveal its source. If the secret is revealed then the gifts are taken away and things are worse than they would have been without the gift in the first place. A person can become too locked into material things and squander the chance to rise to the heights (by forgetting the good fortune of the original gift). Gifts should be appreciated but they should not be held captive or hoarded. Who will bring prosperity by sharing the wealth and who will be miserly in an attempt to keep it for himself? These are the questions to be asked of anyone being chosen to be a leader.

The Ogham of the Day according to Finneagas is  Ivy or Gort (4 November 2012)
This is the will of the group mind and its effects on you as an individual. Thoughts meander and entangle as the Ivy itself today, stay in focus and keep centered. Do not cultivate what you wish not to keep or avoid. The ill intent of others will be paid with karmic reaction, and those who choose to lie and deceive will be exposed and the...n overcome.

The Moon is declining in its positive influences but is still a factor for resolving understanding. Accordingly, the Ogham understanding of this fidh in the Feasting Hall of the Fomorii is that one must go into their hall as the Dagda did in all meekness yet be able to call upon one's truth in being to hold to purpose. Doing so allows a person to request what seems to be a small reward (such as the Gray Cow) yet having this small reward means that all of the good things bound to that truth also will come to you.

Now, in this time of voting and decisions, in the time when darkness begins to grip the land, one must hold to the truths that will bring the greater rewards. That includes going to the polls, doing what is right for the environment and Nature, as well as small kindnesses for others in one’s personal life. A small favor may bring be rewards in the future if one’s heart truth is in the action. Gort can mean a garden or a famine. The difference between the two is accomplished through decisions in what and when to plant as well as being found in remaining true to one’s intentions.

As Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony said, “The evil that men do lives after them while the good is often interred with their bones.” Remaining true to one’s heart truth insures that the crop that returns and remains from any activity is a garden rather than a famine or scourge upon the land. Ivy or Gort is a vine and binds us to our actions and intentions, both visible and hidden deep within the recesses of one’s soul.

 

Finneagas' Ogham of the Day is Oir (5 October, 2012)
To make an honorable assessment, for personal obligations, taking care to seek out 'authentic/proven' authority. Being away of 'those' that would appear to be deceptive in undertakings. Seek a higher goal for happiness! Adjust energies to 'shape' into a more fulfilling manifestation(s).Know the tides of the season will now uprise and feel a little overwhelming!
The "House of Red" (Da Dearga) is a symbol for this as well as a human head. don't lose your head is the message. Remain calm and cool in teh face of adversity. Reign in teh emotions and animal nature to focus on creating and making one's dreams a reality while treading through the obstacles and geassa (taboos) that have been placed in your path. This house is about keeping one’s head through maintaining one’s obligations and geasa. Since the head is also the house of the soul and the home of the mind, the House of Red also can be considered to be a double edged sword. When it is used to resolve mundane matters we are more successful in the material world (yet also more locked into a hardness of form). This is the way of logic and reasoning. When we go beyond the physical, it is the mind that can be our guide to focus our energy and to shape our purpose. As with the case of geasa, this use of the mind can determine whether one loses one's head or stays within it. Keep in mind the examples of Bran the Blessed, Ruadh, and not rushing into Da Derga's Hostel.

Here's what Finneagas' Ogham has to say about today:  Ioho (Ifin or Pine) (20 September 2012)
The patterns of the past are changing rapidly now. Begin to see change as a necessary friend instead of an enemy, it will ease the transition. Have a care with sudden bouts of depression and a sense of powerlessness. Be sure to 'empower your lives' today. Be aware of fraudulent people taking unfair advantage of you. Remove... that which isn’t needed now, seek out new growth cycles.

My views and insights:

The waxing Moon is reflecting from the Evil Eye of Balor. Mars is occluded by the Moon. The Sun sails on a level sea and the White Hazel is transmuted into a shield of protection. This Ogham sign is all about letting the Earth turn things back to their natural course, even when they seem harmful. I find the remarks about "fraudulent people" to be particularly apt now and hope that the ground level truth transmutes their words and actions into realizations for each of us as to what is right and good for us to do.

Those born today will tend to be:

Those who are devoted to hospitality and prosperity, people learned and skilled in handling fire, engineers, cooks, chefs, merchants and electricians.

Things that have seemed negative will in general tend to get better in the coming days. Balor's Eye was poisoned while a youth and its evil consumed him in that life, yet the power that caused the harm was reshaped within the wood of the White Hazel as Manannán's Shield that later became Fionn's Shield of Ogham.

Druids Across Europe, the Isles and the Beginning Times

This article was given a Golden Oak Award (an "Oakie") for Best "Druidical" essay or article by a member of ADF, Keltria, RDNA, MOCC, OWO, RDG in 2008 CE. http://www.rdna.info/danac.html

The name for Druids or their cognates first appears in the classical histories of the Greeks and Romans dating back about 2400 years BP. The earliest possible written record of Druids among the Celts is found in the comments of the late fourth-century BCE Greek playwright Sopater who was said by Athenaeus to have made a punning reference to the Druids when he had one of his characters say:

"Among them is the custom, whenever they are victorious in battle, to sacrifice their prisoners to the gods. So I, like the Celts, have vowed to the divine powers to burn those three false dialecticians as an offering."

Certainly, if a Greek playwright can make an oblique reference to the Druids in a play to his audience, there must have been quite a familiarity with them by reputation and innuendo if nothing else.

The first contact of the Greeks with the Gauls is at Massalia (near modern day Marseille) in the sixth century BCE. The attacks of the Celts on Rome occurred in the fourth century BCE. The attack on Delphi occurred in around 279 BCE. These and other stories by the Greeks and Romans regarding those times seem to reference Druids for me. I especially like the story of the Celtic warriors who were on the Capitol Hill of Rome in the process of vanquishing the Romans who came upon some splendidly dressed older men who were sitting in council. The Celtic warriors stopped in their tracks, awed by the assembly and stayed their hands from slaying. When one of the men spoke to them in Latin and struck at them with a staff, the warriors responded by killing them all. To me this passage echoes the Celtic respect for the safety of a Druid's personage. They were safe from any battle and the warriors in this tale most probably thought they'd accidentally entered into an assembly of Druids. To harm any Druid would have been a violation of personal honor and a breaking of the strongest taboo for a Celtic warrior. When they discovered that these fellows were not Druids by their speech and actions, they happily dispatched them. This was reported by the Roman historian Livy in the late first century BCE but it was dated to 390 BCE in his history by drawing on earlier sources.

The first specific (by name) mention of Druids among the Celts by classical historians is contained in the work of Aristotle (circa 4th century BCE) and Sotion of Alexandria in the early 2nd century BCE as mentioned by Diogenes Laertius in a written work of the 3rd century CE. There are also mentions in the 1st century BCE writer Posidonius of first hand observations of Druids. I mention that these references as say that the Celts conducted no sacrifices without a Druid being present (see above mention of sacrifices by Sopater).  This is confirmed in the writings of Herodotus, Diodorus, Posidonius, Caesar, and Strabo. The reference in Aristotle above may have been altered in the 2nd century BCE by a Greek scribe. A link between Pythagoras (very early 5th century BCE) and the Druids is sometimes said to exist through the connection (in a work by Strabo, 1st century BCE Greek historian and philosopher) of Abaris the Hyperborean's study with Pythagoras in Athens in the early 4th century BCE. Hecatus of Miletus (circa 500 BCE) is the source that supposedly connects the Hyperboreans with the British Isles and hence suggests that the plaid wearing (and magical acting) Abaris was a Druid.

