Pic: BBC

A hoard of Iron Age jewellery found by a treasure hunter in Stirlingshire has gone on display in Edinburgh. The four solid gold neck ornaments, or torcs, could be more than 2,000 years old. They were found in a field by safari park manager David Booth, who was using a metal detector for the first time.

They are now owned by the Crown and have been placed on public view at the National Museum of Scotland for the next three weeks.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Introduction While the ancient Irish tales abound with warriors and kings (not to forget Queen Medbh!), another figure at almost every turn emerges to out- rank them. Usually referred to as the “druid”, this person upon closer inspection is seen to be not any stereotypical wizard with his potions and paraphernalia, but a poet who, instead of having to memorize rote “secret spells”, produced spontaneous verse often in a deliberately archaic diction. A lengthy essay on the philosophy and practise of Irish druids is beyond the scope of this book, but given the misrepresentation of druids in the popular media, a few summary remarks are in order.

In the ancient Irish tales Irish druids are frequently depicted in detail. They bare no resemblance at all to the white-robed oak- worshippers of Julius Caesar. Irish druids wore, not white hooded robes, but rainbow capes, often feathered tunics and head-dresses (note, in the kast roscin this collection, how the druids mock the monks’ hooded robes!). The important trees were rowan, yew, and hazel, and mistletoe was not found in ancient Ireland. While they occasionally carried magic wands and stones, in the far great majority of cases druids’ only magic “tool” was their voices. They were, emphatically, not “pagan priests” and most of what we think of as priestly functions fell to the local king or tribal chief. They were sages, advisors, “wizards” – their closest modern equivalents would be scholars sometimes called upon to be government advisors, although in many cases they were unaffiliated with the rulers and conducted what we nowadays would call “private practice”.

But over all else, they were “poets”. The word is placed in quotes because above all other cultures and societies in the history of the world, ancient Ireland accorded poets what can only be termed nearly divine rank. Poets paid no taxes and were exempt from military service. They had a freedom of movement to cross political borders denied even kings, and wherever they traveled they were entitled to the best of available lodging. And woe to anyone who harmed, or even offended a poet! One can do no better than simply cite the story of Cairbre whose satire is included in the present collection: a wandering poet visits Tara in the days when the gods themselves ruled there, and is denied what he considers suitable food and a fine enough bed. The next morning he enters the throne room at Tara (which was, by the way, named not after the king but called “Réalta na bhFile”, “Star of the Poets”!), and recites five spare lines of verse, whereby the King of the Gods himself is toppled from his throne. In a second example, also included here, Ireland herself is conjured up, out of the magic mists, by a “poem”. (The word “rosc”, plural “roscanna”, is a rhetorical, usually magical, chant, and this word will be used throughout this book to distinguish a “poem” that can topple gods or conjure whole nations from the modern less potent variety.)

One of the purposes of the present collection is to make the archaic roscanna more readily available to the modern reader, in both English and Irish. With this in mind, and in contrast to many “scholarly editions”, the orthography has been modernized, within the limits of phonetic accuracy, i.e., “ben” has been rendered as “bean” because the former is simply the older orthography for the latter, and only the latter will be recognizable by the modern Irish reader; however, “túatha” has been left in the older form and not rendered as “tuatha” because the difference between the two forms is not one of spelling, but basically of pronunciation (”too-uh-thuh” versus “tueh-heh”). Without a long thesis on Old Irish phonetics, this will go some way toward making the roscanna readable by persons who know Modern Irish, provided they remember that aspirated medial consonants are pronounced (e.g. “Teamhair” is said as two syllables). In a few cases has out-right modernization been employed (e.g. “cen” is given as “gan”). Such “normalization” of spelling is not, admittedly, by any means standard practice, but no less a respected scholar than Myles Dillon (in his Stories from the Acallam, DIAS 1970) argued for its use. However, much of the archaic grammar has been retained, such as inbed initial object pronouns prefixed to verbs and dative plurals in “-ibh” because in such cases to give the modern rendering would completely destroy the phrasing and scan of the lines. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-07-15 14:28:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic:  Blodeuwedd -Christopher Williams (1873-1934)

The theme of shapeshifting is found in Celtic myth regardless of the specific country one invesigates. Thoughout my studies of Celtic lore I have found that there were very specific reasons or circumstances for shapeshifting. The theme of shapeshifting is found in Celtic myth regardless of the specific country one invesigates. Thoughout my studies of Celtic lore I have found that there were very specific reasons or circumstances for shapeshifting. These reasons fall into at least four different categories, they are punishment, survival, protection or as a means to facilitate rebirth. Sometimes a story will fall into more than one of these categories, such as the Welsh story of Llew Llaw Gyffes.

