Elen Hawke/Flick Merauld

It has always been one of our aims to find out as much as we can about how the ancient Celts lived their lives, their priests – the Druids – and about their beliefs and myths. As part of that search we’ve been keen to discover where the Celts came from – what was the world like as the Celtic tribes evolved their unique identity – and also, to discover where the Celts went and what they mean to us in our everyday lives. We have found out that many people live these beliefs, stories and myths today and while we’ve mentioned Druidry, Druidism, Celtic Reconstructionism in passing many times, we thought it was time to start taking a closer look at what some of these fascinating people actually believe and what it means to them.

We’re honoured and privileged to begin our series with the famed Druid author Elen Hawke, the pen-name of Flick Merauld, who has just released a fascinating and easy to read romantic tale set in Brittany where she unfolds many of her views of ancient Breton Celtic life and Druidic belief. We hope you enjoy the article and her book, and invite other modern Druids to take part in this study as Flick has done. Thank you so much, Flick – over to you!

I’m a Druid, though Wicca has formed part of my Pagan journey and still underpins some of my ritual practice. I’m also the author of several books on witchcraft, writing under the name Elen Hawke and published by the American mind body and spirit publisher Llewellyn, and more recently of a novel, The Sacred Marriage, which is available from Amazon as an eBook.

The spiritual journey that has led me to where I am now, both in terms of my Pagan practice and my literary work, has been long and eventful, taking me through many twists and turns that have included an exploration of Eastern spirituality along with personal encounters with the so-called paranormal.

All have been relevant to me – especially those relating to the snippets we have left of the native traditions of Britain – all have, at least in part, reflected my view of the world and have coloured my writing. But two experiences in particular stand out for me.

My first conscious awareness of seeking came to me when I was still very young. When I was around five or six years old my father, an imaginative man, gave me a passage to read from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows; the part in the chapter The Piper at the Gates of Dawn where Mole and Rat come across the god Pan playing his pipes at daybreak. For anyone who hasn’t read it, it’s worth looking up for its evocative descriptions and its sense of connection to nature.

I wouldn’t say it woke me to a sense of the land, for the world I grew up in was more tranquil, more rural than the one we inhabit now and people weren’t so alienated; but it did focus things and gave me some sort of explanation for the feeling I had of the magic of the natural world. I don’t think that first impression has ever left me.

Countless years later I moved to France with my partner and daughter, where we bought and renovated an old Breton longere or longhouse, built of granite and set in unspoilt countryside in Southern Brittany, not far from the famous standing stones at Carnac and in the heart of the region to which many Arthurian legends are attributed. We arrived exactly on the Spring Equinox, in the midst of the mad profusion of a burgeoning Breton spring. The sense of a Celtic Pagan past is very apparent in Brittany, and our house was surrounded by forests and woods of oak, sweet chestnut, apple trees and mistletoe.  It was a special place, and our land contained a holy fontaine, or healing spring, one of many marking the sources of the myriad streams flowing through the landscape of Brittany.

Furthermore, house and spring and an adjoining chapel were on a confluence of Ley lines, a spot where the gateway between the worlds  was open, and we had many strange and otherworldly experiences while we were there. We also joined in the Midsummer Fête, or Pardon the local people held, a festival that clearly had its roots in ancient times. Once again I was immersed in a mystical world, one I had thought I’d left behind with the erosion of green space in Britain. We were only there nine months, before being forced to return to England, but by then my feet had been firmly set on the Druid path, though I didn’t have a name for it at that time.  However, I did write the first part of the previously mentioned novel while there, set in Brittany and Oxford and drawing on my experiences of the energies of the land, many of which occurrences I was to find were common to other Pagans.

After coming back to England, reading and seeking made me realise I was a Druid, that that was the particular form my spirituality had taken, a label, if you want (though I intensely dislike labels) that most closely coincided with the way I perceived the numinous and, especially, my interaction and relationship with the land, the earth, spirit of place. But I was also drawn very much to witchcraft; and through initiation into Gardnerian Wicca and subsequently running my own coven, I was able to balance certain aspects of my relationship to my femininity and the feminine in nature. It was during this time, while running a discussion group for a large Pagan organisation, that I came to write my books on witchcraft. I spent so much time  answering questions that it seemed practical to write it all down and offer it for publication, so that the knowledge would be readily available to Pagans worldwide.

Elen Hawke/Flick Merauld

I stopped writing non fiction books on Paganism several years ago. I felt I’d said all I wanted to through that genre and was in danger of rehashing and hyping old material, something that felt dishonest and pointless. However, I continue to write, having returned to my first Love, fiction. I will have a chick lit/soap-opera/humorous type of eBook out next month on Amazon, written under my real name Flick Merauld and called The Aunt Sally Team. Although the book is a fun-filled romp through love, sex and drama, set in Oxford and Cotswold villages and pubs, it has strongly Pagan elements.

Meanwhile I’m a member of the British Druid Order, but also attend a grove run by an OBOD Druid. I’m lucky to live  in Oxford, another ancient place steeped in myth and with its feet in a Pagan past. Close by are the Rollright Stones, The Hoar Stone,  Uffington White Horse and Waylands Smithy, and Avebury and West Kennet Long Barrow aren’t too far away, so I’m lucky to have so many sacred sites to hand.

For anyone interested in reading more about me, please visit my Amazon author page: Elen Hawke/Flick Merauld

Flick’s New Book – The Sacred Marriage by Elen Hawke

As she has done since childhood, Sophie spends the summer with family friend Rory Ballantyne in his old stone longhouse in the heart of Celtic Brittany – a ravishingly beautiful region filled with ancient customs and steeped in the mystery and romance of Arthurian legend. But this year things are changed: her family are involved with their own lives, so she stays there without them. At first she is troubled by tension and quarrels between Rory and his wife, but she is soon distracted by the arrival of gorgeous artist Jason Ryder. Sophie becomes increasingly drawn to Jason but she also realises that Rory is not the older brother figure she had thought him, but a fascinating and attractive man. Then a series of strange dreams opens her to the energies of the land there, forces that seem to want something from her.