I don't think that saying there were Druids among the Celts 2400 years ago is any great stretch as there were certainly reports of them being present 200 years ago and there are very strong suggestions that Druids existed among the Celts from their very earliest beginnings. That would push the presence of Druids among Celts back to about 3200 years ago or earlier. It's difficult to localize origins like this in an oral culture using only the rare references that were made in the literate cultures of the time. However, that's what the earliest recorded or attested classical histories have to say about the Druids. The insular traditions of course place the presence of Druids at a much earlier date in Ireland. That date is as early as 3800 years BP. This comes from an oral tradition and awaits archaeological findings to verify such an early date. All one can say is that Druids are reported throughout the insular literature and tales from the earliest of times.

In Irish traditions, Druids are said to have existed among their deities in the beginnings of the world. Some medieval Poets attempted to place this in the time period of about the early 2nd millennium BCE. That placement would be a mytho-traditional placement and have little in the archaeological record to certify it though (as can be seen) my discussion on Stonehenge and Newgrange ranges far beyond that point.

Jean Louis Bruneaux wrote a decent treatise on Druids and Druidism in his work, _The Celtic Gauls_. There is also a book by Francoise Le Roux and Christian-J, Guyonvarc'h, in French, entitled _Les Druides_ that should answer many questions about Druids and Druidism on the continent.

As a case in point, the ritual center at Gournay certainly demonstrates that this was the case with nine votive pits. A trench or ditch around the ritual area also was filled with the bones and remains of the sacrifices. Sites in the British Isles have been excavated showing this practice of using pits and trenches was widespread for Druids in Celtic culture.

One such site is on Hayling Island in Hampshire. Its organization and components give us a pretty good idea of Celtic sanctuary and sacred space in Britain of the Iron Age:

(The site URL is: http://www.barnarch.u-net.com/Hayling.htm)

"The architecture of the temple is clearly designed to enhance the differentiation of the sacred site from the surrounding area (Webster 1995), and as such the outer enclosure formed the most significant element of the complex and may have formed the nemeton in Celtic parlance (Piggott 1978). The inner enclosure appears to have served primarily as an additional form of differentiation within the enclosure, cutting off what was probably the main ritual area from the rest of the temple. The pit seems to have been the focus. Deposition, on the other hand, was carried out in specific zones of the site, notably on the south side, i.e. the left-hand side for worshippers approaching the temple and its focus from the entrance on the east side. This zonation may perhaps be linked with allusions by Poseidonius (quoted in Athenaeus IV,152D) to Celts paying respect to the gods by turning to the right (Webster 1995:460), apparently indicating a spatially significant element to ritual practice, that perhaps also had its counterparts in everyday life (Fitzpatrick 1994). If Poseidonius is taken literally, it could be that sacrificial actions took place on the right-hand (northerly) side of the enclosure, whilst the deposition of the votive remains took place on the left-hand side. Clearly the act of deposition was important during the making of votive offerings, and for Hayling Island (but not all Iron Age temples, e.g. Gournay) the locus of these actions was mainly in a particular south-easterly zone within the enclosure."

The south-easterly zone is particularly significant as this is where the House of Donn is to be found in relation to the land of Ireland. Perhaps this is a case of a country, sanctuaries and homes all taking their structure from the sacred cosmology? If that's true for Iron Age Celts, it would place them squarely in agreement with temple and sacred space/sanctuary organization for other Indo-European people.

Regarding offerings and sacrifices made at these sacred sites and enclosures, it is said hat pigs, cows, bulls, dogs, people and boars were offered as sacrifices in Druid ritual at sites on the Continent, in Britain and Ireland.

Some of these deities were chthonic. There is Donn, the Lord of the Dead in Irish traditions and his cognate Gwynn ap Nudd in Welsh mythology. Metrical Dindshenchas has a tale about Crom who was said to be a god that demanded human sacrifice and was symbolized in a stone circle which was decorated with gold and silver adornments for the stones. St. Patrick is said to have taken a sledgehammer to these stones in one of the legends associated with him.

The tales of Irish history, myth and traditions are filled with mention of Druids. This is true for the earliest of their histories as it is down to the time that Christianity became the established religion of the Irish. It is certainly true that much of the Irish oral history was synchronized by the scribes and monks to give them a connection to ancient Jewish history and hence a large role in the Judeo-Christian tradition into which they were injecting themselves. Part of this alteration of the histories attempted to show how Noah was related to some of the first people who were said to have come to Ireland. Another alteration of the traditions occurred to show how the Irish aided the Hebrews at the time of Moses. A story was told to show how an Irish linguist was present at the event on the Plain of Shinar of the Tower of Babel. The role of the pre-Christian Irish deities was reduced to being ancestors and heroes instead of gods. Some of these gods were reduced to the status of saints or angels, while a very few of them were characterized as being eternal-non-dying beings who were usually apart from normal reality. These factors are important to keep in mind when reading the written Irish histories. Another thing to understand is that the traditions and histories were not completely obliterated or lost. Much survived from the earliest of times. Part of that survival was due to the role of the Filidh before during and after the time of the Christian synchronization of Irish history. The Filidh were an independent historical and educational system from that of the Church. They are recognized as being the inheritors in that role of the roles of the Druids for Irish Celtic culture. Much in the Irish Annals and surviving histories accurately reflects what happened in the eyes of the people who first recorded the events and as maintained, interpreted and altered by those who followed them. Much the same thing happened in the recording of Jewish history.

History is an important tool in archaeology. It helps one to understand the provenance and influences that appear to be recorded in the archaeological record. Even myths can lead one to important discoveries.

The Irish traditions, myths and histories tell us that there were Druids among the first people to appear in Ireland. They also tell us that even the deities of the ancient Irish had Druids. Beyond that, they also report that the latest wave of culture to sweep across Ireland before the coming of Christianity, the Milesians also had Druids among them. To me, this says explicitly that the Irish believed that Druids and their ways were a part of the history of their people from its beginnings. This idea was not altered or synchronized with Christianity when the great synchronism of Irish history occurred at the hands of the early church.  If that was true of Irish culture before Celtic culture or Christian culture influenced it, then what of British or Gaulish cultures where Druids were reported to have originated and encountered by the Roman armies and their historians? I'd think that Druids would have been said to be a part of their culture/people from the beginnings of remembered history. We know that the classical historians mention Druids in the 2nd century BCE. we hear about magical and religious practices among the Celts as far back as 2400 years BP.  The idea of a cohesive Celtic culture is advanced by some modern academics to have started some 3000+ years BP (if not 4000+BP). Were Druids present in these cultures from the earliest of times? It's certainly my position that Druids were there. I say this because Druids were the cohesive, educational, maintaining, socio-religious, legalistic, artistic and linguistic function of Celtic society. I didn't invent this idea. It's reported by Celtic historians and traditions from the earliest of times.

