The Celtic Harp at Stonehenge

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The Celtic Harp At Stonehenge

- structure in ancient Celtic thought

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And now, for lords who understand, I'll tell a fable: once a hawk, high in the clouds, clutched in his claws a speckled nightingale. She, pierced by those hooked claws, cried, 'Pity me!' But he made a scornful answer: 'Silly thing, why do you cry? Your master holds you fast, you'll go where I decide, although you have a minstrel's lovely voice, and if I choose, I'll have you for a meal.... Hesiod, Works and Days, c.700BC 1

There are some, although few indeed, on whom divine favour has bestowed the gift of contemplating, clearly and very distinctly, with scope of mind miraculously enlarged, in one and the same moment, as though under one ray of the sun, even the whole circle of the whole earth, with ocean and sky above it. St. Columba c. 580AD2

The nation that disdains the mission of art invites the fate of having nothing to look backward to with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope. Amherst College, Oct. 26, 1963, John F. Kennedy

3 Contents INTRODUCTION ...... 5 A Look At Bunting ...... 6 Part One...... 13 Consciousness and Culture ...... 13 The Two Harvests ...... 15 The Triad ...... 21 Visions ...... 23 The Triad and The Dawn of the Ritual String Instrument ...... 30 The Mountain Seer--Bur ...... 35 The Head ...... 36 The Fish And The Song Of Summer And Winter ...... 37 Building The Harp ...... 40 Social Order ...... 42 The 9 Days ...... 44 28 Days And The First Circle At Stonehenge ...... 47 Part Two...... 51 The Frame Defined By 30 ...... 51 The Frame, Five And Thirty ...... 57 Mid-Day ...... 60 The Seven And Nine ...... 63 Adding Drones ...... 71 The Danann—Migration Of Ideas ...... 75 Part Three...... 81 Reordering The Planets—The Ascendance of Zeus ...... 81 A More Open and Public Knowing ...... 90 Letters For Divination ...... 95 The Large Harp ...... 100 Arthur ...... 101 Adjusting Imagery ...... 104 Part Four...... 110 Reducing Culture and Nature to the Wild and Primitive ...... 110 A New System of Music...... 111 Romantic Imagery ...... 116 Emergence of a Distinct Court Music ...... 119 Medieval Decline Of The Ancient Harp ...... 122 The Historical Celtic Harp's Demise ...... 127 The Method of the Historical Celtic Harp ...... 129 Arguments While Trying to Save Harp Music ...... 131 Romantic Views Of Minstrelsy ...... 132 Author’s After Thoughts ...... 137 Appendix ...... 138 Layers Of Imagery in Pre-Conquest Mexico ...... 138 Endnotes: ...... 141

4 INTRODUCTION

This book began around 1986. I asked myself, “where does old-time music come from? I was playing the fiddle for local dances. And, I heard “progressive” bluegrass musicians deriding the “hillbilly” musicians of old—men that had learned from years before. It seemed to me the roots should be important.

From general knowledge, I knew the Celtic harp music be older than fiddler or bagpipes—must be the source. I went to the library and looked through Edward Bunting’s, The Ancient Music Of Ireland, which came out in three installments— 1796, 1809 and 1840, subsequent to an earlier assemblage of Irish Harpers in 1784. “The collection had its origins in a commission given to a young Armagh-born classical organist and pianist Edward Bunting (1773–1843), by the organizerrs of the Belfast Harp Festival of 1792, to notate and preserve the instrumental and vocal music of the Irish harpers.”1 The 1840 version contained a description of method—long after much of his initial work and interviewing, done through a translator.

I saw problems with his analysis. For example, I was familiar with the work of Kodaly. I appeared to me that, as have many since then, Bunting equated antiquity with notes missing from the scale in a tune. I began to dissect his work, looking for what lay hidden within.

This book is the outcome. It took many years. I expect some to disagree with my conclusions, which I have stated simply and boldly at times in order to avoid endless obfuscation. However, my conviction is that when we find a method to the historical instrument and to the ideas associated with the music, we open up the possibility that basic premises in the history of what is sometimes called “western civilization” are in error. And we open up the possibility for a concept of civilization based on something other than the endless celebration of greed and rule by money.

CW Bayer

1 5 A Look At Bunting

In his 1840 book, Bunting illustrated his overall problem understanding the ancient method--going on at length about the chord structure of Irish tunes—Tonic, Sub-dominant and Dominant chords.

I looked at Bunting’s effort to describe the Celtic Harp. I saw that, as a 19 year old piano teacher, he only partially understood what the last of the Irish harpers had told him. His interest was genuine and likewise his effort as he attempted to chronicle and understand and record everything possible about the harp going back in time. However, Bunting lived in and was a product of a culture that could not conceive of other systems of music beyond that found in Western Europe. All other music was chaotic and primitive. This allied with European justification of colonialism.

Interest in the ancient harp had arisen among English literati, surging during the late 18th century. Finally, someone sat down with the last of the Irish harpers and talked to them. From the mid-18th century through the present day, interest in the Irish or ancient Celtic harp has involved converting it to modern needs— modern musical ideas, modern ideology. As a result, what Bunting wrote often needs to be reinterpreted from his use of Gaelic terms given to him by Irish harpers. The tuning of the instrument as a whole

This reflected the huge importance of the ancient harp to the modern world and I took that importance as a given. However, in contrast, as I looked at Bunting’s descriptions I sought not a modern instrument but one that pre-dated all modern and even medieval norms. What stood out in that description was the clear implication of a method—one that lay within the terminology and diagrams, an ancient method.

I looked at Bunting’s diagrams of the Irish harp and saw, within it at its core toward the lower strings, a small of harp of at least nine strings. This immediately sent me into ancient texts looking at the number nine. (As discussed below, the scale that I saw was, in fact, the same mentioned in an ancient Arabic text.) There ensued decades during which I attempted to unravel ancient ideas of order that, at heart, have no literal central focus—that are inclusive and hence difficult for the compartmentalized modern mind. This book attempts to put these in some kind of order, knowing that I might never find a completely clear timeline of incremental growth or evolution in the ideas.

To begin with, let’s go back to Bunting’s descriptions and look at those nine string and the basic method, at least as I see it. Someone somewhere is going to point out that we can’t really know the past and that this is all conjecture etc.. However, I am going to dispense with “It’s seems” and “Apparently” because this becomes tedious. I am just going to lay it out.

6 The Irish harpers played with the right hand below the left, as in this drawing of Arthur O’Neill whom Bunting interviewed. We can create dense cosmological rationalizations for the idea that the left hand played the melody above the right, however common sense says that most people are right handed and that, mostly, when the right lay below the left it was because the right hand played melody below the left.

ONEIL

The right hand below the left position implies that there would be no multi-note chord accompaniment or modern harmony. However, the harp is inherently an instrument that employs accompaniment. How can the right hand play accompaniment and melody at the same time? The answer lies in the use of three right hand finger—thumb, index and ring—in which the thumb plays a melody while the middle plays a drone or drones. In other words, chorded accompaniment is modern and, if we go back the Middle Ages or earlier, we find drone accompaniment. This is apparent in numerous medieval instruments as well as the vestigial survival of drones on some modern instruments. Looking at the notes Bunting gives, there appear to be four low drone strings—in pairs, F and G, as well as D and C. And, in fact, despite going on about the chordal basis of Irish music, Bunting calls the low G a drone.

Bunting gave a scale for the instrument that the Irish harpers called Leath Gleus or Half Adjustment. He wrote that this referred to the absence of an F string at the bottom and the lowering of the low E string to F at times. Grossly in error, Bunting’s description of the diatonic Irish harp’s native keys appears to be wholly a product of his piano training—seeing the instrument as tuning in C.1840 p23

More accurately, the instrument’s tuning was somewhat like that for other harps and that found in the 17th century Welsh Ap Huw manuscript—also missing the low E and where the manuscript makes clear that the B is really B flat. 7

The 18th and early 19th century Irish harp often sat on the floor. However, what we see in medieval pictures is not only harp players with their right hand often below the left but also a very small instrument of from nine to about fifteen strings.

ANCIENT SMALL HARPS

So, let’s reduce Bunting’s tuning down to two basic drones and a basic nine string scale. The nine are necessary, among other reasons, so that there is an entire octave from G to G.

NINE STRINGS

If this is the basic small harp, then there is a problem with this tuning—it is in C natural. To use F and G drones and to base the instrument on those drones, we must assume that Bunting heard the E and B strings call “E” and “B” while in fact they were flatted.

NINE STRINGS CORRECTED

This scale conforms to some Renaissance tuning methods for the harpsichord—an instrument said to have been derived from the Irish harp—as well as much older, cosmological descriptions of the scale.

HARPSICHORD TUNING, PLANET TUNING

In other words, we are now seeing the Irish or Celtic harp not as something invented whole on an island in the Atlantic but as tied to ancient music and ideas as a whole. And, in that sense, the duality of two drones seems to reflect the duality described for “musics” or scales in Bunting and in early Irish writings—-Joy Music and Sleep Music.

JOY SLEEP MUSIC

With B flatted, the key of the harp is B flat while F and G define alternate finals—a method that employs two “tonic” or final notes in each scale or music. In looking at this, it’s better to consider the organization of music as modality rather than key. Subjectively, trying this, G/B flat becomes somewhat minor sounding and defines Sad Music while F/B flat defines Joy Music, somewhat major in sound. The lowering of F to E seems to define Sleep Music and to reflect the idea of the transcendent circle or whole pervasive in ancient thought. In the old texts, the idea of “heavy” appears to be of high pitch and relates to the idea that as one goes up the scale in pitch from G to F one goes through the order of the planets toward the slowest or heaviest planet, from the Moon to Saturn—these each being defined by the number 30 and hence defining the Spindle that is central to more complex ancient thought.

The names of the not heavy strings were Suantorrgles (Sleep Music); Geantorrgles (Joy Music) the great; Goltarrgles (Sad Music) was the other string (i.e.. the heavy string), which sent all men to

8 crying. (The Wooing of Scathach. The Song Lore of Ireland: Erin's Story in Music and Verse. By Redfern Mason p. 11.)

Ceis, that is, a means of fastening; or a path to the knowledge of music; or Ceis is the name of a small Cruit which accompanies a large Cruit in co-playing; or it is the name of the little pin which retains the string in the wood of the Cruit; or the Cobhluigi (Coblach); or it is the name of the heavy string (g); or, the Ceis in the Cruit is what keeps the counterpart with its strings in it, as the poet said....”3

The ratio of the planets are similar to those of the tones. The divine order rises from Earth to Heaven. According to Tullius (Cicero) the order rising from the lowest to the highest is the following: Luna, Hermes, Venus, and Sol, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In a similar order one must modulate the tones. One must begin with the Moon, which is nearest to the Earth. From there Mercury is one tone higher. By the interval of a tone, the musical order is apportioned. The following space to Venus has the musical value of a half tone. Then the space to the Sun is filled by a fourth. The way to the war-like Mars is limited by a fifth. The interval to Jupiter is a half tone. To these the whole tone is added to reach Saturn. The seventh tone reaches Heaven corresponding to the seven days. For the notes the eighth completes the order of the octave....The double octave reaches heavens.... 4

Apparently, on the Ciernin, the older small harp of the Irish priests, placed the melody strings an octave higher than did the large Irish harp or Clarsach adopted by the minstrels and court musicians. It’s fundamental strings were:

F G A Bb C D Eb F G G

The Clarsach expanded the number of musics or keys to five by adding two addictional low drones. And, Bunting calls the low C a drone.

C D F G A Bb C Db F A Bb C D etc….G G A Bb etc..

Rather than equating them to the ancient three musics. Bunting lists the three overall tunings in descriptive manner: Great Sound, Lesser Sound and Single Sound. He equates Single Sound to G and we should disregard his specification of one sharp. He equates Great Sound to C natural—the basic tuning—though this probably has nothing to do with the key of C—and Lesser Sound to the flatting of a bass note, this probably being the tuning of F to E.

The question becomes, what is the left hand doing. Bunting describes a pair of G strings high on the instrument. The harpers called these the “Sisters.” In relating this, Bunting states what he also states elsewhere—that tuning the instrument began with the G string and then proceeded to the D string.

In fact, historically, it probably began with F going to C which was then flattened—the interval of the fifth made imperfect. As late as 1640, harp and harpsichord across Europe were widely associated with meantone temperament in contrast to a temperament based on fifths in other instruments. Though for a time, meantone was thought to be a relatively late development, I would argue that it is the basic ancient temperament.5

One must begin with f, and then tune its octave pure. After that tune c’, a fifth from f, and make it completely pure [a perfect fifth]. Then lower it just enough that it still seems good and the ear can tolerate it. From c\ tune its lower octave pure. Then tune its fifth g in the same way, narrowing it to the same degree as the first. Then tune its upper octave pure, which is g\ Tune d’, and then tune this fifth in the same way, narrowing it like the others. Then pause at this point and perform the trial, which is done in this way. Tune bb', next to c\ to the fifth f, next to g’ and keep the bb’ a bit high, so that this fifth is tempered and is the same as the others. Then play the d’ that you have tuned, which makes the major third against bb' and the minor third against f. When this chord is found to be good, everything which has been tuned is good, because the tuning is proved only by the thirds. When they are found to be good throughout, the tuning is correct.” Treatise On Harpischord Tuning, by Jean Denis, 1643

Across Europe, as late as 1640, harp and harpsichord were widely associated with meantone temperament in contrast to a temperament based on fifths in other instruments.

..(tempering) is of two sorts, the one in fretted instruments, the other in those with keys: in the former the primary consonances (i.e. 5ths and 4ths) are more just, and the secondary ones (i.e. 3rds and 6ths) less, and also the semitones therein are somewhat more diminished (sic); but in the latter, on the contrary, the 3rds and 6ths are found (to be) more just, and the 4ths and 5ths less (so). This is the reason that lutes, theorbos, viols, liras (da braccio), etc., can never be perfectly in tune with harpsichords or with the harp, because of the difference in temperament.... Giovanni Battista Doni, c. 1640.23

10 The name, “sisters”, calls up the most complete story of the harp’s creation, The Twa Sisters. In ancient lore, the musical method that defined the harp was seen as a fundamental winning of knowledge from the waters. In others accounts, the harp was made from the pike, the tortoise or the whale. The English/Scottish ballad, The Twa Sisters, gives the most extensive account. Not surprisingly, the most complete story survives in Britain. Here it is put together from a couple of English language sources. And, of course, there were actually three sisters though the story revolves around the murder and recovery from the waters of one.

There was an old man in the north country this man had daughters, one two three And as they sat within their bower there came a knight to be their wooer. He courted the youngest with a golden ring and the elder he gave hardly a thing. The eldest took the youngest by the hand and led her down by the watery strand. As they walked by the salt sea strand the elder pushed the younger in. O sister O sister, give me your hand and you may have my house and land. O sister, O sister, give me your glove and you may have my own true love. Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam, until she came to the miller's dam. The miller's daughter being dressed in red, She went for some water to make her bread, O father O father, draw your dam, there's either a mermaid or a milk-white swan. And from off her fingers white. he took the golden ring so light. He took three strands of her yellow hair He made harp strings of her golden hair. He took the bones from her fingers and made the harp pegs. He took five rings from off her hand and pushed her back into the stream again.6

Structurally, on a small harp, the three would be the three musics. At times, on the small or large harp, placing two different G notes at the top of the scale served an important musical purpose. These two G strings would have been tuned differently, one of them slightly sharp to act as a high drone and mirroring what on the smaller harp would have been a slightly sharp high G drone at the top of the scale. It is a “wolf”—a term with long-standing musical as well as cosmological importance.

F G A Bb C D Eb F G G+

The systematization of the music that occurred during the early middle ages in Persia and then Europe seems to have been aimed at resolving a B flat note that, prior, was not wholly consonant with G or F. In other words, B flat was also tuned slightly sharp. The other notes were tuned roughly to mean-tone—the F consonant with A, the A—the mean or middle note—consonant with C. This places F and C somewhat dissonant, a bit too close together—not perfect fifths as in Pythagorean or Equal Temperament.

F G A Bb C D Eb F G G

The later, Irish large harp represents an expansion of the harp sometime around 600 to 1000AD that created a high or court music and in which the hands were reversed to allow performance of Divisions. The basic bardic form seems to have been the Cumha—cow or wealth. As the “Port” or opening—called the “Ground” in later European music. In Ireland, by 1100 the Port or Ground became the basis for cutting or dividing with exchange or reversal of the hands on the harp—a method that was then exported to Wales and beyond.

This expansion of the harp probably echoed a shift around 600AD to divination by 24 letters—Gematria, imported to parts of Western Europe from its use much earlier in Greece, associated with the god Jupiter and then Zeus or Deus, and done on tables at religious sites. Everywhere, this reflected a pushing aside of Saturn and divination through calendar cycles to what was seen as a simpler, more accessible and more certain deliverance of knowledge. The importance of 24 carried into codification of 24 strains that defined division playing in the Welsh harp’s Ap Huw manuscript, said to be derived from Irish introduction of that practice around 1100 AD. Bunting seems to have noticed these strains and to have categorized them as a sort of reverse arpeggio. He noted the dampening of the strings then required for “cutting” the notes. He made no distinction from ordinary melody playing. By his day, Division playing had gone out of style in European music as a whole.

This idea of an ancient method runs contrary to all current musical theory. I was familiar with Kodaly and his theories of incremental development of the scale, theories that permeate modern ideas of “folk-music”. And I was familiar with modern ideas of “folk-music.” Among other things, I hope the book is disruptive to the romanticism of the common people that now permeates the ideology of nation states and what I call “fortress freedom.”

12 Part One.

Consciousness and Culture

With romantic interest in the Celtic harp dating back to the mid-18th century, a time when the historical instrument was still played, how could modern history completely fail to see that method? And, what were the ideas or images that defined that structure or method during ancient times? The answers to these questions may be related to each other. In all musical “systems”, cultural ideas are applied to and then influence the physical properties of harmony—the frequencies that resonate together. So, while the method of the historical Celtic harp can be viewed as an approach to harmony, it can also be viewed as an expression of those cultural ideas. Both method and ideas are now lost. This book looks at the structure of process as conceived in ancient thought, with a particular focus on ideas that came to be associated with the Celts, Brits, the harp and Stonehenge. Metaphorically, those ideas appear to explain how musicians and listeners once understood the method of the historical Celtic harp. Those ideas had a broad origin—larger than the “Celts”. Over time, while weakened somewhat elsewhere, those ideas then seem to have been both kept alive and then amplified by the Celts. In the end, however, those ancient ideas gave way to hierarchical thinking in all regions as music mirrored the growing social control of the military and wealthy class. At the onset, far back in time, this is a story of humans articulating their awareness of “consciousness” before such abstractions existed—in a poetic language, a non-literal language of images that gave these ideas a broad resonance. In this book, interpreting these ideas literally risks diminishing their impact. “Self awareness” or “consciousness” as words are not required to find humans reflecting upon their own thought and finding mirrors of it in the natural world. In fact, it is an imposition of modern ideas to project a theory of “consciousness” onto the material presented here. That being said, to understand what occurred in language that, today, can be understood, we must attempt such abstraction. Just as all human feeling is “relational”—refined in terms of interaction with parents and then others—self-awareness of human thought was initially defined relationally with nature— including other people. Looking overall at the ancient ideas surrounding the planets—the wandering stars—as a natural correlative to archetypes or elements of human thought and experience, the most significant historical event in the rise of this self-awareness of consciousness as a process with steps that could be directed seems to lie in the discovery that Venus during the morning and Venus during the evening are one in the same planet, journeying during the interim to a place beyond, a hidden reality. My view is that, around 3000BC, that wanderer disappearing into the unseen and then returning became the image or metaphor that allowed thinkers to reflect on creativity, thought and creation as a process within broad ideas of duality. It made possible the triad—the transcendent order enclosing creation. It lead to an increasingly complex structuring of the planets.

13 Early imagery of duality was often the raven and swan or hawk and serpent. In this book we will look beyond duality to the triad and to a more complex ordering of the planets—one that thrived among the Celts and in portions of the rural Middle East, beyond the Hellenic sphere where, Babylonia and then Greece and Rome, hierarchical ideas took over around 1000BC. This came with the ascendance of Jupiter over Saturn, as discussed below. Among the Celtic and Picts, by 600 AD, the ancient process based ideas were being replaced by hierarchical thinking. This accompanied a growing emphasis on writing as a form for the delivery of divine knowledge. During human history, the structure of thinking shifts from cyclic ideas about search and return to more linear, hierarchical ideas of authority. Both modalities can be said to be "organized". There is no factual merit to widespread modern claims that ancient thought was disorganized or emotional--a primitive past based on ungoverned emotion or crude superstition. Having lost track of the historical method, however, a modern folk method has been defined as historical to the Celtic harp. Similarly, in looking at ancient thought, the best modern academia and writers can often do is try to find instances where the ancients seem to have had some glimmer of insight into modern accomplishments. And, both projections tend to want to see the ancient past as wild and untamed—a bastion of emotion populated by noble savages. As we look at the depth of structure in ancient thought, particularly as carried on or preserved and amplified by the broad Celtic culture, the opposite seems truer. There is a rigidity to ancient thought that seems to rarely approach the romantic freedom embraced by some of modern culture during the last couple hundred years.

14 The Two Harvests

In looking at “culture” or “awareness of consciousness” within the realm of ancient thought, it is vital to find the basic level of human concern for order. When looking at ancient texts today, particularly online, one frequently finds the writings couched in an aura of magic and mysticism—as if the words were merely poetic fancy. However, often, within ancient verses and descriptions that elaborate and entertain, there is also a structural element. Modern thinkers have repeatedly tried to reduce those structural elements to their basic elements. And, in fact, basic elements seem constantly implied by those writings even when no finite, bottom-line list can be arrived at. For example, particularly around the turn of the 20th century, writers tried to undo the assumptions of organized religion and arrive at a more fundamental metaphysical realm based on nature, gods and goddesses. After years collaborating with Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung split from Sigmund Freud. Freud saw the images in dreams as illustrating repressed sexual desires. In contrast, Jung saw a collective unconscious, its images allied to religious imagery and creating a broad landscape of patterns to define relationships and society. His concepts of introversion and extroversion can be said to underlie more modern ideas of flight and fight in understanding the response to trauma. Jung’s archetypes define a cast of characters, similar to the Greek pantheon of Gods and, while given important roles in the dream-scape, remain an aggregation. It remained for Roberts Graves in “The White Goddess” and Joseph Campbell in his “Hero With A Thousand Faces” to try to define a central story of quest for this cast. All this being said, the basic level to ancient thought may not be anthropomorphic. It may be based on a description of creation—of existence as a whole. In this sense, the exterior physical world as described in ancient mirrors the processes of the mind as experienced and hence understood by ancient thinkers reflecting on higher meanings. These revolve around dualities—no one of which is the definitive source, origin or bottom line. We find the idea of search and return, male and female, black and white, we and dry and the cycles of time as well as of planets, In other words, though structural, early writings about duality are figurative, symbolic and intentionally inexact. They are couched in a poetic language that seems to originate in an oral, not written, form. Even as writing arises, these ideas were long maintained in that poetic form with the poetry and the learning of poetry central to training seers in the breadth of understanding required to link human experience—everything from mating to consciousness—to duality in the natural world—particularly the cycles of time. These ideas ultimately came to chroniclers who knew how to write and who lived removed from the centers of oral learning where these ideas continued to be active. Similarly, much of modern history has missed the structural foundation in ancient thought—focusing instead on primitive humans as dominated by a lose collection superstitions, emotions and deities. All this can be inferred from the writings—they make no sense unless looked at metaphorically and are compared across regions.

15 A good beginning to this lies in the observations of those in Hellenic culture where such ideas had been lost and where historians wrote in a literal manner about those who lived beyond the Hellenic sphere and who still subscribed to older, ancient ideas. During the first century AD, citing Hecateus, Diodorus Siculus stated that the harp or lyre—the “cithara”—was used at a temple on an island the size of Sicily and situated off the coast of Gaul, the modern France. He wrote that the instrument was used when Apollo returned every nineteen years to a notable spherical temple and a city dedicated to that god.

...in the region beyond the land of the Celts (Gaul, modern France) there lies in the ocean an island no smaller than Sicily. This island ...is situated in the north and is inhabited by the Hyperboreans... and since it has an unusually temperate climate it produces two harvests each year....And there is also on the island both a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape. Furthermore, a city there is which is sacred to this god, and the majority of its inhabitants are players on the cithara; and these continually play on this instrument in the temple and sing hymns of praise to the god, glorifying his deeds. Apollo visits the island once in a course of nineteen years, in which period the stars complete their revolutions....” 7

The island to which Diodorus refers is probably Britain— “beyond the land of the Celts...an island no smaller than Sicily”. The passage labels the land of the Celts as was done by Greek and Roman writers, as the land of the Gaels. This was Gaul, extending through modern northern France and into central Europe.8 If one takes this passage as a literal piece of information then, certainly, two harvests and thus a harvest during British winters seems unlikely. And many have done just that. Modern scholarships suffers a tendency to confuse poetic language with literal language. We live in a world dominated by literal information and like to project that use of language on ancient people. Many famous Greek and Roman writers similarly preferred literal language and received this kind of information as, somehow, literally true. When discussing the Biblical flood survived by Noah, people have gotten out their shovels and gone digging for boats buried in Middle Eastern mountains—looking for a boat that carried two of each species on a flood. Overall, since the time of the Greek and Roman historians, history has often echoed this prejudice toward the material and the mechanical—equating sophistication with the presence of physical ruins and dismissing lore that comes from shamanic teaching and organized visions. Other lore indicates that the two harvests were imagery for the fruits of the ancient and almost universal idea of the dual cycle that defined creation—a duality both in space and time. Citing sources that he may not fully have understood, Plato also described two harvests. He placed them at Atlantis. One harvest was from the heavenly waters and one from the earthly waters. The waters were hot and cold.

Twice in the year (at Atlantis) they gathered the fruits of the earth—in winter having the benefits of the rains of heaven, and in summer the water which the land supplied by introducing streams from the canals...He (Poseidon) himself, being a god, found no difficulty in making special arrangements for the center island (of Atlantis), bringing up two springs of water from beneath the earth, one of warm water and the other of cold.” 9

16 Diodorus’ passage ties the harp and Stonehenge—a notable temple, spherical in shape— to a broad range of ancient learning. The two harvests, like the Biblical flood, reflect a universal idea—the division of the waters as one of the most basic metaphors for the ordering of creation. Water was often held to be the basic metaphysical substance.10 The idea survives in expressions for emotional pain like “drowning”, for being spiritually lost as “adrift” and for being pre- occupied as “immersed.” Until recently, in Africa those living near the ocean spoke of the seer who sought knowledge as someone who “crossed the sea.”11 Ancient Greek and Irish writings echo this view of the waters. And it is implicit in a great deal of Native American lore.

Having conducted them to a fountain, accounted sacred to Apollo, they said, 'Grecians, here it is fitting for you to dwell, for here the heavens are open.' 12

One day the gill went to the seashore, for poets thought it was a place where the art of poetry would always be revealed to them.13

Knowledge was gold and it came from the waters. Eventually, the lore of the seers expanded the imagery of the waters and of knowledge itself—the fish, serpent or gold in the waters.

How shall gold be named? It may be called Aeger's fire; the needles of Glaser (trees with leaves of red gold); Sif's hair; Fulla's head-gear; Freyja's tears; the chatter, talk or word of the giants; Draupnir's drop; Draupnir's rain or shower; Freyja's eyes; the otter-ransom, or stroke ransom, of the asas; the seed of Fyrisvold; Holge's how-roof; the fire of all waters and of the hand; or the stone, rock or gleam of the hand....and thus gold is now called the fire of waters, of rivers, or of all the periphrases of rivers. But these periphrases have fared like other periphrases. The younger skald has composed poetry after the pattern of the old skalds, imitating their songs; but afterward they have expanded the metaphors whenever they thought they could improve upon what was sung before; and thus the water is the sea, the river is the lakes, the brook is the river. 14

The two harvests mirrored hot and cold waters—harvests from each half of the cycle. Herodotus described a temple in the modern Libya built by Danaus, the Egyptian.

It is said that the sanctuary (the temple of Ammon) was built by Danaus the Egyptian.... Its waters change in temperature oddly in accordance with the times of day.15

Outside of the fortress at no great distance there is another temple of Ammon shaded by many large trees, and here this is the spring which is called the Spring of the Sun from its behavior. Its waters change in temperature oddly in accordance with the times of day. 16

They (at Ammon) have also another kind of spring water, which in the morning is tepid, becomes colder about the time of full forum, and at mid-day is very cold; then they water their gardens. As the day declines it gradually loses its coldness as the sun sets, then the water becomes tepid again, and continuing to increase in heat till midnight, it then boils and bubbles up; when midnight is passed, it gets cooler until morning.17

Aristotle described how, for the Pythagoreans, the hot and cold waters reflected active versus restive. The concept of duality appears to have been quite broad and never limited to just

17 one definition. It seem to have moved, over time, from imagery grounded in nature to more abstract terms. There may be a progression from nature imagery, through Pythagorean ideas to the Gnostic ideas associated with early Christianity describing, in a very abstract manner, the hidden metaphysical realm. Overall, this shift suggests an increasing emphasis on a small group of educated or initiated people as the imagery moves away from more accessible or universal nature imagery to which less educated people could relate. In fact, argueably, for many of its early centuries Christianity seems to have split between a highly metaphysical interpretation of the Jesus story and a broader, more narrative story-form that, ultimately, the Roman church aimed at the masses while suppressing the metaphysical imagery that stemmed from ancient pre- Christian ideas of metaphysics.

For since, as they (the Pythagoreans) assert, it is the nature of the hot to separate and of the cold to bring together, and of each of the other qualities the one to act and the other to be acted upon, it is out of these and by means of these, so they say, that all the other things come to be and pass away.18

Passages from India describe how the two waters rotated as in the symbol of Yin and Yang. As described in the Indian passage, the two halves of duality—the two waters—are like two dogs. They chase each other’s tails. In Irish lore, Finn has two dogs. The serpent was often depicted as a circle, the head nearing the tip of the tail.

If one is desirous of heaven (one should take the following mantra into consideration:) “Two impassable, wide, large oceans come and go in a revolving, alternating movement like two footprints on a path.' Night and day are the two impassable oceans. Those who offer by night enter the night-ocean and those who offer after sunrise the day-ocean. There is an opportunity to cross these two as if there would by a ford or a connecting causeway when the sun has set, but before darkness and when it lights up, but before sunrise. Night and day are also those two (dogs) Syama and Sabala....19

The month is a day and a night of the manes, but the division is according to fortnights. The dark is their day for active exertion, the bright their night for sleep. 20

Imagine the seer sitting on the ground. The year is 20,000 to 40,000 BC. He sees night and day, man and woman, dark and light. He captures this knowledge as one would net a fish, sitting by the shore—the border between water and land, gazing into the water. The sun seems to control growth—making the earth joyful during summer as it rises and

18 sad in winter as it ebbs. And yet, the sun is not the whole of the pattern. And, importantly, the sun is not constant. Its time varies. More constant is the moon—the lightness in the dark. The moon seems to define order. As Plutarch describes, the dark day is wet while the bright night is dry.21 To reconcile the duality of the waters with the duality of the sun and the moon a fourfold order is necessary. And the passage of the sun and moon from East to West must be countered by the seer’s turn from West to East. Then there are the intermediary points. For the American Indian, the world was sometimes said to rest on four turtles.22 The four feet lies diagonals with head and tail pointing north and south. In Hopi lore, the fourfold organization is defined by the four cardinal points as allied with the sunrises and sunsets at the summer and winter solstices.

...a Hopi celebrant will make an offering of grain to each of the six directions: summer solstice sunset, winter sunset, winter sunrise and summer sunrise, then to the zenith above and the nadir below....23

The Hopi orientation does not focus firstly on North and South, but to the points on the horizon which mark the places of sunrise and sunset at the summer and winter solstices. It begins the ceremonial circuit by pointing (1) to the place of sunset at summer solstice, next to (2) the place of sunset at winter solstice, then to (3) the place of sunrise at winter solstice, and (4) the place of sunrise at summer solstice....24

Duality and the metaphysical or poetic imagery associated with those for whom duality and number defined learning proved antithetical to writers seeking to promote Zeus and the state. Aristotle felt the need, while describing the many dualities, to resolve the whole problem by asserting the ONE.

Now almost all thinkers agree that things and substances are composed of contraries; at any rate, all say that the principles are contraries, some positing the Odd and the Even, others Limit and the Unlimited, others Friendship and Strife.25

The elements of a number are the Even and the Odd, the Odd being finite and the Even being infinite; the One is composed of both of these (for it is both even and odd); a number comes from the One; and, as we said, the whole heaven is numbers. Other members of the same school declare that the principle are ten, that is, ten pairs arranged in two columns, opposite against opposite: Finite-Infinite Resting-Moving Odd-Even Straight-Curved One-Many Light-Darkness Right-Left Good-Bad Male-Female Square-Rectangular 26 The sayings and poems Parmenides illustrate ideas coming from within the enclaves beyond the Hellenis sphere where such ideas were discussed. In conversation with Socrates, when asked which duality would be primary, he stated that no one duality should be seen as paramount.

19 You might as well spread a sail over a number of people and then say that the one sail as a whole was over them all....Then would the sail as a whole be over each man, or only a part over one, another part over another?27

The song from the harp or lyre in the context of this learning began with discussion of the separation of the waters at creation.

And Orpheus in his left hand lifted up his lyre and made trial of his song. He sang how the earth, heaven and sea, which were formerly joined together in one form, were separated from each other after deadly strife.—Apollonius Rhodius28

In creating the triad, song then spilled forth from the division.

