Live Welsh Pic: Y Lolfa

Like millions of others, Ruthie and I are trying to learn Welsh. It’s a beautiful Celtic language and as we are writing the new Welsh episodes and planning Holiday trips into Wales, spoken Welsh is a very attractive goal. We’ve been following the excellent podcasts found in our Celtic Language Podcasts section, and still will, but imagine our delight when Wales Online reported that a revolutionary new book was set to upset traditional Welsh language teachers by teaching Welsh as the language is spoken today – and that is with very little grammatical consideration! The book is published by the Aberystwyth based publisher Y Lolfa, who publish a wide range of books, many of them bi-lingual and at a very reasonable priced – so controversial or not – we had to buy a copy

Wales Online report that:

Live Welsh

It’s a revolutionary Welsh language course that might get traditionalist Welsh teachers balking at its disregard for grammar.

The new Live Welsh book has been dubbed the book “learners will love and grammarians will hate”.

But its author, Welsh teacher and university lecturer Heini Gruffudd, said its key incentive is get Welsh learners speaking, rather than being bogged down by complexities.

And publishers Y Lolfa claim it teaches “real spoken Welsh fast”. Mr Gruffudd, a prolific author and expert on language planning, said:

The purpose of this book is to allow learners to learn the Welsh that is used by many ordinary Welsh speakers.

The book does not dwell on the niceties of grammar, indeed it avoids or disregards them intentionally.

He said much of the fundamental Welsh that learners are taught initially is never really used in colloquial speech.

When speaking Welsh, many Welsh speakers don’t use verbs, use a lot of English words, change English words into Welsh ones and don’t mutate according to the rules. I appreciate that some traditionalist balk at this idea, but the fact of the matter is not everyone speaks grammatically correctly.

The important thing is that we give learners the cornerstones of basic conversational Welsh and are given the confidence to engage in a Welsh conversation.

I am not saying that grammar is not important but in a language that has been described as in crisis and one which people are not using in everyday life, I feel this is a way of encouraging those who would like to take up Welsh.

According to the book, learners should put in English words if they don’t remember the Welsh. There is also a handy list of 120 words that are similar to English.

Language expert Dr Tess Fitzpatrick, who lectures at Swansea University, said individual learner differences play a huge part in how different people learn a language successfully.

She said there is evidence to show that those who want to learn Welsh primarily for conversation will benefit from a focus on colloquial Welsh.

Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/03/02/new-book-teaching-real-spoken-welsh-set-to-upset-grammarians-91466-30442918/#ixzz1rPuAEUaU

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Triquetra on one of the Funbo Runestones, located in the park of Uppsala University. Pic: IantoPF

The Circles of Existence, sometimes called the Triquetra became popular as a result of the television series “Charmed“. In that television series it is represented on the cover of the Hallowell sister’s “Book of Shadows” A book containing spells and incantations passed down by generations of witches.The Triquetra has a much older representation. The word “Triquetra” is a Latin word that translates as “Three cornered” However for the ancient Celtic people it had a sacred and special meaning. The Symbol has been found carved on stones in various parts of North West Europe and is found on the Irish Book of Kells. Its widespread use marks it as something more than decoration. We find the answer to the question of its meaning in ancient story and legend.

The three points have led to some in the modern Pagan movement claiming it as a representation of the Goddess in her three manifestations of Maiden, Mother and Crone or as a representation of the God in his manifestations of Youth, Warrior and Sage.

Here is a much older definition. Welsh words are used. There are literal translations of these words but they do not sufficiently convey the meanings. Certainly not in the context they are used in the old Welsh Myth and legend.

Abred, Our Mortal Home

The first Circle is called “Abred“.This is mortal existence. This is where we are now. Abred encompasses this Earth and all the other Worlds that exist on this material plane. We are born to live out our mortal lives here in Abred. This mortal plane, this Middle Earth, is not some punishment nor is it a testing ground. It just is. It’s the place where we live a mortal existence and experience the “Cause and Effect” laws. Here our actions, whether good or bad have an effect and we must keep coming back here until we have wiped out all of our footprints. When we have learned to live without disturbing the flow of the universe then we will be ready to move on. Until then we are caught in the circle of our mortality. This story illustrates the dilemma:-

Our Mortal Home as seen from Apollo 17 Pic: Wiki

“There was once a priest whose duty it was to sacrifice goats. One day while preparing a goat for sacrifice he heard the goat laugh, a very human laugh. Surprised, he asked the goat why he was laughing. The goat explained that for the past 500 years he had been born as a sacrificial goat, to die on the altar and be reborn only to be sacrificed again but this time he was to be reborn as a man. The priest was pleased for the goat but then he saw a tear in the goat’s eye. He asked why the goat was sad. The goat replied; “Because 500 years ago I was a priest who sacrificed goats.”