At eighteen, Sophie is no longer a child, and she sees the local area and people through different eyes. Gradually she realises that the energies she senses, along with her dreams, emanate from a holy spring dedicated to Sainte Nicole, a Christianisation of a Celtic deity whom locals refer to as the Lady. The spirit of the land is reaching out and Sophie¹s quest to fathom its message brings her, through love and loss, to an understanding of herself that helps her cross the threshold into maturity and gives her the strength to follow her own truth.

Flick’s new book  The Sacred Marriage is available on Amazon.co.uk and on Amazon.com

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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.
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Mermaid, The Book of Kells Pic:Live Internet

One of the illustrations in the Book of Kells depicts a mermaid (more precisely a merhermaphrodite) swimming up the centre of a genealogy.This lovely figure may refer to Iona and to Columba himself by means of a complex linguistic pun.The word, Iona, includes the Greek word for dove;Columba is Latin for dove and the mer-creature makes the island link. Although strange it is a relatively secure reference, since St Columba’s biographer makes the same pun and the Kells manuscript was probably made to celebratan anniversary of Columba’s death. If nothing else the illustration is testament to the popularity of the mermaid image.Sea dwelling creatures, half human and half fish, are common in European and Near Eastern folktales. As these people have immigrated throughout the world, traditions about these mysterious beings have travelled with them.

Mer-folk are rather like fairies in that they are supernatural, but not completely divine or immortal unlike, say angels.  As such they live in an ‘in between’ world. Their lives and actions under the sea, an environment alien to humans, parallel the human world, and they often interact with their human counterparts.

Mermaids are more popular in European folklore than mermen (the males are very popular in Eastern tales however). Marriages between a mer-creature and a human are the most common form of interaction in folktales.

In Irish stories a fisherman will steal the mermaid’s salmon skin cap and the ‘merrow’ i.e. mermaid, will then marry the human. They have children and are happy together, but one day she findsher salmon skin cap and returns to her own world. Usually the children of these marriages have a special characteristic inherited from their non-human mother.

Sometimes they are good fisherman, but other times they have red hair which marks them off as temperamental or fey. This may be where the Disney animators got Ariel’s red hair or it may be coincidence. Sometimes the offspring of these human mermaid marriagesare haunted by the sound of the sea and cannot sleep at night or are unable to speak

The most famous mermaid tale is that of Mélusine, a French Mer-creature and the ancestress of the Counts de Lusignon. Mélusine appears to the young Count as a beautiful woman (with legs).

Mer-creatures usually are able to walk on land and only have fins while in the sea. (Rather a convenient trait in these marriage tales). Mélusine promises to marry the count, as long as he attempts to see her bathing on a Saturday. Of course eventually he does just this, and realises that she is human from the waist upwards but a sea serpent from the waist down. She then disappears through the window with a screech and is never seen again. But she is heard crying on the battlements before a death in the family.

The merman story is much the same. A human woman marries a merman and lives with him in his beautiful underwater world. After a while she wants to return home to visit her family. She is warned not to overstay her visit and not to attend church services. Naturally she forgets and cannot go back to the sea. Coleridge’s poem, The Forsaken Merman is based on this story.

To read more of the facsinating article By Dr Juliette Wood  visit Here

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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.
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The Battersea bronze and enamel shield 350BC :British Museum, London Pic: Heritage Daily

A fabulous informative article written by Sue Carter appeared in Heritage Daily recently. We enjoyed it so much, we knew our readers would find it fascinating too.Here is a taster. Enjoy  :)

On whatever pretext you stir them up, you will have them ready to face danger, even if they have nothing on their side but their own strength and courage –Strabo, (64 BC – 24 AD).

Almost all of the Gauls are of tall stature, fair and ruddy, terrible for the fierceness of their eyes, fond of quarrelling and of overbearing insolence – Ammianus, (4th Century AD).

The two quotes were written by classical authors describing the Gauls of France as known at the time. Strabo would have been aware of Caesar’s excursion to Britain and possibly have read his account of the people he had been in contact with. Diodorus Siculus (V 21, 3-6) describes Britain as,

 ‘Inhabited by tribes that are aboriginal, and in their lifestyle preserve the old ways; for they make use of chariots in the wars….’

(Diodorus cited in Ireland 2003).

Due to Britain’s isolation it is possible that many of the ‘old ways’ were still being followed. There are very few eye-witness accounts of the inhabitants of Britain prior to the Roman invasions, and what we do have is from classical writers who believed them to be barbaric, not only in their fighting methods but in other aspects of their culture. Waite (2011) sums it up when he describes Celtic feasting and fighting to the death over the hero’s cut of meat

…. even if your opponent happened to be a blood relative. Whilst this sort of behaviour was deeply rooted in Celtic culture it would only have served to justify the Roman conviction that these people were no more than uncivilized barbarians who were prepared to fight like animals over a piece of meat (Waite 2011, 36).

Unfortunately, classical writing is our only written evidence of the Celtic culture, however, we do have the archaeological evidence to back some of it up.

The main area that is often picked up and portrayed of Celts is that of warfare. But how much do we know, and can understand, from the written and iconographic resources that we have?

Tacitus (cited in Work 1954) tells us that ‘the Britons had established a reputation for bravery and being good fighters’ (Work 1954, 258), and Allcock (cited in Harding 1974) informs that

Our knowledge of Celtic warfare, as derived from the literary records, very largely relates to engagements with the Roman Army, or to Roman attacks upon Iron Age strongholds (Harding 1974, 70).

Of inter-tribal warfare the European Iron Age is well known, but of Britain, little is known as it was ‘considered in isolation and assumed to be different from that of western mainland Europe’ (Hill 1995, 49). The archaeological evidence also suggests that, the once long perceived idea of hill-forts as centres of power, were actually places where older men, women and children could gather and take their cattle etc when trouble was imminent and thus used as places of refuge and not for defending or being defended by attacking neighbouring tribes, also that ‘their roles could differ through space and, on the same site, through time’ (Hill 1995, 68).