Shapeshifting for Survival and Rebirth

In the Welsh story of Taliesin, who as Gwion Bach, transforms himself into various animal shapes to escape the wrath of the goddess Ceridwen. Gwion transforms himself into a hare, a fish, a bird and finally a grain of wheat. Ceridwen in an attempt to catch him also transforms herself. She becomes a greyhound, an otter, a falcon and a hen. It is as a hen that she finally catches Gwion, who is at this stage a grain of wheat, she swallows Gwion and by so doing becomes pregnant and eventually gives birth to Taliesin.

The story of Taliesin has many similarities with the Irish story of Tuan mac Cairill. Tuan is the great-granson of Partholon who was the leader of one of the five invading races of Ireland. Tuan is the lone survivor of this race and lives out many lives on the island as a stag, a boar, a hawk and finally as a salmon. It is as a salmon that he is caught by a fisherman and served to the wife of Cairill. The lady becomes pregnant and gives birth to Tuan. The similarity of these two myths strikes home when we understand that both Tuan and Taliesin had full memories of their previous lives as humans. In both cases, their second lives as a human were both brought about by a woman eating them and becoming pregnant. This theme too echoes throughout Celtic myth.

There is a common misconception concerning these two myths which I wish to clarify. One may think that these two stories relate to reincarnation. That is not accurate, in both instances the main characters maintain their identities in every form. John and Caitlin Matthews have provided us with some insight into the Celtic view of stories of this type. They quote Cormac’s Glossary which gives an definition of transmigration, which in the Gaelic is tuirgin. "a birth that passes from every nature into another… a transitory birth which has traversed all nature from Adam and goes through every wonderful time down to the world’s doom." The Matthews’ go on to explain that these "transitory births" often traverse the realms of animals while the subjects retain their original memories and intelligence. But not only do they retain their original memories, they also retain the knowledge and experiences of their lives as animals. Therefore, it could be said that the act of transformation granted them knowledge they wouldn’t otherwise be able to attain.

Sometimes, the shapeshifter undergoes the change in order to survive some great disaster. And this sometimes goes hand in hand with the rebirth senario, but not always.

We can look at the story of Llew for an example of transformation following a personal disaster. After Blodeuwedd and her lover attempt to kill Llew, he is transformed into the shape of an eagle. Gwydion find him perched on a tree, decomposing flesh falling from him, which is eaten by a sow. Gwydion then uses his Druidic wand to transform Llew back to his human shape. As a punishment for her treacherous ways, Gwydion transforms Blodeuwedd into an owl.

There are many more instances of rebirth and survival in the manner described above. In fact, Celtic myth is full of them, but I haven’t the space to address them all. The Celts believed that everything was possessed of a spirit and great care was taken by Celtic women not to partake of certain foods or plants for the fear of becoming pregnant.

Transformation as Punishment

As with Blodeuwedd’s transformation into an owl, a person could be transformed to inflict some sort of punishment for transgressions, real or percieved. Ossian’s mother was one such person. She was transformed into the shape of a deer by the Druid Fer Doirche. In this story, she is turned into a doe while pregnant with him. He is born of her while she is in deer form and retained throughout life a patch of "fawn’s hair" on his forehead where she licked him. Ossian becomes a member of the Fianna and later comes face to face with his mother while out hunting. She is able to show him her true form and thus prevent Ossian from shooting her. Ossian then warns to to flee, for the Fianna would not show her the same mercy.

The children of Lir were transformed into the shapes of swans by their step mother Aoife because she was jealous of Lir’s love for them. The children were doomed to remain in this shape for many years until finally they resumed thier human shapes and died old and tired.

The Welsh story of Math ap Mathonwy we find another example of transformation used as a punishment. Gwydion and his brother Gilfaethwy create problems for Math when they start a war with Pryderi, King of Annwn. This war is all to draw Math away from his royal foot holder Goewin. Gwydion kills Pryderi and Gilfaethwy rapes Goewin. Math in a rage over these transgressions changes Gilfaethwy and Gwydion into deer. Gwydion a stag and Gilfaethwy a doe. In these bodies they are forced to live as mates until death at which time they are again transformed, this time Gwydion becomes a sow and Gilfaethwy a boar. Again, they live life as mates and produce many off spring. After the "incarnation" as pigs they live again as wolves. Gwydion the he-wolf and Gilfaethwy as the she-wolf.