Annwn, the Otherworld

We journey from this life to return again. Pic: IantoPF

The second Circle is “Annwn“.When we pass from this mortal existence our spirit, that essence of us that is truly us, enters Annwn. For those who die bravely and honorably in battle this is a place similar to the halls of Odin in Scandinavian legend. Annwn is also a place of rest and reflection; it can be a home of joy and delight for those of a less warlike nature or for those who wish to rest from war. For the wicked it can be a grim and forbidding place but it is not an eternal resting place for anyone.

After we absorb what we have learned and experienced we prepare for our re-birth.

We die into Annwn and are born into Abred to die into Annwn and so on.

Gwynfyd, the “White Life”

The third Circle is called “Gwynfyd“When we have passed all the trials of Abred it is time to move on. Now we go to Gwynfyd, known in Irish as “Tir na Nog” the land of youth. Here, in these undying lands, we face other adventures. Little is known of this Circle. Only that in each transition from Abred to Annwn we become better prepared for Gwynfyd.

Gwynfyd, literally “White Life” Pic: Wiki

The Ceugant

We journey from this life to return again. Pic: srpllc

Now it is time to add the three Circles together, where they intersect forms a sacred symbol that we have come to know as the Tri-Quetra.There are beings that are able to travel freely between all three Circles or spheres of existence. These beings are said to live in the “Ceugant” Sometimes a fourth Circle is added to symbolize the Ceugant itself and the wanderers travelling through the three Circles. This is the symbol of the Ceugant and the travelers of the Multiverse.

inatoPF (‘Pete’) Biography

Born in Wales, I left school when I was 15 and never looked back. Worked on farms and construction sites until I got a job working for a local bus company, South Wales Transport. Just a stopgap until I could find something better. I’ve been driving buses ever since.

Now I live in California. Married to an Apache we have two wonderful sons with brown skin and blue eyes. Yes, trouble all the way. On-line writing is how I fulfill my life time dream of being an author. If you have the same dream join HubPages and start making it a reality.

Though I write about a variety of subjects, my main interests lie in Myths and legends from the past and opinions about the shenanigans of today.

I love the art of driving, Some of my hubs will reflect that.

We’re a Pagan family and our lives are truly Goddess blessed.

We’re also a very fun loving bunch.

My latest project is telling the old Welsh legends the way they were always told with the poetry. The tales were meant to be listened to, not read, studied and analyzed. They are here to be enjoyed and my aim is to tell them before the old ways are lost forever.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Daibanjo47?feature=mhum

I also have a Blog Where the magic never ends;

http://themagicneverends.blogspot.com/

I just found Twitter and I think it’s cool.

Thank to Ianto for this fantastic post. You can find our more about him and his other posts about Welsh Myth on his blog.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Gawaine Swearing Mercy Pic: explore-parliament.net

This is the fourth part in our new series of animated stories of King Arthur based on artwork found around the Houses of Parliament, courtesy of a wonderful Virtual Tour found at explore-parliament.net. In this piece, called Mercy, we can see Sir Gawaine swearing never to refuse ‘Mercy’. Sir Gawaine represents the knightly virtue of Mercy in a strange tale in which he fought a knight who had killed Sir Gawaine’s hounds, after they had slain that knight’s white hart.

Why have you slain my hounds?’ said Sir Gawaine. ‘For they did but their kind.’ And he smote the knight so hard that he fell to the earth, and then he cried mercy and besought him as he were a knight and a gentleman to save his life. Sir Gawaine would no mercy have, but unlaced his helm to have stricken off his head. Right so came his lady out of a chamber and fell on him, and so he smote her head off by misadventure.
- Malory

Gawaine returned to Camelot with the lady’s body on his horse, and her head hung about his neck.

And there by ordnance of the queen it was judged upon Sir Gawaine for ever after he should be with all ladies, and fight their quarrels, and that he should never refuse mercy to him that asketh mercy. Thus was Gawaine sworn upon the four Evangelists.
- Malory

Prince Albert made frequent visits to the Robing Room to view Dyce’s progress. His active interest in and support of the fine arts schemes in the Palace of Westminster could express themselves in both criticism and praise.