In the case of Ireland, it’s known as the Irish Celtic Druid Tradition and it spans a time from the present day back about 3800 years. For the first 2000 years, the traditions were maintained by the Druids using oral mnemonic techniques. After the development of Old Irish, this tradition was recorded by scribes in books, many of which survive today. That’s what history and the tradition itself tells us about itself. Starting in the 5th century and continuing through the 14th century CE, Irish monks, Poets and scribes recorded the traditions in writing.

The relationship of one Celtic Druidic tradition to another is of course not exact. However, there are a considerable number of similarities between all of them based on what is known. The Irish and British traditions have more written histories and a better preservation of their traditions, especially the mythology and cultural practices. The practices of the Druids of Gaul that have survived were mainly preserved by the classical Greek and Roman historians. Some tales do survive and of course there are the written records, mainly invocations, curses and the odd manuscript, and additionally the Coligny Calendar. Here again, the Gaulish practices that we know from this sparse record for Druids is very similar to what we know about Irish and British Druids.  Matches have also been accomplished for the major deity types in Gaul, Britain and Ireland.

When Christianity was introduced among the Irish Celts, many Druids and Filidh (Vision Poets) became monks and priests and many did not. The legal arm of the Druids (known as Brehons in Ireland) continued in practice for another 1200 years. The Poets or Filidh also continued as an independent power group among the Irish during that time. They are considered to have inherited and fulfilled many of the roles that the Druids held before Christianity. Even after Christianity, one of the most noted Irish saints (St, Columba, known in Irish as Columcille) said that Christ was his Druid.

On the continent of Europe, there are ritual enclosures, votive pits and road ways, as well as ceremonial weaponry and ritual tools. However, it is difficult to find items that correlate between the cultures. In fact, it is difficult just to find any items of themselves, let alone those that might be common between cultures. I think that as more and more ritual centers are discovered and investigated, through archaeology, a better picture will emerge for all of the Druid traditions.

Druidism was a philosophy and a spirituality that addressed the Celtic concern with the imminence of the Otherworld and the effect of its denizens on worldly matters. The primary areas of concern were in terms of productivity and prosperity as well as success in battle and raiding. There were major festivals and feast throughout the Celtic world that the Druids were said to officiate.  Some of the practices of the Druids, the vision poets and the seers included psycho-human conscious alteration in a manner similar to shamanism. The Druids themselves were scholar-philosopher-priests. They served their people and the kings as advisors, priests and magical workers, in addition to being the closest thing to scientists of the day.

The term Celtic, is referencing cultures that had a Celtic language, produced Celtic art and music and who were governed by Celtic law codes and a kind of traditional “common knowledge.” This knowledge among the Irish was known as coimgne. I mainly study Irish Druidism (which is known as Draíocht), but I also attempt to keep up to date on Welsh materials and any discoveries about Druids or Celtic religious practices that are uncovered on the Continent.

Celtic religion changed after being influenced by Christianity in many of the same ways that Jewish religion changed after Christianity also influenced it. The new religions are not the same as the old religions. The customs are different. The priesthood is different. The languages are different. Even the art is different. When the Jewish religion had prophets it was different from a Jewish religion without prophets. When Celtic religion had Druids, it was different from when it didn't have Druids. We know about Jewish religions because the oral traditions were set down when writing was introduced and the prophets and patriarchs stories were recorded. We know about Celtic religions and Druids because their oral traditions were recorded and set down when writing was introduced to Celtic culture. In the writings that recorded Celtic culture we learn that Druids were a part of that culture for some 2000 years before the histories, laws, tales, myths and traditions were written by the scribes and monks. In Jewish culture we learn about the histories of the Jews, their laws, tales, myths and traditions by much the same methods of recoding an oral history in writing.

The recording of history has a lot of influences on it. That was true in the past as it is today. Religion, politics, personal and national bias, wars and natural disasters all serve to change the ways and accuracies of recorded histories. None the less, we do have them and they can be evaluated in spite of their being influenced, changed or colored. The same sorts of influences affect how archaeologists interpret the archaeological record in part but not as greatly because the artifacts often survive through many periods of interpretation. I'm hoping that as more artifacts from ancient Celtic religions survive, we'll have a better and less biased understanding of the Druids.

The tales of Irish history, myth and traditions are filled with mention of Druids. This is true for the earliest of their histories as it is down to the time that Christianity became the established religion of the Irish. It is certainly true that much of the Irish oral history was synchronized by the scribes and monks to give them a connection to ancient Jewish history and hence a large role in the Judeo-Christian tradition into which they were injecting themselves. Part of this alteration of the histories attempted to show how Noah was related to some of the first people who were said to have come to Ireland. Another alteration of the traditions occurred to show how the Irish aided the Hebrews at the time of Moses. A story was told to show how an Irish linguist was present at the event on the Plain of Shinar of the Tower of Babel.

The role of the pre-Christian Irish deities was reduced to being ancestors and heroes instead of gods. Some of these gods were reduced to the status of saints or angels, while a very few of them were characterized as being eternal-non-dying beings who were usually apart from normal reality. These factors are important to keep in mind when reading the written Irish histories. Another thing to understand is that the traditions and histories were not completely obliterated or lost. Much survived from the earliest of times. Part of that survival was due to the role of the Filidh before during and after the time of the Christian synchronization of Irish history. The Filidh were an independent historical and educational system from that of the Church. They are recognized as being the inheritors in that role of the roles of the Druids for Irish Celtic culture. Much in the Irish Annals and surviving histories accurately reflects what happened in the eyes of the people who first recorded the events and as maintained, interpreted and altered by those who followed them. Much the same thing happened in the recording of Jewish history.

History is an important tool in archaeology. It helps one to understand the provenance and influences that appear to be recorded in the archaeological record. Even myths can lead one to important discoveries. The Irish traditions, myths and histories tell us that there were Druids among the first people to appear in Ireland. They also tell us that even the deities of the ancient Irish had Druids. Beyond that, they also report that the latest wave of culture to sweep across Ireland before the coming of Christianity, the Milesians also had Druids among them. To me, this says explicitly that the Irish believed that Druids and their ways were a part of the history of their people from its beginnings. This idea was not altered or synchronized with Christianity when the great synchronism of Irish history occurred at the hands of the Christians.  If that was true of Irish culture before Celtic culture or Christian culture influenced it, then what of British or Gaulish cultures where Druids were reported to have originated and encountered by the Roman armies and their historians.

Druids can be said to have been a part of their cultures/peoples from the beginnings of their remembered histories. We know that the classical historians mention Druids in the 2nd century BCE. we hear about magical and religious practices among the Celts as far back as 2400 years BP. The idea of a cohesive Celtic culture is advanced by some modern academics to have started some 3000+ years BP (if not 4000+BP). Were Druids present in these cultures from the earliest of times? It's certainly my position that Druids were there. I say this because Druids were the cohesive, educational, maintaining, socio-religious, legalistic, artistic and linguistic function of Celtic society. I didn't invent this idea. It's reported by Celtic historians and traditions from the earliest of times. In fact, these same people were Druids and were tasked to study and to remember the histories and traditions of their people. Long study and a perfected memory were two of the distinguishing marks of the Druids.

Another central issue that comes up from time to time is whether Druids existed within Celtic cultures at an early enough time to have used or to have been involved with Stonehenge. If Celtic culture existed in Britain as early as the mid second millennium BCE, then that says it is possible. If the Druids predated Celtic culture in the British Isles then it is even more possible that they were involved with Stonehenge and other stone circle types of sacred sites.  Irish traditions say that Druids were in Ireland at that time. I'm looking to the archaeological record to see if it confirms or denies this tradition.