Shapeshifting for Protection

The father of Lugh, Cian mac Cainte encounters his sons enemies. Since Cian was outnumbered he strikes himself with his wand and changes himself into a boar. One of Lugh’s enemies, Brian mac Tuirenn, derides his brothers for not being able to distinguish a real boar from a druidical boar. Thus, he strikes his brothers with his wand, changing them into hounds. In this shape they pursue Cian and mortally wound him. Cian then resumes his human shape before he dies. This form of transformation for protection didn’t work, but there are other examples.

There is in Highland Scotland folklore a specific spell used to affect the transformation of an individual. This type of spell is known as fith-fath (fee-faw) and as most Celtic spells was chanted verse. The folklore behind the fith-fath states that it was employed to bring about invisibility by transforming the subject into a different form. Alexander Carmichael informs us that the fith-fath was applied to circumstances where a person needed to walk unseen, which was usually done in the shape of an animal, or when one wished to transform one object into another. Hunters would use this spell when hunting, as it afforded them the luxury of hiding from their prey, and hiding the slain prey from any who would steal it. One can imagine a hunter chanting the fith-fath and taking on the shape of a deer, how better to approach their quary unseen and unsuspected.

Carmichael has provided us with a translated fith-fath spell meant to ensure that the person whom it was chanted over would become invisible to all the animals and beings recited in the verse.

A magic cloud I put on thee,
From dog, from cat,
From cow, from horse,
From man, from woman,
From young man, from maiden,
And from little child.
Till I again return.

The "magic cloud" could easily be a invocation of the powers of the god Manannan, who being the god of the sea had control over the mists and fogs. These mists and fogs were controlled by the god with his magic cloak or mantle. This same mantle was shaken between Fionn and his Fae lover, so that they would forget each other. So, what the chanter of this verse is asking is that the subject be covered by the cloak of Manannan. This same spell could be used to transform the subject into an animal or some other object.

The Matthew’s find a correlation between the fith-fath and the spell known as the lorica in Irish lore. They translate the words fith-fath as "deer’s aspect" and give a similar translation for the Irish feth-faidha. The feth-faidha is another name for the chant known as "St. Patrick’s Breastplate." The breastplate was used by the Irish saint to confuse the soldiers of King Loegaire, thus changing Patrick and his attendants into deer. The breastplate runs thus:

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven,
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendour of fire,
Speed of lightening,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

Conclusion

As I stated above the people who were transformed were able to gain some knowledge from living as animals. Through this experience they were able to better appreciate nature and gained a closer affinity for nature. So we see several instances from Celtic myth where transformation was used as a means of survival or of protection. Taliesin and Tuan both used transformation as a means of survival and to bring about their eventual rebirth. Hunters and even the Irish Saints used transformation to protect themselves or cause them to become invisible.

John Matthews presents a theory which states that some transformations were necessary for an exchange of knowledge between otherworld beings and a seeker or shaman. These transformations required the seeker to confront a threshold guardian or to become that guardian themselves. In a later essay I will address this theory in greater detail.

References

The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom by Caitlin and John Matthews
The Celtic Tradition by Caitlin Matthews
Fire in the Head by Tom Cowan
The Magic arts in Celtic Britian by Lewis Spence
An introduction to Celtic Mythology by David Bellingham
The Druids by P.B. Ellis
The Druids-Magicians of the West by Ward Rutherford

Source

Pic: Wikipedia

The Fair Folk “The fair folk” were most covetous of new-born children and their mothers. Till the mothers were “sained” and churched, and the children were baptized, the most strict watch and ward had to be kept over them to keep them from being stolen. Every seven years they had to pay “the teind to hell,”

and to save them from paying this tribute with one of themselves they were ever on the alert to get hold of human infants.

Sometimes they succeeded in carrying off an unbaptized infant, and for it they left one of their own. The one left by them soon began to “dwine,” and to fret and cry night and day. At times the child has been saved from them as they were carrying it through the dog-hole.

A fisherman had a fine thriving baby. One day what looked like a beggar woman entered the house. She went to the cradle in which the baby was lying, and handled it under pretense of admiring it. From that day the child did nothing but fret and cry and waste away.