Personal Note

As we noted before in Part 3. of this series, Sir Galahad, the hart represented Christ,  ‘a white hart without spot’, so the potential interpretations of this strange story are innumerable.

I noted in that piece that the White Hart has an earlier origin than as a symbol for Christ, and the first part of this story is so reminiscent of the First Branch of the Mabinogion and the slaying or taking of Arawn’s stag, that we may be not only seeing evidence of that cross-fertilisation we have spoken of before, but also the archetypal nature of the symbols that makes them remain as an essential part of stories, culture and tradition for well over 1400 years – and that is only recorded history! How old is the story and its images before that?? I’d give a body part to have been there at the beginning!

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: BBC

More than a dozen skeletons thought to be thousands of years old, have been found by Oxford archaeologists working at an ancient burial site in Dorset, reported the BBC in December 2008.

Excavations are taking place at the site in Weymouth before builders move in to build an access road to the Olympic sailing centre for 2012.

Archaeologist David Score said they had catalogued finds from almost every period of human life.

He said it

really added to knowledge of the Bronze and Neolithic eras. Building the relief road has given archaeologists an excuse to excavate and record finds dating back thousands of years,

Mr Score said.

I think it is very important because it’s not very often that you get the opportunity to excavate an area of this size, in a location of such importance with so many burials from a wide span of time.

Eating habits

I think once we have done all the analysis it really will contribute quite a lot to the corpus of knowledge that we’ve got about the Bronze Age and Neolithic periods in this area.

"We found more than a dozen skeletons they’re in various states of preservation. Some are fairly poorly preserved, but the later ones, particularly the Roman ones are fairly well preserved.

All the finds are being taken back to Oxford where they are being catalogued.

Scientists will also look for small fish bones or charred plant remains to try and find out more about ancient eating habits.

The items will eventually be returned to Dorset where they will be put on display in a museum.

[Source]

Originally posted 2009-12-03 08:44:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The CMP Logo

In this show, we hope to bring you a wonderful gift for Ostara, or Easter, with our first ever documentary show. Starting from conception as a play performed by young actors to a film about to hit our screens, the Spirit of Albion Movie promises to bring the Celtic Gods to the World of Film for possibly the first time! We bring you the long-awaited, full story of ‘the Spirit of Albion the Movie’ along with interviews with all the actors.

We also include many ‘Behind the Scenes’ audio clips to bring you a feel of what it was like to be on the set of the film as it was being made.

How to Listen

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the Shownotes for this episode in the Shownotes section.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Hope you enjoy it,

Gary & Ruthie x x x

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Classic 4 Gallon Pot Pic: OLX Classifieds

Cast iron cookware has been around us ever since the dark ages of course. They used it back then because they didn’t have anything else. These days, when people have great choices in all kinds of modern kitchen ware however, when you see people choosing cookware, cast iron still comes up near the top of the list often. With cookware, cast iron is just something that cannot be improved upon for variety of reasons. To begin with, it’s a heavy enough surface that it will heat evenly, even if a tiny gas burner is all that’s heating up the dish.

Certainly it’s a little slow, and it takes a little more energy than thinner and more modern cookware to heat; but once it’s ready, there’s quite nothing like cast iron for certain kinds of foods that we’ve all really come to love – fried hamburgers, omelets cooked with flavor, and seared and browned steak. With cast iron ware, you find it everywhere. You’ll find it at every kitchen ware department, and you also find it at a few camping stores. Taking care of cast iron though is a different matter – it’s the product of a different age, and it needs a certain amount of user care. And that’s something that might be in short supply to someone in today’s world of intelligently designed minimal-care equipment.

A particular problem with the kind of cooking you would prefer to do with cast iron cookware is that it tends to build up grease on the surface. The great thing with iron though is that you can subject it to almost any kind of punishment – all manner of cleaning. Use fine-grained sandpaper attached to a power tool to sand the surface to perfection. If you don’t want anything quite so crude, try soaking your cookware in water mixed with a bit of vinegar overnight. You’d be surprised how well it loosens up grease buildup.

Here is a cool trick to try with cookware. Cast iron takes any kind of beating. You could leave it in your oven, and turn on the self-cleaning cycle. Your oven will certainly clean itself, and it will clean the iron pan inside too.