...Odin set out from home and came to a place where nine thralls were mowing hay. He asked them whether they would like to have him whet their scythes. To this they said yes. Then he took a whetstone from his belt and whetted the scythes. They thought their scythes were much improved and asked whether the whetstone was for sale. He answered that he who would buy it must pay a fair price for it. All said they were willing...but he threw the whet-stone up in the air, and when all wished to catch it they scrambled about it in such a manner that each brought his scythe onto the other's neck....Bauge complained of what had happened to his household....Odin called himself Bolverk (Bale worker). He offered to undertake the work of the nine men for Bauge, but asked in payment therefor a drink of Suttung's mead.....Bolverk did the work of the nine men for Bauge...but Suttung stoutly refused to give even a drop of the mead...Bolverk drew forth the auger which is called Rate, and requested Bauge to bore a hole through the rock...Bolverk changed himself into a serpent and crept into the auger-hole. Bolverk went to where Gunlad was, and shared her couch for three nights. She then promised to give him three draughts from the mead. (He drank the three draughts.) Then he took on the guise of an eagle and flew off as fast as he could. When Suttung saw the flight of the eagle, he also took on the shape of an eagle and flew after him. When the asas saw Odin coming, they set their jars out in the yard. When Odin reached Asgard, he spewed the mead up into the jars. He was, however, so near being caught by Suttung, that he sent some of the mead after him backward, and as no care was taken of this, anybody that wished might have it. This we call the share of poetasters. But Suttung's mead Odin gave to the asas and to those men who are able to make verses. Hence we call songship Odin's prey, Odin's find, Odin's drink, Odin's gift, and the drink of the asas. 29

20 The Triad

Circe tells Odysseus that the north wind will take him across the ocean into a river with two streams. One stream is of fire and one resounds with lamentation. She states that the two streams unite at a rock and there he is to pour a drink offering. The division of the waters implicitly created the whole—the third or triad. The early Egypt hieroglyph for deity was the ax. 30 In rock art from the Alps as well as Scandinavia, in the earliest symbolic drawings, the ax is raised toward the sky by seers as they make a fundamental division of order. Ax heads were carved on the sarsens at Stonehenge.31 32 This suggests that in looking at petroglyphs or rock art, the act of making the marks may itself be looked at as the imitation of the coming-into-being. The items drawn is then the harvest.

The triad defined the tri-partite soul as known among the Tungus, the Orphics and others.33 This idea of the soul probably represented a survival among these groups of ideas once more broadly discussed. As described by Damascius for the Orphics, the egg contained duality and formed a tri-partite whole. And, probably, from a very early time, all these images were used as a kind of short-hand in vision stories while, in parallel, people discussed the cosmos in abstract terms as organized by these images. In Orphis ideas, the egg contains white and a yolk just as Time contains Aether and Chaos and, together, this constitutes the oneness of Being. As in other lore, the middle arena remains mixed.

The theology contained in the Orphic rhapsodies concerning the intelligible Gods is as follows: Time is symbolically placed for the one principle of the universe; but Aether and Chaos for the two posterior to this one; and Being, simply considered, is represented under the symbol of an Egg. And this is the first triad of the intelligible Gods. But for the perfection of the second triad, they establish either a conceiving or a conceived Egg as a God, or a white garment, or a cloud; because from these Phanes leaps forth into light. For indeed they philosophize variously concerning the middle triad. But Phanes here represents intellect...etc.,etc,. 34

Similarly, in Egyptian belief, the creation out of darkness yielded a tri-partite order.

Of the first principle the Egyptians said nothing, but celebrated it as a darkness beyond all intellectual conception, a thrice unknown darkness. 35

At some point, a popular image for the order of creation was the net as the seer caught fishes. This seems to reflect the idea that the seer or visionary charged with recapitulating the coming-into-being entered the waters. In Indian lore, upon birth, Buddha—the ideal seer—is delivered from two streams to four guardian angels on a net.

...for the sake of honoring the future Buddha and his mother, there came two streams of water from the sky, and refreshed the Future Buddha and his mother. Then the Brahma angels, after

21 receiving him on their golden net, delivered him to the four guardian angels, who received him from their hands on a rug which was made of the skins of black antelopes....When he had in this manner surveyed the four cardinal points, and the four intermediate ones, and the zenith, and the nadir, in short, all the ten directions in order, and had nowhere discovered his equal, he exclaimed, 'This is the best direction,' and strode forward seven paces, followed by Maha-Brahma holding over him the white umbrella....Then, at the seventh stride, he halted, and with a noble voice, he shouted the shout of victory, beginning,—'The chief am I in all the world.'36

The net is mentioned in a Mayan text and is associated with the fire as well as the slaying of beasts. Almost universally, the slaying of beasts seems to equate to division of the waters and the creation of order. Ultimately, the beasts may be equated to the constellations but initially they may have been the planets.

Then Tahaki gathered up the net given to him by Kuhi, and carried it to the door of the long house. He set fire to the house. When the goblin myriads shouted out together “Where is the door?” Tahaki called out: “here it is.” They thought it was one of their own band who had called out, and so they rushed headlong into the net, and Tahaki burned them up in the fire.” Mayan text.37

To catch the fish or slay the beast could mean to build the box, chest, or boat that contained duality, transporting it into the darkness or to the island in the waters or to the shore. The image of the net seems to equate to stringing the bow where the tension binds the opposites. In a Babylonian passage, we see a shift from the image of the bow to the image of the net—suggesting that, frequently, references to the "bow" designated not a literal tool but, like references to the “net”, expressed a figurative framework for order in the cycle.

Enlil lifted up the bow, his weapon, and laid it before them. The net which he had made the gods his fathers beheld. When they saw the bow, how skillfully its construction was made, His fathers praised the work which he had done. 38

Irish references to the fourfold cloak echo New Testament references to a four fold sheet.

And Finn held up his fringed crimson cloak against the flame, and it fell down through the air and went into the ground, bringing the four-folded cloak with it deep into the earth.”39

...he (Peter) fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth. In which there ware all manner of four footed beasts...etc. Acts 40

22 Visions

The sacred place replicated the structure of creation. Initially, the sacred place appears to have often been a tree in a clearing in the forest or jungle. Throughout Africa, such sacred groves survived into modern times. In Africa, these were not constructed but chosen from clearings in the forest.41 In Africa, the central tree was decorated with cloth fetishes. The clearing may have been chosen for the presence of water. In Europe, the central tree seems originally to have often been the birch—growing naturally beside sources of waters and naturally decorated with white bark. In Europe, birch bark could be marked upon. The English rune poem refers to the shoots of the seedless birch. The Irish story of the invention of magic signs or Ogham states that seven strokes were inscribed on a birch rod.42 The seven strokes may be the seven categories of signs listed in the Norse Sigrdrifumal—victory runes, ale runes, help runes, sea runes, limb runes, speech runes and mind runes.43 Later, in Europe, oak seems to have replaced birch as early ideas gave way to more formal concepts and planted or sturdier trees were substituted for found trees. Still, the covering on the tree was associated with the net, cloak or four-fold order surrounding the center. And the tree in the clearing or pillar in the circle was linked to fourfold order. In western Europe, the net on the pillar may have been associated with birch bark and, later, mistletoe from the oak. For many, oak seems to have replaced birch as representative of the divine pillar at the center of the grove.44 While birch grew beside water, oak caught the mistletoe—a plant with powerful purgative powers and perhaps associated with lightning. The watchers of the heavens—“druids” among the Keltoi of Gaul—tracked the cycles and harvested at the junctures of the cycles, particularly the 30 year age defined by Saturn. The cloak upon the tree, represented by mistletoe, signified the harvest from the waters.

The Druids—for so their magicians are called—held nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree that bears it, always supposing that tree to be the oak. But they choose oaks for the sake of the tree alone, and they never perform any of their rites except in the presence of a branch of it; so that it seems probably that the priests themselves may derive their name from the Greek word for tree. In fact, they think that everything that grows on it has been seen from heaven and is a proof that the tree was chosen by the god himself. The mistletoes, however, is found but rarely upon the oak; and when found, is gathered with due religious ceremony, if possible on the sixth day of the moon....45

It seems to me that those who philosophize do so in order to learn what the “winged oak” is, and what the “cloak embroidered on it is.... 46

Plato’s account of Atlantis describes a sacrifice of bulls. Note that the goddess Eire was a pig in Irish lore. The Irish saga of the “Cattle Raid” the raid occurs between the spawning of the two bulls and the eventual conflict. In this conflict, the brown bull slays the white bull and pieces of the white bull's body then make up the countryside. In Plato’s description, the pillar appears to have replaced the chest and the ritual occurs based on a five year cycle.

23 ...the middle of the island (of Atlantis), at the temple of Poseidon, whither the kinds were gathers together every fifth and sixth year...the bull which they caught they led up to the pillar and cut its throat over the top of it so that the blood fell upon the sacred inscription. Now on the pillar, besides the law, there was inscribed an oath invoking mighty curses on the disobedient. When therefore, after slaying the bull in the accustomed manner, they had burnt its limbs, they filled a bowl of wine and cast in a clot of blood for each of them; the rest of the victim they put on the fire, after having purified the column all round. Then they drew from the bowl in golden cups, and pouring a libation on the fire, they swore that they would judge according to the laws on the pillar.... 47

Imagery of the pillar is also found in the Irish Voyage of St. Brendan. Here the pillar is connected to the sky and around it lies the net. The net seems equivalent to the inscriptions described by Plato—to represent delivered order.

One day when they had celebrated their Masses, a pillar in the sea appeared to them that seemed to be not far distant. Still it took them three days to come up to it....It was higher than the sky. Moreover a wide meshed net was wrapped around it.48

The bark or other covering of the tree seems to have been associated with both a harvest from the tree and a harvest of knowledge or divination. Like the caught fish or the sacrificed animal, the tree embodied order. And the idea of the tree having a covering or cloak seems to have mirrored the idea of the net that catches the fish. In this sense, those associated with the cloak or the net were those who delivered the wealth, divination or knowledge that derived from the point, place or enclosing circle—the whole. In ritual the seer moved from the West and warm wet darkness to the East and cold light dryness or the Lake of Memory. Into the Hellenic period, Orphic ritual preserved the ancient lore in the Middle East. In Orphic ritual, one was required to turn from the warm spring to the cold spring and, in so doing, turn from Hades to Heaven. To reach Heaven was to drink from the cold water contained in the Lake of Memory. Among the Greeks, Memory was the chief of the nine muses.

Thou shalt find to the left of the House of Hades a spring and by the side thereof standing a white cypress. To this spring approach not near. But thou shalt find another, from the Lake of Memory, cold water flowing forth, and there are guardians before it. Say, “I am a child of Earth and starry Heaven; but my race is of Heaven .… But I am parched with thirst and I perish. Give me quickly the cold water flowing forth from the Lake of Memory.” And of themselves they will give thee to drink of the holy spring, and thereafter among the other heroes thou shalt have lordship.49

Another image for the triad as embodying duality became the garden. Here the tree may be the equivalent of the pillar. When the seer went on his ritual quest he could be said to find the tree growing by the warm spring—the Tree of Life—which was forbidden. The tree growing by the cold spring—The Tree of Knowledge—was to be partaken.50 The Slavonic Secrets Of The Book of Enoch describes this.51

...as for this fragrant tree (to the west) no mortal is permitted to touch it till the great judgment....

24 And beyond these, I went afar to the east, and I saw another place, a valley of water. And therein there was a tree...and I came to the Garden of Righteousness and saw beyond those trees many large trees growing there and of goodly fragrance, large, very beautiful and glorious, and the tree of wisdom whereof they eat and know great wisdom.52

In early Christian British and Gnostic texts, the Tree Of Life was evil while the Tree Of Knowledge was good. Probably to place knowledge in the hands of the elite and not the common man, this was later reversed, in the Bible as we have it today. The Tree of Knowledge was made forbidden—a monumental shift away from the idea of personal quest.

And by them stood two trees laden with fruit and clothed with incense...Unlike was their fruit....53

Their tree was planted as the 'Tree Of Life'...its root is bitter; its branches are the shadows of death...But the tree which they call 'of the knowledge of good and evil', this is the Thought of Light.54

Vision stories of search and return came to be compiled into epic journeys—like Homer’s Odyssey. Such compilation may reflect ossification of ritual composition—an end to ongoing vision quests and the collection of them into a whole, codified. A culture that continued to produce such vision quests would not compile them—the Fenian stories of Irish lore have no unifying thread. Each story or song described the journey of transformation and vision during which the seer mastered or controlled the powers contained within the waters and hence within the structure of the circle. Presumably, initiates studied the collection of such stories or lyrics and added to it. And all divination had to be delivered in a codified or lyric form that reflected the initiates learning of the poetic language. The language was never designed to be literal or exact.

No man of sense should affirm decisively that all this is exactly as I have described it. But that the nature of our souls and of their habitations is either as I have described or very similar, since the soul is shown to be immortal....:55

Three dark hollows and one bright hollow are described by the Secrets of The Book of Enoch and the context is much the same as given by Plato when describing the four streams.56 The bright hollow is equated with righteousness and hence with rest as opposed to activity.

And there were four hollow places in it, deep and very smooth: three of them were dark and one bright and there was a fountain of water in its midst.... These three have been made that the spirits of the dead might be separated. And such a division has been made for the spirits of the righteous, in which there is a bright spring of water.”57

Through Socrates, Plato explains that the image of the hollows relates to the seer’s journey. The human world is said to be a mirror or a hollow reflection of a world lying above the “limit of air” or sky where, if we could break through, we would find the world that we imitate. Each of the four hollows would seem to also be a reflection—a depression or mark that reflects a higher reality.

25 The mirror world beyond the firmament was perhaps, the “counter-earth” of some Pythagorean belief—a realm reached by steps and, it, defining the tenth or last step. The basic idea is of the Limit that surrounds—a border that defines order both by dividing us from the beyond and by encapsulating the structure of the circle. This concept of Limit seems to be a refinement of the Triad—it is the container that encapsulates duality, the “egg” of Orphic imagery. In ritual, the four hollows appear to have been found on the face and in the palms. Touching the face or turning the palms to the face, seems to have been a widespread means of placing the seer in touch with the fourfold net and engaging in his journey.58 There are both European and Indian carvings of the seer or Buddha sitting in a cross-legged position with the palms upward, both facing the face. Irish lore suggests that, as a youth, the seer's education occurred during the six winter months.59 He would learn poetic language from his teacher and then lie in the dark. Biting a fingertip or lying with his hands over his face, he would compose poetry. In the case of biting one fingertip, the choice of finger may have been significant. The thumb is specifically mentioned in the education of Finn—the seer, a fin being the appendage that guides the fish through the water. The significance of using the hands, fingers or thumb in this manner may have been to place the power of hidden duality into the voice. Through the thumb (the fifth finger) or by biting a fingernail, the seer's mouth was probably held to contact the streams or hollows that defined the waters. A passage from the Vision of Adamnan makes reference to “hollows” in the face. In the Vision, this is related as the form of punishment suffered in the nether world, much as Socrates and the Book of Enoch equate streams with the nether world.

Some of them have streams of fire in the hollows of their visages; some fiery nails through their tongues; others through their heads, from side to side.60

As it survived into the 16th century in Ireland, during the winter months, the young person desiring to learn poetic imagery would travel to the residence of a bard and stay in a sort of dormitory. Having had instruction in lyric from the bard, he would then go to the dormitory, chew on a piece of animal flesh—presumably to gain the active or animal power— and lie in the dark with his palms over the cheeks.61 The lyric that then came to him would be composed in memory and would be regarded not simply as poetry or song but also as prophecy. This is perhaps not altogether different from listening to a lot of music or verse and then closing your eyes in the bathtub.

The seer chews a morsel of raw pig, dog, or cat meat and then puts it on the flagstone behind the door. He chants over the morsel and offers it to the idol gods. He calls them to him and does not leave the next day. He chants over his two palms and calls the idol gods to him lest his sleep be disturbed. He puts his two palms over his two cheeks...Then is revealed to him whatever is going to happen....62

For all the emphasis upon search beyond the realm of society, there was also great emphasis upon the return with wealth in the form of structured lyric or melody.

26 The division of the waters echoed in the two trees can also be found in the image of black bird and white bird—denoting dark and white, search and return, etc.. In the above passage Buddha first sits upon a rug made from black antelope and then sits beneath a white umbrella. The Roman writer, Grattius, explains that black and white were important to the ritualized hunt.

Some hunters have found in plumes plucked from the filthy vulture a handy means of working and no slight help. Only, at intervals along the line there must be added the down of the snow-white swan;..63

Black and white were also important to the metaphysical hunt. Like the hunter, the seer wore both black and white—understood as a dress of speckled feathers.

...his speckled bird dress with its winged flying, and his druidic gear besides. And he rose up, in company with the fire, into the air of the heavens.... 64

The image of speckled dress relates to imagery of the net, the bow and the four-fold sheet or cloak. In the Tain Bo Cuailgne, the prophetess, Fedelm wears a “speckled cloak.” The Norse Othin arrives dressed in a spotted cloak.

...great fires were made endlong the hall, and the great tree aforesaid stood midmost thereof; withal folk say that, when as men sat by the fires in the evening a certain man (Odin) came into the hall unknown of aspect to all men; and suchlike array he had, that over him was a spotted cloak,...65

The black and white birds, often raven and dove or raven and swan or hawk and goose conveyed the duality of search and return. The birds appear prominently in shamanic lore from the Asian steppes. A British rhyme suggests that the black bird—variously called a raven, crow, cuckoo or gaek—was associated with the active portion of the year. The black bird's flight seems to have been understood, at least in one sense, as the journey of the active spirit from March through October. In this period, the months from March till May appear to have been understood as a preparatory period. The English rhyme of the cuckoo suggests that the blackbird flies out with spring. The Scottish song, The Twa Corbies, describes the crows eating the dead body of a slain hero. In the English version, The Three Ravens, this becomes a fallow doe conveying the body of a slain knight to his burial mound. Together, these suggest that the blackbird, crow or raven devoured the body just as summer reached its zenith and the year began its waning cycle.

On the first of March, the craws begin to search, By the first of April, They are sitting still. By the first of May They're flown away; Crouping greedy back again, Wi' October's wind and rain.66

Similarly, in a Mandean version of the Noah story, the crow eats a corpse in the waters.

27 The crow flew off, but, seeing a decaying corpse in the water, he forgot the words of Noh and began to eat it. Noh waited and then, as the crow did not return, he set a dove free. She flew and saw the crow eating the carrion, and also an olive tree growing green above the water, She took a piece of the green olive tree in her beak, returned to Noh and gave it to him.67

In his “On the Characteristics of Animals”, Aelian associates the black and white birds with Apollo.

Being a servant he (the raven;) was sent out by Apollo to draw water. He came to a field of corn, tall but still green, and waited till it should ripen, as he wanted to nibble the wheat: to his master's orders he paid no heed. On that account in the driest season of the year he is punished with thirst.68

...they (swans) are sacred to Apollo, they have the gift of prophecy, and anticipate the good things of another world;69

The Swan is assigned by poets and many prose-writers as servant to Apollo....the ancient believed that when it has sung what is called its “swan song”, it dies. 70

When Apollo is born he is given a golden headband, a lyre and a chariot pulled by or made of swans. For three months, he goes to the land of the Hyperboreans—beyond the north wind or to the land of those who believe in power coming from beyond the north wind.71 As in the story of Buddha, Apollo’s is both an idealized seer and the young hunter god associated with both the rise of spring—the raven and the dark rising waters—and the restoration of winter—the swan and the white dry season. In understanding the imagery of birds, the horizontal cycle of the horizon—north, south, east and west—seems central. North is the peak of the cycle, the source of cold. The active raven crosses the waters to devour the corpse. The swan returns to sing of death—rest. In a system laid out horizontally and represented by the circle, it is at the peak of the cycle or north that the transition from west to east occurs. The swan motif was often used in the construction of early Mediterranean lyres and harps.72 This suggests that at a very early date, the lyre or harp was understood as a vehicle for delivering lyric knowledge. It corresponds with stories of the harp as created from the body of a woman mistaken for a fish or swan or turtle washed up on shore. The triad symbolized the tree and the harvest from the tree plus the whole. Spiritual story and ritual revolved around these relationships. In Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack trades the cow for three beans. The beans grow into a stalk. Jack climbs the stalk and steals both the goose that lays the golden eggs and the harp. When the giant pursues, he cuts down the beanstalk. In a Welsh story, Ceridwen has a cauldron in which she boils herbs picked at special times. It boils for a “year and a day”. The brew is poisonous except for three drops. An old blind man, Gwion, steals these three drops and gains wisdom. Ceridwen chases him, each of them changing shape. Finally she eats him. After 9 months in her belly, Gwion is reborn. Ceridwen puts him in a small boat and sends him down the stream into the sea.73 In ancient references, the Hyperboreans seem to be people who live in the literal north but who are also especially replete with seers. Diodorus described Britain as inhabited by Hyperboreans. Other stories seem to place the Hyperboreans in Thrace or beyond the Caucasus 28 Mountains. The conflict between these locations has lead some writers to assume that the Hyperboreans were purely mythical. However, the term “Hyperborean” means “beyond the north wind.” The people who lived beyond the north wind were the bards or seers—those who, in a variety of societies, conserved the very ancient and once universal belief that out of the north came the cold. Aristotle gave abstract summaries of duality and triad as refined beyond the Hellenic sphere during his time. Though he scorned these ideas, his writings are an important source of information on them and generally labeled them as the Pythagoreans. His description implies the extent to which these ideas has become the basis for divination through number—the calendar.

Down to the Italian school (the Pythagoreans), then, and part from them, philosophers expressed themselves rather weakly concerning the causes of thing, except that, as we said, they have in fact used two kinds of causes, one of which, the source of motion, was regarded as one by some but as two by others. The Pythagoreans, however, spoke of two principles in the same manner but added this much (which is peculiar to them) that the Finite and the Infinite and the One are not to be regarded as being other natures, such as fire or earth or some other thing of this sort, but that the Infinite itself and the One itself are the substances of the things of which they are predicated, and hence that numbers are the substances of all things.74

The Pythagoreans, though they also (like others) recognized two causes, made this significant addition peculiar to themselves that they held the and the not to be constituted of some other thing like fire or earth or another such; but that the itself and the One itself were the substance of the things of which they are predicated, and consequently that number was the substance of all existing things.' 75

29 The Triad and The Dawn of the Ritual String Instrument

The emphasis upon an abstracted triad as the source of order was probably associated with the emergence of music as a central aspect to the understanding and delivery or processed order. A lyre found at the city of Ur in Sumeria depicts the triad. At the top, the initial panel depicts the triad as three bulls with human heads. They stand with arms entwined. In the next panel a sacrifice has taken place and three body parts—two heads and a leg-- are carried on an X braced pedestal. The X is bracketed or frame by three columns or post at each side. The pedestal may relate to the Delphic tripod as well as to Romano/Celtic pedestals found in Western Europe beside wells. A large dog carries the pedestal. He carries a knife. He is followed by a lion carrying a dish and a large jar-- perhaps for carrying either blood or wine. In the next panel, an ass plays the Sumerian lyre which has the body of a bull. It has nine strings—nine being the number of strings that accord with order even as, in practice, the Sumerian lyre had expanded to elevent strings. The sacrifice seems to have placed the bull’s voice into the lyre. Presumably, from the head now comes the lament. The progression of panels suggests conversion of the three bulls, at the top, to a single bull now manifest as the lyre. By comparison with northern European lore of the harp made from the body of the goddess mistaken on the shore for a swan, the bull seems to the goddess as order. In this panel, what appears to be an ass and a small dog sit at the foot of a large bear who grasps the lyre or harp—possibly in the role of singer. The small dog sits directly in front of the lyre’s bull-head—perhaps to receive what the lyre plays. Implicitly, this dog is the same dog as in the second panel and is the seer. He is shown subservient to the bear but he appears vital to receiving the music and may be singing. In the last panel, the Scorpion man has his body represented as a series of entwined lines—as if he has taken within the order shown in the pedestal, the framed X. He appears to be a mortal and a fish—a man who has gained knowledge from the journey of the seer into the waters. He stands next to an ass who appears to be holding scrolls—knowledge—that have been stored or will be stored in a large jar. In other words, ritual leads to written knowledge. Duality and the triad underly the three musics or scales described for the Irish harp—Sad Music, Joy Music and Sleep Music.

The names of the not heavy string(s) were Suantorrgles (Sleep Music); Geantorrgles (Joy Music) the great; Goltarrgles (Sad Music) was the other string (i.e.. the heavy string), which sent all men to crying.76

Medieval Irish texts describe the term Ceis or “fastening” as, among other things, the harp pegs. In Greek lore, the binding was the “harmonia”—a term that seems to have been originally applied both to the tying of ship planks and to the octave. In either case, the image of "fastening" suggests the image of the net.

30 string (g); or, the Ceis in the Cruit is what keeps the counterpart with its strings in it, as the poet said....”77

The idea of the harp as holding things together—as binding duality into a whole—meant that, overall, it contained the circle or the power of sleep associated with Ea or, in the Irish, Eamain. In Babylonian lore Ea divides the waters and is the circle or container. Ea is the Akkadian counterpart of the Sumerian Enki—god of water—and father of Marduk.

Ea ....made and established against it a magical circle for all. He skillfully composed his overpowering, holy incantation. He recited it and thus caused it to be upon the water. 78

He it is, Who stretcheth out Boreas over empty space—Who suspendeth the earth upon nothing—Who bindeth up water in His clouds, and the cloud under it is not rent—Who taketh possession of the front of His throne and over it spreadeth His cloud. His decree had drawn a circle on the face of the water, at the confines of light and darkness....79

Sleep is a metaphor for rest—the delivery of order—in the sense of the triad or third, a supervening order. The opposite of sleep is disorder. In British and Irish lore, the harp often puts people the sleep and seems to set the stage for illicit love—ritual mating. Sleep appears to not only be the power of the triad or third but also of the enclosure to duality as the bed—bringing male and female together.

And aye he harpit, and ay he carpit, Till a' the nobles were sound asleep.... “they though the music was sae sweet, That they forgot the stable door.80

He's ta'en his harp into his hand, He's harpit them a' asleep, Except it was the young countess, That love did wauken keep.81

The disordered waters do not sleep.

Apsu (water spirit?) opened his mouth And said to Tiamat (sea?) in a loud voice: 'Their way has become painful to me, By day I cannot rest, by night I cannot sleep; I will destroy them and put an end to their way That silence be established, and then let us sleep.'82

Ea, who understands everything, saw through their plan. He made and established against it a magical circle for all. He skillfully composed his overpowering, holy incantation. He recited it and thus caused (it) to be upon the water. He poured out sleep upon him, (so that) he (Apsu) slept soundly. When he had put Apsu to sleep, (Apsu) being suffused with sleep...He loosened his band (and) tore off (his) tiara; He carried off his splendor (and) put (it) on himself.83

In ritual mating, the bed seems to have often been described as a boat or chest. The idea of a chest or boat in the waters, or buried, reflected the ritual need to catch or hold the sacrificed animal or pairs of animals. As described in the Babylonian Atra-Hasis:

Roof her over like the Apsu, [i.e., the firmament in the primordial waters] [i.c30] so that the sun shall not see inside her. Let her be roofed over fore and aft. The gear should be very strong, the pitch should be firm, and so give the boat strength. I will shower down upon you later [i.c35] a windfall of birds, a spate of fishes.'" He opened the water clock and filled it, he told it of the coming of the seven-day deluge.

Bringing ... [ii.30] whatever he had ... Whatever he had ... Pure animals he slaughtered, cattle ... Fat animals he killed. Sheep ... he choose and and brought on board. [ii.35] An abundance of birds flying in the heavens, the cattle and the ... of the cattle god, the creatures of the steppe, ... he brought on board

The ritual journey seems to have included ritual mating. This includes those who snatch a child, probably the ritually born child, to raise that special child.

[iii.45] Enki made ready to speak, and said to Nintu the birth goddess: "You, birth goddess, creatress of destinies, establish death for all peoples! ... [iii.d1] "Now then, let there be a third woman among the people, among the people are the woman who has borne and the woman who has not borne. Let there be also among the people the pasittu (she-demon): [iii.d5] let her snatch the baby from the lap who bore it. And establish high priestesses and priestesses, let them be taboo [celibate], and so cut down childbirth.84

The boat is also a bed—the enclosure and ordering of the disordered waters. And this seems to involve human sacrifice.

....When the sixth year arrived they served up the daughter for dinner, They served up the son for food. One house consumed another....The discerning one, the man Atra-Hasis, kept an open ear to his lord Ea. He spoke with his god, and Ea spoke with him. He sought the gate of his god, He placed his bed facing the river. The stream was quiet....85

'You say, 'What am I to seek? Observe the message that I will speak to you: Wall, listen to me! Reed wall, observe my words! Destroy your house, build a boat, spurn property and save life.'86

32 In Sumerian writings, the maze within the shrine appears to reflect the journey through the waters.

He called the marshland: stocked it with suhurhi and subhur fish...He called the canebrake: stocked it with full from reeds and green reeds...The one from whose net no fish escape...from whose snare no bird escapes....”

A shrine Enki erected: a hold shrine it is, its interior is like a maze: in the sea a shrine he erected: a holy shrine it is, its interior is like a maze; a shrine whose interior is a twisted thread....87

At a very ancient time, the structural element of these ideas appears to have been universal, with only the imagery changed. A Japanese account of describes an island created from brine—salt—in the ocean. Here a spear impregnates the sea—a motif found in other cultures as well. The result is dry land—an island.

So two deities, standing upon the Floating Bride of Heaven, pushed down the jeweled spear and stirred with it, whereupon they had stirred the brine till it curdled, and drew the spear up, the brine that dripped down from the end of the spear was piled up and became an island. This is the Island of Onogoro.88

In the Irish voyage of Bran (the raven), the island is called Emain.

A branch of the apple-tree from Emain I bring, like those one knows; Twigs of white silver are on it, Crystal brows with blossoms.

There is a distant isle, Around which sea-horses glisten: A fair course against the white swelling surge,— Four feet uphold it. 89

A Norse story depicts three brothers slaying the serpent. The structure of the serpent then becomes the firmament. Ymer may parallel Ea or Emain, then the story describes the setting in order of the animals or giants who define the circle. Bor or Bur may relate to “mountain” and be yet another image for the whole—the containment.

...Bor married a woman whose name was Bestla, the daughter of the giant Bolthorn; they had three sons—the one hight Odin, the other Vile, and the third Ve. And it is my belief that this Odin and his brothers are the rulers of heaven and earth....The sons of Bor slew Ymer, but when he fell, there flowed so much blood from his wounds what they drowned therein the whole race of frost-giants; excepting one, who escaped with his household. Him the giants call Bergelmer, He and his wife went on board his ark and saved themselves in it. From them are come new races of frost giants....' 90

From the Triad of three serpents one is harvested—the white one--tied by a rope.

...he spied his mother stirring an ugly looking cauldron of stew. He looked up and saw also hanging aloft from a thin rope three snakes, from whose jaws putrid saliva dripped steadily to provide 33 liquid for the recipe. Two of them were pitch black, the third had whitish scales and was suspended a little higher than the others. This last had a knot tied to its tail while its fellows were held by a cord round their bellies.91

The circle of order in the waters was often and universally seen as a fish or serpent. In Hopi lore the venom or vomit of the serpent is water.

The Water Serpent is so named because he lived in springs. He vomits up water. As a result of this action a spring forms. So the water is the Serpent's vomit.92

34 The Mountain Seer--Bur

In Irish Fenian lore, the People of the Sidhe live inside the mountain. The People of the Sidhe or mountain may have been understood to reside in the barrows of northern Ireland—hills with stone tunnels dating from c.5000BC. Journey into the mountain probably mirrored journey into the waters. Among the Norse and probably in continental Celtic usage, the term for mountain was Bur. The seers could call on the power of the cold north wind to slay the sun and bring the singing swans.93 From this, the seers came to be called Boreades and later, Bards. The term “bard” appears to belong with a variety of terms in which the initial hard Q sound was softened to become a P or B. This is typical of language differences between Q and K Celtic forms. The Q equivalent of Bard or Bur would have been Kur. The mountain was called Kur in Sumeria.94 The European Q versions of the term seem to have included Cernun or Kearnagh—or the god Cernunos. The term for the small harp as played into the middle ages by Irish priests was Ceirnin. In Gaelic, as Ceir or Cer or Kor, the term came to mean “candle” and “horn” and, perhaps, “pillar”. In Welsh, Corianeids designated the water spirits. In a Norse passage, the coming into being of order is summarized as a three day birth of a man called Bure or “mountain.”

She licked the salt-stones that were covered with rime, and the first day she licked the stones there came out of them in the evening a man's hair, the second day a man's head, and the third day the whole man was there. This man's name was Bure. 95

The north wind, called Boreas, came from the meeting point of duality—as the seer turned from West to East. Aelian's cites Hecateus' description of the Triad. They are the three sons of Boreas. The singing of swans returning from the north seems to represent the role of cold as a force come to restore rest. The passage may describe a ritual in which harpers play as the singers chant, delivering lyric wealth.

This god has as priests the sons of Boreas and Chione, three in number, brothers by birth, and six cubits in height. So when at the customary time they perform the established ritual of the aforesaid god there swoop down from the Ripaean mountains (from which the north wind was supposed to issue) Swans in clouds...Now whenever the singers sing their hymns to the god and the harpers accompany the chorus with their harmonious music, thereupon the Swans also with one accord join in the chant...Then when the hymn is finished the aforesaid winged choristers...depart.96

35 The Head

Neanderthals seem to have conserved the soul by eating the brains of the dead and their skulls are found cracked open. However, early homosapiens of the same early period cut the head off the body of their ritual victim.97 Whether they ate or burned the body, the head or skull seems to have then remained with two vertebrae attached. The head and two vertebrae seem to represent duality plus the supervening Triad.98 In a Sumerian account, the cutting off of the head seems directly linked to a ritual allowing the goddess Ianni to descend into the netherworld and then re-emerge. The Greeks and Romans both had two names for Venus, as evening star and morning star. The Middle Eastern discovery that Venus was one star seems to make her iconic as the goddess. Her disappearance becomes her journey and return. Her 56 day quadrant begins the multiplication of the duality already found within the 28 day montn. That journey into the netherworld becomes the initial metaphorical journey into the waters and darkness—laying the foundation for later, more male journeys into the waters and out of the waters.99

If Inanni is to ascend from Hades, let her give it one head in lieu of her head. 100

The journey is similar to the journey of the criminal, whose decapitated head sings with the harp, delivering the knowledge she brings back from the netherworld. The pedestals used in Gaul beside wells probably followed from stakes used earlier, and more widely. These held the heads of slain criminals or war dead. After Orpheus has descended into the netherworld with his lyre to rescue his wife, he is sacrificed. However, his head remains to sing—delivering prophecy from the waters.