What I’ve discovered seems to say that the Druids did not build Stonehenge but that the people of the land where Druidism flourished (Britain) most certainly did build it. The effects of the stones and the other structures from the Stone ages of the past left their mark on the Druidic lore just as they left their marks on the Celtic cultures in which the Druids flourished. Celtic culture can be placed backward in time to when Stonehenge was still in use. Whether Celts and Druids used it is a hypothesis that has not been fully developed by research or in the academic literature. What can be said is that Stonehenge marked Celtic culture in much the same way that it affects modern culture. It is food for the psyche and the mysterious.

FWIW the time of the last use and alteration of Stonehenge was placed at 1240 BCE by Wainwright and Renfrew in _The Henge Monuments_. This dating leaves little gap between it and Celtic culture arriving in Britain. Of course, the Druids are sometimes considered to predate Celtic culture. One of the definitions of Druidism is the Way of the Men of the Oak. Worship and veneration of the Oak as representative of deity goes back many thousands of years. In fact, it goes back over 20,000 years in Europe. According to Stuart Piggott as quoted originally by Anne Ross in her book, _Druids_:

"We are in fact ignorant of what may well have been many varieties of religious experience among the European and Neolithic communities from the sixth to the third millennium BC and their contribution to later Celtic religion is a wholly unknown factor.

By the time of the historically documented Druids the background of possible religious tradition would then be roughly as follows. Taking as a starting point the forms of Celtic religion as inferred from archaeology, epigraphy and the classical and vernacular texts there are three main antecedent phases. The first would be the traditions, predominantly Indo-European, going back to the second millennium, and perhaps to its beginnings. Behind this again would be the wholly obscure religions of the Neolithic agriculturists with, in Gaul, and especially Britain, eastern and western components mixed from the end of the fourth millennium BC. and finally, underlying all, there would be the beliefs and rites of the hunting peoples of pre-agricultural Europe which might well have contained elements surviving in shamanism. It is a pedigree which could be a good twenty thousand years in length. Druidism, when we first encounter it, is an integral part of the social structure of Celtic Gaul; it is an Indo-European institution with, whatever criticisms may be leveled against the over-elaborate schemes of Dumézil and his school, analogues in the Brahmin class of Sanskrit India or archaic priesthoods of early Rome. But there are distinctive elements which may owe their existence to those earlier sources of European religious tradition we have just sketched out."

Druidism has it roots twenty thousand years in the past of Britain and Europe and its more recent branches go back four to five thousand years ago in Europe and Britain. Druids existed among the Celts at the earliest recorded historical reports of them and they were an established priesthood at that time. The conservatism of Indo-European priesthoods is well documented and an accepted *given* when considering their origins and long term effects on their cultures. By conservative I mean they preserved the lore and the traditions of their culture and they were slow to change its knowledge base for new ideas unless these ideas and concepts were clearly demonstrated to be true. "Slow to change" would be a good synonym for "conservative" in my above statements. Druids, Brahmins and other Indo-European priesthoods had a duty to conserve their cultural lore and practices. Druids and Druidism are not exceptions to this rule. Druids most probably were present and used Stonehenge in the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The only question is whether they were known by that name at that time. There was certainly a priesthood and there were most certainly oaks used in the henges and other sacred enclosures before during and after that time.

Of course, I'd also love to know more about Druidism as it existed in Gaul, Galatia, Iberia, the Danube Valley and the northern areas of Italy. In these areas (so far) the main source of information is in the archaeological record and the classical historical reports, followed by some meager strands of folklore and a few surviving written artifacts on lead or bronze. There's not enough information from Gaul to be conclusive about its beliefs but between the Irish and British traditions there are a lot of overlays and similarities. What is known about Gaulish Druidic teachings and practices does not contradict what is known about the Irish and British Druidism. The only problem is a lack of information from Continental sources. As archaeology finds more Gaulish curse tablets and written artifacts the information gap closes.

In any event, anyone studying the ways of Druidism should not be the least surprised to hear that they used any of the Neolithic or surviving Bronze Age monuments for rituals or as a religious or a magical-working site. There is evidence that Druids in Ireland used contemporary structures and sites of this type in their time. The new Druids of today certainly do much the same thing (and for many of the same reasons).  Tara is one such ancient site that has had such a usage. Tlachtca and Uisneach are two other ancient and modern Irish Druidic ritual sites.

A cult of the oak and a cult of the Sun existed in ancient Europe long before recorded history and are supported by archaeological findings and anthropological interpretations of the data. The name Druid is thought to be composed of two Indo-European roots which mean "Oak" and "Knowledge." Priests of Oak Knowledge seem to have existed back to the times when oaks were used to structure sacred enclosures and ritual sites. There was little possibility of calling these priests Druids until Indo-European language and culture arrived on the scene. The earliest that could have occurred is concurrent with the building and rebuilding of the three major phases of Stonehenge however.

Stonehenge is a physical representation of the center of the universe as a site for spiritually enacting rituals that tie the people to the place and the power within it. That characteristic of it has been acknowledged by many people and cultures that’ve come in contact with it over the years. In fact, such monumental structures as Stonehenge certainly epitomizes are built as symbols of power, are used as ritual centers and continue their existence across cultures due to their symbolic nature. New people borrow and adapt it to their own power structures and prestige as a symbol and a center of their own power.

To a lesser extent, that is what is happening to and at Stonehenge even today.

As to a differentiation of sacred and secular in cultures, societies and among people in the near, old, ancient and prehistoric past, let me recommend that you read _Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge_ by D.V., Clarke, T.G. Gowie and A. Foxon. It contains pictures and detailed discussions of the possibilities regarding this issue:

"The dominant monuments in the British landscape at the beginning of this period were the large communal burying places -- conspicuous landmarks whose size and silting suggest that they played a major role in defining social groups and maintaining their cohesion, Gradually regional groupings began to acquire greater importance, exercising control over the design and construction of large monuments -- henges, stone circles -- which were created for use by the living, involving considerable resources. Leaders of these groups acquired prestige good as symbols of their power."

This was only 5000 to 6000 years ago. Going further back into the past, one finds that social groups were more dispersed and that their ritual or social structures were less organized on a grand scale. However, this didn't prevent them from having sacred objects or locations. Many of these have survived from then to now and have been uncovered by archaeologists and explorers. Caves and cave paintings, streams, wells and springs, mountains and forests were the ritual centers in the past, formed as surely as the "things" in Norse tradition and discovered by the spiritual specialists of the people and their tribes.

One can look to the artifacts that have survived in Europe from the last Ice Age going back 30,000 to 40,000 years to see items that can be considered to be ritual item, whether portable or fixed. Some of these artifacts might be a blending of science and ritual attitudes (such as the bone plaque from the Aurignacian levels at the Blanchard rock shelter of S.W. France - Cunliff, p. 71 of _Prehistoric Europe_, 1997). This place is a series of holes and patterns on bone that could be interpreted as indicating the phases of the Moon. In the Mesolithic we find evidence of social change in burials, symbols and art that suggest shamanism was important to the tribal functions of the people. Into the Neolithic times these social and religious functions became even more organized as the hunter gatherer societies yield to farming which led to settlements and a greater accumulation of wealth and power in those locations. This is when the great henge monuments, passage graves and other sacred centers begin to appear as a result of this human, social; organization and greater prosperity.