This had gone on for some months, when one day a beggar man entered asking alms. As he was getting his alms his eye lighted upon the infant in the cradle. After looking on it for some time he said,

“That’s nae a bairn; that’s an image; the bairn’s been stoun.”

He immediately set to work to bring back the child. He heaped up a large fire on the hearth, and ordered a black hen to be brought to him. When the fire was blazing at its full strength, he took the hen and held her over the fire as near it as possible, so as not to kill her. The bird struggled for a little, then escaped from the man’s grasp, and flew out by the “lum.”(chimney) The child was restored, and throve every day afterwards.

Another. A strong healthy boy in the parish of Tyrie began to “dwine.” The real baby had been stolen. A wise woman gave the means of bringing him back. His clothes were to be taken to a south-running well, washed, laid out to dry beside the well, and most carefully watched. This was done for some time, but no one came to take them away. The next thing to be done was to take the child himself and lay him between two furrows in a cornfield. This was carried out, and the child throve daily afterwards. All this was annoying to the “fair folk,” and rather than submit to such annoyance they restored the child, and took back their own one.

One day a fisherwoman with her baby was left a-bed alone, when in came a little man dressed in green. He proceeded at once to lay hold of the baby. The woman knew at once who the little man was and what he intended to do. She uttered the prayer,

“God be atween you an me.”

Out rushed the fairy in a moment, and the woman and her baby were left without further molestation.

Source: Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland, (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1881), pp. 60-62.

Pic: Ireland History

We are reminded of our mythological past in Ireland in this superb post from the excellent Ireland History website. It is a short, succint summary of the Invasions of Ireland. It is worth mentioning that there are alternate theories and explanations and we’ll try and find posts for these in the future.

Mythology and Legend

The traditional accounts of the earliest colonies are frankly mythological, and convey no impression of an attempt to deal with real events. The exploits of gods, heroes, and men are narrated without distinction, and incredible details are given with a minuteness which defies reason. Whether these fables are based upon any real events of importance, and what the nature of such events may have been, are questions of the merest conjecture. This applies especially to the accounts of all the colonies which are said to have landed before the coming of the ” Milesians,” and they may, therefore, be summarised as ” mythological ” history.

The first colony after the Flood is said to have been that led by Partholan, whose followers occupied the plains of Moynalta, north of the Liffey, for 300 years until they were all cut off by a plague. Thirty years afterwards the Nemedians came from Scythia. Their possession of the island was contested by the Fomorians, a race of sea-robbers of uncertain origin, whose great stronghold was in Tory Island. So oppressive were the exactions of the Fomorians that after two hundred years the bulk of the Nemedians fled from the country in three bands, from which eventually sprang the Firbolgs, the Tuatha De Danann, who were successive colonists of Ireland, and the Britons, who occupied what is now England and Wales.

Pic: Citizendium

Two bands of the Nemedians had fled to Greece. The descendants of one of these bands, after a lapse of two centuries, again returned to Ireland under the name of the Firbolgs. They landed in three separate bodies, numbering 5,000 in all, and occupied the country without opposition. They divided the island amongst five of their princes, and thus originated the popular conception of the ” five provinces.” To the Firbolgs is ascribed the erection of the great stone forts such as Staigue Fort in Kerry and Dun Aengus in Arran.

The legend of the Firbolgs is generally accepted as representing a real race of men, who probably settled in various small groups in Ireland. Who they were, however, is uncertain. They are thought to have been related to the Belgae, a Celtic-speaking people, probably Teutonic in race, one branch of which occupied the south-west of Britain, while another branch was situated on the rivers Seine and Marne, between the Celts of Gaul on the South and the Teutons on the North.

The next colony consisted of the descendants of the other Nemedian band which had settled in Greece. These were known as the Tuatha De Danann. They had become skilled in all the arts, and were feared on account of their magical powers. They travelled across Europe to Lochlann or Scandinavia, where they remained for a time teaching in four cities.

Next they moved to the north of Britain, where they stopped for seven years. Thence they came to Ireland on the heels of the Firbolgs, when the latter had been only 36 years in oc upation of the country. Under their King, ” Nuadha of the Silver Hand,” they defeated the Firbolgs in the battle of South Moytirra near Cong (in Co. Mayo), and 27 years afterwards defeated the Fomorians—who still infested the country—at the battle of North Moytirra (in Co Sh>o). For two centuries they retained possession of the island. Many of the Firbolgs remained, however, especially in the West; and they figure as a distinct people long after the Tuatha De Danann themselves had been swept away.