The women...rending Orpheus limb from limb, cast the scattered remains into the sea....It (his head) was still singing, and in no way harmed by the sea. 101

While, ritually, the body may have been eaten, conceptually the pieces of the body seem to have then entered the waters to form the firmament or circle. This was the initial creation story—not of a physical world but of the cycle. The island or mountain as a representation of the Triad had come to be abstracted as a circle. This appears most clearly in a Greek story.

But the members (of Ouranos' body), when Kronos had lopped them with the flint, he threw from the mainland into the great wash of the sea water and they drifted a great while on the open sea, and there spread a circle of white foam.... 102

The story also shows a shift toward ideas in which the order of creation would be represented not just by three brothers being born but by birth of a a single entity. In this, the structure of the cycle as the structure of time became a central definition of order.

36 The Fish And The Song Of Summer And Winter

The shift from a goddess who journeys into the unseen realm to a seer or hunter who journeys seems to come most strongly with the metaphor of the fish, whale, serpent or salmon. In Irish lore, we hear of the "fish" rather than the "serpent." Finn catches the salmon that holds the nine hazel nuts of wisdom. This emphasis on nine is consistent with a general tendency for Irish lore to preserve an emphasis on the number nine as central to order.

And then he (Finn)...went to learn poetry from Finegas...for the poets thought it was always on the brink of water poetry was revealed to them....he (Finegas) gave Finn the whole of the salmon, and from that time Finn had the knowledge that came from the nuts of the nine hazels of wisdom that grow beside the well that is below the sea.103

After eating the salmon of knowledge, Finn sings his initial song—a song of summer beginning with May and a song of winter. The song of summer and winter may have been a test of the seer's poetic knowledge and of his understanding of the calendar.

It is the month of May is the pleasant time; its face is beautiful; the blackbird sings his full song the living wood is his holding, the cuckoos are singing and ever singing....etc. I have another story for you; the ox is lowing, the water is creeping in, the summer is gone. High and cold the wind, low the sun, cries are about us; the sea is quarreling. The ferns are reddened and their shape is hidden; the cry of the wild goose is heard' the cold has caught the wings of the birds; it is the time of ice-frost, hard, unhappy.104

In Irish lore, it is a spell or declaration of summer and winter that Lugaid invokes in order to steal the harp from the water spirits or Formoirians. The building of order—in constructing the harp as a model for the net—derives from the knowledge gained by netting the fish. Once it has come forth from the wall, the harp slays nine persons—embodies an order based on nine.

Lug and the Dagda and Ogma followed the Formoirians because they had carried off the Dagda's harper, Uaithne was his name. They reached the banqueting house in which they (the Formoirians) Breas, the son of Elathan, and Elathan, the son of Delbath, were and where they found the harp hanging on the wall. This was the harp in which music was spellbound so that it would not answer when called forth, until the Dagda evoked it. 'Come Durable (apple hum, or sound opener), come Coircethairchuir (adjustable four points), come Samh, come Gamh, (Sa-main, Ga-main or summer and winter) from the mouths of harps, and bellies, and pipes.' Two names now had the harp; namely Durable and Coircethairchuir. The harp came forth from the wall then, and killed nine persons; and it came to the Dagda, and he played for them the three feats which give rise to a harper, namely the Suantroighe, Gentraighe, and the Goltraighe. 105

Having gained or netted the fish, the seer could perform the ritual of the full moon— when the juncture of the waning and waxing moons accomplished the transition from the active phase to the restive phase. Egyptian passages describe the imagery of the net at the "festival of the half month."

37 ...rope me not in with the rope wherewith ye roped in the abominable earth followers...I know the knife of slaughter which is in it; slaughtering knife wherewith Isis cut off a piece of flesh from Horus. I know the names of the frame and weights which are in it; leg and thigh of the double lion god. I know the name of the cordage wherewith it snareth; vigour of Tem. I know the name of the snarers who lay snares therewith; Akeru gods, ancestors of Akhaibiu gods. I know the names of its hands; two hands of the great god, the lord who heareth speech in Annu on the night of the festival of the half month in the temple of the moon god. ....ensnare ye me not with the snare wherewith ye caught the abominable earth-followers; for I know the net...106

The reference to “abominable earth followers” is interesting. It suggests that those who wrote the passage were concerned with the heavens and the cycle of time. They saw themselves in contrast to those not concerned with the heavens. The image of creating the cycle seems to have engendered the first clear social layering of found they were scorned by those focused upon the numerical structures of the month and time. In looking at the emphasis upon the numerical cycles of time and the heavens in references to the Druids, Britain and Gaul it is important to understand that this layering characterized western Europe and the British isles every bit as much as Egypt. The earth followers seem particularly susceptible to punishment via the net. Another Egyptian passage describes the fish and netting more simply and again we see a close association between the “land of the fish” and the full moon or half month.

Then Sebek, the lord of his papyrus swamp, said, 'I went and I found the place where they had passed with my fingers on the edge of the waters, and I enclosed them in (my) net: and strong was that net.' And Ra said, 'So then, there are fish with the god Sebek, and (he) hath found the hands and arms of Horus for him in the land of fish'; and (that) land became the land of the city of Remu (fish). And Ra said, 'A land of the pool, a land of the pool to this net.' Then were the hands of Horus brought to him at the uncovering of his face at the festivals of the month and half month in the Land Of Remu.....107

The imagery of the fish or serpent is associated not only with the netting in the waters but also the creation of the circle.

The outer darkness is a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth, and it is outside the whole world, and it surrounds the whole world....108

...a fish—the foremost of all that swim in the ocean. He is always trying to bring his tail to meet his head, but he cannot because of his length. His name is Jasconius.109

The temple in a Norse passage and in a passage critical of Gnostic belief is similar. As the fish or serpent represented the cycle, the dragon and ring are parallel images. Note the reference to the Lyre next to the Crown. The pillars contain nails—perhaps nails for the attachment of written texts.

This is what ignorance describes as follows: in heaven 'The Dragon winds, great wonder dread to see'. And on either side of him are ranged the Crown and the Lyre, and just above his head is to be seen a wretched man, the Kneeler 'Holding the twisted Dragon's right foot's tip.' And at the Kneeler's back there is an imperfect serpent held fast in both hands by the serpent-holder, Ophiuchus, and prevented from touching the crown that lies beside the perfect serpent.110 38

It was a big house; there were doors in both side-walls, near the ends thereof; over against which stood the pillars (ondugis sulurnar); and upon these pillars there were nails; these nails were called the holy nails (or nails of the Powers). The house inside was a place of peace. In the inner part of the temple was a house after the similitude of a choir in a church now-a-days; and there stood a table (stall) in the midst of the floor, like unto an alter, and upon there lay a gold ring without a joint....111

There seem to have been innumerable stories to describe the creation of order as the netting of a fish. Medieval lore often seems to have made this the slaying of a dragon. In a Norse passage, builds the fourfold order, is the fish, makes the net, burns the net transferring its power to others, is caught in the net and seems to be divided into three parts.

...he (Loki,) built a house with four doors, so that he might keep an outlook on all sides. Oftentimes in the daytime he took on him the likeness of a salmon and concealed himself in Frananger Force. Then he thought to himself what stratagems the asas might have recourse to in order to catch him. Now, as he was sitting in his house, he took flax and yarn and worked them into meshes, in the manner that nets have since been made; but fire was burning before him. Then he saw that the asas were not far distant. Odin had seen from Hlidsjalf where Loke kept himself. Loke immediately sprang up, cast the net on the fire and leaped into the river. When the asas came to the house, he entered first who was wisest of them all, and who name was Kvaser; and when he saw in the fire the ashes of the net that had been burned, he understood that this must be a contrivance for catching fish, and this he told to the asas. Thereupon they took flax and made themselves a net after the pattern of that which they saw in the ashes and which Loke had made. When the net was made, the asas went to the river and cast it into the force. Thor held one end of the net, and all the other asas laid hold on the other, thus jointly drawing it along the stream. Loke went before it and laid himself down between two stones, so that they drew the net over him, although they perceived that some living thing touched the meshes...Loke was taken without truce and brought to a cave. The gods took three rocks and set them up on edge, and bored a hole through each rock. Then they took Loke's sons, Vale and Nare or Narfe. Vale they changed into the likeness of a wolf, whereupon he tore his brother Narfe to pieces, with whose intestines the asas bound Loke over the three rocks. One stood under his shoulders, another under his loins, and the third under his hams, and the fetters became iron. Skade took a and fastened up over him, so that the venom should drop from the serpent into his face. But Sigyn, his wife, stands by him, and holds a dish under the venom drops. Whenever the dish becomes full. she goes and pours away the venom, and meanwhile the venom drops onto Loke's face.... 112

39 Building The Harp

Lore describing the creation of the harp places it in the context of netting the fish. That fish or serpent or island in the waters represents the circle as well as the center or division of the waters. While the source of that creation comes to be male as ideas around structure move toward a male supreme being, the earliest ideas of the waters is that they were female. Even creature harvested from the water may, initially, have been female. The building of the harp and its origins seem tied to the abstraction of the cycle and time. The English and Scandinavian ballad called “The Two Sisters” has the harp built from a fish or swan that enters the waters due to a murder. It is probably a remnant of very old Scandinavian lore—predating Celtic lore and imported into the British isles by the Anglo-Saxons.

Seemingly derived from this longer story, other stories or references described the lyre or harp as created from the tortoise,114 the pike or the whale.115 Here, the fish seems to have replaced the goddess and the emphasis has shifted to the male who nets.

Out of what did he construct it? (the harp) Chiefly from the great pike's jawbones, whence obtained he pegs to suit it? Of the teeth of pike he made them; out of what were harpstrings fashioned? From the hairs of Hissis's gelding. 116 40

As he (Linus) was crossing the plains after a certain river had flooded (the tide of its channel having regained its proper course) he found a dead animal now dried by the sun and, pondering upon the ringing sound of the quashed corpse, he immediately put his instrument together.... 117

He cut stalks of reed to measure and fixed them, fastening their ends across the back and through the shell of the tortoise, and then stretched ox hide all over it by his skill. 118

And he then went forward into the wood, and made the form of the Cruit (harp); and put string from the sinews of the whale into it; and that was the first Cruit (harp) that was ever made. 119

41 Social Order

Ritual not only speaks to coming-into-being but also to social order. In ritual, the netting of the fish may have involved both ritual mating and criminal punishment—both to create order. In a Norse text, the imprisonment of criminals is associated with milking the serpent's venom.

A hall I know standing far from the sun on the strand of dead bodies. Drops of venom fall through the loop holes. Of serpent's backs the hall is made. There shall wade through heavy streams perjurers and murderers....120

References to the net as an instrument of punishment survive in numerous Middle Eastern texts. In the “Hymn to The Sun God, Shamash,” the net ensnares the wicked. This moral aspect of the net illustrates the development of moral abstractions out of the intervention of the seer—the netter.

Spread out is thy wide net (to catch the man) Who had coveted the wife of his comrade...On an unlucky day...When thy weapon is turned on him he has (no saviors). In his trial his father will not stand by him; To the word of the judge even his brothers do not answer; by a bronze trap he will be caught unawares. 121

The Old Testament contains a variety of references to the net. David prays to be spared the net.122 Solomon counsels against those would spread their nets to catch the innocent and gain illegitimate profit. Such a net cannot be spread “in the sight of any bird,” perhaps referring the birds as the souls of the dead or the belief that such a net must be just to merit visibility.123 In Ecclesiastics, the falling of the net upon fish or the snare upon birds is compared to the unknowable hand of time or fate.124 At the impending attack of Chaldeans, Habakkuk describes how the wicked enemy will “makest men as fish of the sea”, and apparently catch them in their net for sacrifice.125 In Ezechial, the ceasing of the harp equals the spreading of the net, suggesting a connection between the period of no music and the period of punishment.

And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading (i.e.. drying) of nets. 126

An Indian text mentions the net or snare and punishment.

Before the ceaseless eyes of Varuna, the king, unfolds lies. The ceaseless winkings all he counts of every mortal's eyes: He wields this universal frame, as gamester throws his dice. Those knotted nooses which thou fling'st, o god, the bad to snare,—All liars let them overtake, but all the truthful spare. 127

In a medieval description of the legendary Irish hall at Tara, the harper sits next to the hostages.128 In a Sumerian text, the personified harp, Lugalshudi, is repeatedly given the epithet “the constable.”129 In some European lore, the gallows inspired song.

42 His harp striking, on hill there sat glad some Eggther (sword bearer), he who guards the ogress; o'er him gaily in the gallows tree crowed the fair red cock which is Fjalar (Multiscient) hight. Crowed o'er the gods Gullinkambi (golden comb); wakes he the heroes who with Herjan dwell; another crows the earth beneath in the halls of Hel, of hue dark red.130

A variety of Celtic imagery suggests the delivery of order during war by harp players and seers. The power of order is the power of peace. And it may be associated with a ritual in which the nine strings of the harp mirrored a creation of nine elements.

The Druids are considered the most just of men....so that, in former times, they even arbitrated cases of war and made the opponents stop when they were about to line up for battle.... 131

The sons of slaughter, from the undesirable reeking plain, will depart when the string of harmony resounds....132

The warrior came up carrying in his hand a Branch of Peace;, with three apples; (or balls) of red gold upon it...and when he shook it, sweeter than the world's music was the music which the apples produced....133

...a shining branch having nine apples of red gold....And it is delightful the sound of that branch was, and no one on earth would keep in mind any want, or trouble, or tiredness, when that branch was shaken for him; and whatever trouble there might be on him, he would forget at the sound.134

....when Cormac shook the branch their sorrow went from them. 135

As described by Irish lore, after a full-fledged battle occurred, the women, healers and musicians—harpers and poets—then entered the battlefield to bury the dead.

Then there came the women and the musicians and the singers and the physicians of the Fianna of Ireland to search out the kings and the princes of the Fianna, and to bury them; and every one that might be healed was brought to a place of healing.136

43 The 9 Days

The number nine probably comes as the earliest of numerical correlations to the ordered metaphysical process. There are nine months in pregnancy. At Stonehenge, the initial circle appears divided as nine days plus three. Subtracting nine days on the other side of the full moon, there appears to be six days and then the three day period begins on the seventh.

At the beginning of the month, namely, of the rising over the land, Thou shalt shine with horns to make known six days; On the seventh day with half a tiara. At the full moon thou shalt stand in opposition to the sun, in the middle of each month. When the sun has overtaken thee on the foundation of heaven, decrease the tiara of full light and form it backward. 137

This can also be counted backwards—nine days from midmonth back to the beginning of the rising moon. The 9 day period may be referred to by Hesiod as the “mid-month.” If he is counting days backwards, a practice described by Microbius, then Hesiod's ninth of the midmonth is the the new moon or Nones-- nine days before the full moon. Similarly, in the day “nones” is 3pm—9 hours before midnight. Hesiod associates that day with giving birth, ritually this being the birth of the young god upon emerging from the waters.

The ninth of mid-month grows better toward evening. The first ninth is altogether free of harm for men, for it is a very good day for either a man or a woman either to beget or to be born.138

The 9 day period preceding the full moon may have been the period of activity during which occurred the birth or coming into being of order. The Gaelic term for Joy Music on the harp is Gentroideacht—literally “birth music.” Conversely, the waning half of the month was the period when the god had died and his soul journeyed through the waters. The Gaelic term for Sad Music—Goltroideacht—means “tear music” and may be related to the Maneros song linked to the death of Mann, Linus or Osiris in accounts of ancient Egypt. Just as Joy Music reflected the birthing of the young god over nine days, Sad Music reflected the dying of the old god. This duality appears to also be reflected in terms recorded by Edward Bunting- Cuighrath and Cumhadrath—rooster and cow—the harp rhythms for dance and lament.139 The 9 days appear to have been divided into six days plus three—the three bracketing the full moon period itself. In Genesis, it takes six days for creation and on the seventh day there is rest. In a Hebrew text this division of time is associated with a ritual bath, apparently associated with the three days of the full moon.

Six of these nine days having expired, he must recite frequently the Prayer and Confession as will be told him; and on the Seventh Day, the Master being alone, let him enter into a secret place, let him take off his clothes, and bathe himself from head to foot in consecrated and exorcised Water...On the last day let the Master go with his Disciples unto a secret fountain of running water, or unto a flowing stream, and there let each of them, taking of his clothes, wash himself with due solemnity.140

In a Norse text, 9 nights are spent on the mountain with three nights are spent near the sea. The mountains are associated with wolves. Like the raven, the wolf represents the hunt or

44 activity while the time near the sea is associated with the song of swans. At the same time, this is a story of a wedding.

Njord took to wife Skade (ski or snowshoe), a daughter of the giant Thjasse. She wished to live where her father had dwelt, that is, on the mountains in Thrymheim (“noise home”); Njord, on the other hand, preferred to be near the sea. They therefor agreed to pass nine nights in Thrynheim and three in Noatum. But when Njord came back from the mountains to Noatum he sang this: Weary am I of the mountains, Not long was I there, Only nine nights. The howl of the wolves Methought sounded ill To the song of the swans. 141

In a Middle Eastern text, the division of 9 into 6 plus 3 is described as a physical division of streets—probably reflecting the image of the divine house or town.

In the largest part of the place thou shalt make nine streets, six in the middle part, three in the smallest.142

Tacitus' description of the Germans suggests that court was held at the beginning and end of this nine-day period. Little survives of comparable Gaulic lore however such ideas may have applied broadly across ancient Europe and Britain.

The general assembly, if no sudden alarm calls the (German) people together, has its fixed and stated periods, either at the new or full moon. This is thought the season most propitious to public affairs. Their account of time differs from that of the Romans: instead of days, they reckon the number of nights. 143

A Norse passage describes the primordial setting of order as measurement by nights as well as through division of the day. This division of the “day” appears to also be a division of the half-month—the “day” in the month. In a parallel ways, the ninth hour was also Nones—9 days before the full moon, 9 hours before midnight.

Then gathered all rulers in council, widespace gods and upon that council, night and night numbers names they gave, morning revealed and mid-day, ninth hour, and evening, dry land to fix. 144

A Norse passage d describes nine songs learned over nine nights.

I wot that I hung on wind tossed tree all of nights nine, wounded by spear, bespoken to Othin, bespoken myself to myself, (upon that tree of which none telleth from what roots it doth rise.) Neither horn they upheld nor handed me bread; I looked below me—aloud I cried—caught up the runes, caught them up wailing, thence to the ground fell again. From the son of Bolthorn, Bestla's father, I mastered mighty songs nine, and a drink I had of the dearest mead, got from out of Othreorir. Then began I to grow and gain in insight, to wax eke in wisdom: one verse led on to another verse, on poem led on to the other poem. Runes wilt thou find, and rightly read, of wondrous weight, of mighty magic, which that dyed the dread god, which that made the hold hosts....” 145

In the Welsh Mabingion, Cei does not sleep for nine night and nine days. In not sleeping or resting, Cei is active. The personified Cei may be related to the Irish term Ceis—the “binding” in medieval Irish texts. In the Welsh Mabingion, Cei is called “refurbisher of the sword”. The sword is an instrument of the hunt. In refurbishing it, Cei represents cyclic activity during the nine-day period.

“Cei had this peculiarity, nine nights and nine days his breath lasted under water, nine nights and nine days would he be without sleep. 146

46 28 Days And The First Circle At Stonehenge

Initially, a 9 day period seems to have come within a 28 day lunar month. Plutarch described Osiris as having a life of 28 years that mirrored the period of the 28 day lunar month. His body was said to be dismembered during the waning period of the month and was then put into a chest—the boat that then travels through the waters. In this, Osiris seems to be modeled on Venus in the boat or bed—to be a male who travels through the water in the wake of earlier lore describing Venus in that role. His journey seems to represent an extrapolation of Venus’ journey at an early date when the measure of time remained tied to the 28 day lunar month.

Some say that the years of Osiris's life, others that the years of his reign, were twenty eight; for that corresponds to the number of the moon's illuminations, and in that number of days does she complete her cycle.147

The dismemberment of Osiris into fourteen parts they refer allegorically to the days of the waning of that satellite from the time of the full moon to the new moon.148

And they say that when Osiris was king, he straightaway set free the Egyptians from a life from which they could find no way out and like unto that of wild beasts, both setting fruits before them, and laying down laws, and teaching them to honour the Gods. And that subsequently he went over the whole earth, clearing it, not in the least requiring arms, but drawing the multitude to himself by charming them with persuasion and reason, with song and every art the Muses give; and that for this cause he seems to the Greeks to be the same as Dionysius. And that while he was away, Typhon attempted no revolution, owing to Isis keeping very careful guard, and having the power in her hands, holding it fast; but that when he (Osiris) came back, he made with art a wife for him, conjuring seventy two men, and having as co-worker a queen coming out of Æthiopia, whom they call Aso. But that after measuring out for himself in secret the body of Osiris, and having devised, according to the size, a beautiful and extraordinarily ornamented chest, brought it into the banqueting hall. And that when they were delighted at the sight and wondered, Typhon, in sport, promised to give the chest to him who could make himself exactly equal to it by laying himself down in it. And that when all were trying, one after another, since no one fitted, Osiris stepped in and laid himself down. And they who were present running up, dashed on the lid, and after some had closed it down with fastenings, and others had poured hot lead over it, they carried it out to the River, and let it go into the Sea by way of the Tanitic mouth, which (they say) Egyptians call even to this day by a hateful and abominable name. These things they say were done on the seventeenth of the month Athur in which (month) the Sun passes through the Scorpian; it being the eight and twentieth year of Osiris's reign.... after it (the chest) had been wave tossed out by the Sea to the Byblos country, the land wash had gently brought it to rest in a certain “heather bush'. And the heather-bush, in a short time running up into a most beautiful and very large young tree, enfolded, and grew round it, and hid it entirely within itself. And the King, marveling at the greatness of the tree, after cutting off the branches, and rounding off the trunk that surrounded the coffin without its being seen, set it up as a prop of his roof.” And (they say) that instead of giving it (the King's real child, perhaps his eldest) the breast, Isis reared the little one by putting her finger into its mouth, and that at night she burnt round the mortal (elements) of its body, and, turning herself into a swallow, flew round the pillar and twittered a dirge; until the Queen, through spying (on her) and crying out (croaking like a raven) when she saw the babe being burnt round, deprived it of its immortality. That when the Goddess revealed herself, she claimed for herself the pillar of the roof; and, taking it down with the greatest care, she cut away the heather-tree from round it, then wrapping this up in fine linen, and pouring the juices of sweet herbs over it, she placed it in the hand of the royal couple.... 149

47 The Book of Enoch contains a description of summer and winter that refers to 14 trees-- implying 28-day month.

Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the new comes. And again, observe yet the days of summer how the sun is above the earth over against it. And you seek shade and shelter by reason of the heat of the sun, and the earth also burns with glowing heat, and so you cannot tread on the earth, or on a rock by reason of its heat.150

The story of Osiris compares to other journeys, now by a male-- the Celtic story of Bran's journey across the waters and the story of Koni among the Dogon or Bambara of the Sudan. Koni's journey takes place along two crossed lines connecting the four cardinal points.151 It also compares to the Hopi story of Tiyo's journey through the waters into the underworld.152 The voyage through the waning month—14 days—ends with the nine days of mating. A Babylonian text describes a clay brick placed at the center of a meal. Upon the brick a pattern has been drawn—that pattern apparently being based on the 14 days of the half month. This brick is then left for nine days while a divine mating or wedding appears to take place. In Irish lore, the harp often puts people to sleep and, sometimes, so that lovers can mate. The idea of sleep as equivalent to the triad or third—containing duality—may have been associated ritually with its power to create sleep as emblematic of the supervening circle.

They entered the house of destiny did prince Ea and the wise Mami. With the birth goddesses assembled he trod the clay in her presence. She kept reciting the incantation, Ea seated before her, was prompting her. After she had finished her incantation she nipped off fourteen pieces of clay. Seven she put on the right, seven on the left. Between them she placed the brick...153

She drew a pattern in the meal and placed the brick, 'I have created, my hands have made it. Let the midwife rejoice in the prostitute's house. Where the pregnant woman gives birth and the mother of the babe severs herself, let the brick be in place for nine days, that Nintu, the birth-goddess, may be honored.' Without ceasing proclaim Mami their...Without ceasing praise the birth goddess, praise Kesh! When...the bed is laid let the wife and her husband lie together. When to institute marriage, they heed Istar in the house of (the father in-lay), let there be rejoicing for nine days....154

The setting in place of calendar order and then adjustment of the calendar became a primary concern, as evident in the Sumerian “Enki And The World Order.”

Counting the days and putting the months in their houses, so as to complete the years and to submit the completed years to the assembly for a decision, taking decisions to regularise the days: father Enki, you are the king of the assembled people.155

The initial circle at Stonehenge came within these ideas of journey through a month defined as 28 days and then doubled to 56 days. The earliest Stonehenge circle has been dated to the period c.3100—2300 BC156. It consisted of pits later discovered by archaeology--the 56 pits that most likely represented the 28-day month, doubled—as two months.157 With Venus understood to have a quadrant of 56 days, the doubling of the lunar month would have gained

48 particular importance at this time and have lead to all kinds of speculation about what lay hidden in the beyond to which she disappeared. The 56 pit circle was divided by markers called Station Stones. Originally, these may have been wooden markers that then decayed and were replaced by stone. The surviving stones date from a somewhat later period than do the pits. Each Station Stone lies nine days before the full moon—dividing the half-month so that there is an initial 6 day period following by a 9 period and concluding with a short full moon period--three pits representing three days. The full moon mounds fell roughly just prior to North and South.158

M ound at full Mi dsumme moon. rSunris e 14

N 7Stone at new 6 moon. 28 1

1 28 (pit slightly offset)

6 7 Stone at new moon.

Ditch 14

M ound at full moon. Plutarch associated 56 with Typhon and the Pythagoreans.

It is plain that the adherents of Pythagorus hold Typhon to be a demonic power; for they say that he was born in an even factor of fifty six...159

In a lost fragment by Euripedes, Danau was said to be the “father of fifty daughters.” Classical Greek works recounted an ancient fight in Egypt between his fifty daughters and fifty sons.160 If we subtract the 3 day full moon period from each of the two months, there remain 50 days. The cycle as lunar and feminine echoes other evidence for a system initially grounded in ritual mating and birth. The distinction between the opening in a cycle and the dual body of the cycle became a common theme in ancient study of time as a representation of creation’s order. Fifty of the pits at Stonehenge may have been designed for pedestals or stakes upon which warriors or human heads were impaled.161 The practice of staking bodies survived among the Scythians.162 Perhaps the practice of staking fifty bodies or sculls is referred to in an Irish passage where a prisoner is held in a wicker hut.

...a wicker building was constructed round him, without any passage out of it save a way through which a modicum of salt food, and a small allowance of ale used to be given to him. And fifty

49 warriors were wont to be around the building outside, guarding him. And there were nine chains upon him in the hut.163

In this earliest circle at Stonehenge an opening in the ditch suggests the importance of the four quadrants—the opening points toward the mid-summer sunrise. The Welsh story of Lludd and Lleuelys gives what appears to be the specific story associated with Stonehenge. As in the story of the flood, there is a chest. As in Orphic lore of the egg, it contains two elements. In this case, two dragons have fought and become two pigs who drink mead and are then buried in a chest. The dragons represent the duality of the cycle. The pigs are their ritually sacrificed form. The mead they are fed represents knowledge. The stone chest is the enclosure—completing the triad.

...after you return home, have the length and width of the island measured. Where you discover the exact center, have that place dug up. Then, have a vatful of the best mead that can be made put into that hole, with a cover of silk brocade over the top of the vat. And then you yourself stand watch, and you will see the dragons fighting in the shape of horrible animals. Finally, they will assume the form of animals in the air. Last of all, after they cease their violent and fierce battle, being tired, they will fall in the shape of two young pigs onto the coverlet. They will sink the sheet with them and draw it down to the bottom of the vat; they will drink all the mead, and after that they will fall asleep. Then immediately wrap the cover around them. In the strongest place you can find in your kingdom, deposit them in a stone chest, and hide it in the ground. And as long as they remain in that secure place, no oppression shall visit the island of Britain from another place. 164

The battling dragons of the Welsh story are comparable to a variety of imagery for duality—the two dogs, the two trees, and the two serpents in a Hopi passage. All of these echo duality and the triad that contains duality.

Two Water Serpents are holding the world in balance for us, one along the northwest side, the other along the southeast.165

Part Two. . The Frame Defined By 30

The idea of the triad—the third—was of an enclosure to duality as well as of something found in the waters—the waters always being a bath of the twofold. With the idea that this could be intentionally sought—that the mind could reach out and, in a sense, initiate creation, there ensued focus on that action. The net could catch the fish. And the net could cover the pillar. The fish could be a serpent or a whale. The serpent or fish in the water could equate to a chest or boat or island in the waters. The duality within the chest or boat or island or garden could be an egg with its yolk, two trees, day and night, odd and even, male and female or a host of other opposites. One of the most important sets of imagery came with a system of seven planets—the outer two bracketing the whole with the number 30. And with this the number 30 often replaced the number 28. At one side of the frame—the number 30 reflected the number of years that Saturn requires to complete a circuit. At the other end, somewhat rounded off, 30 represented the length of the lunar month and the Moon. This system is referred to both for the Druids and the Gnostics. Pliny refers to Saturn as the “upper circle”.166

...it is by the moon that they (the Druids;) measure their months and years, and also their ages of thirty years.167

Since the topmost heaven is linked with the revolution of the whole system, which is very rapid, and presses upon the (hollow) sphere, thus providing a counter-balance to its speed by means of its own slowness, so that it completes in thirty years the cycle from one (zodiacal) sign to the next—they affirm that it is the image of Horos (Limit;) which encircles the mother (the system) with the name of thirty. The moon, too, which travels through her heaven in thirty days, provides by means of these days an image of the number of thirty aeons. 168

In Western Europe, the gathering of the mistletoe occurred both on the sixth day of the moon and each thirty years.

...it (mistletoe) is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the sixth day of the moon....and after every thirty years of a new generation, because it is then rising in strength....Hailing the moon in a native word that means “healing all things....” 169

In Egypt, the 30 year period may have been linked to the Sed festival and to ritual kingship.170 Like so much else described here, the 30 year age may have been considered to work in doubles—giving a further 60 year age with two halves.171 An Anglo Saxon story describes thirty shapes in which the Pater Noster and the serpent will do battle—as a child, dragon, Brachia Dei, gloom, light, wild beast, the whale called Leviathan, foul dream, heavenly

51 vision, etc.172 The bulls spend a year in the north and year in the south. The brown bull is characterized as aggressive. The white bull has a white head and feet with red in-between and is associated with blood and wealth—the salmon, the apple, victory.173

Mound

N Raised Avenue

At Stonehenge, there were three continuous rings of thirty—a linteled stone ring within two other rings which were probably made of wood and which now survive only as postholes. Description of the three rings survives in a Greek text. The central ring is solid and mixes light with dark. This is the realm of the material and of duality associated with Necessity and Justice. The outer two rings are described as insubstantial—fiery—and, in a cosmological sense, these seem to be allied with the sky and the sun whereas earth is allied with the solid middle ring. At Stonehenge the inner ring was probably associated with fire and denseness, the middle ring with Necessity and the mixed material plane and the outer ring with fire and rareness. These three rings may also have been associated with the three Fates and the three adjacent planets of the Other—Saturn, Jupiter and Venus.

Parmenides said that there were rings wound one around the other, one formed of the rare, the other of the dense; and that there were others between these compounded of light and darkness. That which surrounds them all like a wall is, he says, by nature solid; beneath it is a fiery ring; and likewise what lies in the middle of them all is solid and around it is again a fiery ring. The middlemost of the mixed rings is the primary cause of movement and of coming into being for them all, and he calls it the goddess that steers all, the holder of the keys, Justice and Necessity. The air, he says, is separated off from the earth, vaporized owing to earth's strong compression; the sun is an exhalation of fire. Aither is outermost, surrounding all; next comes the fiery thing that we call the sky; and last comes the region of the earth.”174

A central aspect of this system appears to have been the number five—expressed in a five-year calendar or metaphorically as five trees, five fishes or five stones. The most prominent

52 surviving feature of Stonehenge is five pair of sarsens in an open horseshoe shape and put in place c.2100-2000 BC. These are probably contemporaneous with the system based on 30. The five seem to have been seen as divided into three fluid or active rings and two solid or restive rings.