The archaeological record in Europe seems to show that humans have always seen the sacred as being a part of the everyday, but it also has been accompanied by an esoteric and magical outlook that points to the sacred and the spiritual as being beyond this interaction. As societies have developed, this attitude has caused many sacred areas, sites and monuments to be constructed as focal points for ritual practice and spiritual expression. In this desire to communicate beyond the ordinary, art has been a close associate of religion and the two are often found together. This associated spans the entirety of human existence since at least the last Ice Age in the archaeological record and the human psyche.

In any study of Druids, henges and the past of the British Isles one should reference the books and works of archaeologists, astronomers, mathematicians and mystics about Stonehenge, Newgrange and other Neolithic and Bronze Age structures. Here are two such works and some of the central points and issues they attempt to make:

• John North, _Stonehenge, a New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos, The Free Press, 1996:

"It will not of course be suggested that the monument on Salisbury Plain was an astronomical observatory, at least in the current meaning of that word. The stones were not erected as a means to investigating the heavens in a detached and abstract way. The aim was not to discover the patterns of behavior of the Sun, Moon or stars but to embody those patterns, already known in broad outline, in religious architecture. There are signs that such ritualized architecture had been practiced in the Wessex neighborhood and else where for over a thousand years before the first phases of the building of Stonehenge. While that monument in stone surpassed all before it, in architectural subtlety as well as in grandeur, to appreciate even this point one must know something of the earthen and timber structures that went before it and consequently about half of this book is concerned with that earlier material."

North goes on to strongly suggest that the positioning of the timber posts in these structures offers a more reliable and precise testimony as to how the Sun. Moon and stars could have been observed in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Additionally he shows how the landscape and the heavens were coupled to these structures through human activities, tools and constructions. He suggests that the most precise alignments were on stars and that these are the alignments most often found in almost all of these structures.

• Geoffrey Wainwright and Colin Renfrew in The Henge Monuments, Ceremony and Society in prehistoric Britain, pp. 164-165, Thames and Hudson, 1990:

"The building of communal monuments -- the great henges and timber buildings was a deliberate strategy by those holding power to maintain the social order and to increase their control over it, They were symbols of group identity which not only assisted in the cohesion of the group but would also have contributed to increased status and power for the individual who could manipulate the feelings of power and permanence which they must have inspired in the population. John Cherry has considered the role of such monuments in early societies and has pointed out that their construction consistently occurs at two points in the cyclical development of such groups. The first period of monument building takes place while societies are at a formative stage and assists in binding them into a coherent organization by providing a common focus for their activities and aspirations. There may then be a reduction in the intensity of public works until a second phase of monument building takes place as the fabric of that society decays. At this stage their construction can act as a way of focusing the communal will and efforts as an act of integration. Viewed in retrospect across 5,000 years of human settlement in these islands, public monuments coincide with periods of change. In Wessex, the henge monuments and timber buildings involved far greater investment of manpower than earlier monuments and they belong to a formative stage when a phase of economic expansion was taking place."

Wainwright and Renfrew go on to say:

"Questions about the use of the great enclosures has, up to now, polarized between views as to whether they were symbols of group identity manipulated by powerful individuals to enhance their own status, or whether they were the centres of learned orders, skilled in advanced astronomical and geometrical knowledge. The protagonist of the latter theory has been Evan MacKie who claimed the existence of a central authority with magical expertise and saw the timber buildings as the residences of this elite group. This theory was largely based on the work of Alexander Thom who espoused the view that some very advanced astronomical and geometrical knowledge had accumulated in Brittany and Britain well before 1800 BC. From this, McKie went on to postulate a learned and skilled professional order of wise men whose members were able to pursue their studies full -time while supported by the population, and could command the labour required to erect hundreds of henge monuments, stone circles and standing stones, some of which were their 'observatories'."

The two go on to suggest that recent work has cast doubt on some of Thom's theories and that the theory viewing these structures as centers of power and prestige for the ruling individuals is more in favor. Of course, the work of North above argues just the opposite viewpoint that these were ritual centers organized for use in spiritual matters as well as astronomical observation and acknowledgement. If one follows the lead of North and MacKie, then the profile of Druids as wise men, with knowledge of the stars and a high positioning within their society matches well with their theories and the factors that brought the henges into being in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised that Druids used such structures for star and ritual work. I'd be surprised if they didn't given what we know and what was reported about them in these two areas. The theory presented also would seem to strongly suggest that Druids (or priesthoods like them) actually did construct Stonehenge, Woodhenge and a vast number of other Neolithic and Bronze Age sacred enclosures.

One should also look at the work of Alexander Thom and latter Clive Ruggles regarding Neolithic structures and astronomical uses:

• Clive Ruggles, _Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, p. 159, Yale University Press, 1999.

"And there is certainly evidence (albeit almost entirely indirect) that the Druids, the principle mediators between the natural and the supernatural world of Celtic times, had considerable practical knowledge of astronomy and calendrics. Last of all, hitherto unsuspected patterns of continuity of material tradition from earlier times through to the Iron Age, as have been suggested recently in the case of timber circles, imply that one should not retain an entirely closed mind about the continuity from even older sacred or calendrical traditions."

Ruggles offers up an example of astronomical alignments in Ireland which have also been tied to Celtic scared rituals and times through archaeological excavations. This connection takes that particular Celtic practice back to an earlier time of 2000 BC and continuing for 2000 years or more. His cites in support of the above quote and the point of my discussion are:

• Cunliffe, Barry W. and Colin Renfrew, eds. (1997), Science and Stonehenge (Proceedings of the British Academy, 92). Oxford University Publishing.

• Piggott, Stuart, (1968) The Druids, London, Thames and Hudson.

• Gibson, Alex (1995), 'The dating of timber circles: new thoughts in the light of recent Irish and British discoveries,' In John Waddell and Elizabeth Shee Twohig (eds.), Ireland in the Bronze age, Stationary Office, Dublin, 87-89.

Above Ruggles says something similar to what noted Celtic scholar John Carey has to say about continuity of traditions from the Neolithic through the Iron Age in Celtic and Druidic traditions, practices and ritual sites:

• Carey, John, (Time, Memory, and the Boyne Necropolis, Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, 10/11, 1990 and 1991, edited by Harvard Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, William J. Mahon and Phillip Freeman.

In his article, Carey emphasizes the point that the Celtic people had a continuity of traditions from the Neolithic through the Iron age. He discusses an Early Modern Irish retelling of the story about how 'Angus Won the Brugh.' This is contained in the tale, "Altram Tighe Dá Mheadar" (The Fosterage of the House of the Two Vessels) to illustrate that the sacred nature of Newgrange was recognized by the people who encountered it, lived near it and were influenced by it. Other such locations of continuity of tradition are Stonehenge, Crough Patrick and countless sites in Ireland, Scotland, Britain and the Continent. In Britain, the tales of Arthur and Merlin seem to echo this kind of continuity.