With the archaeological record showing marked increases between the middle pre-Roman Iron Age and the late pre-Roman Iron Age, raids and warfare appear to show signs of increasing with, ‘ample evidence of the accoutrements of war – swords, shields, spears, helmets and vehicle parts’ (Cunliffe 2004, 94). Evidence in the increase of inter-tribal warfare is given in the territory that once belonged to the Parisi, ‘Armed conflict was suggested by finds in late Arras Culture graves, and this presumably indicates that the Parisi were at odds with their neighbours’

(Dent 1983, 39).

The British Celt has been described as

 ‘taller than the Celts and not so yellow-haired, although their bodies were of looser build’

(Strabo cited in Work 1954, 257),

and their social structure was one of ‘actually or potentially hierarchically organized around the competitive relations between lineages or clan groups’ (Hill 1995, 73). Mainly living in acceptance of each other, tribes would fight over cattle or land,

The picture which emerges of the Celts and their society is of a restless exuberance loosely contained within a social system based on warrior prowess. Raiding and warfare were the essential mechanisms by which society maintained and reproduced itself

(Cunliffe 1997, 363).

The Iron Age was a time of oral histories, which were passed down through the generations and told over fires in feasting halls. The hero’s were held in high esteem and their victories shared by all, and kept alive

The end result of this teaching would be a warrior imbued not only with an ability to fight but also with a strong sense of himself and where he came from – a spiritual being who operated along a ritualized code of conduct (Waite 2011, 36)

He was loyal to his tribe, his leader and knew the code he had to follow into battle, should the need arise. As well as the physical and psychological aspects of the warrior, there were also the tools of his trade – his weapons.

The type to weaponry used by the Iron Age warrior has been discovered through archaeology and

….the majority are from hoards or votive deposits but a small group of burials provides valuable evidence about the way in which the warrior was equipped (Cunliffe 2004, 94).

The main item of weaponry was the sword. Changes have been recorded between the swords of the Bronze Age and those of the Iron Age, indicating a change in fighting methods,

The earlier varieties had tapering blades with long sharp points designed for both thrusting and slashing, whilst the later swords, with their long parallel sided blades, were better adapted for slashing …. the La Tène III slashing sward was designed for fighting on horseback ( Cunliffe 2010, 533).

With the use of chariots and mounted warriors, the need for a better designed slashing sword arose. The designs of which were expertly crafted by specialist smiths.

To read more of this fascinating article by Sue Carter Visit  Heritage Daily

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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.
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An image of Lugh/Lugus, from the website Pic: http://users.frii.com/asacat/dr.htm

[Originally published in An Tríbhís Mhór: The IMBAS Journal of Celtic Reconstructionism #1, Lúnasa 1997.] Copyright © 1997 Alexei Kondratiev. All Rights Reserved. May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice are retained. Of all the divinities known to have been worshipped in the Celtic world, the god whom the Continental Celts called Lugus and the Irish called Lúgh is one of the best documented and best understood. The sheer volume and widespread range of evidence related to him testifies to the importance of this god in Celtic tradition.

The evidence includes: iconography from the pre-Roman period; toponymy; iconography and epigraphy from the period of Roman occupation; testimony of Greek and Roman writers; literary traditions of the Insular Celts in the Middle Ages; modern folk narratives in Celtic languages; and ritual practices of conservative rural Celtic-speaking communities.

Each of these bodies of evidence provides only fragmentary information; yet when all are taken together and interpreted in the light each can shed on the other, a detailed and consistent picture emerges, which can direct us with a high degree of certainty to an understanding of what the worship of Lugus/Lúgh entails.

Continuity of Indo-European Heritage

Beginning around 500 BCE, and following on the sudden expansion of both wealth and territory it had experienced in the Early Iron Age, the Celtic world entered into a period of comfort and self-confidence where it took great interest in the cultures and artistic expressions of its neighbours and borrowed freely from them, yet always adapted such borrowings to native Celtic tastes and values. This blend of innovation and tradition gave rise to the unique La Tène style of Celtic art, and doubtless had repercussions at all levels of Celtic culture, particularly in the realm of religion. A whole vocabulary of religious symbols of Oriental origin began to be depicted on art objects during this period, suggesting a renewed interest in religious ideas as a result of exposure to foreign traditions, although there does not seem to have been any break with the fundamental Indo-European heritage.

Many of these imported symbols, as well as some other new ones of native origin, are found in association with one particular god whose sudden and widespread rise to prominence must have been one of the most important events in La Tène religion. This god is shown together with birds; horses; the Oriental Tree of Life motif; dogs or wolves; and twin serpents. But the imagery most intimately connected to him is the mistletoe leaf or berry. Most often the mistletoe leaves are shown at either side of his head, like horns or ears; but sometimes the symbolism is reversed, and the god’s head appears as the berry of a mistletoe plant. During the 300′s the mistletoe-leaf motif combines with that of the twin serpents (portrayed as facing S’s) into a new motif archaeologists call the “palmette”. This shape, crowning the god’s head or attached to some animal figure, is common (especially on coins) until ca. 200 BCE. Thereafter the twin serpents appear alone in what is still clearly a glyph representing this particular divinity. The fact that representations of the god and of his symbols appear most frequently on objects related to formal aristocratic banquets (such as the famous wine flagons from the Basse-Yutz burial in the Rhineland) strongly suggests that he was in some way associated with sacral kingship.[1]

Lugh, the Roman Mercury?