There were (at Atlantis) two rings of land and three of sea, like cartwheels, with the island at their center and equidistant from each other, making the place inaccessible to man (for there were still no ships or sailing in those days.) He equipped the central island with godlike lavishness; he made two springs flow, one of hot and one of cold water, and caused the earth to grow abundant produce of every kind. The outflow they led into the grove of Poseidon.” 175

The five pairs of linteled sarsens open toward a causeway and the mid-summer sunrise. In other words, the mid-summer sunrise comes into the temple—probably brought by Lu or Lugaid, the hunter or dog at the apex of the year. At the center of the whole there appears to have been one or more stones laid flat. Some form of sacrifice or execution is likely. In the most literal sense, the five pair of linteled sarsen probably reflected the five-year cycle as preserved in the Coligny calendar.176 177Dating from perhaps 1300 BC, the Indian text of the Veganga Jotisha describes the five-year cycle. The Celtic Coligny calendar illustrates that calendar as used by Celts in Gaul during Roman times.178 In each of these systems there were two parallel calendars—a solar calendar of 360 days beside a lunar calendar of 354 days. The five-year period may have mirrored the importance of the five days that completed the 360 days year—adding the necessary additional five to make a solar year. The strictly solar year consisted of twelve 30 day months—360 days-- plus a 5 day thirteenth month or intercalary period. The 360 are described in Indian and Gnostic texts:

Fixed together therein are three hundred and sixty spokes that turn undeviatingly 1“

It came to pass then thereafter, that the father of my father,--that is Yew,--came and took other three-hundred-and-sixty rulers from the rulers of Adamas who had not had faith in the mystery of the Light, and bound them into these aërial regions, in which we are now, below the sphere. He established another five great rulers over them,--that is these who are on the way of the midst. The first ruler of the way of the midst is called Paraplēx, a ruler with a woman's shape, whose hair reacheth down to her feet, under whose authority stand five-and-twenty archdemons which rule over a multitude of other demons. And it is those demons which enter into men and seduce them, raging and cursing and slandering; and it is they which carry off hence and in ravishment the souls and dispatch them through their dark smoke and their evil chastisements.179

The lunar calendar consisted off 354 days. Counting from the 354th day there were 12 days till the completion of the 365 day solar year—those twelve days mirroring the twelve months. (This was probably the source for the “twelve days of Xmas.) The Indian Jaiminiya Brahmana describes the 12 days of ritual, during each of which is won back from Death or the

53 gods certain items defining wealth and at the close of which a sacrifice is made for a further three days apparently imitating the triad. The text then immediately includes instructions for sacrifice during the thirteenth month—probably the 5 day period. The sacrifices are said to enable those involved to ascend to heaven well prepared.180 In the five year system, these lunar and solar yearly calendars were balanced within the 5 year calendar. The system was becoming very complex. Enoch (Idris) was later said to have first written down the seasons of the years.

Enoch was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months ... 181

In the Book Of Enoch, over 5 years the solar calendar would accrue 1800 days while the lunar calendar would accrue 1770 days. 30 days would then need to be added to the solar calendar and 60 days to the lunar calendar so that the total would become 1830 days.

Thus I saw their position—how the moon rose and the sun set in those days. And if five-years are added together the sun has an overplus of thirty days, and all the days which accrue to it for one of those five-years, when they are full, amount to 364 days. And the overplus of the sun and of the stars amounts to six days: in 5 years 6 days every year come to 30 days: and the moon falls behind the sun and stars to the number of 30 days. And the sun and the stars bring in all the years exactly, so that they do not advance or delay their position by a single day unto eternity; but complete the years with perfect justice in 364 days.182

More complex five-year cycles are found in the Celtic Coligny calendar and the Indian Vedanga Jyotisha. In both of these, there are two added 30 day months. In the Celtic Coligny calendar, in each 2 1/2 years, each of the 30 months was paralleled and probably governed by one of the days in an intercalated 30 day month called Cialos—each Cialos month began a 2 1/2 year period. 2 1/2 years was half of the 5 year cycle—mirroring the duality within duality pattern. Similarly, Cialos was divided into two12 day and one 6 day sections—each day in each section named for one of the 12 months in each year. The Coligny months were of 29 and 30 days and were labeled Anmat and Mat respectively. Mat relates to the Egyptian Maat meaning “truth”, probably in the sense of “full” and may relate to Math and Mot as well. Anmat probably relates to “hollow” or “holy” in the sense of being “merry” or active. Anmat and Mat probably mirror the Pythagorean numerical concept of Unlimited and Limited. Reflecting rest or knowledge, odd numbers were Limited and associated with heaven while even numbers were unlimited and associated with the earth.

'When thou sacrificest to the celestial gods, let it be with an odd number, and when to the terrestrial, with an even.' Plutarch183

The competing influence of Mat and Anmat in each of the various cycles—month, season, year, five-years and 30 year age—may have defined divination and the influenced of the waters upon souls. This influence seems to have only affected two portions of the soul's three portions. Evidence for the tri-partite soul survived among the Tungus, the Orphics and others.184

54 In the context of much ancient belief, all souls had both male and female qualities to different degrees. According to Aristides Quintilianus, the ancient poet addressed different souls by gauging his lyric to their respective combinations of male and female qualities.185 Plotinus described how, for the Pythagoreans, the soul and music were organized in the same manner— mixing opposites. This idea is perhaps the most basic explanation for how the harp would have been seen in ritual—as accessing the basic order of creation through its own attunement and fastening.

They (the Pythagoreans) thought the soul to be analogous to the attunement of the strings. For as in the tension of the strings there supervenes a condition that is called attunement, similarly our body comes to be by a mixture of unlike elements and the specific mixture produces life and soul, which latter is the condition supervening on the mixture.” 186

In the Coligny calendar, one Anmat month appears to have been shifted from 29 days to 30 days. This suggests an alternation in the original scheme—a modified five-year cycle. For example, in the Greek calendar, the 29 and 30 day months alternate regularly. The altered month in the Coligny calendar was called Equos, suggesting the Latin Epos or “horse”. Falling roughly in July, this month seems to have preceded the mid-summer month called Elembiu—”new life?”—and hence to have had special significance as the approach to the meeting of the waxing and waning seasonal halves. The month Epos—roughly July—seems to have had special status because, as in a number of calendars, it commenced the year.187 The season of Samain seems to have originally begun at mid-summer—roughly August 1. For the Celts, the festivals of peak rest and activity, Sa-main and of Ga-main or Beltain—roughly Nov. 1 and May 1—seem to have come half way through their respective seasons—at the peak of those seasons rather than, as is now the case, at the beginning of those seasons. The Beltain or May 1 festival seems to have centered on the image of the pillar as well as lighting of the fire.188 One month was shortened to obstain numerical symmetry within the five-year cycle. During one 2 1/2 year 887 days would occur. During the next 2 1/2 years 888 days would occur—one day more due to the extra day within the month Equos. Adding two 30 day intercalated months, 888+887+60, would give a total of 1835 days in the five-year period. The same result is described in the Vedanga Jyotisha's description of the 5 year cycle. While the result is the same, the calculations leading to it appears different. Five 366 day years are said to equal 1830 days. Five days are then added to correct this within the 5 year cycle—as a whole called the “Yuga.”

Three hundred and sixty six days form the solar year. In the year there are six rtus and two ayanas. In the year there are twelve solar months. Five-years make the yuga.189

The number of risings of the asterism Sravistha in the yuga is the number of days plus five (1830+5).190

55 Whether in the Celtic or Indian five-year calendar, a total of 1835 day would leave the calendar with a discrepancy in relation to the actual solar year. Observation of the new moon at the end of the cycle may have been enough to ensure that those in charge corrected the calendar. The five-years may have been associated with five pairs of beasts or creatures, these divided into five male and five female—one for each 2 1/2 years. Plato alludes to such a list for Atlantis.

He also begat and brought up five pairs of twin male children: and dividing the island of Atlantis into ten portions... 191

This seems echoed in a more general account of the Dactyls.

...Sophocles supposes, that the first five were males, who discovered and forged iron, and many other things which were useful for the purposes of life; that these persons had five sisters, and from their number had the name of Dactyli. 192

The Jaiminiya Brahmana describes the relation between two streams and five rivers. Here we find that the five lead to the ability to reject one of the two basic waters and partake of the other.

“Five rivers with blue and white lotuses, flowing with honey as water, in these there was dancing and singing, the sound of lutes, crowds of Apsaras, a fragrant smell and a great noise.' 'Yes, he said, 'these, forsooth, were my worlds'. 'By what are they to be won?' 'By fivefoldly taking this (milk out of the cauldron) and lifting (it) out.'....Thus they arranged it for him....He wards off the stream filled with blood. He obtains the stream filled with ghee.”193

As an extension of the five-year cycle's role in balancing the lunar and solar calendars, every five-years the Celts sacrificed their criminals.

...their criminals they (the Celts) keep prisoner for five-years and then impale in honour of the gods. Captives are also used by them. 194

At the periphery of Roman influence—Ireland, India and portions of the middle east, the five-year cycle lasted through a portion of the first millenium. It was incorporated into some early Christian ideas. Irish texts seem to the five-year cycle as five fishes caught or eaten, often by Finn in Fenian lore.

And they had a well below the sea where the nine hazels of wisdom were growing; that is, the hazels of inspiration and of the knowledge of poetry....And then the five salmon that were waiting there would eat the hazels, and their colour would come out in the red spots of their skin, and any person what would eat one of those salmon would know all wisdom and poetry.195

At another time, when the memorable man's companions, active fishers, had caught five fishes in a net, in the river Sale, which abounds with fish, the saint said to them: 'Cast the net once more into the river; and immediately you shall find a great fish, which the Lord has provided for me.' They followed the saint's instruction, and drew in with the net a salmon of marvelous size, provided for them by God.196

56 The Frame, Five And Thirty

The importance of the frame in heaven—of an enclosing whole—played an important role in early non-Roman Christianity. The term “Jesus” may derive from “Hesus” or “Hu” meaning “house.” 197 Luke relates to Loki or Lugaid and Matthew relates to Math, Mat or Mot. A Gnostic text associated Jesus with the number 30 as was Lugaid in Irish lore. Both filled the role of the seer-warrior, the netter who catches the fish or slays the one eyed Bel so as to deliver prophecy and the firmament of order.

So all the thirty aeons decided to bring forth one aeon as a joint fruit of the Pleroma, in order that he might be the proof of their unity, agreement, and peace. And that single one brought forth by all the aeons for the Father is he who is called among them 'Joint Fruit of the Pleroma'. this is what took place within the Pleroma. And the “Joint Fruit of the Pleroma' was produced, Jesus—for so he is called—the 'great High Priest.'198

Thirty princes, thirty chieftains, thirty champions, a course for a king, this was the number of his (Lugaid's) hundredfold troop thirty hundred times three.199

The idea of a battle between serpents or of a dismemberment that results in the building of a boat or chest seems to eventually became amplified into the story of an epic quest. In the Irish story “The Second Battle of Mag Tuiredh” the second or middle battle is a contest at the juncture of halves or opposites. Indian, Irish, Norse and other lore describe one group of deities representing the active forces of search who oppose another group or force harboring wealth or power— the Aesir/Vanir dichotomy of the Norse or Mitra/Varuna in India, the battle against the Formoirians in Irish lore, the battle against the Corianeids in Welsh lore, etc., etc..200 In the Irish story, plagues upset the material realm—they make the sovereign unjust, weaken warriors and destroy crops. The king, the Welsh Lludd or the Irish Nuada, has a silver hand--probably signifying one-sidedness in the realm of material wealth. He needs the seer. With the help of the warrior/seer/wolf Lleu or Lugaid the king, Nuada or Lludd, rectifies the situation—defeating the water spirits—the Coraniaid or Formoirians who have caused the first plague. The sayings by Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, an early Christian text, contrast three active elements—fire, sword and war—with two restive elements. These seem to accord, respectively to the father and the son--the father defines the active elements while the son defines the restive elements.

16 Jesus said, "Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war.

For there will be five in a house: there'll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone.

57 If this passage is seen as referring to the five-year cycle and more generally to the arrival of five as a number central to divination and Stonehenge, then “conflict” may refer to the idea of opposition—where the elements exist in tension with each other. The basic tension lies between two of the five and three of the five. In this gospel Jesus asserts this order as transcendent and uses the older language of the trees, now expanding it to five trees—a parallel to five “stones.”

19 Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being. If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death."

A more complex, probably later, set of numerical ideas comes in the Acts of Thomas— an early text describing Thomas’ journey to India carrying the new Christian message. Here, the father and son are part of the trinity where male and female are placed in a duality. The five seem to have been made ethereal due to the influence of Manichean belief-- the Five Shekhinas, or Dwellings, or Manifestations, of the Father of Greatness.201 And the passage includes the idea of a journey through seven to a final eighth.

27 And the apostle arose and sealed them. And the Lord was revealed unto them by a voice, saying: Peace be unto you brethren. And they heard his voice only, but his likeness they saw not, for they had not yet received the added sealing of the seal (Syr. had not been baptized). And the apostle took the oil and poured it upon their heads and anointed and christened them, and began to say (Syr. And Judas went up and stood upon the edge of the cistern and poured oil upon their heads and said): Come, thou holy name of the Christ that is above every name. Come, thou power of the Most High, and the compassion that is perfect. Come, gift (charism) of the Most High. Come, compassionate mother. Come, communion of the male. Come, she that revealeth the hidden mysteries. Come, mother of the seven houses, that thy rest may be in the eighth house. Come, elder of the five members, mind, thought, reflection, consideration, reason; communicate with these young men. Come, holy spirit, and cleanse their reins and their heart, and give them the added seal, in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost.202

Jesus' first act as a prophet was to recruit “netters”. Matthew stated that Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew were enjoined to cease “netting fish” and to net men. This is, perhaps, evidence of Hellenic influence in early Christianity—of a desire to adapt the old learning to a moral context—where knowledge would be availed to the public as a whole. Jesus would soon take on the Pharisees, engaging them in a poetic debate over the meaning to “son of god.”

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 203

58 It may be that, in some contexts, “net” referred to the harp. In an Indian text, Krsna plays on a pipe equated to the net.

...The pipe (Krsna plays on) is by nature contrary, and it is known to all the world by the name of the “All pervading Net': at the guidance of Kanu it is wantonly cruel, and it is a veritable enchanting maze for girls. Neither faults nor virtues does it count; nor does it respect time or duty. 204

During the late 18th century Irish harpers told Edward Bunting that their “pet name” for the harp was Lub. This appears synonymous to the Sanskrit Lubh meaning “to entice” or “snare”. The term may be related to several terms--to Labrys meaning the two headed ax, Labrum meaning the curved X and Lambrynth.205

59 Mid-Day

The idea of a special day or special period when the circle would be open and hence the seer could travel into the beyond seems to extend back to the 28 day month and then become incorporated into more complex cycles. It could be the Mid-day—the ninth day or ninth hour, nones. It could be the thirteenth month—the intercalary period between 360 and 365 days. It could be at the end of the five year period or at the end of the 30 year period.

Born with the dawning, at mid-day he (Hermes) played on the lyre, and in the evening he stole the cattle of far-shooting Apollo on the fourth day of the month.... 206

Thou shalt not fear an arrow that flies by day, because that power came forth from the thirteenth aeon. He is lord over the twelfth aeon and it is he who lights all the aeons; because of this he has said 'the day'. And the word which thy power spoke: 'He will not fear anything which walks in the darkness': that is the Pistis Sophia did not fear the emanation with a serpent face, which causes fear to the Pistis Sophia which is the darkness. And the word which the power said: 'He shall not fear a demonic blow at mid-day'.207

When mid-day came all the choirs began to chant together singing.....At the ninth hour, he ordered his brothers to refresh their bodies with the fruit of the Island of Strong men. 208

'Thus I am produced, being added by the thirteenfold one as the additional month of the twelve.' It is the thirteenfold one which burns here. 'This I know, of this I am sure. So lead me, O Seasons, to immortality, through the twelve or thirteenfold father, through his mother, through this faith, through this food, through this truth. Day is my father, night my mother. I am truth. So lead me, O Seasons, to immortality.'209

Thus in this fifth creation man is born from the gods. At the fifth creation the divine waters speak with a human voice....Of that god who shines here night and day, the half-months, the months, the seasons and the year are the guards. Night and day are forerunners. To him one of the seasons, who has a hammer in his hand, comes down along a ray of light and asks him: 'Who art thou, man?'210

The Indian term for the five-year cycle as a whole—Yuga, means literally “coming together.” In the Indian Jaiminiya Brahmana, the five parts of creation are described as Sun, Thunder, Earth, Man and Woman. If Sun/Earth and Man/Woman are each seen as a duality then Thunder remains. In the text, following or within the fifth element of creation one season brings a hammer which appears to sacrifice a man, apparently as payment in return for creation and in a manner which makes that man a god. Having been slain, the sacrifice journeys to heaven where he his queried. If his knowledge is lacking, then he must return to earth to endure rebirth and repeated dying. However, if he responds correctly, he becomes one of the gods, much to the benefit of his survivors and woe of his enemies. Central to the correct response is knowledge about the thirteenth month—the intercalary period at the end of the 12.

But how many merry months be in the year? There are thirteen, I say; The midsummer moon is the merryest of all,

60 Next to the merry month of May. 211

I'll laugh and sing on my love's grave a whole twelve month and a day.212

Twelve months and five days the king's body was shrouded in sand, till God made his coffin to come out of the earth.213

And then his true love put on small hoppers and tied them with silver strings. She went hopping (harping) all over her true love's grave, A twelve months and a day.

She hopped (harped) the red fish out of the sea, The small birds out of their nests; She hopped (harped) her true love out of his grave, So he can't see no rest. 214

An intercalary period reconciles, corrects and orders a cycle. It is a summary period that adjusts a calendar based on strict ideas about number to the reality of time. However, it eventually became possible to correct the calendar based on observation of the eclipse cycle. Diodorus Siculus described Apollo returning to a spherical temple on an island off the coast of Gaul—probably Britain—at the end of the eclipse cycle.

“Apollo visits the island once in a course of nineteen years, in which period the stars complete their revolutions....”

There is evidence at Stonehenge that, at a late date, a series of 18 or 19 stones represented the eclipse cycle.215 Use of the eclipse cycle may have accompanied the decline of the entire system as metaphysics gave way to greater interest in calendar accuracy. The eclipse cycle was put forward as the basis for a complex intercalation suggested in 432 BC by Meton for Greece. The use of 19 year cycles for correct intercalation has also been suggested for the Babylonians.216 Nonetheless, the idea of a supervening frame or house remained very popular. The word “Celtic” or “Keltoi” seems to relate to the term for the intercalated month in the Coligny calendar—Cialos, the month intercalated or added into the five-year cycle every 2 and 1/2 years. As a month, Cialos contained 30 days named for the 30 months of the 2 1/2 year half cycles. Cialos appears to be related to both the Gaulic “Ciel” meaning dome, sky or heaven and the Gaelic “Cielt”, “Ceal” or “Celu” (Latin Celo) meaning to conceal or hide. It would relate to the English “ceiling” and to the Gaelic “ceal” meaning heaven. In Genesis, the Hebrew term for the firmament in the waters is “rakia” or “raquia” meaning beaten-out. This implies a piece of worked metal.217 In other words, the firmament is not simply heaven but a container—like the chest that contained duality but now in the heavens. Whereas, on the first days of creation—Sunday—heaven created separate from earth, the firmament created on the second day—Monday or Moon Day—is a division of the waters. This presumably takes place in both heaven and earth, the waters being common to both.

61 And "E-lohim," G-d said, "Let there be a 'Rakia,' a 'firmament, in the midst of the waters and let it divide between the upper "waters" and the lower "waters."

The word “Jesus” may be a version of Hesus meaning, “house”. “Hesus” was said to have been carved by Druids on the right branch of a cross, “Taramis” on the upright, “Belenus” on the left branch with “Thau” over all.218 “Hesus” opposes “Belenus” or Bel as does the young god to the old god. “Taramis” seems to designate “Teutates” or Zeus and, in sacrifice would be the center-point or pillar. Lucan described the Gallic altars of Hesus. “

And, you, where Hesus horrid altar stands, And dire Teutates human blood demands.219

62 The Seven And Nine

Probably sometime between 3000BC and 2000BC, from the Middle East through northing Europe, the idea of the triad appears to have been refined into the image of the Spindle—the X defining the seven planets and lying within a frame. This was both a system of music and a system of planets. It suggests growing complexity—added onto the basic ideas— and, probably along with this increasingly, an elite of educated who discussed the system and, within which, some differences arose.

...they (the ancients) called nine “music”, not only because it is the first put together from numbers presenting the three consonant ratios (for two, three, and four fill out nine,) but also because the harmonia and rotation of the universe corresponds to the same number, since seven planets and two fixed and stable spheres are named.220

Of the mysteries of the Giants and all the Gods I can speak truly, for I have been in every world, I have been in nine worlds, underneath the Hell of Clouds.221

The system made the lyre or harp the messenger of that order and emblematic of that order. While these ideas survive mostly in Greek writings, a number of references suggest that, probably around 1200 BC, Britain became a center for these ideas and the cultural practices conserved by and associated with them. The chained nine permeate early Irish lore.

There were nine scores of birds with a silver chain between each couple. Each score went in its own flight, nine flights altogether, and two birds out in front of each flight with a yoke of silver between them. Toward nightfall three birds separated out from the rest....222

Seven walls about that city— Hateful was its color: A rampart of irons on each wall, On that were nine heads.223

The seven planets within the frame of the Spindle were said to turn in the opposite direction from the frame. The frame was the circle, associated with the serpent.

The Spindle turns round as a whole with one motion; and within the whole, as it revolves, the seven circles revolve slowly in the opposite sense.224

In this, there was a drawing of seven circles, separate from each other, but linked together by one circle which was said to be the soul of the universe and was named Leviathan.225

The Spindle’s frame turned clockwise and was associated with the Same or Limit. The seven planets rotated counter-clockwise and were associated with the Other and Unlimited.

Out of the indivisible and unchangeable, and also out of that which is divisible and has to do with material bodies, he compounded a third and intermediate kind of essence, partaking of the nature 63 of the Same and the Other, and this compound he placed accordingly in a mean between the indivisible, and the divisible and material. He took the three elements of the same, the other, and the essence, and mingled them into one form, compressing by force the reluctant and unsociable nature of the other into the same....This entire compound he divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their original meeting-point; and comprehending them in a uniform revolution upon the Same axis, he made the one the outer and the other the inner circle. Now the motion of the outer circle he called the motion of the Same, and the motion of the inner circle the motion of the Other or diverse. The motion of the Same he carried round by the side to the right, and the motion of the diverse diagonally to the left. And he gave dominion to the motion of the Same and like, for that he left single and undivided; but the inner motion he divided in six places and made seven unequal circles having their intervals.... 226

....he laid the twain one against the other, the middle of one to the middle of the other, like the letter X; and bent them into a circular form, and joined them. And he compassed them about with the motion that revolves in the same spot continually, and He made the one circle out and the other inner. And the outer motion he ordained to be the motion of the Same, and the inner motion the motion of the Other..227

The musical intervals and assignment of the planets to the scale is described in an early Christian passage.

This works out as g a bb c d eb f when applied to the notes evident for the historical Celtic harp. Add the octave and this is g a bb c d eb f g.229 As I describe in more detail in my essay, “The Historical Method of the Celtic Harp”, this was the basic scale of the historical Celtic harp. It implies a basic nine-note instrument of f g a bb c d eb f g though, often, more strings could be added above, even in the Cruit or small harp. The Spindle defines the relationship between the seven and the nine. The seven notes of the planets are framed by earth and heaven.

An identical series of planets lies in an Arabic account of the scale on the pre-Persian ud.

Then the first of these (causes) is the seven notes resembling the seven Running Stars (planets), I mean Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Then going into details: The open note of the bamm, which is the first of the notes, and the deepest of them, resembles Saturn, which is the highest of the seven and the slowest. And after it is the sabbaba note of the bamm, resembling Jupiter, seeing that he follows Saturn in height. And similarly, the wusta note of the bamm to Mars. And its khinsir note to the Sun. And the sabbaba note of the mathlath to Venus. And its wusta note to Mercury. And its khinsir note to the Moon.” Al Kindi 230

The watchers of the heavens journeyed to this order. This journey was encoded in accounts of Enoch—whose Celtic and Arabic name was Idris.

...and he whom the Hebrews call Khanukh (Ukhnukh), whose name in Arabic is Idris....It is established in the traditions handed down from the past that Idris was the first to study books and investigate the sciences; God sent down to him thirty pages. 231

In that garden of order, the tree of life lay near the earth and two springs sprang from it.

1. And those men took me thence, and led me up on to the third heaven, and placed me there; and I looked downwards, and saw the produce of these places, such as has never been known for goodness.

65 2. And I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and beheld their fruits, which were sweet-smelling, and all the foods borne by them bubbling with fragrant exhalation. 3. And in the midst of the trees that of life, in that place whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise; and this tree is of ineffable goodness and fragrance, and adorned more than every existing thing; and on all sides it is in form gold-looking and vermilion and fire-like and covers all, and it has produce from all fruits. 4. Its root is in the garden at the earth’s end. 5. And paradise is between corruptibility and incorruptibility. 6. And two springs come out which send forth honey and milk, and their springs send forth oil and wine, and they separate into four parts, and go round with quiet course, and go down into the PARADISE OF EDEN, between corruptibility and incorruptibility. 232

And I measured their goings, and computed their light, And I saw that the sun has a light seven times greater than the moon. I beheld their circle, and their chariot on which each goes like a wind advancing with astonishing swiftness, and they have no rest day or night coming or going. There are four great stars; each star has under it a thousand stars at the right of the chariot of the sun ; and four at the left each having under it a thousand stars, altogether eight thousand….233

The tree of knowledge lay at the other end, toward the East, in heaven, to which one ascended. There lay the Paradise of Eden—or house of Ea—at the meeting of Other and Same or Corruptibility and Incorruptibility.

32.1 And after these fragrances, to the north, as I looked over the mountains, I saw seven mountains full of fine nard, and fragrant trees of cinnamon and pepper. 32.2 And from there, I went over the summits of those mountains, far away to the east, and I went over the Red Sea, and I was far from it, and I went over the Angel Zotiel. 32.3 And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and I saw beyond those trees many large trees growing there, sweet smelling, large, very beautiful and glorious, the Trees of Wisdom, from which they eat and know great wisdom. 32.4 And it is like the carob tree, and its fruit is like bunches of grapes on a vine, very beautiful, and the smell of this tree spreads and penetrates afar. 32.5 And I said: "This tree is beautiful! How beautiful and pleasing is its appearance!" 32.6 And the Holy Angel Raphael, who was with me, answered me and said to me: "This is the Tree of Wisdom, from which your ancient father and ancient mother, who were before you, ate and learnt wisdom; and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they were driven from the garden." 33.1 And from there I went to the ends of the earth, and I saw there large animals, each different from the other, and also birds, which differed in form, beauty, and call - each different from the other. 33.2 And to the east of these animals, I saw the ends of the Earth, on which Heaven rests, and the open Gates of Heaven. 33.3 And I saw how the stars of Heaven come out, and counted the Gates out of which they come, and wrote down all their outlets, for each one, individually, according to their number. And their names, according to their constellations, their positions, their times, and their months, as the

66 Angel Uriel, who was with me, showed me. 33.4 And he showed me everything, and wrote it down, and also their names he wrote down for me, and their laws and their functions. 34.1 And from there I went towards the north, to the ends of the Earth, and there I saw a great and glorious wonder at the ends of the whole Earth.

The journey to the garden and its trees survives in Irish lore, where it is couched in a literal context. Noticeably, the garden contains a young couple.

Tadg and his men went on then till they came to the middle dun, and there they found a queen of beautiful shape, and she wearing a golden dress. "Health to you, Tadg," she said. "I thank you for that," said Tadg. "It is a long time your coming on this journey was foretold," she said. "What is your name?" he asked then. "I am Cesair," she said, "the first that ever reached Ireland. But since I and the men that were with me came out of that dark, unquiet land, we are living for ever in this country." "Tell me, woman," said Tadg, "who is it lives in that dun having a wall of gold about it?" "It is not hard to tell that," she said, "every king, and every chief man, and every noble person that was in a high place of all those that had power in Ireland, it is in that dun beyond they are; Parthalon and Nemed, Firbolgs and Tuatha de Danaan." "It is good knowledge and learning you have," said Tadg. "Indeed I have good knowledge of the history of the world," she said, "and this island," she said, "is the fourth paradise of the world; and as to the others, they are Inis Daleb to the south, and Inis Ercandra to the north, and Adam's Paradise in the east of the world." "Who is there living in that dun with the silver walls?" said Tadg then. "I will not tell you that, although I have knowledge of it," said the woman; "but go to the beautiful hill where it is, and you will get knowledge of it." They went on then to the third hill, and on the top of the hill was a very beautiful resting-place, and two sweethearts there, a boy and a girl, comely and gentle. Smooth hair they had, shining like gold, and beautiful green clothes of the one sort, and any one would think them to have had the same father and mother. Gold chains they had around their necks, and bands of gold above those again. And Tadg spoke to them: "O bright, comely children," he said, "it is a pleasant place you have here." And they answered him back, and they were praising his courage and his strength and his wisdom, and they gave him their blessing. And it is how the young man was, he had a sweet-smelling apple, having the colour of gold, in his hand, and he would eat a third part of it, and with all he would eat, it would never be less. And that was the food that nourished the two of them, and neither age or sorrow could touch them when once they had tasted it.234

Numerous passages allude to the Spindle and to knowledge of it as the essence of an education in learning.

Tudain, the father of the Muses, was the first that reduced vocal song to science and formed rules of composition. 235

Nine worlds I know, the nine abodes of the glorious world tree the ground beneath. In earliest times did Ymir live: was nor sea nor land nor salty waves, neither earth was there nor upper heaven, but a gaping nothing, and green things nowhere. Was the land then lifted aloft by Bur's sons who made Mi∂garth the matchless earth; shone from the south the sun on dry land, on the ground then grew the greensward soft. 236

Mnemosyn, (Memory) queen of the Eleutherian hills, bore them (the nine muses) in Pieria, when she had lain with the Kronian Father; they bring forgetfulness of sorrow, and rest from anxieties.

67 For nine nights Zeus of the counsels lay with her, going up into her sacred bed, far away from the other mortals...she bore her nine daughters.... 237

The number nine is divine, receives its completion from three triads, and attains the summits of theology, according to the Chaldaic philosophy as Porphyry informeth us.238

Straining to pull the chariot, and maidens were leading the way. The axle, glowing in its naves, gave forth the shrill sound of a pipe, (For it was urged on by two rounded Wheels at either end), even while the maidens, Daughters of the Sun, were hastening To escort me, after leaving the House of Night for the light....239

For unto the Apostle Peter was shown the four-cornered vessel, let down from Heaven, with four cords to it, and they with sound as sweet as any music.240

Now from the course of Saturn, which is highest in relation to us, the deepest note in the octave was named 'hypate' (uppermost), for what is highest is uppermost. From that of the Moon, which is further down of all and circles the earth most closely, there was taken the name 'neate' (lowest)....241

And again, continues Marbhan, Lamec Bigamas had two sons, Jubal and Tubal Cain were their names. One son of them was a smith, namely Jubal; and he discovered from the sounds of two sledges in the forge one day, that it was notes of equal length they spoke, and he composed a verse from that cause, and that was the first verse that was ever composed.

This have my eyes seen from the beginning even to the end, and the dwelling-places of the clouds, both rain-bearing and thunderous. And they showed me the angels that guard them and their keys. I saw the treasure houses of snow and of ice, and going-up, whence they go up in measure they are carried up by a chain and let down by a chain, lest by heavy violence they tear asunder the clouds and destroy what is on earth, both air and frost. I beheld for a time how those who hold fast the keys do fill the clouds full, and the treasure-houses are never exhausted. I saw the lairs of the winds, how those who keep their keys do carry weighing-scales and measures, and first put them in the weighing-scales and then in the measure, and let them out in measure over the whole earth, lest by their heavy breath they make the earth to rock242

The imagery of ropes or chains or of chained swans may relate to the “swan-cloak” of Nordic and German tradition.243 In a Norse story, Wayland Smith, the swan maidens are captured when their “feathered jackets” are taken away.244 Parmenides spoke about the role of Necessity in the Spindle.

Nor is (it) divisible, since (it) alike is; Nor is (it) somewhat more here, which would keep it from holding together, Nor it (it) somewhat less, but (it) is all full of what-is. Therefore (it) is all continuous; for what-is is in contact with what-is. Moreover, changeless in the limits of great chains (It) is un-beginning and unceasing, since coming-to-be and perishing Have been driven far off, and true trust has thrust them out. Remaining the same and in the same, (it lies by itself And remains thus firmly in place; for strong Necessity

68 Holds (it) fast in the chains of a limit, which fences it about. Wherefore it is not right for what is to be incomplete; For (it) is not lacking; but if (it) were, (it ) would lack everything. The same thing is for thinking and (is) that there is thought....245

Microbus wrote that the crossing of the X was Necessity and that the knot was the serpent's kiss.246 Implicity that is the gap in the circle of Limit—where the serpent’s tale and head lies slightly apart. Plato described Necessity’s role. This cane be related to structural information. The most complete story of the harp’s creation is called The Twa Sisters. And the Irish harpers told Edward Bunting that the pair of g strings were called the “sisters.” From this, it is tempting to see Necessity as equated to the high drone on the harp as Neccessity while the three Fates were associated with the triad or Sleep Music (Clotho of the present), Joy Music (Lachesis in the middle) and Sad Music (Atropos, slower, of the future.)

The spindle itself was turned on the knees of Necessity. Atop each of the rims stood a Siren being carried in a circle, sending forth one sound, one note; from all eight arose a symphonic harmony. Three others, seated on thrones set at equal intervals, were the Fates, daughters of Necessity: Lachesis (determiner of the thread), Clotho (spinner), and Atropos (slower). They were robed in white, and they wore garlands on their heads. They sang in unison the hymn of the Sirens: Lachesis of the past, Clothos of the present, and Atropos of the future. Clotho, touching the outer circumference of the spindle with her right hand, helped in turning it. Now and then she paused. Similarly Atropos rotated the inner circle with her left hand; Lachesis, placing one hand here and the other there, gave aid in turn to both her sisters. 247

In many of the descriptions it isn’t clear whether the “circles” are the planets themselves or a sound that lies between the planets. A description by Cicero seems to confuse the bracketing by the moon and Saturn—both based on the number 30 with the frame of the Spindle. He does note the importance of music to vision of the sacred processes.