To this people are ascribed the great sepulchral monuments at New Grange on the River Boyne. They, too, are said to have brought to Ireland the Ua pAit, or ” Stone of Destiny,” upon which the High King was crowned at Tara. Some believe that this famous stone was brought in later times by an Irish Colony to Scotland, and was thence taken to Westminster by Edward I of England. It is more strongly held, however, that the stone is that which still crowns the hill of Tara.

Pic: Wiki

It is fairly certain that the fabled Tuatha De Danann were not a real people. The references to them are not definite ; and they dis­appear after the coming of the Milesians, when they vanish into the hills and raths to reappear as fairies. Their chief personages were probably the gods of the Pagan Irish, who, after the introduction of Christianity, came to be looked upon as having been human beings. It is probable also that to this mythical people were ascribed many of the adventures of other colonists in their struggles with the earlier inhabitants.

The source of this article is the excellent Ireland History.org website.

Pic: Acoustic

Unlike other Irish Festivals around the world which just stage festivals on the 17 March which is St Patrick’s Day. Manchester festival stage a two week extravaganza. The festival which is now in its fifteenth year features two hundred events, staged at thirty two different venues throughout Greater Manchester.

 Established in 1996 it has played host to the likes of award winning dance shows such as Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, top comedy shows by the award winning Peter Kay and Ardal O’Hanlon, along with a host of Irish plays, special art exhibitions, Irish food markets and one of the biggest St Patrick’s Day parades in Europe.

Lawrence Hennigan the marketing executive of the Manchester Irish Festival website said:

This years festival will feature two weeks of Art, Culture, Comedy, Community, Dance, Music, Sport and Theatre events, making it one of Europe’s biggest Irish Festivals. We have tried to include something for everyone to enjoy in the community and a warm Irish welcome awaits all our visitors.

The official dates for this year’s celebration are Friday 5 March to Saturday 21 March, but there are also a number of pre and post festival events from February through to April.

Festival highlights include the award winning ‘Young, Gifted & Green’ show at the Manchester Town Hall on Saturday 6 March, the annual St Patrick’s festival parade and market on Sunday 14 March in the city centre and a whole host of St Patrick’s day celebrations leading up to the feast day on the 17 March.

Levenshulme which is home to the biggest Irish community outside of London will be staging its own two week Guinness sponsored Tradfest (5-21 March) to coincide with the festival and the 250th anniversary of Ireland’s favourite black stout. Just over two hundred and fifty hours of Irish Culture, Film, Dance, Music, Theatre and fun will take over the village’s pubs clubs and parks.

Highlights include a six day St Patrick’s weekend Guinness tradfest party starting on Thursday 11 March with a Irish Comedy night and running through to St Patricks day itself on Wednesday 17 March with its own outdoor Funfair and traditional Irish Music tradfest.

Continue Reading »

Pic: Burrenforts.ie

The partial remains of a young person, probably female, which could date back to between 2500-2000 BC, have been uncovered during an archaeological dig in the Burren, Co Clare, Ireland reports the Irish Times back in 2008.

The prehistoric remains were found in the passageway to the central burial chamber of Caherconnell Cashel, a well-preserved stone fort, during the dig which began a fortnight ago.

A significant factor of the discovery is that the body had been allowed to decompose elsewhere before some of the skeleton was placed where it was found, according to archaeologist, Graham Hull.

Mr Hull, who runs a private archaeological company TVAS at Crusheen, Co Clare, said the remains were "disarticulated", meaning that it was not a full skeleton.

The excavation team, which was carrying out the dig as part of Heritage Week events, recovered the skull, rib bones, spine, pelvis and right arm during the dig. With the bones were part of a stone axe and other flints and artefacts which led experts to believe the bones date from 2500-2000 BC.

The fact that all the bones were not there would suggest that the body was brought from somewhere else and were allowed to decompose before burial.

Mr Hull said.

He said this was similar to practices carried out by North American Indians, but there were other examples in Ireland of bones from bodies being deposited like this.

He said not all of the adult teeth in the skull had "erupted", indicating the probable age of the person as about 15 years.

The facial bones, the eyebrow and the chin bone give some indication of sex, and that indicates a female.

The burial, he said, was likely to be a secondary one to the primary burial site of the central chamber in the area being excavated. The bones would be sent for radio carbon-dating and if they proved to date from the period 2500-2000BC, the find would extend beyond regional significance he said.