Because the Iron Age Celts did not use writing in religious contexts, we have no direct evidence of this god’s name. Toponymy, however, gives us a very strong clue. The name Lugudunon was given to a very large number of sites (Lyons, Loudun, Laon, Liegnitz, probably Leiden, etc.) from the later Iron Age. In Old Celtic dunon means “fort” (the word has modern cognates in Irish dún “fort” and Welsh din(as) “city”), but the Lugu- element can only be explained by a proper name. We have no dedications to a god by that name at those sites, yet the existence of mythological figures named Lúgh and Lleu in the later literary tradition of the Insular Celts makes it clear that a similar figure bearing the name Lugus must have existed in the Iron Age. In fact, a famous dedication to the Lugoues by the shoemakers’ guild of Uxama (Osma) in Spain; another inscription mentioning the Lugoues from Avenches in Switzerland;[2] and dedications to Lugubus Arquienobus from Orense and Lugo in Galicia (northwest Spain)[3] all indicate that the name Lugus was indeed known. Interestingly, in all these cases the name is given in the plural, as though it referred to a group of divinities rather than to a single god. We shall have some suggestions later as to why this may have been the case.

Why, if Lugus had played such an important role in Iron Age Celtic religion, was his name so little used in the period of Roman occupation that followed? Most scholars agree that it was the result of a successful interpretatio Romana, an identification of the Celtic god with a figure from the official Roman cult. In De Bello Gallico, VI, 17, Julius Caesar, commenting on Celtic society and culture even as he was crushing the life out of it, stated that “Mercury” was the most popular Celtic god, the creator of all arts and crafts, the protector of travelers, and a great patron of trade and wealth.

He was following the common Roman practice of forcing foreign religions into the categories and terminology of Roman state religion (in the same passage he uses the name “Minerva” to refer to a goddess obviously related to Irish Brigit, and known independently by native Celtic names), and in this case the identification certainly struck a chord in the conquered Celtic population, as dedications and representations of “Mercury” began to proliferate in the Romanized Celtic world and retained their preeminence right to the period of Christianization. Well over 400 dedications to “Mercury” or one of his common native titles have been found: his importance in Gaul and Britain far exceeded anything that the role of Mercury in Roman religion could have warranted. Clearly “Mercury” was the new, “modern” disguise of Lugus, and because the two names were seen to be precisely equivalent the native one was virtually never used in the Latin of official inscriptions.

Roman Classical Attributes

While Romano-Celtic images of “Mercury” often depicted him with his well-known Classical attributes — the winged cap (reminiscent of the earlier mistletoe crown), the caduceus (echoing the ubiquitous Iron Age twin serpents), the bag of money, the cockerel, the ram, the tortoise shell, etc. — many representations of him diverged considerably from Graeco-Roman canons. Some statues (e.g. the one from Lezoux) show him not as the usual clean-shaven ephebos but as a bearded old man wrapped in a Celtic shawl.[4] We will, however, single out three of these purely native traits as particularly important: his association with heights; his tendency to have multiple (usually triple) forms; and his role as sovereign protector, with warrior attributes.

Celtic “Mercury” is unambiguously linked with the high places of each tribal territory in which he was worshipped. Montmartre in Paris, the Puy-de-Dôme in the Auvergne, the Mont de Sène in the land of the Ædui — to name just a few out of scores of possible examples — were all originally Mercurii montes. Shrines crowned these heights, and one conventional depiction of “Mercury” was to have him sitting on a mountain.[5] The Aruerni commissioned (for a fabulous price) the Greek sculptor Xenodorus to make a gigantic statue of “Mercury” seated atop their sacred mountain, the Puy-de-Dôme: it was one of the famous sights of Roman Gaul.[6] Clearly the location of a temple to “Mercury” on a high place was of theological importance.

Continue Reading »

Pic: Antiquity Journal

In August 2007, holidaymakers discovered two pairs of polished jadeitite axeheads that had been set vertically in gravelly silt on the beach of Porh Fetan, at a location called Petit Rohu reports the Antiquity Journal. The shape and material of these axeheads allowed them to be identified straightaway as being of Alpine origin, in common with a number of axeheads found in the region (Bailloud et al. 1995; Pétrequin et al. 1997). Archaeological fieldwork, both on the land in the vicinity of the findspot and underwater, was subsequently carried out by the Laboratory of Archaeological Research (CNRS – Nantes University), in order to examine the context of the findspot and to try to delimit the extent of the site.

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-05-28 10:05:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Saint Ivo of Kermartin (17 October 1253 at Kermartin, a manor near Tréguier, Brittany, France – 19 May 1303 at Louannec, Brittany), also known as Yves (in France), Yvo, Ives, or Ivo. He is a saint and patron of lawyers and abandoned children. Saint Ives is also the patron saint of Brittany. His feast day is on May 19. His first name is often associated with his family name, Yves Helory (also : Helori or Heloury, the orthography was not fixed at this time).

Life

He was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. In 1267 Ivo was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. He went to Orléans in 1277 to study Canon law. On his return to Brittany having received minor orders he was appointed “official”, the title given to an ecclesiastical judge, of the archdeanery of Rennes (1280); meanwhile he studied Scripture, and there are strong reasons for believing that he joined the Franciscan Tertiaries sometime later at Guingamp. He was soon invited by the Bishop of Tréguier to become his official, and accepted the offer in 1284. He displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist the unjust taxation of the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church; by his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor. Having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died of natural causes, after a life of hard work and constant fast.

Veneration

He was buried in Tréguier, and was canonized in June 1347 by Clement VI, his feast being kept on 19 May. He is the patron saint of lawyers. On his tomb was supposedly inscribed in Latin: Sanctus Ivo erat Brito/ Advocatus et non latro/ Res miranda populo. Roughly translated, this means: “St Ives was Breton/ A lawyer and not a thief/ Marvelous thing to the people.” Literally translated, it is a quip that refers to the fact that lawyers have a reputation for thievery. The church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome is dedicated to him. Poetically, he is referred to as “Advocate of the Poor.”

Source

Originally posted 2008-05-20 17:47:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

: The Great Oak, Sherwood Forest Pic Source

Among the sacred trees in many legends, the mighty oak stands noble and tall as The Tree of Life. The oak tree in lore and myth represents great symbolic meanings to the pantheons of mythology, to the druids, the faeries, and many cultures around the world.