As John Carey says in his article on Newgrange:

"In the case of Newgrange, we must therefore suppose not only that there was some cultural link between its builders and the first speakers of Goidelic in Ireland, but that this link exercised a formative influence on the belief system of the latter. Again, the survival of some version of these ancient doctrines in the medieval literature indicates that the world-view of the Irish remained, at least in certain respects, astonishingly stable throughout the intervening centuries: the Boyne legends were still relevant, and important, in the Christian period."

In these statements and conclusions, Carey is referring to the use of Newgrange as a cosmological and astronomical timepiece and observatory, confirmed through archaeology and astronomy as well as preserved and conserved in the Irish legends associated with it.  I believe that there probably is a similar situation occurring in the case of Stonehenge as its presence translates the original intention of its builders through layers of Celtic and Druidic traditions onward to the psyches and impressions of modern times.

This is not to say that the Oak veneration of 20,000 years ago is the same as 2000 years ago or even today. What I am saying is that Druids were a part of Celtic culture from the earliest of times and that there are some suggestions and reports that they predated its introduction into the British Isles. More hard archaeological evidence is needed to make the determination of exactly when that was but there were certainly Druids there when Stonehenge was there (as there are still Druids there). :-)

Regarding the Giants’ Walk, there's even legends in Geoffrey of Monmouth that Merlin brought the stones of Stonehenge from Ireland through Druid magic.  Of course, no one can prove that beyond the fact that Geoffrey wrote it down thousands of years after it was supposed to have happened and hundreds of years after he thought it had happened. Druids are the stuff of histories, legends, lore and speculation. They study the mysteries and walk the Druid way in search of truth. This journey begins among stones and journeys to the sky through the center of the depths and up the core of the Great Tree. It is signed with cryptic markings and it is illuminated with kennings and esoteric chants. What better symbol for Druids than Stonehenge or Newgrange or even Tara of the Kings?

Searles O’Dubhain

When Druids Meet

(originally posted years ago to alt.religion.druid and now edited for this blog)

When Druids meet, how do they recognize one another?

The answer to this question has many answers because there are many ways that a person can be a Druid.  In one of the few references available to us on this subject from antiquity, _The Colloquy of the Two Sages_, we can discover that some of these many ways are as follows:

1. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by detailing the truth of the inner *nature* that caused them to seek to become Druids.
2. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by providing the *traditions* of the studies that formed them into Druids.
3. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by describing their *rank* of attainment in their chosen specialties of Draíocht.
4. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by itemizing the *skills* in the art of Druids that they practice as Druids.
5.Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by outlining the *goals* that they've set for themselves as Druids.
6. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by detailing their *accomplishments* in their life as Druids.
7. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by tracing the Druidic *lineage* of their teachers.
8. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by performing *prophecy* that is inspired through imbas.
9. Druids recognize one another through inquiry and by *acknowledging truth* when they see it..

These nine points of being a Druid are clearly provided to us from the Druids of the past. I think they ably provide us with three questions that we each need to answer:

1. Can we ignore these nine points of being a Druid when we seek to be Druids ourselves?
2. Can we afford to ignore discovering them in others who say they are Druids?
3. Can we demonstrate them to the world through the truth of our own actions?

When we look for Druids among us or within ourselves, will we find the requisite nature, tradition, rank, skill, goals, accomplishments, lineage, prophecy and truth that is the mark of a Druid?  Will we be able to ask and answer the three questions of seeking, discovering and demonstrating? When Druids meet, the knowledge of tradition, experience and inquiry are each validated through the harmony of respect, openness and imbas.

(the following in answer to questions about the above lists; mainly from Erynn Laurie)

1. One would assume from this that they trade life stories?

I think what is meant here is that Druids tell one another what it was that set them on the Druid Way and describe this epiphany of choice in such a way that other Druids can identify and synchronize with it.

2. IE Talking about what they learned?

This is basically the curricula of the Druidic schools in which they've studied.

3. This strikes me as bragging.

Wouldn't you want to know the degrees that a person has as well as their experience if they were going to be your doctor or discuss other professional matters with you in a professional specialty.  Wouldn't you want to know the qualifications of your lawyer, your clergy or your doctor?

4. More bragging, but it can be done with some humility.

This might be considered itemizing their areas of specialty or it could be just an understanding of the techniques or systems that they use. In medicine, this might be reflected in asking a person if they specialized in surgery before you contracted with them for an operation.  You might want to know if your doctor practices holistic medicine vs. heavy use of drug therapies, etc.

5. Okay, this one I can see. It's like what clergy do when they get together.

I think everyone shares such goals and dreams with other people with whom they think they might like to establish a professional relationship. It's a matter of getting together with like minds who share a common dream and pulling together in the same direction.

6. Strikes me as bragging again. But once again, it can be done with some humility.

I see this more as stating the details of one's resume to fill out the overall picture and credibility of one's experience.

7. Too much like the Wiccan "you aren't a *real* Wiccan because you weren't initiated by so-and-so".

Actually, this list and process is very useful in evaluating where a person is coming from. If the teacher, school or group is already well known, the evaluation of the individual's practice as a Druid might be better understood against that background. Knowing a person is a member of Keltria, ADF or OBOD might suggest something about their overall belief structure and practice.

1. It makes me wonder if some of these nine can be used in this day and age. I can trace my Druidic lineage through about 5 people, but not any further. And what is to say that the first Druid I can trace my lineage back to was any more qualified to be called a Druid than I am? I think some intelligence needs to be exercised in using these as 'measuring sticks' for themselves and others.

If I already know the Druids of a person's lineage, I have a pretty good idea about whether or not they have credibility as a Druid through their connection to them (or to their path, group or school).

It is my hope that Druids everywhere consider intelligence to be a great measuring
stick, along with truth, intuition and awareness. Credentials are important.

2. Like I say, we need to exercise common sense. I don't object to this being used, but sense needs to be exercised.

I think that using the various ways that I've listed of evaluating anyone's claims are sensible.  What we are talking about here are credentials that are similar to what would be on any resume.

3. We probably could, but I don't think it would matter to a majority of humanity. Some of the populace would be in(t)eres(t)ed in how *real* we are, if we are ordained, and so on, but most I don't think would care. It could be demonstrated, but once again, we would look like Catholic Priests who are more concerned with proving ourselves to each other, and society, to be concerned with taking care of our "flocks". I would actually like to see some kind of measuring stick for Druids and Wiccans as well as Witches to denote who is serious about their path, and who is qualified to teach and preach, and to separate the fluff-bunnies out, but as long as there is no central authority to any of our paths, this may be a pipe dream.

It is a major focus of my work as a Druid to effectively establish credentials and other clear-cut ways of defining who and what we are as Druids. It's my great hope that much of the confusion and hoopla associated with the many who *claim* to be Druids (but who are actually something else) can be eliminated through these (and similar) efforts. That's why some of us in The Summerlands are working toward the establishment of a Druid Seminary. I suspect that is also why OBOD, Keltria and ADF have improved (and continue to improve) their training courses.  I also think that's why the Druid College of Avalon is being established. I think that we can establish centers of credibility and authority without having to have one central authority.  If we do this, I think we will be emulating the ways that the ancient Druids also established and maintained their own centers of learning and authority.

When we look at the Druid traditions, I don't think one can be too far apart from others. We can differ in terms of what we embrace in the tradition in regard to degree and point of focus.  Regarding centers of credibility and authority, anything can be misused or become off-centered.  That is why most workable systems and groups have some form of checks and balances as well as some way of self-evaluating and regulating.  How this can or is being done is worthy of another thread and further discussion. I hope that some of the more successful Druids, groups or schools out there will share what their experiences have been?