This type of burial and this type of burial chamber in this part of Ireland would be unique.

said Mr Hull, who is working with Dr Michelle Comber of NUI Galway.

[Source]

Pic: Paws and reflect

There is no historical evidence that Merlin the Wizard existed states the Castles.me.uk website in its excellent educational resource about English Castles. The Arthurian legends were based on the books written by the clerics and poets of the Medieval era or the Middles Ages. These legends and myths about "the one, true King of the Britons" – King Arthur – and the mystical magical and prophetic world of Merlin were used by Kings of England to authenticate their claims to the both the Welsh and English thrones!

The Legend begins – How Merlin the Wizard got his name!

Merlin the Wizard, Merlin the Sorcerer, Merlin the Magician are just some of the titles given to the prophet in the Legend of Merlin. The the ninth-century chronicler Nennius wrote the Historia Brittonum in which a character called Ambrosius was featured. This character was combined with a 6th Century Welsh fictional bard called Myrddin ( who was mentioned in many Welsh poems ). The man who invented Merlin the Wizard was a Welsh cleric called Geoffrey of Monmouth. In 1136 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a book called Historia Regum Britanniae – the History of the King’s of Britain. The Latin form of the name Myrddin was Merdinus. Geoffrey of Monmouth ‘Latinised’ the legendary character’s name to Merlinus ( because the word ‘merde’ was viewed as vulgar and obscene). Further credence was given to the stories about Merlin the Wizard by the ‘Black Book of Caernarvon’ (Welsh: Llyfr du Caerfyrddin). This book was written, in Welsh, in 1250 and contained stories and poems relating to the heroes of Britain in the Dark Ages including those connected with the legend of King Arthur and Merlin the Wizard.

Who was Merlin the Wizard?

There are many magical legends which surround Merlin the magician and wizard. Merlin was enchanted by the Lady of the Lake, became the guardian of the young Arthur. He appeared as an old, wise man, giving his wisdom to four successive British kings. He was known as the Wild Man of the Woods during which time he learned to talk to the animals. Merlin was reputed to be a mystical Druid, a Celtic priest, Merlin the Wizard, Merlin the Sorcerer, Merlin the Magician a man who possessed the knowledge and secrets of the ancients. The mystical advisor to King Arthur at Camelot. The population knew, and believed, the old legends and myths about Merlin and he was especially revered as a great prophet. Enter the Medieval ‘Spin Doctors’ of the English Kings!

The Prophecies of Merlin!

Merlin the Wizard was credited with making many prophecies. The Medieval ‘Spin Doctors’ of the English Kings, especially King Edward I and the Tudors used these prophecies to substantiate their claims to both the English and Welsh thrones. King Edward I went to the tremendous trouble and expense to build Caernarvon castle in such a way that it fulfilled a prophecy of Merlin the Wizard see Caernarvon Castle Welsh Mythology The Druid Wizard, Merlin, and several prophecies, were strongly associated with Caernarvon! Merlin was believed to have been born in a cave outside Caernarvon. The name Caernarvon is believed to be derived from ‘Caer Myrddin’ meaning Merlin’s town or fortress. Merlin the Wizard was closely linked with King Arthur and was even linked with the transportation of the great Stonehenge stones! It was in the political interests of the Medieval ‘Spin Doctors’ and the English Kings to be seen to "fulfill" these ancient prophecies of Merlin the Wizard!

The Prophecies of Merlin – Fiction turns into Fact!

The stories, legends and myths about Merlin the Wizard, Merlin the Sorcerer, Merlin the Magician and Merlin the Prophet play an important role in the History of the Britons. The character of Merlin the Wizard was invented by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Other Medieval writers, poets and Chroniclers used the character of Merlin the Wizard in their works and the stories of the Knights of the Round Table appeared. The Kings of England encouraged the belief in King Arthur and Merlin to meet their own ends. The legends and myths about Merlin continued to grow. Of course the stories were true – the King said so! The King has fulfilled the ancient prophecies of Merlin! Even up to the present day people are confused as to whether Merlin the Wizard was an actual person – which might be the reason you are reading this text! The legend of Merlin is a perfect example of Fiction being turned into Fact!