Druids

Within the sacred circle of stones in an oak grove, the Druids conducted their secret rituals. The mistletoe that grew high in the oak was sent from Heaven by the god who chose the tree as sacred. They were priests of the god. They cut the mistletoe with the golden sickle during the ceremony. Anything that grew on the sacred tree was especially revered.

The Oak Grove was their major meeting place, where they held their rituals, for it provided protection and power for their magick and spells.

In Anglesea on Mona’s Isle in Wales there stands the “Holy Groves” of the Druids. It is an ancient sacred sight. In AD 60 the Roman general Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, determined to break the power of the Celtic druids, attacked the island, destroying the shrine and the sacred groves — remnants of the sacred oaks can still be found there.

The oak represented doorways to other realms — it was believed to provide protection and shelter when passing through to other realms. It was considered the giver of great powers and was most exalted of all trees by the Druids. Their most spiritual places were in oak groves.

Faeries

In Greek mythology Dryads, faerie-like creatures, lived in Oak trees. Dryads are actually tree nymphs. They are very shy except when around Artemis the goddess who was a friend to most nymphs. Dryads are very long lived and very attached to their homes. The Hamadryad, an advanced form of the species, would die if their tree died.

Oak trees are safe havens for many types of faeries. They love their homes and the fruit of the Oak, the acorns. They use acorns for decoration, wear the caps of the acorn for hats, and use the leaves for celebrations in autumn. Hundreds of faeries live in the oldest Oaks. Faeries can be found in every Oak tree.

Robin Hood

Legends tell us of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood’s famous hideout in Nottinghamshire, England.
Since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood has been densely forested. Among the trees stands the majestic and legendary The Great Oak of Sherwood Forest, which is 800 to 1000 years old.

The forest is now just a small part of the original Royal Forest that was used for hunting. Many old oaks still exist in the forest, especially in the area known as the Dukeries.

A portion of the forest was opened as a country park to the public in 1969. Each year the Robin Hood Festival recreates the medieval atmosphere wherein one finds Robin Hood, Maid Marian, and all the famous characters that live in legends. Jousters, people in medieval attire, a recreation of an encampment of the time, court jesters, musicians, alchemists, and others that populated the Robin Hood legend can be found strolling among the ancient oaks.

Common Beliefs

If two acorns are dropped in the same bowl of water, a couple can divine their future plans. If the acorns float together, they will marry — if the acorns drift apart, the couple will drift apart.

Carrying an acorn at all times will prevent old age from coming on, prevent illness, increase fertility and strengthen sexual potency.

Carry a small piece of oak for good luck.

Oak Apples (galls) on an Oak tree are made by a worm. The person who finds the worm will be assured of riches and prosperity.

Essence of the oak flower will prevent despondency and despair.

In German lore, it was believed that children came from an ancient hollow Oak tree.

To plant an acorn after the sun goes down will ensure fortune in the near future.

Oak fires draw illnesses away.

Tie two twigs together with red thread, like a cross, to guard against evil.

Place acorns on window sills to guard against harm and lightning.

Catch a falling oak leaf and you will be free from colds all winter.

If acorns are gathered by the light of the full moon, good faerie talismans can be made of them.
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Image Credits:
Robin Hood Major Oak
Author:Galli
Wikipedia Public Domain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robin_Hood_Major_Oak.jpg

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CNN reports that Bretons are fighting to save their language from extinction. They say:

At a busy creperie amid the cobbled medieval streets of Quimper in Brittany, northern France, a lunchtime crowd is enjoying hearty galettes packed with combinations of meats, cheeses and eggs. The crepe has become a staple of French cuisine, but another aspect of Brittany’s culture — the region’s unique language — is in danger of dying with an aging generation of Breton speakers.

Almost two million people spoke Breton at the beginning of the 20th century, according to Ofis ar Brezhoneg, the Breton Language Office. That number has now declined to around 250,000 according to UNESCO, which lists the language as severely endangered.

But the latest figures may already be out of date. Most Breton speakers are now in their 70s or older and the language is estimated to be losing around 10,000 speakers a year.

The Breton language is the main aspect of our culture, our identity.

Fulup Jakez, head of Ofis ar Brezhoneg, told CNN.

If we lose our language we lose everything.

Brittany — or Breizh in Breton — has always had a seperate identity to the rest of France. The northwestern peninsula was settled by Celtic migrants who arrived from Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries AD. The region remains proud of its heritage with a rich tradition of Celtic music and culture that shares more in common with Cornwall, Wales or Ireland than France.

Although Brittany came under French rule in the 16th century, it was only after the French Revolution in 1789 that the country’s regions were properly incorporated into a unified state.

Central to that process was the use of French as the country’s official language, with revolutionary thinkers stating that regional languages represented the “barbarism” of the past and needed to be “obliterated.” Brittany and other regions, such as Corsica, Alsace and Basque areas in the southwest, are still living with the consequences today.

According to article two of the French constitution, there is only one language of the republic. Collective rights are not recognized; the Basque speakers in France are invisible.

Paul Bilbao, a Basque language campaigner, told CNN.

Bilbao said the situation in France was worse than in many other European countries with linguistic minorities such as Spain and the UK. France is one of few states not to have ratified the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages; a treaty which is considered crucial by campaigners for the protection of the continent’s linguistic diversity.

Some go further still, drawing a comparison between the lack of official recognition for Breton and other regional identities and French attitudes to minorities highlighted by the recent deportations of Roma migrants and the banning of Muslim headscarves.

France is not at ease with diversity at all. It’s part of the French political culture to be scared of the outside and to be scared of the inside as well.

says Breton journalist Yann Rivallain, editor ofArMen magazine.

For Breton speakers, the lowpoint in the region’s relationship with the French state came after World War II. Many activists were accused of collaborating with the German occupiers — and killed. For years afterwards, the language was banned in schools, with playground notices reading: “No spitting on the ground or speaking Breton.” Jakez says:

At that time, Breton did not exist in society. It was a private language you spoke at home or with your friends. There was no place for the language in public life. It was something hidden.