Each time you put your cast iron pan through anything that rough though, you will strip it of its smooth oiled surface that gives it its non-stick qualities. Every time you give your pan a thorough cleaning like that, you’ll need to build the non-stick surface up from scratch, in a process that’s called seasoning. To season your iron pan, coat it with bacon grease all over, inside and out, and heat it up in your oven for a short time. Once you wipe it off, you should have a nicely seasoned article of kitchen ware that will do great with any kind of deliciously fried foods.

Information and reviews on the hottest new home appliances in your kitchen

Author: Olga Fogleman
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
News of Solar Power and Alternative Engery

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Back in August, 2011 the Guardian reported that King Arthur Pendragon appeared at the high court in London to argue that the “royal” remains should be returned to their age-old resting place in Wiltshire.

Pendragon, a 57-year-old former soldier and biker who changed his name by deed poll, wanted the high court to give permission for a judicial review of the government’s decision to allow the remains to be taken away for analysis.

But Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused King Arthur, ruling there was insufficient evidence to show the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had acted unreasonably. Arthur said:

Even though on this occasion my appeal has been dismissed I am still very much hopeful that I can win in the future. I wasn’t asking for the bones to be put back straight away, I simply wanted confirmation that they will be returned to the site as soon as possible.

He said druids felt the remains were “guardians” of the site.

The judge heard that the cremated remains of more than 40 bodies – thought to be at least 5,000 years old – were removed from a burial site at Stonehenge in 2008 , with ministers giving researchers from Sheffield University permission to keep the bones until 2015. [source]

The Peaceful Protest Continues

Druid and eco-warrior King Arthur Pendragon has been leading a high-profile picket based at Stonehenge with the intention of getting the remains of the ancient dead returned to their resting place.

King Arthur said: “Let those we lay to rest, stay to rest.”

Button badges for King Arthur’s campaign proclaim “Bring back the ancient dead!”

Remains of the ancient dead that were buried at Stonehenge were removed by archaeologists and it was said that after carbon dating them they would be returned. However, this has not been done and the remains of the bones of the ancient dead have been held at Sheffield University.

King Arthur and other druids and pagans refer to these bones as those of ancient ancestors. Stonehenge is regarded as temple for druids and pagans. The ancestors who were buried there are believed to be the guardian spirits of Stonehenge and were meant to remain where they were buried.

Sign the Petition Below

King Arthur and fellow protesters organised a petition which has been signed by a large number of people. A question on the petition asks those who sign it to sate their religion and King Arthur was proud to be able to announce that the petition had signatures from over 60 people from different religious pathways and beliefs.

To Support King Arthur’s call for the reburial at Stonehenge of the Ancient cremated human remains (known as the Guardians) held by Sheffield University , please sign the following E Petition;
( http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14696 )

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Legendary wizard Merlin lived in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, and not in Camelot, a new book has claimed.Tradition has it that King Arthur’s magician was either English or Welsh.  But Scots advocate Adam Ardrey, who spent six years researching Merlin, claims he actually lived in what is now Ardery Street with his wife Gwendolin.

Pic: Indiana Stan

Mr Ardrey said he believes

Merlin was a politician and scholar rather than a magician, and is buried near Dunipace, just south of Stirling.

In his book Finding Merlin: The Truth Behind The Legend, amateur historian Mr Ardrey said his research showed Merlin was born in the year 540 in the Cadzow area of what is now part of Hamilton in Lanarkshire.

Mr Ardrey said

Merlin later lived with Gwendolin at Ardery Street from 600 to 618, where they would have enjoyed a “comfortable lifestyle.

The area is today occupied by traditional red sandstone tenement flats, but in Merlin’s day it would have been open countryside. It is best known as the area where comedian Billy Connolly grew up, and was also the original home of Glasgow football club Partick Thistle. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2008-11-28 10:59:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Study for The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania Pic: Wiki

It is just over three hundred years since Robert Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle, died at the age of fifty two. But the question remains, did he really die or was he ‘taken’? Taken, that is, by the Good People, the elusive folk who lived under the earth in the green hills.The youngest and seventh son of James Kirk, Robert studied theology at St. Andrews and took his master’s degree at Edinburgh.

He became the minister of Balquidder and moved to Aberfoyle in 1685, having published a psalter in Gaelic the previous year. He had also been involved in preparing a Gaelic translation of the Bible.

We might expect a man of his background to have been a staunch supporter of established orthodoxy but this was no ordinary preacher. He recorded his thoughts in a manuscript dated 1691 entitled “The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies“.