For the earthly sphere, the ninth, remains ever motionless and stationary in its position in the center of the universe; but the other eight spheres, two of which move with the same velocity produce seven different sounds—a number that is the key to almost everything. Learned men, by imitating this harmony on stringed instruments and in song, have gained for themselves a return to this region.... 248

Cicero gives another assignment of the remaining two spheres---assigning the octave to the zodiac and calling the ninth the “starless sphere”. In this he seems to be retaining the eighth as heaven but substituting the “starless sphere” for earth.

...the eighth sphere is the zodiac and the ninth is the so-called starless sphere.249 . An Irish passage adds a tenth.

The nine orders of the kingdom of Heaven, O royal champion of the world!...The tenth is the order of Mankind, O defender of the province.! 250

69 This seems to reflect an idea found in Hesiod. The frame defined nine from heaven to earth, but the tenth defined the netherworld of the dead.

They drove them as far underground as earth is distant from heaven. Such is the distance from earth's surface to gloomy Tartaros. From a brazen anvil dropping out of the sky would take nine nights and nine days, and land on earth on the tenth day, and a brazen anvil dropping off earth would take nine night, and nine days, and land in Tartaros on the tenth day. 251

...this water is a tenth part of all, for in nine loops of silver swirling waters, around the earth and the sea's wide ridges he tumbles into salt water, but this stream, greatly vexing the gods, runs off the precipice. And whoever of the gods, who keeps the summits of snowy Olympus, pours of this water, and swears on it, and is forsworn, is laid flat, and does not breathe, until a year is completed...but when, in the course of a great year, he is over the sickness...for nine years he is cut off from all part of the everlasting gods...but in the tenth he once more mingles....252

Philolaus is said to have written of a “counter-earth” defined by the number ten, this again probably defining the netherworld.

...they observed numerical attributes and ratios in the objects of harmonics; since, then, all other things appears in their nature to be likenesses of numbers, and numbers appeared to be first in the whole of nature, they came to the belief that the elements of numbers are the elements of all things and that the whole heaven is a harmony and a number. And whatever facts in numbers and harmonies could be shown consistent with the attributes, the parts, and the whole arrangement of the heavens, these they collected and fitted into a system; and if there was a gap somewhere, they readily made additions in order to make their whole system connected. I mean, for example, that since ten is considered to be complete and to include every nature in numbers, they said that the bodies which travel in the heaven are also ten; and since the visible bodies are nine, they added the so-called “Counter-Earth” as the tenth body.253

70 Adding Drones

The system of the Spindle and three musics seems to have seen change as early as around 2500BC. The system made possible seven notes tied to seven planets and a structured melodic form based on the harmony of alternating drones. However, springing from broader and less organized use of drone accompaniment, musicians seem to have quickly moved to add drones— increasing the number of scales or musics. And, there remained a strong move towards a small accompaniment instrument—having four strings—that would simply provide the drones and rhythm without performing a full melody. The Greek theory of scales reflects both of these trends—it is focused on two overlapping tetra chords, e f g a/a b c d—each set of four notes sharing a. These should probably be understood as four low drones—e, f, g, and a—plus four accompanying strings, one or each drone and played while pinching a lyre, sounding one low drone and one accompanying string with each pluck. This shows the addition of a as a drone to the eb, f and g finals used on the melodic harp or lyre of nine or more strings. This addition seems to have originated well before the Greeks— in Sumeria. Sumerian tablets and a surviving lyre from around 2500BC show an instrument that has expanded to eleven strings. While seven winds defines the basic order in a Babylonian passage, nine dragons are listed in an Akkadian text. And yet, it then alludes to eleven—the number of strings on the Sumerian lyre.

"He made a net to inclose Tiamit within it, and had the four winds take hold that nothing of her might escape; the south wind, the north wind, the east wind, and the west wind, the gift of his grandfather Anu, he caused to draw nigh to the borders of the net. He created the imhullu: the evil wind, the cyclone, the wind incomparable. He sent forth the winds which he had created, the seven of them; to trouble Tiamit within...."254

"Roaring dragons she has filled with their bodies. Roaring bodies she has clothed with terror, Has crowned them with haloes, making them like gods, So that he who beholds them shall perish abjectly, And that, with their bodies reared up, none might turn them back. She set up the Viper, the Dragon, and the Sphinx, The great-Lion, the Mad-Dog, and the Scorpion Man, Mighty lion-demons, the Dragon-Fly, the Centaur—Bearing weapons they spare not, fearless in battle. Firm were her decrees, past withstanding were they. Withal eleven of this kind she brought forth...."255

“Against the end wall of the stone chamber lay the bodies of nine women....On the top of the bodies of the ‘court ladies’ against the chamber wall had been placed a wooden harp....” Excavations at Ur, Sir Leonard Woolley, describing the eleven string harp found at Ur.256

The very early and practical shift to eleven for the large harp or lyre—not the small four to eight string accompaniment instrument-- is also found in a Greek passage that references the practical shift from fewer strings. It suggests that pictures emphasizing seven strings or even literary references reflect a resort to the ideal, now past.

71 "Eleven string lyre, keeping an ordered array of ten steps, to the concordant meetings of the three roads of harmony, in former times all the Greeks played you as seven toned through four, raising a scanty strain."257

Sumerian tablets contain a list of tuning steps for the nine strings.258 The names applied to these steps are the names for intervals and for tunings that derive from the intervals. By assigning a scale of f, g, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, the steps can be listed. The numbering is from the highest pitch string down.

Set the first and eighth strings—g and g—to the fifth string--c—the “rise of the duplicate” Set the fourth string (Ea)—d-- to the first string-- g—the “fall of the middle” Set the seventh string—a— to the fourth string--d, the “open” Set the third string—e—to the seventh string-- a, the “reed pipe” Set the sixth string—b—to the third string-- e, the “closed” Set the second string and ninth string—f and f.-- to the sixth string—bb, the “normal” Set the second and ninth string—f and f—to the fifth string—c-, the “closed” Set the sixth string—bb—to the second string—f, the “reed pipe” (probably a true fifth) Set the third string—eb—to the sixth string—bb, the “open” (ie, a true fourth) Set the seventh string—a—to the third string—e, the “fall of the middle” (In the Greek system, a is the middle note of the two tetra chords. Set the fourth string—d—to the seventh string—a, the “rise of the duplicate” Set the first string----g—to the fourth string—d, the “bridge of the middle”

In the tablets, not all the tuning intervals seem to designate a separate tuning. The intervals leading to tunings appear to be the “normal” tuning, the “reed pipe” tuning and the “fall of the middle” tuning. The “reed pipe” tuning contains a flatted b with a natural e. The “normal” tuning contains a flatted b. The “fall of the middle” contains a flatted a.

“Open” and “closed” may refer to the tempering of the e and b notes—closed is a concord while open is set at tension or discordant. It was not until the period 900 to 1400 AD that Persians and Europeans systematized the setting of these notes—notes that remained indeterminate or subjective in pitch until that time. The Persians divided these each into separate notes. The Europeans divided each of them into two different notes. The problem with the original scale, as long preserved on the Celtic harp, lay in its restriction to an instrument. The way in which bb was long tuned—slightly harp—gave the instrument a lot of bite or punch but limited its “keys” or finals, creating great restriction on using it flexibly for singers with higher or lower voices. After the Sumerian efforts, the Greeks seem to have made their own attempts to resolve the values of eb and bb, preceding by centuries a similar effort by the Persians and Europeans to resolve the temperament or pitch of those notes. This can be seen in scales described by

72 Aristides Quintilianius, writing sometime during the first few centuries AD.259 All appear related to the Spondeion or "Libation" scale—e e f a b c— which classical writers describe as the early basis of Greek music.260 Note collections described by Aristides--as shown, underlined notes are said to be raised by a diesis or quarter tone.

Lydian—e f a b b c e e Ionian—b b c e g a Dorian—d e e f a b b c e Mixolydian—b b c d e e f b Phrygian—d e e f a b b c d Syntonolydian—b b c e g

Changes in the physical structure of the instrument may have been seen by some as compromising its role as a conveyor of the heavenly order. In particular efforts to resolve the harmony of the strings without the discord inherent to early temperament—as I describe it further in “The Historical Method Of The Celtic Harp”-- may have been controversial. Writing around 600 BC, Heraclitus complains that the Greeks no longer understand the back-bending and how it binds—concepts long central to definition of duality and the Triad as well as their application to universal order.

People do not understand how that which is at variance with itself agrees with itself. There is a binding; (lit. harmonia) in the bending back, as in the case of the bow; and the lyre. 261

When he is born, Apollo cites the lyre and “bending bow”.262 Yet the ritual role of the instrument in Greece was strictly praise of Zeus, according to Hesiod.

My part cithara to love and bending bow, the foretellings of man Zeus truth advises.

For the nine string instrument, in Irish lore, the three finals or “keys” on the harp are described as Tear or Sad Music, Birth or Joy Music and Sleep Music. It was this harp that Lugh won from Balor in his battle against the Fomor.

And Lugh and the Dagda and Ogma followed after the Fomor, for they had brought away the Dagda's harp with them, that was called Uaitne. And they came to a feasting-house, and in it they found Bres and his father Elathan, and there was the harp hanging on the wall. And it was in that harp the Dagda had bound the music, so that it would not sound till he would call to it. And sometimes it was called Dur-da-Bla, the Oak of Two Blossoms, and sometimes Coir-cethar-chuin, the Four-Angled Music. And when he saw it hanging on the wall it is what he said: "Come summer, come winter, from the mouth of harps and bags and pipes." Then the harp sprang from the wall, and came to the Dagda, and it killed nine men on its way. And then he played for them the three things harpers understand, the sleepy tune, and the laughing tune, and the crying tune. And when he played the crying tune, their tearful women cried, and then he played the laughing tune, till their women and children laughed; and then he played the sleepy tune, and all the hosts fell asleep. And through that sleep the three went away through the Fomor that would have been glad to harm them. And when all was over, the Dagda brought out the heifer he had got as wages from Bres at the time he was making his dun. And she called to her calf, and at the sound

73 of her call all the cattle of Ireland the Fomor had brought away as tribute, were back in their fields again.263

These three original scales were associated with the pitch of certain strings, presumably of the low pitched drone strings. The first two of these appear to mirror Sa-main and Ga-main— summer and winter or activity and rest. Tear Music appears associated with the heavy drone string—the highest in pitch—g. By extension, the three scales or musics—Sleep Music, Joy Music and Sad Music—seem to reflect scales based on three low drones: e, f and g. Among the Irish harper, the low e was gained by tuning down the f string.

“The names of the not heavy string(s) were Suantorrgles (Sleep Music); Geantorrgles (Joy Music) the great; Goltarrgles (Sad Music) was the other string (i.e. the heavy string), which sent all men to crying..”264

The Sumerian text assigns the name “Ea the Creator” to one string—identified here as d. As noted above, sleep was the quality that Ea brought in calming the beasts. In Irish lore, by contrast, sleep was brought by one of the three brothers. In English lore, the harp brought sleep much as did Orpheus—to take back his wife or steal the maid. In each instance, sleep was allied with the power of the harper to journey to the realm of Limit and return as a swan pulling the chains that bind order. The musical significance of this string lies in its importance to the first or second steps in tuning a 9-string instrument.

74 The Danann—Migration Of Ideas

The arrival of this system in Britain and northern Europe may have come with the arrival of the Danaan. Or, it may be that the ideas originated in Britain and then went to the Middle East. This is an idea that runs counter to the long-standing view in European history that “civilization” arose in the Middle East and Egypt and subsequently journeyed through Rome to Paris, London, New York, Las Vegas, etc.. However, as discussed earlier, if we see “culture” as distinct from the accumulated wealth, fancy tombs and hierarchical rule of “civilization”, then these idea of structured process may well have arisen exactly where they longest in survived—in Britain. Consider the name, “Britain”. The Irish name for the harp—Cruit-- can be broken down as Que-Ur or “Which Is Ur.” In Gaelic, Urr is the pig. In Irish lore, due to a mist, the Milesians from Spain at first mistake Ireland for a pig—the goddess Eire.265 Plutarch describes the ritual association of the pig with the moon.

The Egyptians do not think it right to sacrifice a swine to any other deities, but to the moon...266

In Anglo Saxon, Ur is the bison.267 The question becomes—why would the term Ur relate to the moon. Probably because the moon was the basic method for measuring time. And time is order and the structure of duality in the waters. The Pictish Ur directly translates to the Welsh “Gwr” and the Irish “Fear.”268 Gwer means “form”.269 All these terms probably relate to the Indian “rta”, a Vedic term meaning “any settled point in time, fixed time, right or fit time.”270 Rta as a widespread root probably underlies the use of the Greek Rho—written as a P—included in the Chi Rho—the sign of X P, root of the term “Christ.” And it persists in the English word “right.” Cruithne became the Gaelic term for the old inhabitants of Britain—the Prythne of Hellenic references. Cruit was an old Irish name for the small harp. As the initial consonant was further softened this became “Britain”—a softening typical of the difference between Q-Celtic and P-Celtic.271 The question becomes, was this in reference to the harp, hence meaning “the land of harpers”, or was it in reference to Rta, “the land of order?” Probably both. Julius Ceasar wrote:

It is thought that the doctrine of the Druids; was invented in Britain and was brought there into Gaul; even today those who want to study the doctrine in greater detail go to Britain to learn there....272

As mentioned earlier, the most detailed account of ritual harp playing in ancient Britain has been dismissed as such by historians because they haven’t understood the division of the waters.

...in the region beyond the land of the Celts (Gaul, modern France) there lies in the ocean an island no smaller than Sicily. This island ...is situated in the north and is inhabited by the Hyperboreans... and since it has an unusually temperate climate it produces two harvests each year....And there is also on the island both a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape. Furthermore, a city there is 75 which is sacred to this god, and the majority of its inhabitants are players on the cithara; and these continually play on this instrument in the temple and sing hymns of praise to the god, glorifying his deeds. Apollo visits the island once in a course of nineteen years, in which period the stars complete their revolutions....” Diodorus Siculus, referring to information given by Hecateus of Abdera.273

Britain appears to be the source for essential ideas associated with the harp. At what level these ideas originated in Britain isn’t clear. My guess is that the association of the harp with complex cycles of time originated in Britain and that the specific structure of the Spindle was imported back there around 1700 BC with the Dannan. As given to Plato by the Egyptian historian, Solon, beyond the straits of Gibraltar there was an island—which originally was larger than at present and which was connected to the continent by a land bridge. This places the beginning of the story at the close of the ice age— when Britain was connected to the continent. The story’s implication is that, at some very ancient time, the British attempted to invade Greece.

For it is related in our records how once upon a time your (the Athenian) state stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attach the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles', there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean....274

Plato described this as a warrior culture.

Now at that time there dwelt in this country not only the other classes of the citizens who were occupied in the handicrafts and in the raising of food from the soil, but also the military class, which had been separated off at the commencement by divine heroes and dwelt apart.275

They appear to have settled the islands of the Mediterranean and particularly the island of Thera. However, during the second millennium BC, Thera was largely destroyed by a volcano. Confusion between Atlantis as Britain and the fate of the British occupation of Thera explains this passage:

So this host being all gathered together, made an attempt one time to enslave by one single onslaught both your country and ours and the whole of the territory within the Straits....But at a later time there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods and one grievous day and night befell them, when the whole body of your warriors was swallowed up by the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner was swallowed up by the sea....”276

Fleeing Thera, this group seems to have moved into Egypt. From c.1788 to1580 BC a coalition of Island Peoples and Sea People seems to have ruled Egypt.277 Whether this confederacy's conquest of Egypt was actually military is debatable. They seem to have entered Egypt as administrators and leaders, a group capable of running the government. At the same time, apparently seeking to imitate those that had threatened to rule them, in the wake of the volcano and the shift of sea people culture to Egypt, Greek Myceneans rebuilt

76 abandoned sea people/Minoan cities and kept them flourishing for a couple hundred years. Ultimately, they appear to have been unable to sustain the level of culture which the Sea and Island People had originally established in those places.278 Eventually, and in a manner and for reasons that are not wholly clear, the Egyptians seem to have expelled these foreign rulers. The exit of these foreign rulers appears to be tied to the emergence of people called the Danaan. From this point the learning associated with the Minoan/Sea People/Island People seems to be related in references to the Danaan. Many if not most of the Danaan seem to have journeyed to Greece. And, in addition to references to the Danaan, we have references to a leader—Danaus.

This king, (Danaus) fleeing from his brother Ramesses, also called Aegyptus, was driven from his kingdom of Egypt and came to Greece...His descendants thereafter were called Danaidae... 279

The historian Manetho equated Danaus with the Egyptian Pharaoh, Harmhad—c. 1306 BC280 first of those who attempted to restore Egypt after the Amarna reaction to foreign rule.281 The Amarna period was characterized by a radical reaction to the rule imposed on Egypt by foreigners and was characterized by an almost fanatical sun worship. We can suggest that such sun worship aimed to counter practices and excesses associated with the rule of the Sea People and Island People confederacy. In this, as described below, the sun may be associated strongly with fire as was Jupiter. Danaan or Danaus relates to Danu or Diana, designating the female hunter goddess. In the Indian Rigveda, Danu is associated with rain. In Irish lore, she is the mother goddess of the Danaan. The term should probably be understood as the great waters and the heaven insofar as heaven is the dome, house or frame and, as such, is comparable to Keltoi meaning the ceiling or dome of heaven. The naming of the Danaan seems to reflect the importance of water to ideas promoted by the pharaoh Harmhad. The waning of direct conflict between the two systems of belief did not mean the end of this conflict. It would arise again within early Christianity and, in altered form, survives today, in our own time. After the Amarna period, reaction to sun-worship, the effort to restore the older belief and a desire to tie such efforts to military defeat of the Hittites seem to underlie the story of Moses, Aaron and the Exodus in the Old Testament. The figure of Moses is closely tied to that of Osiris and hence to the older, water oriented imagery. The story of Moses' birth closely resembles that of Osiris' emergence from the waters. Moses relates to a Hebrew word meaning “to draw out of the water”. A Middle Eastern group allied to the Sea People or Danaan, the Hebrews—a term that may originally have meant “bandits”—seems to have have been those who rejected the priest- class' emphasis on sun worship during the Amarna period. Their exodus from Egypt seems to parallel the general dispersal of the Sea and Island Peoples from Egypt. Danaus or Harmhad appears to be the Biblical Amram—father of Moses and Aaron. He was probably not the Pharaoh Amosis who ruled immediately after the foreigners were thrown out— c.1580—c.1557 BC 282. According to the Irish Annals of the Four Masters, the Tuatha de Danann ruled Ireland from 1897 BC to 1700 BC. The myth of Danaus is a foundation legend (or

77 re-foundation legend) of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus— 1600 to 1100BC.283 All this resulted from Sea People associated with the exodus of sea peoples—people of the waters—associated with Harmad—Danaus—from Egypt. Harmhad seems to have invoked the memory of the older series of Pharaohs titled Amosis—those who held to water oriented belief during the pre-Amarna period. He seems to have resisted priests promoting sun worship as they again gained ground in Egypt due to the rise of the Hittites whose empire then came c. 1375-1200BC. Harmhad seems to have enlisted those who wished to reassert the ideas associated with restoration after the Amarna period. His identification as Danaus seems to be a title conferred by virtue of his support for the old water oriented imagery. In the Biblical story, opposing Moses there is Aaron who seems allied to the priests and with the sun-worship of the Amarna period as well as with its apparent later re-emergence due to Hittite influence. In the Biblical story, Aaron is stripped and let die. His son takes his garment. Aaron and his followers were punished for worshipping the golden calf—presumably representative of the sun. Also, for drinking the forbidden “waters of separation” that the rod creates from the rock.284 Like the stick and ball or the mikku and pikku of Sumerian lore, the rod and rock probably represented the division of order controlled by the seer or leader.285 In a broad sense, they are equivalent to the pillar and net or center and ring. The “waters of separation” seems to refer to ritual separation of divine order. Apparently, sacrificing the calf and drinking its blood deeply offended the older water oriented ritual concepts associated with Moses. The older practice of the Danaan is perhaps found in Plato's description where the priest pours the blood into a cup and then over a pillar inscribed with the law. In this water oriented belief—probably that of the Atlanteans or, later, the Danaan— the role of water is paramount, superior to the power of fire and holding it in check. At least for those conserving old belief, fire continued to be equated with the seasonal waxing of the active force as part of a broad metaphysical duality. Fire was not a permanent or fixed deliverer of material power. If we associate fire with lightning and hence with Jupiter, this discussion of the roles of the waters in ritual seems to describe a difference between older ideas associated first with Venus and then Saturn versus newer ideas as Jupiter become pre-eminent. Plato's passage explains this ritual interplay between fire and liquid. Again, note that the wine with the clot of blood is not drunken. It is poured on the fire—asserting the power of the waters of separation and hence of the hidden metaphysical realm over the literal and material power of fire and the sun. At this point, the most important ritual seems to have come at the end of the fifth year.

...the middle of the island (of Atlantis), at the temple of Poseidon, whither the kinds were gathers together every fifth and sixth year...the bull which they caught they led up to the pillar and cut its throat over the top of it so that the blood fell upon the sacred inscription. Now on the pillar, besides the law, there was inscribed an oath invoking mighty curses on the disobedient. When therefore, after slaying the bull in the accustomed manner, they had burnt its limbs, they filled a bowl of wine and cast in a clot of blood for each of them; the rest of the victim they put on the fire, after having purified the column all round. Then they drew from the bowl in golden cups, and pouring a libation on the fire, they swore that they would judge according to the laws on the pillar....286

78 What Aaron and his followers seem to have done was to drink the wine rather than pour it over the fire. This left the fire burning and probably got them slightly drunk. Such an act would have had important implications. To pour the liquid on the fire was, in essence, to douse the fire, asserting the pre-eminence of the waters and bringing the active season to the season of rest. To avoid pouring the liquid on the fire meant to raise fire to a new level of importance. To drink the liquid may have been understood as endowing the priests with direct and sole access to the power of fire. It elevated the sun god to a primary position and displaced the old emphasis on a broad metaphysical duality. It created a singular divine will accessible only to an elite. After Aaron's death Moses makes a fiery serpent and sets it on a pole. The bite of this serpent was said to be protection against the bite of other serpents.287 Again, like the fish, the serpent represents the netted powers of the waters and knowledge—the frame or circle. Aaron has a serpent that protects against other serpent—implicitly creating a power of fire in a serpent against the serpent associated with the waters. This long-forgotten conflict in Egypt formed the basis for the exodus of the Danaan and, in a broader sense, the reinforcement of outlying areas, particularly in Britain, where conservation of ideas associated with the waters and structured cultural process had long thrived. It probably brought to many areas, an particularly Britain, a more conscious opposition to the rising ride of hierarchical power tied at its top to a one-dimensional authoritarian god. At this early time, that power was associated with the sun. Ultimately, the head and model for authoritarian power became the planet Jupiter—Zeus or Deus. The migration of the Danaan out of the Mediterranean seems to have carried the Semetic Lu/Bel dichotomy, across Europe. The Lu/Bel dichotomy then became a widespread encapsulation of the struggle or battle between activity and rest, the forces of the moon and sun or of immaterial power and material wealth. Bel would be allied to the power of fire. Lu remained the young traveler born of ritual mating. How their relationship was resolved—who won their battle—would define the difference between the Norse and the Celts. There were two groups of migrating Danaan—probably meaning a group of leaders who took ideas to people already living in Europe. One group traveled through Greece and eastern Europe absorbing the pre-eminence of fire coming with Babylonian influence and would arrived in Scandinavia. The other group traveled through Spain to Ireland and this group saw Lu as pre-eminent, essentially bringing into Ireland a new terminology for old ideas already present. Once they were expelled from Egypt, the Danaan appear to have been among those steadily pursued by the Egyptians—probably seeking to drive back any further threat. The Danaan were described by Ramses III (c.1180-1149BC), as “People of the Islands.”288 Egyptian writings sometimes refer to the Island or Sea Peoples whom they were fighting as the Nine Bows.

He (Amenhotep) is a king very weighty of arm; there is not one who can draw his bow among his army among the hill country sheiks....There is not one that saves himself from him; he makes a (slaughter) among his enemies, the Nine Bows likewise.289

Among the eastern migrating Danaan, around 1200 BC, they participated in the attack on Troy and became the Danaan heroes of Homer's Illiad—the legendary ancestors of the classical

79 Greeks. At least to begin with, this eastern branch of the Danaan seems to have also aimed to conserve the primacy of the waters, the night and the moon. Manetho says that Danaus transferred worship of Io, the moon, to Greece.290 The names Danube and Denmark trace the further progress of the Danaan northward. Combined with Scythian influence, the Danaan may have formed the nucleus for the rise of archaeology’s Celtic culture in eastern Switzerland around 800 BC. The second branch of the Danaan apparently journeyed through Spain and into Ireland where they blended into the very ancient imagery still conserved by the People of the Sidhe—the people of Mountain imagery—in Ireland. As a result, during the first millennium BC, Britain acted as a repository of conservative influence upon Western Europe. Medieval Irish history describe both Danaan branches.

They passed the Caucasian Mountains, Scythia, and India, crossed the Caspian Sea which lies there, crossed the Palus Maeotus and arrived in Europe; from the South East Mediterranean to the North West, right of Africa, they passed the columns of Heracles on their way to Spain and thence to this island (Ireland)....291

Egypt, the middle east and the eastern branch of the Danaan seem to have all moved closer to a belief that eternal fire, divine will, the sun god and the duality of heaven and earth should replace older water-oriented imagery. In contrast, the arrival of the Lu/Bel dichotomy in Britain—along with the western branch of the Danaan—seems to have been absorbed into an already long-standing entrenchment of the old metaphysical concepts. Britain became a source for the preservation of basic metaphysical structures and the old water oriented imagery that now formed the basis of a complex calendar system.292

Part Three.

Reordering The Planets—The Ascendance of Zeus

The emergence of western religion—a singular God—seems to have begun with mystical Chaldean ideas about power. However, it gained form with a substitution of Jupiter for Saturn as the planet or God in the lead, probably around 1000BC. The social background to this shift probably lay in several things: the accumulation of dynastic wealth, the increased and somewhat bewildering complexity of the metaphysical ideas around the Spindle and planets—as added onto more ancient and basic ideas of duality—and the rise of writing, both for trade and for divinatory purposes. Most noticeably, ideas of hierarchical authority in the divine arena created a vertical concept of order that, when mirrored in society, leant to forms of fixed social order and control. The shift to Jupiter as primary planet or god seems to have come in the wake of the conflict between Hittite ideas of the sun and Sea People adherence to ideas associated with the waters. Where Saturn or Kronos was associated with time and the system that bracketed the seven planets as an order in the heavens, Jupiter seems to have been associated with lightning, the strike and hence with writing of marks or letters. The root seemed to be Teud, Teutates, Ju or Tu. And it seems to have accompanied a shift of the shaman or priest class to within the realm of military and monetary control—moving to the centers of power and less frequently restricted to isolated centers of arcane learning. The implication for this shift and its impact on systems of believe from the Middle East through Europe would be profound. Today, we use the word “religion” and often mean this patriarchal figure in the heavens who dictates all kinds of rules. In reaction, the alternative is sometimes thought to be a kindly goddess figure—someone whom this patriarchal figure must have violently displaced. This scenario is only partly true. The displacement or downgrading of Venus occurred. However, the more immediate and complex shift was away from a system based on time, cycles and steps to a hierarchy in which a singular God—Zeus, Jupiter or Deus— ruled over an amalgamated pantheon. The change is described by Hesiod as Zeus/Jupiter defeating Saturn. Hesiod’s lauds the event and his account seems designed to put forth the official account—outlining the order of things everyone should now accept as marvelous. His lofty boasting gives little explanation for how the conflict and its resolution were framed among the learned. It appears designed for ordinary people. His writing on this sounds like a politically funded piece of propaganda—a unilateral praise for the ascendance of Zeus/Jupiter over Saturn/Cronos with not much real explanation for why this occurred. The ascendance of Zeus/Jupiter creates a hierarchical pantheon in place of the older, more horizontal system associated with the seven: Luna, Hermes, Venus, and Sol, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Implicitly, this seems a sea-change in thinking— creating authoritarian order and thinking as a social norm. Hesiod seems to present the change as a resolution of continued strife—placing one planet or god over all in place of that strife. He gives no explanation for what purpose the strife might have served or why its resolution is better. 81 This implies that the alternations inherent to the cycles or circles associated with the system of Saturn and Moon were, somehow, simple too much trouble or difficult for someone—perhaps for secular rulers who found themselves held in check by the watchers of the stars, the seers who divined according to the cycles.

For the Titan gods and as many as sprang from Cronos had long been fighting together in stubborn war with heart-grieving toil, the lordly Titans from high Othyrs, but the gods, givers of good, whom rich-haired Rhea bare in union with Cronos, from Olympus. So they, with bitter wrath, were fighting continually with one another at that time for ten full years, and the hard strife had no close or end for either side, and the issue of the war hung evenly balanced. But when he had provided those three with all things fitting, nectar and ambrosia which the gods themselves eat, and when their proud spirit revived within them all after they had fed on nectar and delicious ambrosia, then it was that the father of men and gods (Jupiter or Zeus) spoke amongst them:

(ll. 644-653) `Hear me, bright children of Earth and Heaven, that I may say what my heart within me bids. A long while now have we, who are sprung from Cronos and the Titan gods, fought with each other every day to get victory and to prevail. But do you show your great might and unconquerable strength, and face the Titans in bitter strife; for remember our friendly kindness, and from what sufferings you are come back to the light from your cruel bondage under misty gloom through our counsels.'2

There are other sources that may shed light on this important change. Emphasis on a singular, paternal One on high seems first articulated in Chaldean fragments. Here, a creation story focuses on the One or Him who sits beside the Dyad—as if the One originated as the transcendent third of the triad.

Look not upon Nature, for her name is fatal.293

All things have issued from that one Fire. The Father perfected all things, and delivered them over to the Second Mind, whom all Nations of Men call the First.294 And beside Him is seated the Dyad which glitters with intellectual sections, to govern all things and to order everything not ordered.295

The Mind of the Father whirled forth in reechoing roar, comprehending by invincible Will Ideas omniform; which flying forth from that one fountain issued; for from the Father alike was the Will and the End (by which are they connected with the Father according to alternating life, through varying vehicles). But they were divided asunder, being by Intellectual Fire distributed into other Intellectuals. For the King of all previously placed before the polymorphous World a Type, intellectual, incorruptible, the imprint of whose form is sent forth through the World, by which the Universe shone forth decked with Ideas all various, of which the foundation is One, One and alone. From this the others rush forth distributed and separated through the various bodies of the Universe, and are borne in swarms through its vast abysses, ever whirling forth in illimitable radiation. They are intellectual conceptions from the Paternal Fountain partaking abundantly of the brilliance of Fire in the culmination of unresting Time. But the primary self-perfect Fountain of the Father poured forth these primogenial Ideas.296

82 The idea of a singular, paternal creator contrasts a range of older stories in which order was a process—the result of the young god who takes on the old god, imitating the cycle. This being said, much of the lore that accrues to the singular One or God as creator seems derived from these older stories of the great battle that mimics the cycle. Often, in that quest, the young god slays nine beasts as a preliminary step, implying the journey through the garden of order and a final battle toward the East. The In the Irish story, Lugaid slays the one eyed giant Balor. Also, Finn slays the Burner of Tara and inherits his father's feud with the one eyed Aed of Morna.297 Cuchulainn slays the one eyed Goll mac Carbada. In Norse lore, Loki guides Hoder in the slaying of Baldr.298 In the Old Testament, playing the harp or lyre, David slays Goliath. In Homer, Odysseus slays the Cyclops. Bal or Bel is often the giant or one eyed god. “Bel” derives from the Semitic “Ba'al” meaning simply “owner of a place”. It was initially applied to all deities as owners of a place.299 Yet, a more specific usage arose. Babylonian writings describe Bel as the “god of the mountain”, replacing the term Enki as a name for the sacred mountain.300 In the Old Testament, Baal is the Canaanite god Hadad or “thunderer”. In this sense, he seems to be a precursor of the singular Tude or “striker” god—Zeus, Teutates, Othin, Thund,301 etc.. However, Bel and Teutates or Zeus appear to differentiate in Celtic usage as Teutates comes to represent the center point, thunderbolt or pillar while Zeus takes on a more abstract role above all and that thunderbolt is wielded by the young god who slays Bel and brings order. The Irish story of Lugaid’s birth equates him to Osiris or Moses, born from the waters. He is born in the shadow of efforts by Balor to kill the child.

Now Balor had set his mind for a long time on the Glas Gaibhnenn, but he had never been able to get near her up to this time. And he was watching not far off, and when he saw Samthainn holding the cow, he put on the appearance of a little boy, having red hair, and came up to him and told him he heard his two brothers that were in the forge saying to one another that they would use all his steel for their own swords, and make his of iron. "By my word," said Samthainn, "they will not deceive me so easily. Let you hold the cow, little lad," he said, "and I will go in to them." With that he rushed into the forge, and great anger on him. And no sooner did Balor get the halter in his hand than he set out, dragging the Glas along with him, to the strand, and across the sea to his own island. When Cian saw his brother coming in he rushed out, and there he saw Balor and the Glas out in the sea. And he had nothing to do then but to reproach his brother, and to wander about as if his wits had left him, not knowing what way to get his cow back from Balor. At last he went to a Druid to ask an advice from him; and it is what the Druid told him, that so long as Balor lived, the cow would never be brought back, for no one would go within reach of his Evil Eye. Cian went then to a woman-Druid, Birog of the Mountain, for her help. And she dressed him in a woman's clothes, and brought him across the sea in a blast of wind, to the tower where Ethlinn was. Then she called to the women in the tower, and asked them for shelter for a high queen she was after saving from some hardship, and the women in the tower did not like to refuse a woman of the Tuatha de Danaan, and they let her and her comrade in. Then Birog by her enchantments put them all into a deep sleep, and Cian went to speak with Ethlinn. And when she saw him she said that was the face she had seen in her dreams. So she gave him her love; but after a while he was brought away again on a blast of wind. And when her time came, Ethlinn gave birth to a son. And when Balor knew that, he bade his people put the child in a cloth and fasten it with a pin, and throw him into a current of the sea. And as they were carrying the child across an arm of the sea, the pin dropped out, and the child slipped from the cloth into the water, and they thought he was drowned. But he was brought away by Birog of the

83 Mountain, and she brought him to his father Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of the King of the Great Plain. It is thus Lugh was born and reared.