Many parents simply chose not to pass on a language which was seen as representative of a backward culture, fearing it would give their children a disadvantage in life. Rivallain sees parallels with the struggle of recent immigrant groups, such as those from Arab backgrounds, to integrate into French life.

Eliane Bramley, a parent at the Skol Diwan, is one of those who never had the chance to learn Breton as a child, even though it was her father’s native tongue. Now she is learning the language with her four-year-old daughter, Aziliz.

We want her to have some Breton roots, out of respect for her grandfather who was punished at school if he spoke Breton.

says Bramley.

She’s started to sing a lot in Breton, and to count. We see a blackbird or a dog and we say it in Breton and she corrects me. And my father is absolutely delighted to hear some Breton songs at home. I can see he is a little bit emotional about it.

Read the full story at CNN.com along with some frightening statistics and some examples of the Breton language.

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Pic: NegroTruc

Langourla is a small village in the Côtes d’Armor, in the North-West of Brittany. The oldest traces of civilization is the menhir of Coudre (other menhirs have been destroyed over the centuries). Langourla is an ancient parish; there are traces of its existence in 1211. Langourla territory once extended as far as Merdrignac and St. Launeuc, which spawned the parishes of Saint-Vrana and Mérillac: little by little, these two grew in the parish, but Langourla had the privilege of being the "mother church" of the three parishes. The parish was until 1312 administered by the Knights Templar.

There was a rumour that circulated in the nineteenth century that there was buried treasure under the menhir so much digging and excavating resulted in the foundations of the menhir becoming very unstable. Eventually it slipped to the side at the angle we can see it at today. A menhir is a dressed stone originating in the Iron Age (somewhere between 3500 and 2000 BCE) and possibly providing evidence of Druidic activity in the Langourla area.  We’re probably all familiar with the term ‘menhir’ from the Asterix (our favourite Gaul) books, but what does it mean? The word comes from two words in the Breton language: maen "stone" and hir, "long". Long-stone is an excellent description

The Miracle Oak

Right next to the Chapelle Saint-Joseph, stands the Miracle Oak. The Chapel is home today to a 15th century stained glass window in the west gable which watches over the miraculous oak . This old oak is dead, but his carcass remains. A new oak tree has been replanted in the same place and its trunk is now mixed with the remains of the old oak. Today, the Miracle Oak is still a wonderful symbol of the death and rebirth within nature. Already revered in the time of the Druids, the oak is a legendary symbol of fertility. Traditionally, women wanting a child or a husband had to rub their buttocks on the tree at night to make their wish come true. According to Caroline in her Blog, Miscellany, young women who rub their bottoms against the trunk on St Joseph’s day will be either married or pregnant within a year (accounts vary, although it might be worth clarifying before you visit…). The ritual was still being followed in the 1920s, and this kind of legend is not uncommon in Brittany although such fertility rites more usually involve rubbing against a menhir.

Death By Mattress and the Four Oxen

Pic: NegroTruc

The chapel of Saint-Gilles-des-Prés is located southwest of the town, near the village of Plessis. Its construction dates back to mid 15th century. The archives of the parish tell that by the year 1450, Gilles de Bretagne died smothered between two mattresses in the castle of Saint-Hardouin Launeuc. His body was to be transported to the Abbey to Boquen Plénée-Jugon. The four oxen that were pulling the funeral bier stopped at the place that the chapel is now built. They refused to go any further. The priest and others in the procession then began to pray to God and Saint-Gilles to come to their aid. One horse then struck a rock with its hoof and you can still see the hoof-mark today. The animals once more carried on to Boquen and Saint Gilles had a chapel built in his honour.

Langourla, as we mentioned earlier, is in the Côtes-d’Armor. The Côtes-d’Armor is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to Côtes-d’Armor (ar mor meaning the sea in Breton). The name also has a historical connotation recalling the Roman province of Armorica. The inhabitants of the department are called Costarmoricain but the inhabitants of Langourla are called Langourlaciens. Fascinating, huh?

Originally posted 2009-08-06 08:51:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: H. Kopperdelany’s

The Celtic Britons called themselves the Cymry, which meant "fellow countrymen" in their Celtic tongue. Once Roman rule ended in Britain in about 410 A.D., a power vacuum developed, leading to the onslaught of Germanic invasions by Angles and Saxons, then the retreat of the Cymry Celts into the northern and western areas of the isle.

The Celtic-speaking areas thus became Scotland (which was largely a Gaelic territory), as well as the Brythonic regions consisting of Wales (called Cymru by the Celtic peoples), Cornwall, and Cumbria (another land of the Cymry in what is now northwestern England).

The Anglo-Saxons called the Celts a different word–"wealas," which in their language meant "foreigners." Over time wealas formed into the English words Wales and the Welsh.

The sagas of the struggles between the Celtic Britons and the Anglo-Saxons is well preserved in Celtic mythology, and legendary figures arise from the pages. These stories are preserved in the Welsh language, a Celtic tongue, but are also found in the works of contemporary scholars writing in Latin: Gildas (died circa 570), Nennius (c. 800), and Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. 1155).

The heroes of the Cymry Celtic myths do have some elements of reality under their belts, but the borders between history and legend are often blurred. The word "euhemerism" refers to situations were the gods or demigods of mythology were really deified human beings, whose stories gained a massive status. Also there is the notion that myths can sometimes be traditional accounts of real people and events, which over time have gained in immensity. The Briton heroes do have a euhemeristic side, and looking back, we don’t always know which stories represent literal reality and which don’t.

Two Welsh Bards: Taliesin and Aneurin

Bards were Celtic poets and lyric storytellers. They held high position in Celtic society, and their words inspired fear and awe. As the Greek writer Diodorus Siculus noted in the first century B.C.: "Among the Celts are composers of melodies, called Bards, who sing to instruments like lyres…and in such reverence are they held, that when two armies, prepared for battle, have cast their darts and drawn their swords, on the arrival and intervention of the Bards, the army immediately desists. Thus, even among the rude barbarians, wrath gives place to wisdom, and Mars to Muses."