Merlin the Wizard and the Medieval ‘Spin Doctors’

The Medieval ‘Spin Doctors’ of the old English Kings elevated Merlin the Wizard, Merlin the Sorcerer, Merlin the Magician and Merlin Prophet to a position of high, unassailable prominence. Merlin was surrounded with magic and mystery. People did not question his existence – until now…

Find out more about English Castles at the castles.me.uk website from where this article was sourced.

Pic: MSN

As a fan of CGI or Computer Graphic Illustration (you’d never guess from the Wallpapers we’re offering!), I was waiting for James Cameron’s Avatar to be released with great anticipation. I’ll admit I was a trifle worried about the production taking place in 3D. What with a cinema full of Keanu Reaves/Neo lookalikes trying to immerse ourselves in a film, I anticipated some serious distraction. So why am I posting here on our Celtic Mythology site? Well, read on, dear reader, read on…

Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction epic film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang. The film is set in the year 2154 on Pandora, a moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. Humans are engaged in mining Pandora’s reserves of a precious mineral, while the Na’vi—a race of indigenous humanoids—resist the colonists’ expansion, which threatens the continued existence of the Na’vi and the Pandoran ecosystem. The film’s title refers to the genetically engineered bodies used by the film’s characters to interact with the Na’vi.

The use of the 3D technology was a vast step-forward in entertainment provision. It was nothing like the 3D images that I had seen before using the glases with the red lens and the green lens, it was believable. Ruthie laughed at me at one point when I flinched to dodge a tin can that seemed to be flying towards me! Neither were the 3-Dimensional effects so obviously introduced to show off the technology, that the story became secondary to the effects. So, if the film was startling in its use of technology and the visualisations of the planet Pandora and its natives were astoundligly beautiful, so what about the story?

The Story of Avatar

The beginnings of the story, without giving anything of the plot away and spoiling the story for those of you who haven’t as yet seen this wonderful film, are as folows. In 2154, the RDA corporation is mining Pandora, a lush, Earth-like, moon of the planet Polyphemus, in the Alpha Centauri star system. Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) heads the mining operation, employing marines for security. The corporation intends to exploit Pandora’s reserves of a valuable mineral called unobtanium.

Pic: NY Daily News

Pandora is inhabited by the Na’vi, a blue-skinned species of sapient humanoids with feline characteristics.] Physically much stronger and taller than humans, the Na’vi live in harmony with Nature, worshiping a mother goddess called Eywa.

Humans cannot survive exposure to Pandora’s atmosphere for very long and must use gas masks. Attempting to improve relations with the natives and learn about Pandora’s biology, scientists grow Na’vi bodies modified with human DNA, called avatars, that are controlled by genetically-matched, mentally-linked human operators. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former marine, replaces his murdered identical twin brother, a scientist trained to be an avatar operator. Doctor Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), the head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement for his brother and relegates him to a bodyguard role. [Wiki]

The Mythology of Avatar

The real reason the film hit me so hard was all the work we have done on the stories of Irish Mythology over the last two years! The tale of the Na’vi is almost identrical to that of the Tuatha De Danaan. The tall, beautiful figures who are obviously not human (to the Celts, they were Fey) who are invaded by humans, the Sons of the Gael, the Sons of Mil, and forced to retreat into the Hollow Hills was shouting at me from every interaction between Jake, the human, and the natives. We have heard similar stories before with the horrible fate of the Native American Indian.

Of particular interest, was the relationship of the Na’vi to their planet. Not only could they… Rats, I can’t give too much away here! Suffice it to say that as a Mother Goddess, read Eywa as the Mother Goddess of the Celts and the story and relationship is the same! And let’s not forget the ecological threat that the film offers!

Totally amazing! The film has been slated as not having a story as gripping as many of the classic SF movies over the last 10 years, but I think we are looking at the film in the wrong light. What we are seeing is a living, modern, technologically superior version of our old, ancestral mythology. Stories that are true to the heart survive for millenia not decades.

Sequels

Pic: Digital Production

I’ve also heard that James Cameron is planning one, possibly two sequels  and I’m overjoyed. I can’t imagine where he is going to take the story and I hope desperately he doesn’t lose the incredibly strong, mythological message that he has already made but such is the fate of modern cinema. At least, the story arc has already been plotted and has not been written in response to market success – which tends to make me think the story is more important than the money.

I’ve had a storyline in mind from the start – there are even scenes in Avatar that I kept in because they lead to the sequel.