In Irish lore, Lugaid rescues the ailing king—Nuada, Lludd or Nodens. The Old Testament’s David aiding Saul may be related to this motif and account for the manner in which David later came to be the patron of the harp in Christianized British/Celtic belief.

...Balor (“grandson of Net”) is unlike ordinary men. He has a giant's frame; one of his eyes, though usually kept closed as if he were blind, has such a deadly glance that it will slay anyone.... 302

Hoder took the mistletoe and shot at Balder under the guidance of Loke. The dart pierced him and he fell dead to the ground. 303

In Europe, Bel is the Norse Baldr or the Irish Balor.

Not yet near enough to reach Balor with his sword, Lug seized a sling from the hand of a dead man, fitted the stone, which had rolled only a few inches away, and hurled it. The missile caught the dreaded eye just as it was opening, and carried it through the king's head with the ease of a knife piercing a leaf. Like a tree shivered by a thunderbolt, Balor toppled and fell. 304

The practical roots of a shift to One on high seem to have lain in eliminating the practice of ritual mating—part of ritual associated with ideas of the cycle and, socially, designed to create leaders of the warrior class who would not benefit from or create dynastic wealth. This seems to go back to the initial ideas of search associated with the importance of Venus journeying into the unseen and then returning. In this, Venus traveled through the seven gates and then mated. Initially, it was Venus/Ianni who traveled through the seven

129-133And when Inana entered, (1 ms. adds 2 lines: the lapis-lazuli measuring rod and measuring line were removed from her hand, when she entered the first gate,) the turban, headgear for the open country, was removed from her head. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld." 134-138When she entered the second gate, the small lapis-lazuli beads were removed from her neck. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld." 139-143When she entered the third gate, the twin egg-shaped beads were removed from her breast. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld." 144-148When she entered the fourth gate, the "Come, man, come" pectoral was removed from her breast. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld." 149-153When she entered the fifth gate, the golden ring was removed from her hand. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld." 154-158When she entered the sixth gate, the lapis-lazuli measuring rod and measuring line were removed from her hand. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld."

84 159-163When she entered the seventh gate, the pala dress, the garment of ladyship, was removed from her body. "What is this?" "Be satisfied, Inana, a divine power of the underworld has been fulfilled. Inana, you must not open your mouth against the rites of the underworld."305

In the texts, the man who rapes Ianna, Su-Kale-tuda, has seen his crops die due to lack of moisture. He is executed as a result of the rape. But Ianna restores fertility to the crops. Implicitly, there is a ritual mating that restores fertility and a killing that prevents dynastic inheritance.

In other words, the traveler through the heavens may initially have been the young seductive goddess, Venus. A shift to a hierarchical system seems to inherently involve leaving behind this journey thru the seven—probably associated with the conflict described by Hesio. While her father creates the order, her journey through the order precedes a ritual mating. That too seems to go away with the shift to a hierarchical order under Zeus/Jupiter. And, that may be a key purpose to that change—removing the king created by ritual meeting and, instead, allowing dynastic wealth to accumulate and dynastic succession.

306

With its three musics or scale and its notes named for the seven planets, the musical system of the harp or large lyre reflected those older ideas. The harp’s three scales or musics reflected the birth cycle.

Gentle and melodious this Triad; theirs were the chants of childbirth. Three noble brothers were they: Sorrow-strain, Joy-strain, Sleep-strain, and Boyne from the Shee (Sidhe) their mother: it is of this music which Uaithne the Dagda's harp played that the three are named. What time children were being born its strain was sorrow and travail from the soreness of birth pangs beginning; next a strain of glee and of joy it played because of the pleasure of bringing the two sons to birth; the strain played by the last son was one soothing and soft because of the heaviness of birth, so that it is from him that the third of the music has been named.307

The shift to a hierarchical, authoritarian system of rule and thinking, devalued those who monitored the heavens and who mated with Venus. The intricacy of the five-year calendar and of a firmament defined by 30 required specialists—experts who could keep track of all the overlapping cycles and the dualities they contained. According to Julius Caesar:

They (the Druids ) hold long discussion about the heavenly bodies and their movements....308

Roman writers gave the term “Druid” as the Gaulic term for seers and listed Druid with Vates and Bards—implying three orders. Bard may relate to Bor meaning “mountain” and seems to specify the reciters or poets. Vate suggests “fate” and divination. Whether these were stages in education or three parallel orders is not clear. None of these groups seems to be uniquely associated with the harp…many probably played it with favored performers selected based on resulting skill. The Bards seems associated with training in lyric. The Druids seem associated with knowledge of the cycle—watching the heavens. The Vates seems associated with delivery of divination—perhaps accessing it in some symbolic form that the Bards would incorporate into lyric.

86 The term “Druid” may be related to Idireug Gearr meaning “short month of change”. Idireug Gearr relates to the Babylonian Itti Dirig, the Sumerian Dir.se. Gurkud,309 and the Breton Gourdeziou.310 All seem to be terms for the period that reconciled the lunar and solar years and, perhaps, for other intercalary periods as well. The terms seem to underline the personification, “Idris”—whose parallel in the Middle East was Enoch, the traveler through the seven in heaven where the two waters flowed and the two trees grew. In the Welsh lore, it was Idris Gawr who first made the harp—the harp being gained from the waters. This seems to be a statement that the harp was understood as directly created by the study of order.

These are the Triads of the Bards The Three primitive Bards of the Island of Britain: Idris Gawr, the most ancient, who first made the harp...311

Apparently, men came along who believed that such an elite, watchers of the heavens, were impeding the coherence of civilization and exploiting women while creating a special warrior class that ruled with impunity. This lead to casting down of the watchers of heaven and labeling ritual mating as evil. The Slavonic Book Of Enoch seem to focus on the traveler through heaven in this later context of changing systems.

6.8 These are the leaders of the two hundred Angels and of all the others with them. 7.1 And they took wives for themselves and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go into them and were promiscuous with them. And they taught them charms and spells, and they showed them the cutting of roots and trees. 7.2 And they became pregnant and bore large giants. And their height was three thousand cubits. 7.3 These devoured all the toil of men; until men were unable to sustain them. 7.4 And the giants turned against them in order to devour men. 7.5 And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles, and against fish, and they devoured one another's flesh, and drank the blood from it. 7.6 Then the Earth complained about the lawless ones. 8.1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and daggers, and shields, and breastplates. And he showed them the things after these, and the art of making them; bracelets, and ornaments, and the art of making up the eyes, and of beautifying the eyelids, and the most precious stones, and all kinds of coloured dyes. And the world was changed.

10.2 "Say to him in my name; hide yourself! And reveal to him the end, which is coming, because the whole earth will be destroyed. A deluge is about to come on all the earth; and all that is in it will be destroyed. 10.3 And now teach him so that he may escape and his offspring may survive for the whole Earth."

This promiscuity has created sin and evil. 15.4 And you were spiritual, Holy, living an eternal life, but you became

87 unclean upon the women, and begot children through the blood of flesh, and lusted after the blood of men, and produced flesh and blood, as they do, who die and are destroyed. 15.5 And for this reason I give men wives; so that they might sow seed in them, and so that children might be born by them, so that deeds might be done on the Earth. 15.6 But you, formerly, were spiritual, living an eternal, immortal life, for all the generations of the world. 15.7 For this reason I did not arrange wives for you; because the dwelling of the spiritual ones is in Heaven.

29 15.8 And now, the giants who were born from body and flesh will be called Evil Spirits on the Earth, and on the Earth will be their dwelling. 15.9 And evil spirits came out from their flesh, because from above they were created, from the Holy Watchers was their origin and first foundation. Evil spirits they will be on Earth and ‘Spirits of the Evil Ones’ they will be called. The Slavonic Book of Enoch

Not only was Saturn/Kronos displaced by Jupiter, Venus saw her role diminished. As given by Hesiod, Aphrodite (Venus) reflected upon her former status and its change.

My trysts and stratagems [mêtis pl.] with which I used to get all the immortal gods mated with mortal women used to be feared by them [the gods]. For my power of noos used to subdue all of them. But now my mouth can never again boast about this among the immortals. I have gone very far off the track, in a wretched and inexcusable way. I have strayed from my noos.312

As compared to the traditional order cited above, in the Slavonic Book of Enoch, Venus moves from the fifth place to the second place and Jupiter moves from second place up to fifth place. The Slavonic Book of Enoch gives an explanation and describes the casting down from the fifth to second heaven. A key element lies in the evils of seduction—the power of the woman or goddess Venus.

MUSICAL ORDER, the SLAVONIC BOOK OF basic original order ENOCH Saturn Saturn Jupiter Venus Mars Mars Sun Sun Venus Jupiter Mercury Mercury Moon Moon

And there was no service in the fifth heaven. And I said to the men who were with me :' Why are these men very withered, and their faces melancholy, and their- lips silent, and there is no service in this heaven ? 3. And they said to me :' These are the Grigori, who, with their prince Satanail rejected the holy Lord. 4. And in consequence of these things they are kept in great darkness in the second heaven ;

88 and of them there went three to the earth from the throne of God to the place Ermon ; and they entered into dealings on the side of Mount Ermon, and they saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and took unto themselves wives. 5. And they made the earth foul with their deeds. And they acted lawlessly in all times of this age, and wrought confusion, and the giants were born, and the strangely tall men, and there was much wickedness. Chap XVIII The Slavonic Book of Enoch

Moved in position, Jupiter then lies directly below Saturn. This seems to presage a further shift in which Saturn—associated with the ultimate delineation of time was replaced as the primary one by Jupiter. That being said, the original order survived in descriptions of the scale and music.

89 A More Open and Public Knowing

In ancient times those who practiced Tao well did not seek to enlighten the people, but to make them ignorant.313

...some things were set down by them (the ancients) in the treatises while the more esoteric things were preserved in their associations one with another. Aristotle 314

The meanings and implications with these systems may well have been kept as private knowledge among the few—their iconic elements known to all but their study and deeper meaning held by an elite. This changed most significantly as elements of the ancient learning were adapted to a story with purely social purposes—the story of Jesus. That effort came in the wake of Plato’s discussions of Good, with suffering under oppression by the Roman empire, and as people sought to revive the ancient learning yet make it broadly applicable to society even as with decline of Rome, society was returning to tribal violence and iconography. The fish, the cross and other elements to that story tapped into ancient ideas. The basis for the cross symbol lay in bronze age depictions of the fourfold net—either in T or X shape. Because the articulation of social order had often arisen in a ritual and sacred context, for many the T, Tyr or Tau shape and letter represented the power of the net upon the cutting instrument. Among the Norse, the symbol was cut onto sword hilts as the literal sword came to be emblematic of the metaphysical sword wielded by the striker-god.

Runes of war know thou, If great thou wilt be! Cut them on hilt of hardened sword, Some on the brand's back, Some on its shining side, Twice name Tyr therein. 315

Perhaps because of the association between the T or X and punishment, some people seem to have regarded it as a negative symbol. Perhaps, given this passage by the Roman Lucian, we should understand this fear as emanating from Hellenic culture.

“Men weep, and bewail their lot, and curse Cadmus over and over for putting Tau into the alphabet; for they say that their tyrants, following his figure and imitating his build, have fashioned timbers in the same shape and crucify men upon them; and that it is from him that the sorry device gets its sorry name (stauros, cross).” 316

When the Roman Empire began to decline, Germanic tribes came south through Europe bringing elements of the old belief. Moving in the opposite direction, writing spread into areas of the older belief from Rome and Greece and along with the power of writing came a new more objectified power of divine will. The spread of divinatory practices associated with writing spread into Britain along with Christianity. The letters Chi and Rho signified the first two letters of Chrestos meaning “auspicious” or “fortunate.” Together, they were symbolic of the net within

90 the circle as in Plato's description of the curved X, above. Chi is the Greek X while Rho or R added a curve to the X. In 312 AD the Roman emperor, Constantine, had a dream. It inspired him to place the Greek initials X and R, called Chi and Rho, on his battle standard. The letters appear to have

already had some popularity as a symbol for the idea of the relaxed X—depicting the spindle or spindles as described by Plato in the Timaeus and as probably widely held to represent the duality of Same and Other or divisible and indivisible. The Chi or X was widely used on Roman coin317 and probably was held to represent order—hence the use of a device for crucifixion based on this order. Constantine sought to bring this symbolic power to the aid of his army.

Constantine while resting was warned to put the celestial sign of God as a mark upon his shields and so to give battle. He did as he was bidden and, setting the letter X aslant and bending round its topmost end, marked chi rho upon the shields. Armed with this sign his soldiers advanced to the fight.318

As a result of Constantine using these symbols, the symbol of the cross—specifically of the X combined with a curve— came to be allied to the cult of Jesus . And the name Jesus came to be somewhat upstaged by the name of these two letters—Chrestos. In Greek this was spelled Xristos—CH being written as X, hence the name X-mas for Christmas. (The birth of Christ was set at Dec. 25 so that it could compete with the celebrations of Mithras that fell on the Roman festival of Saturnalia.) Constantine is thought to have first used the symbol some 13 years before he converted to what would then come to be called—after this use of the term Chrestos— Christianity.319 A revived learning or power of symbols available to the masses and championed by the leader probably seemed to offset the opposite tendency—one consistent with ancient practice, particularly in Ireland and among the Gnostics in the middle East, of learning in the hands of an increasingly isolated and effete elite of seers. Rome’s decline abetted that tendency. And yet, this group was now focused on divinatory writing rather than on the calendar—on Jupiter or Deus rather than Saturn or Cronos. A Gnostic text describes this broad extension of power. The image of the veil seems to represent the covering or cloak upon the pillar—the net. The cross has replaced the image of the pillar. The veil comes to be rent from top to bottom and the perfect light pours out upon everyone. Though the tribe of the priesthood receives a special entry into the veil in order to

91 witness the order of creation, their entry frees the slaves and prisoners—extending the benefits to society as a whole.

The veil at first concealed how God ordered the creation. But when the veil is rent and the things within become visible, this house will be left deserted, or rather will be destroyed.320 But the whole divinity will not flee these places into the holy of the holies, for it will not be able to mingle with the (un) alloyed light and the faultless Pleroma, but it will be under the wings of the cross (and under its) arms. This ark will be (its) salvation when the flood of water prevails over them. If some are in the tribe of the priesthood, these will be able to enter within the veil with the high priest. Therefore the veil was not rent only above, since they would be open only for those from above. Nor was it rent only below, since it would have appeared only to those from below, but it was rent from the top to the bottom321...then the perfect light will point out upon everyone and all those who are in it will receive (the anointing.) Then the slaves will be free (and) the prisoners will be ransomed.322

For those holding to the new ideas, the role of Jesus appears to have been similar to that of St. Brendan in the Irish Voyage of St. Brendan—he became the archetypal seer guiding those with him to the source of power. Both figures make the power of knowledge available to their disciples and, through them, to society at large. Brendan leads his followers to the pillar covered by the net.

We can recognize in these ideas a revival of the ancient ideas associated with the seer. Now, however, imagery of knowledge as light or fire was often tied to now widespread image of a paternal striker god—a thunder god ruling on high and delivering light much as does the sun, from above. This emphasis on a vertical order and on light from above sweeping aside darkness below meant that the young warrior god—Jesus or Brendan—lacked warrior traits. He became instead a humble servant to a great power residing above. The old imagery for activity— of the serpent associated with the circle, of the dog, of the wolf or the raven—was pushed aside in favor of this kindly redeemer who would open the veil for society as a whole. Unfortunately, this seemingly benign shift in imagery not only emanated from true believer but also abetted a disorganized nobility anxious to use the old learning in order to sack the old temples. As Western Europe fell into chaos following the withdrawal of imperial Rome, the aristocracy could use these ideas to justify pillaging the hoards where gold had long been kept in tribute to the spirits of the mountain. 324

...in temples and precincts made consecrate in their (the Celt's) land, a great amount of gold has been deposited as a dedication to the gods, and not a native of the country ever touches it because of religious scruple....325

Those who still possessed this wealth were those who still clung to elements of the old water-oriented imagery—the Celts and the British. Perhaps this gold was seen as a ransom to the spirits of the waters. The idea had a good deal of practical importance— by collecting such

92 wealth as tribute to the spirits, the bards could better hold the entire notion of physical power in check. In Beowulf we have the most graphic description of a raid upon that wealth. The text suggests that the wealth was taken out of the ancient hoard because it was being wasted there. In order to remove it, the old ways must be evil.

The eight of them went down in the barrow, beneath the evil roof. He who led them held a torch, a firelight in hand. No lots were drawn over that hoard once the men saw how every part of it lay unguarded throughout the hall, gold wasting away.326

The terrible armor of the shining dragon was scorched by his flames. In length he measured fifty foot paces. Once he controlled the air in joys, had ridden on the wind throughout the night, then flew back down to seek his den. Now he lay there, stiff in death, found no more caves. Beside him were piled pitchers and flagons, dishes in heaps, and well-wrought swords eaten by rust, just as they had lain in the deep of the earth for a thousand years. In those days, mighty in its powers, the gold of the ancients was wrapped in a spell so that no man might touch that ring-hall unless the Lord, Truth-king of victories—man's true shield—should give permission to whom He wished to open the hoard....327

In Beowulf, it is fire that slays the dragon. We see the imagery of fire or light supplanting the older imagery of the serpent in the waters. Perhaps Beowulf was commissioned to provide an explanation for such pillaging of the hoards. Much of what we would now call Roman Christianity derived from the severity with which the Norse nobility rejected the ancient learning. Having said this, it is important to realize that Norse belief was not singular. Norse lore contains a layering—preserving three or perhaps four distinct levels of imagery and belief. There is the aphoristic imagery of the most ancient times, couched in sayings. Then there are remnants of more organized lore associated with the searching wolf—Loki. Then there is the paternalistic striker god—Odin. Then there is the slayer of the serpent—Thor. Along the way there is an effort to integrate into successive layers some— but not all—of the earlier stories and images. The desire to revive the ancient imagery and make it serve new goals probably gained wide support due to reaction at the decline of imperial Rome. People lamented the lack of civil order even when critical of the moral decay associated with imperial Rome. They longed for a holy Roman Empire or at least a kingdoms modeled on Roman culture, albeit with a more moral orientation. Building on all these trends, the Roman church put itself forward as the only legitimate means by which knowledge should be disseminated. That knowledge was held to come through the church and clergy to the common man and, at least in theory, to affect all people equally. Hence the term “catholic.” However, by roughly 500 AD, the effort to revive ancient learning that at first occurred in the shadow of the Roman Empire had begun to give way to a rigid and authoritarian orthodoxy. The mystical element of search and the role of the seer—implied by stories of an ideal seer called Jesus, Buddha , Brendan or Arthur—gave way before a bureaucratic Roman administration that slowly and persistently pushed aside its early Christian rivals.

93 Based on the idea of gaining spiritual knowledge by means of a supra-rational knowing, those early rivals are today often called Middle Eastern Gnosticism—though the close ties between Middle Eastern Gnosticism and Celtic Christianity have been too little noticed. The areas in which the old learning could survive came to be restricted not simply by the Roman church but also by the social chaos that resulted from the collapse of Imperial Rome. After the collapse of Imperial Rome, by the 6th century the Celtic continent had been over run by northern tribes. In great number, crafts people from the continent fled to Ireland and Ireland where they defined an important center for early Christian non-Roman learning and the spread of non-Roman Christianity onto the continent. Ireland went from being a backwater of Celtic conservatism to a small island overflowing with knowledge.

At that time there were many of the English nation, both of noble and of lesser rank, who, whether for divine study or to lead a more continent life, had left their native land and had withdrawn to Ireland.328

From them the devastation of the whole empire took its beginning, and it was completed by Huns and Vandals, Goths, and Alans, at whose devastation all the learned men on this side of the sea took flight, and in transmarine parts, namely, in Ireland and wherever they betook themselves, brought about a very great increase of learning to the inhabitants of those regions.329

Ironically, the Roman church's eventual success could never have occurred had not the first wave of Christianity come to Western Europe from a distinctly non-Roman Celtic Christianity centered in Ireland. Roman Christianity and then European culture would eventually go to great lengths to claim themselves as rejections of pre-Christian primitivism. Not surprisingly, the form taken by early Irish Christianity seems to have been strongly influenced by the strength of pre-Christian knowledge in Ireland—a learning that remained strong because the Irish nobility had remained far less influenced by imperial Rome than had the nobility on the continent. There came into being groups of Irish learned who were distinctly Christian as well as some who were distinctly non-Christian. And the Christian came is various shades.

94 Letters For Divination

The system of divinatory letter was called Gematria and widely based on the number 24, based on 24 Greek letters. The number 12 also appears prominently in references to this system. The 24 Greek letters were also numbers. An early reference to this Greek system can be found in a depreciating remark made by Aristotle. He refers to the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet and equates this to both the gamut of the flute as well as to the choir in heaven.

“...the distance in the letters from Alpha to Omega is equal to that from the lowest note of the flute to the highest and that the number of this note is equal to the whole choir of heaven.”330

In a Gnostic text, Jesus described the shift away from ritual mating as a shift to 12 aeons—implying again that the rejection of the older ideas of structured process entailed a shift from divination through cycles of time to divination through letters and the overall advent of writing as literal law in civilization. He couches this as coming from the Light—implying the Tree of Knowledge and a force issuing from the East rather than one gained by the ritual journey from Earth to Heaven through the seven.

Jesus said: "These are the regions of the way of the midst. For it came to pass, when the rulers of Adamas mutinied and persistently practiced congress, procreating rulers, archangels, angels, servitors and decans, that Yew, the father of my father, came forth from the Right and bound them to a Fate-sphere. "For there are twelve æons; over six Sabaōth, the Adamas, ruleth, and his brother Yabraōth ruleth over the other six. At that time then Yabraōth with his rulers had faith in the mysteries of the Light and was active in the mysteries of the Light and abandoned the mystery of congress. But Sabaōth, the Adamas, and his rulers have persisted in the practice of congress. "And when Yew, the father of my father, saw that Yabraōth had faith, he carried him and all the rulers who had had faith with him, took him unto himself out of the sphere and led him into a purified air in face of the light of the sun between the regions of those of the midst and between [?] the regions of the invisible god. He posted him there with the rulers who had had faith in him. 331

The strong denunciation of the wicked continued—those associated with calendar order, the 360. In this passage, five planets ruled over the 360—possibly an allusion to five planets assigned to the five years of the five-year cycle. And, yet, clearly, this system is now rejected. The five planets selected exclude the sun and moon.

He bound eighteen-hundred rulers in every æon, and set three-hundred-and-sixty |361. over them, and he set five other great rulers as lords over the three-hundred-and-sixty and over all the bound rulers, who in the whole world of mankind are called with these names: the first is called Kronos, the second Arēs, the third Hermēs, the fourth Aphroditē, the fifth Zeus.332

95 under whose authority stand five-and-twenty archdemons which rule over a multitude of other demons. And it is those demons which enter into men and seduce them, raging and cursing and slandering; and it is they which carry off hence and in ravishment the souls and dispatch them through their dark smoke and their evil chastisements. 333

Five and nine appear in an Irish account.

Then he went on to where there was another dun, very large and royal, and another wall of bronze around it, and four houses within it. And he went in and saw a great king's house, having beams of bronze and walls of silver, and its thatch of the wings of white birds. And then he saw on the green a shining well, and five streams flowing from it, and the armies drinking water in turn, and the nine lasting purple hazels of Buan growing over it. And they were dropping their nuts into the water, and the five salmon would catch them and send their husks floating down the streams. And the sound of the flowing of those streams is sweeter than any music that men sing.....334

As a believer in reason and probably influenced by Chaldean ideas, Aristotle disliked such practices. The passage comes at the end of Aristotle's Metaphysics as if the entire work were aimed at disproving such practices and the revival of divination that it represented. His passage suggests either a 12 note flute that could be played in half steps or a 24 note flute. Despite this, most references to the numerical properties of music continued to focus on the numbers 7 or 9. It would only be with the spread of early Christianity that the number 24 caused significant changes in music. Gematria came to be applied to the Hebrew alphabet. A Hebrew text—The Key Of Solomon— explains the principles. The letters were placed within a variety of geometric figures and, by means of a geometric guide. Because this system was derived from the Greeks, the Hebrew alphabet—an alphabet that did not have 24 letters—had to be adapted to numerology based on 24.

The Letters are from the Numbers, and the Numbers from the Ideas, and the Ideas from the Forces, and the Forces from the Elohim. The Synthesis of the Elohim is the Schema. (The Schema Hamphorasch). The Schema is one, its columns are two, its power is three, its form is four, its reflection giveth eight, which multiplied by three giveth unto thee the twenty four Thrones of Wisdom. Upon each Throne reposeth a Crown with three Rays, each Ray beareth a name, each Name is an Absolute Idea. There are Seventy-two Names upon the Twenty-four Crowns of the Schema. Thou shalt write these Names upon Thirty-six Talismans, two upon each Talisman, one on each side. Thou shalt divide these Talismans into four series of nine each, according to the number of the Letters of the Schema. Upon the first Series thou shalt engrave the letter Yod, symbolized by the Flowering Rod of Aaron....etc.335

Around 300 AD, Gematria also came to be applied to a systematization of Norse runic signs, perhaps as the northern invasion of German tribes reached northern Italy.336 A Roman reference to the Druids using Greek letters but not for passing along literal information is probably a reference to Gematria.

Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, in their private and public accounts, they make use of Greek letters. I believe that they have adopted the practice for two reasons—that they

96 do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing and so neglect the cultivation of memory.337

All of this seems to have been well in place by the time the early Christian church formed sects or monasteries across the Middle East and portions of Western Europe and Britain. The spreading use of divinatory letters seems to underlie reference in Revelations to the 24 elders. At this point, divinatory letters and the number 24 came to be linked with an existing emphasis on the harp as emblematic of the musical element in divine order.

And one of the elders saith unto me, “weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I beheld and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints.338

...and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders....339

Gnostic texts explain the symbolism associated with Gematria. The alphabet was split into three portions echoing the triad—now institutionalized as the trinity. Note the reference to division of the 24 into three groups of eight. As transferred to runes among the Anglo Saxons, the eight/eight/eight division of the 24 runes was used to write words in code.340

Understand the twenty four letters that you have as symbolic emanations of the three powers which contain the entire number of the elements above. The nine consonants (mutes) belong to the Father and Truth because they are voiceless, that is, inexpressible and unutterable. The eight semi- vowels belong to Logos and Life, since they occupy, as it were, the middle position between the unvoiced and the voiced; and they receive the outflowing of those above them....The vowels, seven in number, belong to Man and Church, since a voice went forth from Man and formed all things. For the echo of the voice gave them form. Thus, Logos and Life have eight, Man and Church seven, and the Father and Truth nine. On account of the one which was deficient, that which was extra in the Father came down, being sent to the one from whom he was separated, in order to set matters right. so that the unity of the aeons might posses equality....And thus the seven achieved the power of eight, and the three groups became the same numerically, that is, eights. These three, when added together, produce the number twenty four. etc.341

As applied to ritual, the 24 were split in half while the cleric seems to have represented the third aspect. The choir was divided into male and female halves. This echoes the basic idea of the triad from time immemorial—that the third element contained the two halves. The early Roman church resisted music in the church. Yet no such reluctance is evident in descriptions of these choirs, showing that these were non-Roman forms of early Christianity. This organization probably mimicked pre-Christian ritual. The division of the 24 was associated with long-standing ideas of duality as expressed through the two trees.

97 Of these twenty four angels the paternal assist the father and do everything according to his will, and the maternal their mother Eden...The angels of this paradise are allegorically called 'trees', and the 'Tree Of Life' is the third of the paternal angels, Baruch; but the 'Tree Of Knowledge of good and evil' is the third of the maternal angels, Naas ..... 342

They all stand up together, and... two choruses are formed...., the one of men and the other of women, and for each chorus there is a leader...Then they sing hymns which have been composed in honor of God...at one time all singing together, and at another answer one another in a skillful manner.... 343

When one choir finished this versicle, another choir stood and began to chant the same song, and this they did without any intermission. The first choir was made up of boys in white garments, the second was clothed in blue garments, and the third in purple garments.344

Irish and British texts describe the importance of this divination in Britain. In a description of the early Irish cleric, St. Colum Cille, he learns his letters by eating them and they are divided according to an eastern river and a western river. This suggests that ideas of divinatory letters remained structured according to the basic ideas around duality.

When the time, then, arrived to him that he should learn the cleric went to a certain prophet who was in the country to ask him when it would be right for the boy to begin. As soon as the prophet observed the heavens, what he said was, 'Write now for him his alphabet.' It was then written in a cake; and how Colum Cille ate the cake was thus, viz.—half of it against the river from the east, and the other half against the river at the west.345

In the Irish story of St. Brendan, the tablet or table sits between two choirs arranged in a circle of twenty four seats. Not only does the abbot sing in response to the singing of the choirs—or perhaps play the harp—but also on his tablet he inscribes answers to their questions. These answers were presumably in the form of letters that he would interpret.

There were twenty-four seats in a circle in the church. The abbot, however, sat between the two choirs. One group began from him and ended with him, and it was likewise with the other. No one on either side presumed to intone a verse but the abbot. No one in the monastery spoke or made a sound. If a brother needed anything he went before the abbot, knelt facing him, and requested within his heart what he needed. Thereupon the holy father taking a tablet; and stylus wrote as God revealed to him and gave it to the brother who asked his advice.346

In Europe, the harp was incorporated into this new emphasis on divination through letters. Isidore of Seville describes the harp responding to one choir and preceding the other. The influence of divinatory letters seems to have come from Greece through Italy and then into southern France or Spain into Britain including Ireland. The increase in the size of the harp from a nominal 9 strings to a nominal 24 may also have come by this route.

David chose) four thousand heroes from Israel to hoist unrelenting sighs, not hoisting any psalms of the degenerate race, who formerly murmured mute: (but) striking measure of the net from choir; striking with cruit [harp]; striking with clergy mute a sigh from cruit.347

98 In Britain, divinatory letters probably had several forms. And these may have changed over time. At the most ancient time, they were probably Greek letters—like those used by the Druids in Gaul. The Irish systematized a divinatory alphabet called Ogham, a term derived from long-standing use of divinatory signs, probably rods or sticks. By the sixth century, Norse runes seem to have become widely used in areas of what was to become England. Norse runes seem to have been compiled as a fairly self-conscious compilation of ancient nature symbols. The Saxon Æthelwulf (c.803) wrote of “tables” placed on the lead roof of a new church. Presumably such tablets were made of clay and were placed on the roof in order to dry. He also described the role of the learned father in answering questions. The father or abbot responded to questions posed by the lesser monks.

Accordingly, the pious man completed the lofty walls of a very beautiful temple, putting 'tables' (tabulas) outside on the roof of lead.... 348

An Anglo Saxon description contains one of the last references to a present tense search for knowledge through the waters. Reference to the waters continued in Irish Fenian lore— describing the idealized Finn. However such passages often seem formalized and retrospective. They seem to be a conservation of ideas that can no longer be practiced. In this Anglo Saxon passage, lore of the waters is connected to the system of divinatory letters. It is indicative of the lingering elements of ancient lore during the first millennium.

If any man should wish to know those things with intelligent mind, let him speed in his thirst for them, and submerge himself in the waves, full of seaweed as they are, where the letter makes stately poems about the learned father, albeit in no learned wise, and makes trial of what it may fitly express. 349

In a ninth century forgery, the Dardanus letter, falsely attributed to an early Christian, St. Jerome, the twenty four string harp is linked to the twenty four elders. Its triangular form is said to mirror the church. Here, the twenty four elders referred to in Revelations are said to be a reflection of 24 teachings.

The harp in the forty second Psalm...is the proper custom among the Hebrews, has twenty four strings, and is in the fashion of the mark Delta (triangular), as the experts tell us. And by fingers like those of Pindar, varied voices ringing strings together in diverse modes. This harp of which we speak is spiritually the church, has a three sided form, with twenty four dogmatic teachings of the elders....350

99 The Large Harp

The arrival of divinatory letter into Ireland probably paralleled the arrival of the large harp, around 600 AD. It seems to have come along with the general exodus of Celtic learning from Gaul due to the invasion of Germanic tribes. Due to lack of examples, it may never be resolved whether the instrument used in Europe and Britain prior to this arrival was a lyre or a triangular harp.351 Robert Manning wrote, c. 1250:

And to the croys by gode skylle ys the harpe lykened weyle. 352

The exodus of Celtic tradespeople from southern Gaul to Ireland not only may account for the arrival of early Christianity, divinatory letter and the large harp but also sophisticated metal working. In Ireland, metal strings of brass appear were developed for the harp. The musical practice on the large harp was of divisions—a method for dividing a melodic ground and thereby creating a more complex or sophisticated accompaniment to the bardic lament used in courts. The lament known as the Cumha—meaning “cow” and “wealth”— had been probably long been sung to the noble with some instrumental relief between verses. However, with longer lyric, a separate reciter was employed and the harp was then free to use to Cumha as a ground upon which divisions were constructed. On the large harp, after performed the ground with the right hand below the left—as on the small harp used by clerics—the court performer reversed hand positions. The right hand now played above the left which accompanied with drone based chords. This created the basis for a distinct Court music. This practice spread from Ireland to Wales and thence to courts and other instruments in England and France. Meanwhile, through the 13th century, the small harp continued as the harp played by Celtic clergy. It often came to be pictured with up to 15 strings. This expansion of the small harp and the increasing role of the large harp accompanied an expansion of the ancient system based on three musics through the addition of two additional “musics” or drone based scales—adding scales or “keys” based on c and d below the three ancient musics of eb, f and g. This is more fully described in The Historical Method Of The Celtic Harp.