According to the Dark Ages scholar Nennius, there were five major Welsh bards of the sixth century: Taliesin, Aneurin, Blwchfardd, Cian, and Talhaern Tad. Other sources say that Llywarch the Aged and Myrddin were also important bards of this period. In the next several centuries Morfran, Meugan, Arofan, and Afan Ferddig were notable Welsh bards. Taliesin and Aneurin are of particular interest because major works of Welsh literature are named after them. They might well be considered Celtic literary heroes.

Taliesin, as we described earlier, played a key role in the legend of Ceridwen, but there is more. In the myth, Taliesin becomes the bard for the court of Elphin, who gives him his name–Taliesin meaning "shining brow" (for a light shone from his face). When Elphin is captured by King Maelgwn of Gwynedd, in northern Wales, Taliesin appears at Maelgwn’s court and challenges his bards to a contest. Taliesin is eloquent, and through a mysterious power, he renders Maelgwn’s bards incapable of speech. Then by the magic of his words, Taliesin frees Elphin from his chains.

This, of course, is a mythical image of Taliesin. In reality, he was probably born in Powys, central Wales, and was the court bard of King Urien of Rheged, a region near the present southwestern Scotland and Cumbria. Perhaps a dozen of authentic poems of Taliesin still exist, all of them praise poems and elegies. His poems, according to one modern critic, have ambitious metric patterns, both internal and end rhyme, and alliteration, though not so obvious in English translations.

Taliesin’s poetry is considered more complex than much of the Anglo-Saxon poetry. Taliesin emphasizes the loss of a way of life with the coming of the Saxons invaders, and his poems "celebrate the gaiety of court life, the personal triumph and generosity of a royal patron, and the ties between poet and patron." In his old age, Taliesin is said to have returned to Wales to die, and legend has it that he is buried at Tre-Taliesin, a village named for him.

Aneurin was a north Briton of the sixth century, and an existing poem of his is considered by many to be the oldest piece of Welsh literature (the "Y Gododdin"). Aneurin was the court bard of the Manaw Gododdin people, whose Celtic king was Mynyddawg Mwynfawr. This was a realm near the southeastern borderlands of what is now Scotland and England. Aneurin is a Welsh bard in that he wrote in Cymraeg, what became the Welsh language.

The dilemma facing Aneurin’s people was the common problem of the day for most Briton Celts–the Saxons were encroaching on Celtic territories. In the Y Gododdin, Aneurin writes that the Saxons have taken over the old Roman town of Catterick (called Cattraeth in the poem), a key spot in neighboring Northumbria. So sometime around 600 A.D., King Mynyddawg assembles 300 Celtic warriors, and treats them to a feast at his court in Edinburgh. This is a preparatory meal before a great battle. The problem is that the Celtic warriors drink far too much mead and wine, and when they finally attack the Saxons at Cattraeth, they are not sound at battle and the Saxons easily defeat them. Only three of the Gododdin Celts survive: Aeron, Conan, and Aneurin himself.

To get a sense of what the longer poem sounds like, below is a short excerpt of Y Gododdin, as translated from the sixth century Welsh into English by Thomas Gray.

The Celtic Arthur

King Arthur of Camelot is a personage who comes to our attention in three forms. First is the Arthur of Celtic myth, his shape that is least known. Here Arthur is described in the Welsh language, and is sometimes full of rustic flavor, and other times almost deified. Then there is the Arthur of popular myth, known to about every schoolboy. This image was created by Norman-English and French writers of medieval times, and is full of stories of the Table Round, Lancelot, and the Holy Grail. Finally there is the real Arthur, the historical person. Celtic expert Simon James describes the historical Arthur in this way: It is widely accepted that Arthur probably was a real person, but beyond that there is little agreement about who he was, what he did, or even where or when he lived. None of the early sources call him king. He is described as dux bellorum, "leader of battles," perhaps a successful supra-tribal war-leader in the spirit of Vercingetorix and Caratacus, leading the combined forces of British kingdoms against the invading Saxons. Variously seen as a Celtic war-chief, or a Romanized cavalry commander, Arthur could still also have been a petty king in his own right.

Nennius describes the twelve great battles that Arthur fought against the Saxons, culminating in the Battle of Mt. Badon, after which Saxon encroachments into Celtic territories were slowed for a generation. Some experts suggest that Mt. Badon was near the English city of Bath, and that the battle took place around the year 516. Although, understandably, the Anglo-Saxons were not enthused about Arthur, his fame spread in Celtic areas, including Brittany. These Breton minstrels introduced the stories of Arthur in Norman courts, who were then responsible for spreading these stories throughout Europe, and back to England with William of Conqueror and the Norman invasion in 1066.

In the early 1100s, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his famous history of Britain, describing King Arthur as victor against the Saxons, the Scots, the Norsemen, the French, and finally the Romans. Although this was a lightly-taken fabrication, Geoffrey launched the European literary movement of viewing Arthur as a sort of medieval superstar, and the legends grew in grand fashion. King Arthur took his place in the popular imagination for centuries to come.

All the while this was happening, there were still the old Celtic myths of Arthur, known to relatively few, but cherished by those wishing to protect the memory of the original Celtic Arthur. Not that the mythic events were historically true, for often Arthur conquered realms that did not exist on the map. In the Welsh story, "The Spoiling of Annwn," Arthur leads an expedition to the Celtic underworld, and captures the magic cauldron of inspiration and poetry.

Some experts see this cauldron quest as the Celtic origin of the Holy Grail story. There are other Celtic origins of the popular Arthurian legends. For instance the sword Excalibur; this is a reminder of the Celtic magic swords in the myths of Nuada and Manannán, who also named their swords. Some experts suggest that Camelot had earlier versions, Squire thinking its origins were at Cadbury in Somerset, and Sidney Lanier reporting that it was in Winchester in south England. Many of the principal names in the popular Arthurian legends began as characters in the Welsh Arthur stories, such as, Lady Guinevere (originally Gwynhwyvar in Welsh), Merlin (Myrddin), Mordred (Medrawt), Sir Kay (Kai), Sir Bedivere (Bedwyr), and Sir Tristrem (Trystan).