The idea behind having certification is to provide an easy means of determining credentials and capability, even relative authority.  They are not the "be all and end all" of Druidic society.  They are ways for the general public to get a grasp on what we are all about in a fairly uniform and consistent manner however. A feature of such groups should be their ability to recognize individuals who have obtained the necessary standards of excellence on their own as well as through divine inspiration.  Here (and also in the case of those who attend regular schools and training) there should be a criteria that establishes what a Druid (no matter the specialty) actually is.  That same yardstick can measure the conventional as well as the unique.  In fact, that is one reason I started this thread (to attempt to place some marks of reference on that stick). The Inis Glas Hedge School that Erynn and Lorax established and taught is an excellent example of a knowledge base that would serve as such a yardstick for traditional knowledge and some of the experiential knowledge that a Druid should be expected to have.

In ancient Ireland, an ollamh was established and recognized through a process of education, examination and installation involving other sages and ollamhs, as well as kings and chieftains. I see no reason  why we should not expect our own efforts at education and achievement to measured and established by a similar process with schools, boards and governmental recognition today.  That is how the university system works in much of the world. That's the way that I think it should work among us as well. Perhaps the members of any such board should come from the schools, the leadership of government and from those who are independently acknowledge experts in the field on some rotating basis? That way, we might minimize any one group gaining a control over the process in a restrictive manner?  How to do this in balance and fairness is a discussion and an outcome that I eagerly await.

I generally agree that there should be a list of general warning signs (about cults and false traditions) but do reserve the right to find wisdom in even the most unusual and controversial of places. This does not mean that I endorse the unusual or the controversial (or even the outright wrong) but it does mean that I think such sources can inspire us to go beyond them into realms of truth that would otherwise be ignored. Every knowledge must be evaluated and substantiated through careful research and thorough investigation.  Wisdom is found almost as often from failure as it is through success. Perhaps we should attempt to refine the list of warnings while we are also attempting to develop and produce a list of affirmations for Druids and their like?

Searles

Telgud Noe - Man-throwing

"Man-throwing" (telgud noe) in its simplest definition is the adding of the suffix "tot" to a word in Old Irish.

There's of course more to it than that. "Tot" is defined and described as the sound that a wave makes or even the sound that a man's body makes when falling on water. This is specifically an onomatopoetic sound. Now before anyone gets too confused, here's a few things that one should also know
(from dantewoo.com):

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onomatopoetic: strictly speaking, of or relating to the formation or use of words which imitate sounds, like whispering, clang, and sizzle, but the term is generally expanded to refer to any word whose sound is suggestive of its meaning.

a.. Sidelight: Because sound is an important part of poetry, the use of onomatopoeia is another subtle weapon in the poet's arsenal for the transfer of sense impressions through imagery.

b.. Sidelight: Though impossible to prove, some philologists (linguistic scientists) believe that all language originated through the onomatopoeic formation of words.
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In Auraicept na n-Éces, the Ogham are said to be composed of "sound and matter." They are a tool for unlocking the ways that sound and form relate to thought and perception. What this is all about is that some words or sounds mimic one another. Irish and specifically Old Irish is considered to be a very onomatopoetic language. Its sounds are primal and more closely connected to the ways that the human psyche relates to existence and Nature. That's why the Celts and the Druids believed that words had a power to create, especially when they were *true* words that had the onomatopoetic attribute. Poetry and words are then "man-throwing" when the sounds within them strike into the psyche through their close connections to the processes and effects they are describing (or manipulating).

Here's how the Auraicept describes the process (in Calder's translation):

"Fertot, its telgud noe, its flinging of a man, for *nae* is man, ut est, if a man suffer on land, i.e. the man allows suffering on him, he goes afterwards to bathe himself in the water, he lets himself down the bank, into the water, *tot* saith the wave under him, i.e., *tot* was the name of the sound which the wave makes: *tott; tott*, then, is its onomatopoetic name or mixed name from sound, ut est, the *bu* of cows, the *go* of geese: or the heavy voice the man utters dropping himself on the water. From the sounds of birth have been named *go go* in sound, or *bu bó*, i.e., *tot*: or again the man takes his garment about him from some one else. What he then says is *fertom* (i.e. give ye to me, i.e.) it serves me, *feartot* it serves thee, quoth thy companion to thee, that is a passive verb, *feartot* quoth his companion to him, this is an active verb."

English being a more artificial language than Irish, I expect that many would be unfamiliar with the power and effect of onomatopoeia in words and expression. It is an essential of the Poet's art however and one that is still studied in schools of higher learning today.

Here's links to onomatopoeic words and usages in

Japanese:
http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~etshioda/onoma.html

Irish:
http://www.mcgovernonline.com/mcgop87.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/9261/noel.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/9261/

Even examples in English:
http://personal.netwrx.net/gk/poem01.html
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/staff/aromine/resource_kit/onomatopoeic.htm

The key to the use of onomatopoetic words is to select those that evoke a response from the hidden self, the natural self, the inner self that hears and tastes and feels the words. It's a trip into how illusions are made and realties are structured. To write powerful poetry and to see words have an effect on those around us, even our surroundings, we must dive into the wracking, whapping waves of onomatopoetic, totting tons of tonn, toit, tuigen and tongues.

Searles

Trefocal - Three Words

In Auraicept na n-Éces, there is a tract on Poetic methods and knowledge that says of Trefocul:

…for the limbs of science are equal to the limbs of man, for there are
365 limbs of a man, 365 measures of poetry, 365 days in the year, and 365 herbs through the earth, so that the protection of the Trefocul encompasses them…

This is reminiscent to me of the tale of Airmid and Miach and their knowledge of herbs and healing.

Additionally, there is part of a poem on Trefocul in the same tract. It is about the "Laws of Barddism" (Bairdne) or the "Laws of Poetry" (Filidecht), but I think it also gives us windows into the minds and ways of the filidh and through them to the Ways of Draíocht:

Trefocul
Trefocul which poets plead
To defend their lawlessness,
Is no more than a burden of a children's part
From something, I reckon, which they understand.

Shields and pure countenances
Ward off many blemishes
As perfect Adna has devised them,
It is no profit not to turn them.

Twelve "errors" it is clear to you,
The poets must know them;
Etain has found no profit in them,
She has woven the beauty of poetry.

Twelve shields and twelve countenances
She has appointed to guard oneself against them,
The blemishes without a weak bare rhyme,
They succor them with their number.

The countenances of defense which I shall mention,
"Hardening" and "singular" that are not unsharp,
Right "ennobling", "enslaving"
The "staves of words" for true measurement.

"Interloping syllable" entire.
"Theft of a long" it is true,
"Theft of a hard" it is not wrong,
"Change of initial" for its visitation.

"Apocope of initial" ,
"doubling of initial" in front,
"Mod speech" with its modes,
It is a twelfth dear countenance,
"Prefix of gender" for reckoning it.

The shields of defense throughout the world
Are "hyperbole" and "retarding"
Ancient poets have found out those
Two "metathesis" and "internal
division."

It's "full" is not full without foundation,
Its "reduplication," its "diminutive,"
A memory to each noble old bard
Its "exaltation," its "humiliation."