100 Arthur

The arrival of divinatory letters in Britain resulted in the creation of minor cult centered around the story of Arthur that fused ancient Celtic and Christian elements. Withdrawal of Roman forces from Britain accompanied a disintegration of town life. Norse and Anglo Saxon boats began to land on the island and set up bases then new towns. The Scoti from northern island began to settle in northern Scotland. And the Pictish culture that once dominated what became England came to be compressed into an area in northern Wales, Northumbria and southern Scotland. Though the Pictish language died out, this area became the center of an effort to preserve divinatory letters, water oriented imagery and the small harp— strung with horse hair. This included integration of some Teutonic imagery—the sword—and seems to have embraced Norse runes. With the Norse rulers on continent seeking to define power as material and to turn away from the old importance of the seer, this use of Norse runes may have reflected an outlying Norse settlement seeking to conserve the old learning and, oddly enough, allied with the conservation of the old learning among the remnants of the local Picts. It centered on the character of Arthur. The basis for Arthurian lore lay in the story of Taliesin—a seer. Taliesin is Gwion Bach—”born again from the waters”. In the early lore, he has come to the King to free captives. The rulers have overstepped their power and a ritual event is needed to bring them into line. As adapted to Taliesin, the story seems to be a retelling of the ritual story of the three plagues yet set in a world where the abuse of power has become all too actual. Taliesin describes himself as Merlin—Mer-Luinn, meaning “sword of the sea.” The bards have been reduced to sycophancy in the court—blandly singing the praises of the tyrannical king. One of them is locked up and Taliesin comes to set him free. He does this with a display of poetry. The influence of the Norse imagery is evident in music. The Welsh came to call their harp the Teud Luinn or Telyn— “string of the sword.” Some of Taliesin's poetry criticizes the weak or false bards, some proclaims Taliesin's power and some insists to the King that songs of God come first.353 It is Taliesin who sings of Arthur. In other words, Arthur begins as a story within a story. The Taliesin story is formulaic but set in the circumstances of first millennium Britain. Arthur is a story of a lost ideal. As the story within the story, he is the past justification for the Thurs—the divinatory letters—that defines this effort to revive the old learning in this reaction around the 5th century AD. Poems attributed to Taliesin—the Cad Goddeu—speak of Arthur further and in the past tense, lamenting the decline of the “trees”, probably meaning divinatory letters. Though he originates as a story by Taliesin, in further story Arthur becomes a pupil of Merlin. And, the military aspect of Arthur becomes more important as he becomes a defender. Arthur grows up to be a King and to resist the Saxons whose coming Merlin/Taliesin has predicted. The Saxons appear to arrive from the continent after earlier Norse settlement—as the imagery of the Arthurian stories has strong Norse influence apparently imported prior to the arrival of the Saxons.

101 The heart of the culture Arthur seeks to defend—probably a mixture of rural Norse and Pictish—lies not simply in a revival of the old learning but also in divinatory letters. Arthur's “round table” was probably a circular tablet used for divination through 24 letters. His Knights, originally 24 in number, were probably the twenty four signs—perhaps Greek, more likely runic.

There were four-and-twenty honourable Knights, continually attending in King Arthur's Court....354

Arthur tried to use the altar as a table.355

The use of the runes and the table were tied to the use of the harp—probably the large triangular harp of 22 to 24 strings imported from the continent. In the Welsh Triads—codified lore—Arthur is identified as an important harper.

The Three Imperial performers on the harp, of the island of Britain: Arthur, Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr (master of ceremonies at Arthur's court); and Chrella, Bardd of the Telyn to Gruffyd ab Cynan.356

The Latinized “Arthur” appears to have be a corruption of the Gaelic “Uthar”. It may relate to the Norse “Thurs”—a term related to the use of runes. Later, historians would assume that the name had a Latin origin. However, in lore, King Arthur is the son of Uthyr Pendragon. Uthyr Pen-(chief)-dragon is probably a reference to the dueling dragons who become the pigs. Uth means “udder”. In Scottish lore “Uthar” designated the six weeks around the festival of mid- summer—Lugnasad. Arthur falls into the longstanding pattern of the young god, the hero, the dog or hunter who drinks and eats of the pig or bull. He gains power. And, just as Lugaid defeats Balor, Arthur opposes the Saxon. It is an image closely akin to the role of Jesus in much early Christianity. He gains wealth. He milks prophecy or divination. “Uthyr Pendragon" can also be said to mean "the chief festival of harvest." Despite decline of the five-year calendar, Lugnasad or midsummer remained the chief festival in areas of 6th century Britain.357 In the Welsh Mabigion Arthur does battle much as does Beowulf—with a giant after first slaying nine. Arthur's battle with the giant takes nine days and nine nights. He slays one pig. When queried, Arthur explains that the pig is a king whom God changed into an animal for his sins. This parallels imagery of slaying the serpent to create the circle.

...the third day Arthur himself fought with Twrch, nine days and nine nights, and killed nothing more than one piglet. His men asked him about the meaning of the pig and Arthur said, “He was a king, but because of his sins God turned him into a pig.'358

Arthur slays the king who turns into a pig. The iconography of the pig suggests that this is tied to the moon, to the cycles of time and to the battle between two dragons. Implicitly, the two dragons are the son and the father—Lu and Bel, the dog and the one eyed sun god. In other words, the imagery of Arthur is closely derived from older Celtic descriptions of the seer or young god derived from the image of the raven. It celebrates the quest or hunt at a time when, in

102 Roman Christianity, the young god—Jesus—was being placed more and more subserviently to God the father. Arthur is also tied to an update of the direct divination also long associated with the old learning. That practice has moved from the calendar to divinatory letters.

103 Adjusting Imagery

By 600 AD, Ireland was a center of the old learning. How then did Christianity take hold without contest in Ireland? Because early Christianity was often an effort to simply update the old learning. Much of the foundation for this shift had been lain before the fall of Rome with the shift from calendar based divination to divinatory letters. The Gnostic text, the Pistis Sophia, illustrates the more esoteric elements of this. The “way of the midst” or five day intercalary period had probably long been associated with judgment of criminals. In the Gnostic text, Jesus may simply be putting this in the context of the fallen angels—those who has fallen due to seducing men and who now seem charged with punishment.

And Mary drew nigh unto him, fell down, adored his feet and kissed his hands and said: "Yea, my Lord, reveal unto us: What is the use of the ways of the midst? For we have heard from thee that they are set over great chastisements. How then, my Lord, will we remove or escape from them? Or in what way do they seize the souls? Or |363.how long a time do they spend in their chastisements? Have mercy upon us, our Lord, our Saviour, in order that the receivers of the judgments of the ways of the midst may not carry off our souls and judge us in their evil judgments, so that we ourselves may inherit the Light of thy father and not be wretched and destitute of thee." When then Mary said this weeping, Jesus answered in great compassion and said unto them: "Truly, my brethren and beloved, who have abandoned father and mother for my name's sake, unto you will I give all mysteries and all gnoses. "I will give you the mystery of the twelve æons of the rulers and their seals and their ciphers and the manner of invocation for reaching their regions. "I will give you moreover the mystery of the thirteenth æon and the manner of invocation for reaching their regions, and I will give you their ciphers and their seals. "And I will give you the mystery of the baptism of those of the Midst and the manner of invocation for reaching their regions, and I will announce unto you their ciphers and their seals. "And I will give you the baptism of those of the Right, our region, and its ciphers and its seals and the manner of invocation for reaching thither. "And I will give you the great mystery of the Treasury of the Light and the manner of invocation for reaching thither. "I will give you all the mysteries and all the gnoses, in order that ye may be called 'children of the fulness, perfected in all the gnoses and all the mysteries.' Blessed are ye beyond all men on earth, for the children of the Light are come in your time.”359

Another passage illustrates a comprehensive effort to balance all the numerical influences—five, nine, twelve, three, two—all presumably associated with different ancient elements and all now pulled together so that followers of the new religion could see it including and even reviving everything that had been long handed down.

And Jesus answered and said unto Mary: "Finely indeed dost thou question concerning all with precision and certainty. But hearken, Mary, that I may speak with thee about the consummation of the æon and the ascension of the universe. It will not yet take place; but I have said unto you: 'If I lead you into the region of the inheritances of those who shall receive the mystery of the Light, then will the Treasury of the Light, the region of the emanations, count for you as a speck of dust only and as the light of the sun by day.'

104 "I have therefore said: 'This will take place.at the time of the consummation [and] of the ascension of the universe.' The twelve saviours of the Treasury and the twelve orders of every one of them, which are the emanations of the seven Voices and of the five Trees, they will be with me in the region of the inheritances of the Light; being kings with me in my kingdom, and every one of them being king over his emanations, and moreover every one of them being king according to his glory, the great according to his greatness and the little according to his littleness. "And the saviour of the emanations of the first Voice will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the first mystery of the First Mystery in my kingdom. "And the saviour of the emanations of the second Voice will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the second mystery of the First Mystery. "In like manner also will the saviour of the emanations of the third Voice be in the region of the souls of those who have received the third mystery of the First Mystery in the E inheritances of the Light. "And the saviour of the emanations of the fourth Voice of the Treasury of the Light will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the fourth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "And the fifth saviour of the fifth Voice of the Treasury of the Light will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the fifth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "And the sixth saviour of the emanations of the sixth Voice of the Treasury of the Light will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the sixth mystery of the First Mystery. "And the seventh saviour of the emanations of the seventh Voice of the Treasury of the Light will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the seventh mystery of the First Mystery in the Treasury [sic] of the Light. "And the eighth saviour, that is the saviour of the emanations of the first Tree of the Treasury of the Light, will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the I eighth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "And the ninth saviour, that is the saviour of the emanations of the second Tree of the Treasury of the Light, will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the ninth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "And the tenth saviour, that is the saviour of the emanations of the third Tree of the Treasury of the Light, will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the tenth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "In like manner also the eleventh saviour, that is the saviour of the fourth Tree of the Treasury of the Light, will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the eleventh mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. "And the twelfth saviour, that is the saviour of the emanations of the fifth Tree of the Treasury of the Light, will be in the region of the souls of those who have received the twelfth mystery of the First Mystery in the inheritances of the Light. And the seven Amēns and the five Trees and the three Amēns will be on my right, being kings in the inheritances of the Light. And the Twin-saviours, that is the Child of the Child, and the nine guards will bide also at my left, being kings in the inheritances of the Light. And every one of the saviours will rule over the orders of his emanations in the inheritances of the Light as they did also in the Treasury of the Light. "And the nine guards of the Treasury of the Light will be superior to the saviours in the inheritances of the Light. And the Twin-saviours will be superior to the nine guards in the kingdom. And the three Amēns will be superior to the Twin-saviours in the kingdom. And the five Trees will be superior to the three Amēns in the inheritances of the Light.360

Christianity arrived in Ireland with strong links to the Gnostic sects that flourished beyond Roman influence in the Middle East and North Africa. However, the Roman church began to exert more and more influence in Western Europe. By 1100, across Western Europe, 105 Roman clerics had often displaced the Irish leadership that had founded the first Christian monasteries in Gaul. Those who practiced divination sought direct access to divine guidance. However, the Roman church and the Latin educated European aristocracy sought a religion where the common man or woman could only gain access to divine knowledge through a bureaucratic hierarchy. Finally, during the 14th century, to counter the bands of minstrels and jongleurs who roamed Western Europe, the Roman church founded the university and centralized the teaching of its knowledge. Beneath the surface, however, story and song continued. Tales of magic continued to convey a belief in personal contact with transformation. The dragon or serpent remained an image for the fish caught from the waters and metaphorically equivalent to the ring.361 The Norse aristocracy became a primary vehicle for Hellenic views of culture. They hit upon the idea of hiring poets to sing their praises for a fee and even to create a new lore. At the most extreme, they create the story of Thor who wields a cross-shaped hammer. He does not make the serpent sleep or bury him but beats him over the head and kills him.

“The eye of God's friend Thor shone fiercely, the beloved God darted awful glances at the of Earth, and the serpent, the stout girdle of the world, glared over the gunwale at the Friend of Man, spurting venom the while. Then the mighty Giant-slayer smote the monster with his fist on the ear; it was a deadly blow. The Champion of Wimmers-Ford struck the head off the cruel snake as it rose above the sea.362

The Norse who arrived in Britain faced a land of snakes. This was a place where the old water based imagery associated with duality, the cycle and the triad remained strong.

O battle-bold, the cunning Of Ygg's (Odin's) storm! Yet thou brakest Down London Bridge: it happed thee To win the land of snakes there.363

Through the early middle ages, England (not just the Irish) was the place generally associated with harpers.

Watchmen play their horns, minstrels sing, fiddlers sing lais from Bretaigne and there were harpers from England; the men from Auvergne sing a love song.364

The dominant artistic motif in the Book of Kells is the dog headed snake. This should not be viewed as a secular embellishment. There was no secular art possible in such a work. The dog headed snake represented the Celtic view of the young god—the raven, the seer, the search. Of course, beyond Britain, the snake had come to have negative connotations as representative of evil, of Satan of the underworld—as defined by the Bible. During the first Christian millennium, British poets sometimes called the fish or serpent a “whale”. Apparently, along with this image of the whale the Anglo Saxon term “harpean” came to be applied to the harp. In origin, “hearpean” came from a verb meaning “to trick” or “to be skillful.”365 It seems to relate to an early use of “harpe” as a noun designating the curved dagger 106 used by Perseus. Guided by three hags whose one eye and one tooth he steals, Perseus uses the “harpe”—a curved dagger—to slay the Medusa with her head full of snakes.366 The specifically Anglo Saxon use of “hearpean” for the activity of the harp player seems to parallel “harpoon.” In other words, just as the net catches the fish, the harpoon slays the whale. In reaction to this conservation of imagery, the Anglo Saxon polemic “The Whale” equates the sea beast to the devil. It describes him as binding mankind with a ring.

Sly and deceitful, when the Devil perceives out of hell-torment that each of mankind of the race of men is bound with his ring, then with cunning craft the Dark Destroyer takes proud and number who here on earth through sin did his will.367

Similarly, there was official effort to refute the use of divinatory letters.

The father has wrought (such a multitude) of wonders in this world that it is difficult to find an equal number. Letters cannot contain it, letters cannot express it.368

Still, custom dies hard. In early Christian England, harpers continued to gain the reward of a gold ring. In Britain, the queen handed the ring to the harper.

....the king of the Goths proved kind to me, gave me a ring that royal giver...Queen of the daring, bequeathed me another; Praise of her bounty was published abroad, When I made my lays through many a land....369

Petrie wrote that the woman dancer usually paid 19th century Irish fiddlers, secretly handing a coin so that none would see the amount given.

Welsh harpers received not only a ring but also a throw board. This board seems to have been designed like a variety of Merel games—on a nine-fold grid. The board may have been for divination by letters.

He (the bard) is to have a throw board, of the bone of a sea animal from the king, and a gold ring from the queen.370

In contrast, among the Norse, we find a reference not only to the giving of a ring but to an accompanying host of material possessions conferred by the king presumably in return for sycophantic praise.

The king gave him (the poet) his coat of new scarlet, a laced kirtle, a cloak of noble fur, and a gold ring of great price.371

There are other contrasts between Norse and British lore from this period. In Norse lore the serpent, dog, and goddess Hel had become the three evil offspring of Loke.372 However, in Ireland harpers still decorated their harps with the serpent, bird and dog. In Irish lore, this was explained as imitating practices of the Danaan—perhaps because this triad imitated the opposition of Lu and Bel.373 The severely critical view which the Norse—or at least the Norse

107 aristocracy— came to have of the traditional seers and their harps is visible in a Swedish folk tale where the harp playing Neck emerges from the water, presumably to steal children, yet is rebuked by those children.

'Two boys were one time playing near a river that ran by their father's house. The Neck rose and sat on the surface of the water, and played the harp; but one of the children said to him. 'What is the use, Neck, of your sitting there and playing? You will never be saved.' The Neck then began to weep bitterly, flung away his harp, and sank down to the bottom....374

A telling passage from Norse lore has the poet coming before the noble and stating that he will not demand a hearing based on inspiration from waterfalls, speak of enchantment or derive his song from the gallows. Apparently, these traditional claims were still made by the traveling seer with his poetry and/or harp. But they were not welcome by the Norse rulers who were conquering much of Western Europe. It would be the Norse who would define the upper- crust or ruling class in France and English—overlain above the culture of the Celts.

Of no ring breaker (a noble—someone whose sword cleaves the ring or slays the serpent) do I demand a hearing for this song that I have made at this worthy assembly. If but any of you gentlemen will hearken to me, I will set forth my poesy before men. I did not get my knowledge beneath waterfalls, I have never given myself to enchantment....It was not beneath the gallows that I learnt the gift of song.375

A similar claim can be found on an early cross in Britain. It is specified that this tree is not a gallows and, by implication, not associated with the traditional practice of ritual punishment or the gaining of inspiration from death.

....Brightest of trees, that beauteous beacon was dipped in gold, and bedight with jewels: four at the base, and five on the beam glistened on high; twas no gallows-tree, emblem of shame.... 376

Despite this Norse aristocratic effort to displace the older imagery and recast the old symbols in a new light and despite the later integration of that effort into Roman Christianity, early Christian Britain often adapted older imagery into Christianity. In fact, it could be argued that Christianity arose not as an effort to displace the old learning but as an effort to preserve it—the imagery of the house, the fish, the netter, the tree. Only after 1000AD does Christianity unilaterally seem a manifestation of the Roman preference for centralized, urban rule and the disenfranchisement of individual access to the divine.

The survival of the old ideas in non-Roman Christianity continued so long in Ireland that their continuance demanded explanation. The Irish Voyage of St. Brendan contains a remarkable passage explaining why the white birds—perhaps winged actors and actresses, the "angels" found in early medieval art— continued to sing at festivals. The reference to “Lucifer” or “Lu of the fire” reflects relegation of the Lu figure to a negative or underworld status, burning in a realm that the Norse had once described as the beyond or metaphysical realm of fire.

108 We (the white birds) survive from the great destruction of the ancient enemy, but we were not associated with them through any sin of ours. When we were created, Lucifer's fall and that of his followers brought about our destruction also. But our God is just and true. In his great judgments he sent us here. We endure no sufferings. Here we can see God's presence. But God has separated us from sharing the lot of others who were faithful. We wander through various regions of the air and the firmament and the earth, just like the other spirits that travel on their missions. But on holy days and Sundays we are given bodies such as you now see so that we may stay here and praise our creator.377

Isolated Irish monks sometimes continued to see the black bird as their personal source of inspiration to search the waters. These passages may refer to a term given to Bunting by 18th century Irish harpers and describing the three musics—Adbhan Trireach or, in modern Gaelic, Allaban Trirahach, “the three oared wanderers”.

For the gentle Mochae there sang, (in mourning) the bird from the heavens, Three Adbonds, from the top of the tree, Each Adbond being fifty years.378

The blackbirds sweetly sang notes which I conceal not. Over my many lined little book. Melodious was the Trirech of the birds.379

It was not simply Rome driving the effort to suppress the old learning. A major force— perhaps the most significant force—came from the Norse conquerors. The Norse view of a paternal God came to be increasingly shared by the Latin educated clerics who administered the Roman church in Britain. For this orthodoxy, the bird from on high displaced the harp.

More beautiful than the lays of all songcraft, sweet and beautiful and joyous modulation, no comparison (to the song of the Phoenix) is the trumpeting of horn, harp sound, man singing angels on earth, not organan (hurdy-gurdy), not the sound of joygiving lays, not swan feathers, not any joyous sound that the Lord on high gives to men in this sad world.380

Similarly, in an Irish passage, the song of the shining or bright bird is held superior to that of the harp.

Brenainn scraped his stylus across the neck of the harp. 'Do you think this sweet, student?' he said; 'I give my word before God,' said Brenainn, 'that after that music [of the shining bird], no music of this world seems any sweeter to me than does this stylus across the neck, and to hear it I take to be but little profit.381

This imagery reflected what would become a long-standing rivalry between those old style priests and the new crop of nobles. Nobles increasingly saw God in heaven as speaking only through the church or nobility. In contrast, rural chieftains and bards held to an older view—that divine wisdom could speak as vision through music and lyric. The Roman church at first banned all music from the service. Eventually it allowed vocal music but no instrumentalists.

109 Part Four. Reducing Culture and Nature to the Wild and Primitive

In modern society, with power residing almost exclusively at the top and at the center rather than locally, history has been written to claim civilization as the deliverer of order—on top of a culture that is allied to nature, the wild, disorder and the emotions. This required that the remnants of ancient music—based on simple melody and performed on the street or at the inn— be controlled, marginalized and even eliminated. It took hundred of years and proved more successful in some areas rather than others. Not surprisingly, Britain and part of the America derived from Britain long remained strongholds of a simple melodic form performed as part of everyday life. Academia reduced this to “folk” status—ascribing it to the people, the earth and the insurgent energies of raw, chaotic nature. In the end, midst much hoopla about that raw music, the historical Celtic harp was allowed to perish, its system ill-recorded.

110 A New System of Music.

After 900 AD, as Norse and the Roman clerics in France and Britain assumed the reins of Christianity, it became important to dictate the sacred music—pushing aside the small harp still favored by Irish clerics—and create a new system of music. Ultimately, modern music history has been written based on the idea that, prior to systematization of the scale by Persians and then the western European church, music had never had a system—an ordered basis. In Western Europe, creation of a musical system in the church came in the wake of centuries during which music itself had been questioned. Instruments and song were not welcome in the early Roman church. Song was finally allowed. But instrumentalists played within an ancient tradition of learning not controlled by the Roman church. The western European effort to create a system of music most directly seems inspired by efforts in Persia. Both efforts endeavored to create a scale more suited to song and less tied to instrumental technique. In Persia, the systematization of music resolved the indeterminate B and its related E into three notes each. In contrast, the Europeans resolved. B and E into two notes each. On the ancient system of the harp, the indeterminate note, B+, was the fourth in the scale based on F. It created a dissonance or tension in the music and a split final or tonic. Odo’s theory expanded the old drone based scales based on f and g up to c and d. Odo of Cluny kept the split tonic that characterized the old system. Now, however, tunes resolved on F or C and G or D. These changes shifted the tuning or temperament system of music. Where the old system had been nominally mean-tone, the new system was based on 5ths. Though designed for singing, it soon lead to the tuning of fixed pitched instruments in 5ths. These two system continued side by side across Western Europe—sometimes discordant with each other until the 16th century. In comparison to the ancient drone based system, the new system tended to foster tension in musical sound and a more complex music based on long-winded periods of tension and resolution. In contrast, drone based music tends to deal in short fits of tension and resolution between melody and drones. In other words, what changed over time was time-scale, the breadth of the musical idea AND the role of the musician. With more complex musical ideas, composition became more of a fixed and premeditated act--whether it involved improvisation or not. The musician became identified more with his technical ability and less with divine journey. In Ireland and Scotland, through the Middle Ages, Fenian lore kept alive much of the old imagery associated with the seer or minstrel’s search. Sometimes, such lyric did not hesitate to extol the song of the blackbird—the bird of activity and the hunt—above the cleric’s bell. As with much of the Irish lore describing the conflict between the ancient and emerging views of divine order, what the passage describes probably applies to this shift throughout Western Europe. The specifically Irish contribution lies in the writing down or recording of this transition—suggesting a degree of openness, self-awareness and learning not enjoyed elsewhere in Western Europe.

The time Finn lived and the Fianna, it was sweet to them to be listening to the whistle of the blackbird; the voice of the bells would not have been sweet to them. 382

111 As in all bardic lore, the meaning to such description remained couched within concrete terms—the imagery of song. The nuances can easily be missed if one does not understand the context. For instance, a passage describing the division of Ireland is, in fact, based on the old duality of search and rest or activity and wealth. The point of the passage is not to delineate a literal division but to assert the importance of search in face of increasing emphasis upon wealth as literal power. It contains one of the most direct descriptions of a timeless social dichotomy— the keepers of wealth or seers and the keepers of power or warriors. As always wealth is defined using natural images for metaphysical order—such as the speckled salmon.

(Cailte:) ‘When Feradach died, his two sons made a division of Ireland between them: to the one went the country's treasures, valuable, goods, herds, cattle-drivings, rings, ornaments, forts, strongholds, and towns; to the other went Ireland's cliffs, rivermouths, nuts, fruits, beautiful speckled salmon, and game.... 'That was not a fair division," said the nobles of Ireland. 'Which portion would you have preferred?' asked Oisin. ‘The portion that includes the feast, houses, and the benefits which come with them, rather than the portion of woods, wildernesses, and game. ‘The portion which they think is inferior seems to us the better one,' said Cailte.'383

Soon, the old practices could only be described in the past tense. Still, the connections within the imagery suggest an awareness of their meaning—particularly the reference to sleep as the power of the Sidhe or mountain where the waxing and waning of the cycle would meet at the center or summit.

And the Sons of the Gael used to be coming no less than the Men of Dea to hear from every part of Ireland, for there never was any music or any delight heard in Ireland to compare with that music of the swans. And they used to be telling stories, and to be talking with men of Ireland every day, and with their teachers and their fellow-pupils and their friends. And every night they used to sing very sweet music of the Sidhe; and everyone that heard that music would sleep sound and quiet whatever trouble or long sickness might be on him; for every one that heard the music of the birds, it is happy and contented he would be after it.384

Despite the decline in formal learning associated with the old ideas, its imagery survived among rural people. Even in England, common people long continued to portray the education of the harper as possession by a spirit—specifically a journey to the realm dominated by the goddess. In the ballad, Thomas The Rhymer, to learn the harp, a harper is portrayed as following the queen of heaven or queen of elf land. Her kiss assures that he will follow her.

'All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven, For thy peer on earth I never did see.'

'Oh no, O no, true Thomas,' she said, 'That name does not belong to me. I am but the queen of fair Elfland, And am hither come to visit thee.'

'Harp and carp, Thomas,' she said,

112 Harp and carp along wi me. And if ye dare to kiss my lips, Sure of your bodie I will be.'“ 385

In performance, prior to 1350 song seems to have involved a good deal of participation by listeners or dancers. The lyric line might alternate with a repeated line—probably sung by the dancers themselves.

There lived an old lady in the north country, bow down, There lived an old lady in the north country, The bough has been to me, There lived an old lady in the north country, She has daughters one, two, three, True to my love, love my love be true to me.386

Numerous ballads as well as prose accounts describe the large band of common minstrels who continued to rove the countryside.

He wandered on the gravel, towards the castle, he made merry song, and made here glee-ing. Rymenhild went to him, and asked him what he was: He said, he was a harper, and some were gigours (fiddlers.)387

When Patrick caused the Brehon law to be written down, there arose Brehon judges to administer the law, separate from those who had previously memorized that law and kept it to themselves as an extension of ritual. By implication, the law now became something fixed by writing rather than something interpreted in light of a poetic language through the filter of memory and linking present events to the cycle of creation. The changes came throughout society. Written Brehon law was also held by those resistant to Roman or even Christian influence.

Longarad Whitefoot: a master in theology, in history, in the Brehon law and in poetry was he. To him came Columcille to be his guest and Lon hid his books from him. So Columcille left a curse on the books. 388

Some bards could sarcastically criticize the new ideas. A Welsh passage criticizes the new tendency to see the serpent as evil and to constantly seek to purge that evil.

Indifferent bards pretend, they pretend a monstrous beast, with a hundred heads, and a grievous combat at the root of the tongue. And another fight there is at the back of the head. A toad having on his thighs a hundred claws, a spotted crested snake, for punishing in their flesh a hundred souls on account of their sins.389

113

Another Welsh passage bemoans the loss of divinatory letters—the tree alphabet.

When the trees were enchanted there was hope for the trees that they should frustrate the intention of the surrounding fires....390

In Irish lore, emblematic of search through the darkness, the images of the wolf and the blackbird contrasted the Christian cleric's bell with its message from above. An Irish passage criticizes the cleric who even in the west cannot hear the hounds.

Seldom by the wood of Red Ridge was the ringing of a bell from slope to slope; more often for the litter of wolves has the late night been bitter cold.

Who is this miserable cleric to the west who strikes his little bell fiercely, who does not listen to the voice of the hounds that is in the glen near him?391

Modern romantic views of the Celts tend to see them as a unified people. However, historically, they were divided not only by clans but also according to class. Some Celtic nobility allied with the new ideas spreading from the continent—from the Norman aristocracy and the Roman church. While the bell might be criticized by some, Brian Boru, an Irish King, placed the bell beside his head and by the bell salt would be measured out at the table. Salt was emblematic of a man’s worth. This contrasts reference in the Ap Huw MS. to the playing of the harp for measuring out the salt—as if the bell replaced the harp for this ritual.

Oh, bell (cluic), which are at my pillow's head to visit thee no friends come; Though thou makest thy “Ding Dang”, it is by thee the salt is measured.392

Through the middle ages, old imagery continued to crop up in common culture, often in a literal form and with little understanding of its original metaphysical context. For example, the image of the sacred island or stone in the waters—the magical firmament of protection against the waters—became literal as the holy Grail. The original sense of the image is visible in the Voyage of St. Brendan.

A host will come across the clear sea, to the land they show their rowing; then they row to the conspicuous stone, from which arise a hundred strains. It sings a strain unto the host through long ages, it is not sad, its music swells with choruses of hundreds—they look for neither decay nor death. Many shaped Emne by the sea, whether it be near, whether it be far, in which are many thousands of motley (speckled?) women, which the clear sea encircles.....393

The medieval legend can be found in Eschenbach's Parzival.

114 ....And this stone all men call the Grail. And its holiest power, and the highest shall I ween be renewed today, for ever upon Good Friday a messenger takes her way. From the height of the highest Heaven a Dove on her flight doth wing, and a host, so white and holy, she unto the stone doth bring.394

115 Romantic Imagery

From the 6th century until the early 19th century, the border country of southern Scotland/northern England became the cradle of traditional “Celtic” music and verse. The source of this power seems to have been the intersection of Pictish/Celtic influence with Norse or Anglo Saxon influence. After 1820, the Irish would increasingly claim Ireland as the seat of Celtic music and would cite the wire strung harp or Clarseach as distinctly Irish. And, if only for political reasons, the Irish did become great conservators of the music after 1860. However, from the 12th century through the 17th century, organized teaching of the harp and of bardic lyric seems to have been more Welsh and lowland Scots. This seems to have been a continuation of an earlier effort to update tradition associated with Arthur. But even this effort may simply be a revival based in a region not far from Stonehenge where earlier efforts to conserve and update ancient learning once flourished. After 700 AD, as formal teaching of the old ideas faded, common minstrels continued to roam the countryside. Interaction between traveling minstrels and the middle class occurred then much as it would today—based on monetary and sexual interaction. After 1100 AD, particularly on the continent and along trade routes between Britain or northern France and Italy, the wealth created by the feudal system increased the merchant and trade class—the middle class. An increasing number of women enjoyed leisure and, at the same time, some expectation of choice in matrimony. This leisure and atmosphere of choice did not immediately translate into happy marriages. Despite raised expectations, many women still found themselves forced to choose marriage partners for economic reasons. Long a source for knowledge and increasingly asked to entertain ladies at court, traveling minstrels now found themselves in romantic liaisons. Welsh harpers had a distinct name for their lover's husbands—Eidig or “jealous one”.395 The traveling minstrel’s seduction of the lady probably encouraged the nobility to restrict the independent minstrel. At the same time, such real seduction quickly fell heir to the tradition al lore of the seer. Seduction of the lady was sometimes portrayed as a virtual quest. In this, the lady represented symbolic wealth. For example, in the popular medieval story of Iseult and Tristan, the traveling harper is hired to teach the princess.

...they brought his harp, and sent for the fair young Princess Isolt that she might hear this skillful minstrel; and indeed Tristan played and sang better than ever he had done before....Then the queen said, 'Tantris, it may be that I can heal thy wound, and on my side I would ask somewhat of thee. Here is my daughter Isolt; she is young, but already has she learnt some measure of skill in music and poetry. Teach her what thou knowest....396

The harper would play music for ladies of the court in their bowers—small bedrooms constructed outside the hall.

...and if the Queen desired to have music, after she retired from the table to her apartment, he (the harper) was then to perform three tender and eloquent songs, or pathetic tunes, different from those which he had played in the hall.397

116 The emergence of this lore seems to reflect an ongoing tension between the commoners—now reduced to serfdom—and their rulers. Commoners appear to have long delighted in the idea that the minstrel should gain access to the court and then seduce the noblewoman, even when that minstrel was high born himself.

Glasgerion was a kings owne sonne, And a harper he was good; He harped in the kings chamber, where cuppe and candle stoode, And soe did he in the queens chamber, till ladies waxed wood. 398

In general, romantic song blurred the distinction between the lore of quest and romance. In one song, the harper plays Sad Music and then Joy Music prior to seduction.

He's taen his harp intill his hand, He's harpit them a' asleep, Except it was the young countess, That love did waukin keep.

And first he had harpit a grave tune, And syne he had harpit a gay, And money a sich atween hands I wat the lady gae.

Says, 'Whan day is dawen, and cocks hae crawen, And wappit their wings sae wide, It's yet may come to my bower-door, And streek you by my side.'399

A body of music emerged, particularly on the continent, aimed specifically at songs of seduction and love. In the Arabian, Albigensian and other love lyrics of the early middle ages, the romantic imagery seems directly derived from ancient imagery—as in citation of “three lovely maidens.”