One important story of the Celtic Arthur is called "The Dream of Rhonabwy." Here, a Welsh man-at-arms named Rhonabwy lies down upon a yellow calf-skin, and sleeps three days and three nights, having a most wonderful dream. In his dream, Rhonabwy and his companions are traveling toward the River Severn in Wales, and they meet the Celtic warrior Iddawc the Agitator. Iddawc gained his name because Arthur had sent him on a diplomatic mission to Medrawt with many fair sayings. But Iddawc loved war, and translated these messages into extremely harsh words, precipitating the Battle of Camlan. However, Iddawc had done seven year’s penance, and having been forgiven, was now traveling to Arthur’s camp. Iddawc insists that Rhonabwy and his companions come with him.

When they arrive, Arthur is conversing with Bedwini the Bishop of Gwarthegyd. Arthur casts his eye on Rhonabwy and comments on the latter’s small stature. But, Rhonabwy is told to be quiet and watch what is about to happen. It is an important day, for Arthur and his warriors are gathering to fight the Battle of Mt. Badon against the Saxons. Rhonabwy watches in amazement as each of Arthur’s champions and warriors rides by him. The dream, as portrayed by the unknown author of old, seems to be an effort to catalogue the most important of Arthur’s followers.

"Kulhwch and Olwen" and the Treasures of Britain

As in the popular Arthurian legends, Welsh myths often focus on a secondary character and then Arthur’s eminence emerges from the background. In the case of the story of "Kulhwch and Olwen," Arthur and his mighty men arise to win the day.

Kulhwch, according to the myth, was the son of a petty king who married a widow with a daughter. Kulhwch’s stepmother urged him to marry her daughter, and when he politely refused, the stepmother "laid a destiny" on him that he would marry a different maiden, the fair Olwen, or nobody at all.

Olwen was the most beautiful young woman of the realm, but her father was the wicked Hawthorn, the Chief of the Giants. Hawthorn was monstrous in size and shape, and he had enormous eyebrows, which were so heavy over his eyes, in order to see he needed forks to lift the eyebrows up. Hawthorn would allow no man to marry Olwen, because he had a premonition that he would die upon her marriage.

When Kulhwch asked for Olwen’s hand, Hawthorn commanded a bride’s price so high that the giant just knew that Kulhwch could never secure the demand. Hawthorn required that the man to marry Olwen provide him with the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. These treasures were the cornucopia of Gwysddneu, the magic chalice of Llwyr, the cauldron of Diwrnach the Gael, the sword of Gwrnach the Giant, the drinking horn of Gwlgawd Gododin, the harp of Teirtu, the tusk of White-tooth the Boar, the blood of the Black Sorceress, the preservative bottles of Gyddolwyn Gorr, and the milk bottles of Rhinnon Rhin Barnawd. The final three treasures would be the hardest to obtain: a comb, razor, and scissors which lay between the ears of Twrch Trwyth, a king who had been transformed by magic into the most fierce of wild boars.

With this, Kulhwch was in dismay and had no idea what to do, for these Treasures of Britain were virtually unobtainable. Kulhwch’s father then recommended that he seek the assistance of Arthur, for they were blood relatives. So Kulhwch traveled to the court of Arthur, who agreed to help in the quest for securing the Treasures of Britain. Arthur would be accompanied by his most able warriors–Kai, Bedwyr, Kynddelig, Gwrhyr, Gwalchmei, and Menw. And in this story, Arthur is assisted by warriors who were once viewed as Welsh gods–Mabon and Manawyddan.

As the story progresses, Arthur and his mighty men do great deeds to acquire each of the first ten of the treasures. What lay ahead would be the most difficult task of obtaining the comb, razor, and scissors from the boar Twrch Trwyth. The boar was now with seven young pigs in Ireland. Arthur and his men go there and fight Twrch Trwyth for nine days and nights, but not even one of the little pigs succumbs.

Twrch Trwyth then proclaims that he and his pigs will lay waste to Arthur’s country, and the eight pigs cross the sea to Wales. Arthur follows on his ship "Prydwen," and chases the boar and pigs throughout South Wales. One by one each of the little pigs are felled, and Arthur loses many of his company as well. Finally, Twrch Trwyth is alone at the estuary of the River Severn. He is in a awkward position and Arthur’s men are able to get the scissors and razor, but not the comb. The boar then escapes and travels to Cornwall. There Arthur is met with many troubles, but is eventually able to defeat Twrch Trwyth and obtain the comb.

Arthur now has all thirteen of the Treasures of Britain, and Kulhwch presents them to Hawthorn the Giant. Olwen would now be the bride of Kulhwch, and in his last words, Hawthorn says to the groom:

My daughter is yours, but you need not thank me for it, but Arthur, who has accomplished this."

The Red Dragon

We might wish to close this discussion of Welsh mythology with the legend of the Red Dragon. According to the myth, the White Dragon of the Saxons was attacking the land of the Celtic Britons. To meet the monster in battle was the Red Dragon of the Britain, a Celtic symbol. The two dragons fought in fierce fashion in the sky with mighty shrieks. But the mythic Lludd was able to capture the dragons, and he buried them in the Snowdon district of Wales. Five hundred years later, Merlin dug up the dragons, the fighting renewed, and the Red Dragon forced the White Dragon of the Saxons out of Britain. This myth might have been a form of wishful thinking among the Welsh in the early Dark Ages, as Saxons gained more and more of their territory.

The current Welsh flag and coat of arms feature prominently a red dragon against a background of white and green. In 1999, the Welsh gained a significant boost in their national identity as a Welsh parliament met for the first time in centuries. Although the Red Dragon will not likely drive the White Dragon out, one can easily bet that the Red Dragon of Britain is here to stay.

Copyright © 2001 jpparle@aol.com

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