Descriptions of the Faerie World

There is no mention of hell and damnation, just a fair and reasonable account of the unseen world. There is nothing sentimental in his writing, and those seers who had the ability to witness the people of peace regarded it as an affliction rather than a gift. The Tabhaiser, or Seer,

“is not terrified with their sight when he calls them, but seeing them in a surpryse (as often he does) frights him extreamly”.

These are clearly not the tinselled fairies of Victorian England but the wild and elemental spirits of nature.

Two ways of gaining the second sight are described. The first is to acquire a tedder (tether) of hair which has bound a corpse to the bier. With this wound round the waist one must stoop down and look back through the legs until a funeral passes. The alternative is to find an accomplished seer who will place his right foot over the candidate’s left and lay his hand upon his head. This confers the power to see and seems not unlike descriptions of admission to a witch coven.

Kirk’s account of the secret commonwealth combines the banal with the surreal. They live in houses underground that are large and fair, lit with lamps and fires but without fuel to sustain them. They may abduct mortal women to nurse their children. Their clothing and speech is that of the country they live in. Their life span is longer than ours, but eventually they die. They have rulers and laws but no discernible religion. Moreover, unlike us, they do not have a dense, material form but have, in Kirk’s words,

“Bodies of congealed Air”.

Every Quarter they travel to fresh lodgings, a reference perhaps to the elemental tides of the seasons.

It is possible that Kirk employed seers to give him information about the dark and silent world, just as Dr. Dee relied upon Edward Kelly a century before.

What really happened to Robert Kirk?

An odd story of what became of the minister of Aberfoyle remains. His successor, the Rev. Dr Grahame, describes how Robert Kirk was walking one day on a fairy hill. He collapsed and was taken for dead. After the funeral, his form was seen by a relative. The spectre urged him to go to their cousin Grahame of Duchray.

Kirk was, he explained, not dead but a captive in the elemental world. His widow was pregnant and he foretold that if Duchray came to the christening, he, Robert Kirk, would appear. Duchray must then throw his dirk over the head of the apparition. If this was done, Kirk would be freed.

Sure enough, the birth and the christening came. Grahame of Duchray was there, just as he had been bidden. During the ceremony the outline of the former minister could be seen. Duchray was so taken aback that he failed to throw the dirk. And the author of the Secret Commonwealth disappeared, never to be seen again

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.

You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s als found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.

If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Vision of Sir Galahad Pic: explore-parliament.net

This is the third part in our new series of animated stories of King Arthur based on artwork found around the Houses of Parliament, courtesy of a wonderful Virtual Tour found at explore-parliament.net. In this piece, called Religion,  we can see Sir Galahad, Sir Percival and Sir Bors. These were the three pure knights who alone of Arthur’s court were to succeed in the search for the Holy Grail. Here they represent Religion. Following a hart and four lions they come to a hermitage where there was a holy man, and there they see a vision of Christ and the Four Evangelists.

And they entered in and heard the mass. And they saw the hart become a man, the which marvelled them, and he sat upon the altar in a rich siege; and they saw the four lions were changed, the one into the form of a man, the other to the form of an ox, and the third to an eagle, and the fourth was changed into a lion. And when they were come to themselves, they went to the holy man. ‘Ah lords,’ said he ‘now wot I well ye be the good knights the which shall bring the quest of the Holy Grail to an end.’
- Malory

The hart represented Christ, as the fresco shows: ‘a white hart without spot’, while the four lions changed into the forms traditionally ascribed to the four Evangelists: lion, eagle, ox and man.

Religion was the first subject to be completed by Dyce, in 1851, and this is the most important and most successful of his Arthurian series.

Personal Note

I find it fascinating that as the medieval culture that prompted Malory derived from the earlier myths and stories, possibly found in the Mabinogion, we see the highest ideal of Spirituality, the Christ, represented by the archetypal Celtic symbol of that ideal and as ambassador fo the Otherworld, the White Hind or White Stag. There is some contention as to the cross-fertilisation between the author(s) of the Arthurian Tales in the Mabinogion (especially the later courtly ones) and the work of Malory, both contemporary 15th Century works – although much of the Mabinogion dates back to the middle of the 14th Century. There are also linguistic hints that elements may derive from much earlier 6th Century work about Taliesin.

Maybe we’ll never know the true originators of these later Arthurian tales, but to see the symbols being used by Dyce in the 19th Century in the English Parliament leaves me with a warm feeling of continuity between the ancient Celtic beliefs and our modern traditions.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Wizzard-Media-Celtic-Myth-Podshow/dp/B004W8QR58 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.