I reckon "man-throwing" with venom,
And "change of final,"
"Apocope of final," it is troublesome,
"Doubling of final" of a good word.

Those are the twelve shields,
The learned are in the habit of observing them,
And the twelve countenances which have been granted,
The four and twenty divisions.

The poets that do not know this,
No back to essay poetry is on them.
How can they conceal their wrongs?
How can they ward off "errors?"

Is it one countenance or one lofty shield
Which saves from blemish each full rough,
Or the twain that are thrown around every blemish?
Not thence, from considering it, will harm arise.

Whoever he be that sings
with his understanding;
Through his intellect rough and dangerous;
It is difficult and it is troublesome
To take account of the Trefocul.

Trefocul the three words
A knowledge of its secret is very hard,
Thirty-six up to this point
Are found through its specifics of Gaelic.

A study of these concepts and the people that are mentioned this tract on Trefocul would serve each of us well in our own efforts to travel the Druid Way.

What are the levels of meaning to be found here?
How were they applied?

How can we still use them today?

I'll probably include this article in my third book of the Ogham Keys to Wisdom series, The Song of the Forest. It was originally composed and copyrighted by me in 2003 on the alt.religion druid newsgroup of Usenet and in the Bards forum of the Summerlands.

Searles

Music, Sound and Form

The Ogham were said by some to have been formed by Sound and Form (as its parents). What better child of Sound and Form would there be but Music? It is a theory of Seán Ó Boyle that the Ogham represent the notes of a Celtic harp. My thoughts on Ogham go beyond this musical notation into realms of mantra and mantic states. In this, I do not think I am far from what Alain Danielou proposed when he said in Music and the Power of Sound:

"If we were able to reproduce the exact relations that constitute the natural names, we should recreate beings, things, and phenomena, because this is the very process of creation, explained by the Vedas and also indicated in Genesis, or in the Gospel of John when the 'creative Word' is spoken of. If, however, exact relations cannot be produced, approximate relations have a power, if not of creation, at least of evocation; sound 'works now in man's small magic, just as it first worked in the grand magical display of the World Creator.'

'The natural name of anything is the sound which is produced by the action of the moving forces which constitute it. He therefore, it is said, who mentally or vocally utters with creative force the natural name of anything brings into being the thing which bears that name.'

By the artificial construction of harmony we can go beyond the phenomenon of sound vibrations and perceive not sounds but immaterial relations through which can be expressed realities of a spiritual nature. We can thus lift the veil by which matter hides from its all true realities"

It is my experience that the Ogham can be used in such a way to produce altered states of consciousness and to open the doors to levels of reality. In a true language (such as Ogamic Irish) with nature words and names, there is a power to the harmony of sounds and the letters that give them birth/form. Everything has a music that is natural amd uniquely characteristic of it alone. The fundamental sounds determine the "Music of the Spheres." Each of these "spheres" can be represented by an Ogham, a note and a sound as well as a quality, an essence and a level of awareness.

For starters, the Ogham can and should be used as a means of transitioning between normal consciousness/reality and mystical/altered consciousness/reality in much the same way that Amergin does so in his poem that is sometimes known as the "Mystery." what Amergin did was to chant and to "become" a variety of mystical/magical symbols for states of being and reality in his poem of mastery over the cosmos. The Ogham characters each have at least three kenning-meanings associated with them from historical/traditional Druidic lists. These meanings can be used to form relationships to create transitions in states of being in a manner similar/parallel to the Tree of Life structure that is used in Cabala (after all, the Ogham are primordial sound/form; even trees in Druidic traditions).

The keys to doing all of this in a Druidic way are to thoroughly understand the traditions, tales and values/concepts associated with the Ogham symbols. This is really not much different from the analogous ways that other Magical systems work to establish esoteric hierarchies. Of course, some will say this is "smoke and mirrors" but to me those who say such things just display an ignorance or an avoidance of Celtic/Druidic ways when they don't put forth the work to actually understand such things. The Druidic Way is not for those who want easy/instant solutions.

Another parallel for this use of Ogham, tone and mantra/chant among Druids and the Filidh (their inheritors) is to be found in the use of Sanskrit letters, symbols, sounds and correspondences among the Brahmins and Yogis of India. In their system chant and mantra are the foundation of meditation and the pathways to enlightenment. Almost any Hindu or Vedic site on meditation or Yoga will give information similar to this found at Universal Mantra.

"The Yogis of the past, found that within our body and mind there is a vibrational activity, and this activity creates sounds. In their deep meditations they listened all this sounds and they cataloged them, they found fifty sounds, and now this sounds are the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. "

"In the tantric science of meditation these sounds are used to awaken higher stages of consciousness and they are combined together to create Mantras, special words based on this sounds."

Other sites for this sort of information can be found at: The River of Heaven which says:

"Hence the Yoga of sound is meant to take us back from our gross sounds to their idea content to the perception they represent and ultimately to the pure being behind that perception. It is not a process of merely saying sounds or thinking about words but tracing the origin of sound and meaning back to awareness itself by the power of meditation."

Awen and Imbas

"This information could be almost anything: events from a person's past life, a detailed history of who and what had happened to an object or even how and why the subject was bespelled or enchanted. The examples that I've seen seem to suggest to me that a spontaneous flow of information and/or poetic verse might accompany the first contact that occurred between the seer and the object. This verse would then be interpreted based upon the vast storehouse of Druidic knowledge that had been accumulated through many years of study, experiment, observation and experience. It is this interpreting of the extemporaneous recital of verse that involves the act of 'cracking open the nuts of wisdom'."


Damh the Bard tells us:

"During a Druid ritual, the Awen can be intoned as a single monotone note using three syllables "Ah-oo-en" (some Druid Orders intone the three letters I. A. U. in a similar way). The power held within the Awen mantra can be used in many ways - from initiating poetic inspiration, to drawing down the blessing of the God and Goddess or evoking a change in the atmosphere of a ritual circle. It is truly a sacred word. "

So it also was and still is among Druids regarding chant and mantra for meditation. Rudimentary use of this was first attempted by Iolo Morganwyg in the Barddic Mysteries and the Barddas, when he suggested that the Awen was represented by three rays/sounds/letters (which are I A U as given above). These are the "fifth", "primary" and "third" elements in the Ogham vowel group or Ailm Aicme. In any esoteric alphabet, the letters represent primary states and tones. In the Ogham, each grouping can have a relationship to the elements/qualities as well as the directions and parts of being. A study of some of the Irish tales has suggested associations for these to me that mesh in a web of interlinking meanings as well as tonic qualities.

One practice that could come out of this use/cross-referencing of Ogham to sound, is that an entire symphony of meaning could be arranged in a melody of notes while colors, lists and other associations (like blossoms and smells) would also allow a multileveled matrix/field-like approach to any esoteric or mundane situation/ritual using the Ogham lists (which were a part of every File and Druid's education). What this means is that there is a ready sourcebook in Druidic memory and tradition for spellwork, medicine, poetry and ritual to be found in the Ogham as music, symbol, talisman and knowledge indices.

I could go on at length about this (and have in books, seminars and classes on the subject) but these few short remarks should point to the wealth of knowledge that awaits one who seeks the knowledge that is to be found along the Druid Way (and especially through the use of Sound and Form and their child which is the Ogham).