Cameron said. Lead actor Sam Worthington, who stars as the paraplegic Marine Jake Sully who falls in love with a Na’vi warrior princess, has already signed on to the sequel. Cameron says

Let me put it this way. All of those naysayers, the nattering nabobs of negativity, the people who were saying that the movie looked bad before they had even seen anything – you have to learn to ignore them. That’s something that I learned on Titanic. But yeah, it’s satisfying that I was able to prove them all wrong.

All I can say is that humans, including myself with the stories that I tell and write, are no where near as important as they stories that we tell. We will pass away and fade, but the true tales live on in the hearts of our clans. Let’s pray that the beauty and truth of Avatar continues into the sequels and pressure to conform does not bow Mr. Cameron’s head!

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/01/14/2010-01-14_james_cameron_already_planning_avatar_sequel_i_was_able_to_prove_them_all_wrong.html#ixzz0cdGMpgvI

These thoughts are just my opinion, guys

Late Additions: Notes on the CG Technology Used

I’ve just found out some details about the rendering technology used to create the Avatars and the beautiful jungle of Pandora. Check this out:

Weta Digital are Cameron’s angels. Of the 162 minutes of film, 117 minutes equaling 1,832 shots was created by Weta’s angels, over 2,000 if you count the omits. Weta worked on every scene with a Na’vi.

Most of the trees are built by hand, and in a brilliant move, they used Massive for the ground cover. The head of the Massive Department, Jon Allitt, pointed out that if they use Massive to tell characters how to react in a crowd, giving a plant a bit of a brain and basing it’s growth on the surrounding terrain could direct how a plant would grow.

Allitt wrote a system that allowed Weta’s artists to plant (programming) seeds in Massive that accomplished this, as explained by VFX Supervisor Eric Saindon.

It was very interesting. You could actually watch a forest grow in real time with this solution, and any TD could grow just by painting colors on the terrain.With this elegant solution, the big trees would grow first, then the smaller trees would die off as the big trees took away the light, the smaller trees would fight for position, the ground cover would fill in where it could get light.

This offered the ability to have variants built in easily by simply changing the random number seed, a programming term that means when you do a random call, there is a number you can pass through to offset the results.

A lot of our modeling techniques were procedural, so we wrote a tree building L-System type that allowed us to build lots of variations on trees, plants, and ground covers in a very efficient way. They came out essentially rigged so we could do dynamics and interactions.

The result was roughly 2000 variants on plants and trees for dressing the jungles on Pandora.

Weta wrote a couple of plant building tools, not just L-systems but plant growth rules to guide stages of growth. VFX Supervisor Guy Williams elaborated.

We also had a vine growing tool where we could specify attributes like drooping, spiral around a trunk, how much they stick to the surface.

The foliage had to be this detailed to stand up. Williams said:

We put a lot of effort into the Avatars. We made sure that every piece of clothing and the Avatars themselves had just as much reality as a live action shoot so we could put them in the place of characters and not have them look simplified. The problem we ran into was when we put these gorgeous looking Avatars into our CG jungle, the jungle looked simple, so we had to start adding polygons and texture maps to the jungle.

Promoting the plants up to the Avatar level 

usually meant getting better edge detail or curvature of the leaves, or as simple as adding the smaller structures that come off the plant.

They took that concept a step further, by spreading trees and fallen tree trunks throughout the jungle, textured with moss and bark.

Read more geeky, tech-stuff details about the amazing work that Weta did on the CG Society website.

Here is a ten min video of Neil showing you around Orkney Faerie Museum and Gallery. The only Faerie Museum in the UK! All paintings and drawings shown are available for sale at www.neilgeddesward.com One of a Kind Faerie Sculptures featured are from www.weefairytales.com. Email Neil at neil@geddesward.co.uk

More about Neil, the Artist

Neil Geddes-Ward draws inspiration from standing stones, dreams, witchcraft, Green Men and more, to paint beautiful images of what is now becoming known as Pagan and Visionary Art.

Other TV appearances include Carlton Country, Kilroy, Neil has been commissioned by many organisations as well as individuals, including The Children of Artermis, a witchcraft coven service.

Currently Neil is working on Faerie illustrations for a book called Faeriecraft : Treading the Path of Faerie Magic with his wife, Writer and Faerie Priestess; Alicen Geddes-Ward. This is due out on June 21st 2005 and is to be published by Hay House.

Neil has many prints and cards of his work on sale in the UK and outlets abroad, however these can also be bought direct from the artist on his site, please click here to view the catalogue.

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