But how fly when three lovely maidens, young and beautiful as marble statues, have taken possession of my soul?...One is like the full moon, another like the morning star, The third like a graceful branch of an Egyptian willow....400

At least during the period before 1350, as evidenced by the songs of the troubadours, such song about women could often be bawdy—expanding upon old themes of testing and seduction long evident in the ritual wedding dance of maid and fool. With Norman destruction of the Albigensian heresy in southern France and scattering of the troubadours, on the continent the practice of noble composition soon restricted itself to more genteel language. This genteel romantic focus defined the female in a more secular, literal and material manner. The female came to be depicted less as an object of passion and more as a

117 prize. On the continent, in this praise verse, the emphasis seems to have shifted away from the instrumental basis of music to unaccompanied court song with increased vocal ornamentation.

118 Emergence of a Distinct Court Music

A distinct court music in Europe resulted from three influences: the nobility’s need to control praise while disenfranchising the common musician, the church’s emphasis on unaccompanied lyric and the emergence of divisions, probably arising as an expression of the 24 string harp. This would be the last effort to accord the number of strings with divine order—in this case the 24 letters—and that connection, if it existed, faded quickly. The nobility’s need to control praise reflected a long-standing cultural shifted toward material values and away from the old metaphysics. The church’s emphasis on unaccompanied lyric derived from the parallel desire to eliminate instrumentalists from the church. Those musicians had a talent and an influence that was not only a direct rival to that of the Roman cleric but was also traditionally the source of the divine word. Ironically, despite these efforts, it would be new instrumental developments on the harp—divisions—that would set the stage for complete court musicianship. Divisions seem to initially have been a form of instrumental relief to singing of the Lament. A 13th century Welsh cleric, Giraldus Cambrensis, marveled at Irish harpers. As a whole Giraldus was critical of the Irish.

It is only in the case of musical instruments that I find any commendable diligence in this people. They seem to me to be incomparably more skilled in these than any other people that I have seen. The movement is not, as in the British instrument to which we are accustomed, slow and easy, but rather quick and lively, while at the same time the melody is sweet and pleasant. It is remarkable how in spite of the great speed of the fingers, the musical proportion is maintained. The melody is kept perfect and full with unimpaired art through everything—through quivering measures and the involved use of several instruments with a rapidity that charms, a rhythmic pattern that is varied, and a concord achieved through elements discordant.401

His mention of a varied rhythmic pattern suggests divisions—variation upon a melodic ground. Divisions were soon after imported from Wales from Ireland.402 Because it was seen as a court music, Divisions engendered a degree of formal support. The Scots seem to have set up organized schools for teaching division methods on the harp and later the pipes. In a separate passage, Cambrensis stated that Scotland was then regarded as the source of harp knowledge, having even surpassed the Irish. Cambrensis saw Ireland as the progenitor of music in Scotland—probably meaning that Ireland had taken the lead in Division playing more than in the universal practice of playing melody.

In the eyes of many, Scotland has not only equaled her mistress, Ireland, in music, but today excels and surpasses her by far. For this reason people look upon her now as the fountain of the art.403

Divisions were welcomed in Wales and then among the Norman aristocracy as a court music above the commons. Religious and social leaders became strident in their public criticism of common music. The clanging of love songs held no value for the intelligentsia.

(They indulge in) veyn songis and knackynge and harpynge, gyternyge and daunsynge and other veyn triflis to geten the stynkyng loue of damyselis.404

119

The furyes ferefull spronge of the flodes of hell Vexith these vagabundes in theyr myndes so That by no mean can they abyde ne dwell Within theyr howsys, but out they nede must go More wyldly wandrynge than outher buck or doo Some with theyr harpis another with his lute Another with his bagpipe or a folysshe flute....405

Despite this disdain, common melody underwent change as well, becoming more complex in its internal form. Around 1350, plague and sudden cooling of the climate leant to more indoor playing and dancing. Many of the older dance-songs survived in the countryside. Yet, the professional minstrel now became almost wholly supported by the nobility with less and less of his or her reward garnered among common folk. Traveling with harp, fiddle or hurdy gurdy the common minstrel on the road was increasingly reduced to the status of beggar. Among common and court musicians, the English moved on to new instruments. The harp became more exclusively Irish, Scottish or Welsh—what would come to be called, during the 17th century, Celtic. Even in those areas the harp often came to be rivaled by the pipes and the fiddle. The harp became a symbol of Irish culture, in its ongoing struggled against the English. The harp appeared on Irish coins. This did not always benefit the harp. The English aristocracy came to identify the harp with all they detested in the Gaels. In early Renaissance England and France, witch trials illustrated the aristocracy's ongoing distrust of traditional cultural forms among commoners. By comparison, Italy did not suffer such trials even though there was a similar official interest in dividing good magic from bad magic. Unbridled solicitation by minstrels came to be widely seen as a social problem. Through the period 1000 AD to 1500 AD, minstrels from Ireland, Scotland and particularly Wales regarded England and the continent as fertile ground for solicitation. Beyond the avowedly Celtic areas they were not regulated by the customs which continued in those Celtic areas. They took advantage of the lingering traditional respect and payment accorded to traveling wise men and soon seem to have been seen as burdening inns and courts with undue solicitation. By the early 14th century the English and French Norman rulers found it necessary to impose formal regulation of minstrels. During1330 minstrels were chartered in Paris. The charter was renewed in 1401.406 Musicians appear to have responded by eliminating less serious aspects of their performance routines such as dancing monkeys.407 English musicians began to journey to France for their education.408 As evident in Welsh laws, Welsh courts tried to distinguish between the minstrel employed by the court and the minstrel who traveled or who lived among the commons—the latter having less value.

There are three legal harps: the king's harp, the harp of a chief of song, and the harp of a gwrda; the worth of the first two, each six score pence, and their tunings keys twenty four pence; the harp of a gwrda is worth three score pence, and the tuning key twelve pence.409

120 At the same time, the definition of minstrel began to blur. Many of those employed at court now played musical instruments and supplemented the ranks of the visiting minstrels.410 Such changes reflected the long-standing and now growing resentment the nobility felt towards bards, seers, minstrels and other unallied purveyors of knowledge. By the late 16th century these feelings had lead to the Gaelic term for the large harp—Clairseach. The term Clairseach probably arose as Scottish players of the wire strung harp ventured down into Wales and England. The term “Clairseach” appears most prominently in early Scottish references while the term “Cler” is Welsh. The Welsh term Cleir was applied to traveling clergy and minstrels in derision by inn keepers and others—the Welsh “Cler” means “flies”. In Ireland, Cleir came to mean an itinerant monk or entertainer.411 The professional harper’s circuit between Welsh monasteries was called a Clera. Given the numerous regulations drawn up in Norman areas to regulate itinerant minstrels and the low regard in which Celtic minstrels were long held by the Normans, the original meaning of “Clairseach” or “Klershew” was probably “Shoo flies!” Harpers seem to have adopted the name for their instrument much as Americans would later adopt the song Yankee Doodle—out of self-depreciating humor.

121 Medieval Decline Of The Ancient Harp

Singers with harpes, bandes, wafereres, Which been the veray develes officeres -Chaucer412

Chaucer mirrors the sentiment about common minstrels held by many respectable people. One might like to think of the middle ages as a time of pastoral simplicity with harpers cavorting merrily through the village. However, particularly in areas of Britain and France dominated by a Norse aristocracy, it was a time of economic and cultural oppression. The castle represented not only protection from others but also government power over the serfs. Many minstrels wandered the roads, ever on pilgrimage in search of some mystical release, subject to robbery but always hoping to find protection in the timeless importance and remuneration accorded the bards. The carving of harps on the side of cathedrals, such as the roughly 19 string Celtic harp on the side of the Lincoln Cathedral, c.1270, in England, came from craftsmen and designers who knew that the same instrument was not allowed within the church. They also knew that not only the church but the aristocracy frowned on common music. However, the Celtic harp also had a court form— the large harp used for Divisions. More than 19 strings would be required for that and the iconography of the harp in the hand of angels suggests the small harp—the instrument still played by Irish clerics. The craftsmen seem to have been asserting the ancient and special harp and its minstrel usage in the face of increasing repression by the authorities. This harp did not sound with the soft strains of the Renaissance or the modern folk harp. By most accounted it was “shrill”—giving out a somewhat discordant twang because its strings were tuned slightly askew. The traveling minstrel increasingly found himself performing before the noble simply to gain gold by delivering praise--the remnants of the traditional bardic Lament often became a sycophantic solicitation. And the courts developed their own, in-house, minstrels so as to be certain that the verse sang their praises. At the same time, minstrels came to be more vulnerable to bandits on the road. Though minstrels continued to exercise their prerogative of showing up at inn or court and expecting payment, innkeepers increasingly regarded them as a nuisance.

...many idle persons, under the colour of Mynstrelsie (green?), and going in messages and other faigned business, have ben and yet received in other mens houses to meate and drynke... unlesse he be a mynstrel, and of these Minstrels that there come none except it be three or four Minstrels of honour at the most in one day...and that such as shall come so, holde themselves contented with meate and drynke, and such curtesie as the maister of the house wyl shewe unto them....413

...that vagrant and idle persons, naming themselves Minstrels, Rythmers, and Bards, had lately grown into such intolerable multitude within the Principality of North Wales...persons that intend to maintain their living by name or colour of Minstrels, Rythmers, or Bards...shall appear to show their learnings accordingly.414

Official regulation of the minstrel mirrored an end to the minstrel’s formal rights of access and travel in Britain and northern France.415

122 These changes accompanied a shift in the manner by which learning could be gained. Whereas, for ages, knowledge had come through travel to centers of poetic lore and ritual, learning now centralized and lay in the hands of the elite. The mid-14th century saw the establishment of the university—centralizing knowledge and creating a powerful hub for authorized knowledge to displace the minstrelsy. The university and the aristocratic culture in which it arose made Latin, literal writing and the church’s systematized music theory the cultural standard and pathway to intellectual respect. Minstrelsy got in the way of such study. The Statutes of The Queen's College, 1340, stated:

It is the custom to provoke levity and insolence as often as possible by an assembly of musical instruments, and thus to make an occasion for distraction from study and progress.416

The universities imported classical Greek works, coming with spices into Italy from Persia. These ultimately lay the basis for a focus on nature that became humanism during the Renaissance. But they also created a focus on nature lodged in the distant past and faraway place—supplanting the nature poetry of the Celtic minstrels. Aristotle’s emphasis on the ONE and reason fit nicely with a church and aristocracy alliance in pursuit of material wealth and top-down social control by an elite. The Roman church formed an army of its own and demanded for itself a large share of the profit gained by making serfs of the peasantry. Imitating vocal polyphony, at Norman courts, single note instruments soon began to play in concert, in contrast to the harp and early keyboards—inherently solo instruments. In this, they were influenced not only by the church’s systematization of music but also by the earlier Persian systematization and the arrival of new instruments from Persia through Italy. By 1100AD a host of single note instruments and notably the fiddle and the pipes began to replace the harp for common melody. References to instruments from this time place the harp alongside numerous other instruments. A passage from the Roman De Brut describes all these instruments playing Lais—the lament or forms derived from the lament, the praise-form increasingly popular on the continent.

There are many jongleurs, singers, instrumentalists; Many will hear singing, common and novel sons, fiddlings, lays of notes, lais of fiddles, lais of rotes, lais of harps, lais of flutes.417

In rural areas as well, instruments of the fiddle family and the pipes began to replace the harp as a definer of common or traditional dance melody. Their portability and more ornamented sound better fit the developing “pastoral” ideal. In a Jacobite Scottish verse it is the fiddler who represents their cause against the Whig. He carries the ritual lance that is to be kissed. He sports the “links o'leary” or chains of entrapment.

123 This fiddler cam' wi' sword and lance, And a' his links o' leary, O, to learn the Whigs a Morrice dance, that they lov'd won-drous dearly,O.418

Ireland uses and delights in two instruments only, the harp, namely, and the timpanum. Scotland uses three, the harp, timpanum, and the crowd. Wales uses the harp, the pipes, and the crowd.419

Britain remained the source for the harp’s continued influence in France, particularly the Bretans in Celtic Brittanny. In both Britain and France, the harp embodied the most tangible vestige of a belief system extending back thousands of years. Around the 12th century, the university embraced Pythagorean temperament because it leant itself to the church’s focus on vocals singing without instruments. Until the 14th century, these changes resulted not only in competing musical worlds but also competing musical systems with the older, drone based system grounded in the harp and ostensibly mean-tone in temperament challenged both by court musicians using the church’s systematized musical system as well as the growing use of Pythagorean temperament. The harp's disappearance from the English court represented a significant shift in the focus of common music.

After 1307 there are no entries (in the Wardrobe Books) which refer to a group of “King's Harpers” as there used to be to the devoted four of the old king.420

Lionel, duke of Clarence, c. 1327, made it illegal to entertain Irish minstrels. While James 1 of Scotland (1424-37) played the harp, James 11 (1437-60) heard a variety of new instruments— psaltery, cithole, recorder, etc., and, in 1449, issued a decree against wandering minstrels. James III (1460-88) played the clavichord and lute.421 James VI of Scotland issued a decree against minstrels in 1579. At roughly the same time, however, particularly in Scotland the iconography or image of the harp began to be celebrated in a manner that merged early romanticism—women as allied to nature—with traditional Celtic imagery and the harp. This is evident in the mermaid with harp carvings from Kilcoy castle—a harp almost identical to the Lincoln Cathedral harp from the 13th century. Though romanticism is generally seen as a reintroduction of nature through Greek and Roman

124 works, the influence of surviving Celtic imagery should be credited as well, particularly given the roll played by north country ballads during the late 18th century. Such efforts did not immediately affect tradition in the more outlying rural areas but they indicate social trends at the centers of power. A 14th century Irish verse alludes to the harp with lyric formulas typical of the old lore, another element within late medieval lore from which British isles romanticism ultimately will spring

Sound of the calm wave on the beach, pure shadowing tree of true music, carousals are drunk in your company, voice of the swan over shining streams.422

In contrast, solicitation through more literal lyric can also be found.

A harp in special, in return for my poem grant me at my request, O king, O countenance like the ripe fruit from the apple tree for this is something that you happen to have.423

By the end of the 15th century, in Celtic areas, the harper's lot was mixed. On the one hand, in hindsight, it becomes easier to identify and speak of a truly “Celtic” ethnic culture among the Irish, highland Scottish, Welsh and Bretons. However, the term “Celtic” was not yet applied to these people. The number of Celtic nobility who supported distinctly Celtic customs decreased. The Celtic harper's interest became increasingly allied to marginal, outlying gentry whose customs and holdings were tied to conservation of older cultural forms.424 For the English, during the sixteenth century, “Irish” harpers came to generally be persecuted as objects of scorn. The Renaissance had brought soft sounding instruments from Italy and complex instrumental forms. In contrast, at the country inn, the pulsing drone of the historical Celtic harp accompanied bawdy glees and recitations of recondite bardic lyric. In 1597, Queen Elizabeth outlawed rogues, beggars, and wandering minstrels.425 Later, she sent commissions to banish “Irish” harpers from the English Pale in Ireland426—”to hang the harpers, wherever found, and destroy their instruments.”427 The Celts were seen much as were the American Indians and, in Ireland, were similarly colonized and improved. In Ireland, with Renaissance influence, high-headed Celtic harps were built—imitating the high headed Italian harp. Irish players ceased to sit on the ground, floor or bench with the harp resting before them. They began to sit in chairs with the high-headed harp resting on the floor. Outdoors, the wire strung Clairseach or gut strung bray harp was played with fingernails and its piercing drone worked well. Indoors, Irish harpers began to abandon the traditional method of playing with the fingernails. In north Wales, harpers still played small-harps strung with hair strings.

I am informed by Mr. William Williams, that, when a boy, he had an old leathern Harp, which he used to play upon. The body of it was hollowed, or scooped, out of a piece of wood, and covered with an ox's skin, which was sowed extremely tight at the back; and the pegs, which the strings screwed with, were made of bone, or of ivory. 428

125

A 14th century Welsh passage scorns the innovators who would substitute gut strings for the old horse hair strings. It refers to King David and mentions the divination of by-gone times. Separate from the lament for strings, the

...there is a noisy strumming amongst us, of dismal crazy-sided Harps, or Leathern wickets. David had no one string from dead sheep; long prosper the faith. The Minstrels of the serious prophet David, with all the cunning of their divination, never formed one Harp exquisitely pleasing, but of shiny hair, yet pure the song! Wise is the easy and sprightly description of the Harp strung with black glossy hair.—The hair-strung Harp, a worthy gift! by the bounty of Heaven....429

In contrast, the high-art or court side of Welsh harping progressed to double and triple harps. European artists and the elite were, generally, moving towards integration of the harp’s image with more modern romantic ideas, a trend that continues to the present day. As often happens when a music leaves the mainstream and preservation becomes a specialized pursuit, the arena for the old music became competition. By the 16th century the highland Scots had taken both the structured melody and the methodical division methods of the large metal strung Celtic harp or Clairseach and applied these forms to the bagpipe. During the 16th century, pipe schools were founded among the highland Scottish because pageantry and the fielding of troops had become a means of competition between outlying Scottish chieftains.430 In contrast to modern highland bagpipe playing, using mostly simple dance melodies, much of 16th century military pipe teaching and its value among the aristocracy was probably based on divisions—the highland pipe's Piobaireach. The long-standing disdain of the authoritarian and later Puritan elite for minstrels was accompanied by disdain for ordinary melody—common music. This often translated not into a complete rejection of the harp but in its alteration toward complexity. Among Irish court harpers the wire strung high headed Clairseach was sometimes double strung on the upper strings and had as many as 54 strings.431 In general, among the educated by 1550, divisions were considered “highly penned composition”.432 The short measures of common structured melody were often considered crude, particularly in instrumental form. In England inn harpers who played common melody and who sang the old Lament were regarded as low and backward.433 Puttenham's comments on harps in 17th century English pubs probably typifies the attitude of much English intelligentsia toward common melody.

...popular musickes, sung by these Cantabanqui, upon benches and barrels heads, where they have none other audience then boys or country fellows, that passe by them in the streete; or else blind harpers, or such like taverne Minstrels, that give a fit of mirth for a groat....434 126

Since 1100, the upper crust wanted to hear the long form—Division playing— accompanying verse.

...we our selves who compiled this treatise have written for pleasure a little brief...ditty...in short and long meetres, and by breaches and Divisions to be more commodiously song to the harpe in places of assembly, where the company shallbe desirous to hear of old adventures.... 435

The Historical Celtic Harp's Demise The stage for the ultimate decline of the ancient harp was set in by the middle ages. Wholesale killing of harpers followers. When Cromwell invaded Ireland his army destroyed many harps and, it is said, hung many harpers.

They broke all the harps they could find throughout Ireland...within a short time scarce a single instrument would be left in Ireland.436

Cromwell represented the Puritan forces within the growing middle class. Ironically, country dance had just begun to make itself popular among the English nobility. Queen Elizabeth seems to have brought country dance from the Scottish border country into London. Playford soon published his Country Dances and the seeds of the modern traditional music revival, based on the fiddle, were sown. In Ireland, patronage became the sole means of preserving the Celtic harp.

...the harpers frequented mostly the houses of the old Irish families who had lost their titles or were reduced more or less in their estates.437

However, the English were bent on destroying the power of the Irish nobility. This situation heralded the demise of the instrument. Ironically, some of the English literati were having second thoughts about the supposedly worthless Irish. During the late 17th century, this vanishing culture was labeled “Celtic.” During the mid-18th century, the cream of Ireland's educated youth fled to France. The dance violin—later widely called the fiddle—as well as Italian and French popular song styles became a strong influence in Ireland. Other Irish became some of the first emigrants in settlement of the New World. Defeated militarily, much of highland Scotland's male youth migrated to the city or joined the British army in India. In Wales, many of the remaining Celtic harps seem to have been burned by the servants of those middle class Celts who tried to collect and preserve them. Subject to the Puritanism spread by itinerant preachers through the countryside, like many harpers who quit playing, such servants were perhaps certain that the bad times into which they had fallen were the result of sins that should be amended.438

The sudden decline of the national Minstrelsy, and Customs of Wales, is in a great degree to be attributed to the fanatick impostors, or illiterate plebeian preachers, who have too often been suffered to over-run the country, misleading the greater part of the common people from their lawful Church; and dissuading them from their innocent amusements, such as Singing, Dancing, and other rural Sports,

127 and Games, which heretofore they had been accustomed to delight in, from the earliest time. In the course of my excursions through the Principality, I have met several Harpers and Songsters, who actually had been prevailed upon by those erratic strollers to relinquish their profession, from the idea that it was sinful.439

During the late 18th century, for a brief period, antagonism between educated Protestant and Catholics in Northern Ireland briefly subsided. For a short period Irish nationalism seemed to promise that the sectarian quarrel could be left behind. A harp festival was organized in Belfast. At the request of organizers, a nineteen year old piano/organ teacher, Edward Bunting, attended the meeting and wrote down tunes played by the last of the old Irish harpers. This effort was an exception to an almost uninterrupted seven hundred year effort to eliminate the ancient harp and the influences of the harpers. It came in the wake of interest in Scottish ballads—the songs of the north country—during the late 18th century and seems to have been part of a general effort to bring Ireland up to par, giving it a national music that could be sung in the parlor in celebration of it. The official interest did not last for long. Still, Bunting had found a market. He went on to collect and publish three books of music. In these, he arranged harp tunes for pianoforte. His market lay among the upper class—people who could afford a piano, a world far from that of the aging Irish of Highland harper. Though they paid lip service to the idea of the harp and incorporated the image of the harp as a central element of Victorian romanticism, they did almost nothing to understand or perpetuate the instrument’s historical method. In Wales, only the upper class triple harp survived. For all practical purposes, by 1815 the historical Celtic harp and its ancient musical system had perished along with the last of the old harpers. One Irish harper, Byrne, seems to have lived until 1840. Another, Michael Kelly, may have traveled to California and survived until about 1860. Organized steps to save the harp went little further than a short-lived effort to teach the instrument to orphans. By 1790 a new and distinctly Irish instrument had emerged, designed to play music in the modern Celtic manner of the dance violin—based on the keys of d and g major, as well as e and a modal—the Union pipes. That dance violin system dominates “traditional” dance music in the English speaking world today. Though today often identified as Celtic or Irish, that method dominated all American and British social dance music during the 19th century and came to be closely link to adaptations of French dance styles—the cotillion and then quadrille. The Fenian cultural revival in Ireland worked very hard, beginning in the 1880s and continuing to the present day, to redefine the music as Irish. While the musical system altered, the independent spirit of the musicians has often managed survived—probably because it is rooted in innate human experience of music and dance as well as a cultural inheritance of melody as developed on the ancient harp. Clouded by neglect, change and politics the nature of the loss as well as the inheritance are little known to musicians and public alike.

128 The Method of the Historical Celtic Harp

Edward Bunting arranged old harp tunes for piano and the modern musical system. He also wrote down technical descriptions of an instrument that he didn’t fully understand. Deciphering the historical method rests on accepting the great antiquity of that method and applying ideas from ancient culture to his descriptions. He illustrated the harp’s scale as:

He labled the low G—cronan or “drone”, labled the pair of G strings the “sisters”, described the low F as potentially “falling” or getting tuned down to E, cited use of the D natural minor scale (containing Bb), and generally saw the instrument as tuned in fifths and as shown above. The historical harp’s scale should be understood as:

CD FGABbCDEbFGGABbCDEbFG etc.

This would be the large harp—designed for Divisions when the hands reverse position— “Malairt” as labled by Bunting-- so that the drones and basic scale are placed at low pitch. The basic scale of the small harp would be an octave higher for the drones and basic melody strings.

FGABbCDEbFG with the F lowerable to Eb and additional strings in the treble.

The tempering of the instrument would have been a modified mean tone tuning. The basics of that meantone tuning method survive in some early harpsichord methods—an instrument derived from the metal strung Irish harp.

129 Historically, the harp was at one time known for its meantone temperament. ..(tempering) is of two sorts, the one in fretted instruments, the other in those with keys: in the former the primary consonances (i.e. 5ths and 4ths) are more just, and the secondary ones (i.e. 3rds and 6ths) less, and also the semitones therein are somewhat more diminished (sic); but in the latter, on the contrary, the 3rds and 6ths are found (to be) more just, and the 4ths and 5ths less (so). This is the reason that lutes, theorbos, viols, liras (da braccio), etc., can never be perfectly in tune with harpsichords or with the harp, because of the difference in temperament.... Giovanni Battista Doni, c. 1640.23

That temperament helps explain the pair of G strings—the sisters. In early European music Bb appears to have been tuned slightly sharp, creating a subjective or uncertain pitch, Thus, in early medieval church singing only four finals could only be transposed to their respective fifths—a, b, c and d. Seeing Bb as a secondary final in all tunes to the low drone— Eb, F or G, one of the G sisters would be tuning to that Bb—making the high drone as slightly sharp at the Bb. The low C and D appear to be added drones and may have required some retuning of other strings—creating a told of five musics or finals as the instrument expanded somewhat during the middle ages.

130 Arguments While Trying to Save Harp Music

Efforts to understand and rescue the ancient historical harp failed both because the instrument itself had often evolved and because, in its most basic form, the instrument’s method was centuries out of date with modern music and understandings of music at the time of the early 19th century. In Wales, Richard Jones collected harp music and arranged it for the modern triple harp. Scotland's major contribution to historical harp music came in the Angus Fraser MS. Unwilling to extensively alter his music and perhaps unable to add as thorough piano arrangement yet no more capable of understanding the old music than Jones or Bunting, Fraser never found a publisher. His son renewed the effort. The collection was lost until the 1950s.440 None of these men understood the historical method of the historical Celtic harp. Still, comparison of the primary sources—Bunting, Fraser and Jones-- suggests that during the early 19th century, Celtic harpers from Ireland, Scotland and Wales continued to play music based on alternating drones. However, the social distance between the literate upper crust and rural Celtic harpers was vast. While the intelligensia lauded the mystique and romance of the bard in poetry and song, they lived far removed from the last harpers who played in the ancient style. The melodies that survived in Scotland may have, as a whole, been of an older form than those played by the 18th century Irish harpers. The warpipes survived in Scotland but was abandoned by the Irish. Similarly, the techniques of bardic verse lasted somewhat longer in Scotland than in Ireland.441 Scotland seems to have regimented the conservation of old Celtic verse and music more than did Ireland. However, at the same time, in Scotland the last of those who could play harp seem to have given up the instrument even before they died-- along with a general disillusionment with and turn away from the old or traditional lifestyle as it was assailed by itinerant puritan preachers and the broad ongoing imposition of industrial society. Bunting was the most thorough and most successful of the collectors. In hindsight, he was also notoriously flawed. Bunting's description of harp methods, his sketchy note taking and his piano arrangement of harp tunes combined to obscure the historical techniques of the Celtic harp. He did not leave an unequivocal statement that could counter the emotional needs of modern romanticism. Instead he marketed to that need, confusing it with the legitimate historical information he alone recorded. This was soon noticed. George Petrie and other 19th century Irish scholars criticized Bunting's practice of arranging harp tunes for piano. Unfortunately, they did not go one step further and ask specific questions about the harp's technique. Lacking harp players to collect from, 19th century Irish music collectors tended to group fiddle, pipe, whistle, song and harp pieces together with little distinction as to type of tune. During the 19th century, a notable effort to understand the Celtic harp came in a series of lectures given by Eugene O'Curry during the 1860s. O'Curry collected references to the harp from a variety of Irish sources. He repeatedly found himself admitting that he didn't understand those references or the historical context of the instrument.442 In the mid-twentieth century, with the general revival of “folk” music, a “folk harp” was invented and has since held forth at craft fairs.

131

Romantic Views Of Minstrelsy

The modern notion of “folk” music is the foundation for romantic views of the harp, romanticism as a whole and ancient Celtic culture in general. During the early part of the 18th century, English gentlemen began to buy up black-letter broadside ballad sheets printed mostly during the 16th and 17th centuries and sold on the street. With their earthy language and their sometimes overt references to sex and violence, these ballads intrigued the collectors. During 1760, James MacPherson published his first compilation of whimsy and ballad hunting--Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands and Translated from the Gaelic or Erse. He followed this in 1762 with Fingal, An Ancient Epic Poem and in 1765 with The Works Of Ossian, the Son of Fingal. MacPherson’s work struck a chord among the German romantics, notably Johann Gottfried Herder who published an essay on Ossian in 1771 and who soon articulated the idea of Volkslieder--folk song.443 The idea of folk song and the related idea of ethnic identity would create a new way to look at human identity. They provided a social context to the long-standing tendency in Hellenic and then aristocratic Europe to see society as divorced from nature. This context was useful to both capitalism and to democratic nationalism. The nature of the people defined a location rather than geography or the King. During the early part of the 18th century, gentlemen had assembled collections of black letter broadside ballad sheets. These were sometimes valued because they contained bawdy songs. They had generally been printed and sold on the street in England during the 16th and 17th centuries. During 1765, Thomas Percy published Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. He asserted that many of the ballads reflected the work of itinerant minstrels who were direct inheritors of the ancient scops and bards. For Percy the irregular language of the more northern ballads represented the true spirit of chivalry.444 This wild view of chivalry would tend to give way during the 19th century to a broad view of comportment. This view of music made it central to democratic or republican views of how music propagated polite behavior. With 19th century refinement of this idea, any specifically Celtic definition of the minstrel gave way to an English tendency to ignore the Celts when speaking of King Arthur. For a time the old music remained “wild” but was “northern.”

The old Minstrel-ballads are in the northern dialect, abound with antique words and phrases, are extremely incorrect, and run into the utmost license of metre; they have also a romantic wildness, and are in the true spirit of chivalry.

During 1775, James Beattie published a book of poems called The Minstrel. Suddenly, minstrelsy was no longer a thing of the past but a subject and practice of the present. In his poem, Beattie asserted that, by coming directly from nature, the minstrel represented health, in contrast to the unhealthy climate of industrial England. Ritson soon published a critique of Percy’s book in which he pointed out that the best of these, the irregular plain-language northern ballads, came not from England but from the

132 lowlands between England and Scotland. During 1789, Robert Burns made this point even more strongly by putting together a song collection, The Scot’s Musical Museum. Finally, Sir Walter Scott published a collection of songs Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border and his own poems Lay Of The Last Minstrel, 1805, and Lady Of The Lake, 1810. The poem enjoyed a wide reception. Selling 20,000 copies during the first year, Lady Of The Lake placed the romantic image of the vanished Celtic harp squarely before the English public. Many a parlor came to be graced by a harp. Scott's daughters took up the instruments as did many young middle class or wealthy young ladies—albeit playing in a modern fashion. The poem set the stage for the romantic view of the harp, even to our own day. The die was cast. Through the entire 19th century, popular song in England and particularly America was dominated by the idea that minstrelsy and specifically minstrelsy associated with the Celts—the Scots and Irish mostly—provided the key to entering a nature full of wonder and drama. Like Beattie, Scott invoked the harp. For Sir Walter Scott, nature stood not as a empty void but as tangled verdancy.

This sapient age disclaims all classic lore; Else I should here in cunning phrase display, How forth THE MINSTREL fared in days of yore, Right glad of heart, though homely in array; His waving locks and beard all hoary grey: And, from his bending shoulder, decent hung His harp, the sole companion of his way, Which to the whistling wind responsive rung: And ever as he went some merry lay he sung. Beattie. The Minstrel, 1775

Celtic minstrelsy and its literary ideas had a somewhat later effect across the Atlantic in New England. During 1823, Philip Heinrich wrote a score titled “The sylviad, or, Minstrelsy of nature in the wilds of North America.” 1827 saw publication of "The Minstrel or Pocket songster."445 Through the mid 1830s most collections of minstrelsy came from Celtic sources— Scottish, Irish and Welsh. During 1820 Thomas Moore published an entire book of new lyrics, Irish Melodies, set to old tunes—often old harp tunes. Many of these songs became standards and the importance of the Irish to minstrelsy had been clearly established. By 1830, scholars began to object to the arrangement of old tunes for piano and the alteration of old lyrics, however from the onset, in the popular mind minstrelsy meant the adaptation and recreation of ballads and songs in the ancient mold. The tension between rationalism’s desire to reduce information into tidbits and the innate need to view nature, the past and women as full and powerful tended to be resolved for the Victorians within a specifically Victorian definition of chivalry. In chivalry lay a code of noble behavior and language drawn from the past and yet, for the Victorians of the 19th century, this could be used to suppress the base emotions, crudity and the flesh. Poets like Coleridge and Wordsworth would attempt to plumb the ancient ballads into poetical works. At the same time, song writers would attempt to plumb ballad language into lofty sentiment.

133 Here is a popular song from the early 19th century in which a jilted lover asks to be killed because he cannot enter his sweetheart’s bosom. The song’s use of images like the rose, apple and daisy and the lack of references to Greek gods reflects the influence of the minstrelsy collections—the growing sense that the Celts rather than the Greeks define Europe’s past. Londonderry Air, 1838:

Would God I were the tender apple blossom that floats and falls from off the twisted bough to lie and faint within your silken bosom, within your silken bosom as that does now. Oh would I were a little burnished apple for you to pluck me gliding by so cold while sun and shade your robe of lawn will dapple your robe of lawn and your hair spun gold

Yea would to God I were among the roses, that lean to kiss you as you flow be tween while on the lowest branch a bud uncloses, a bud uncloses to touch you Queen Nay since you will not love, would I were growing, a happy daisy in the garden path that so your silver foot might press me going, might press me going even unto death.

By 1840 an undercurrent of reaction to the pretensions of chivalry among the elite began to appear. This came strongly through comic song—parodies and burlesques of the serious ballad or song. London saloon theater depicted the “type” or character who could posture as the fallen dandy, the aspiring gentleman from the lower classes, as the Cockney—the Irishman in London. This format was soon adapted to and parodied by the American “minstrel show” with its burlesques by whites in black-face portraying slaves on the plantation—generally house slaves. Countering this Celtic focus was the “folk music” idea in which theories of minstrelsy were extended to all societies. Beginning during the 1770s, scholars began to articulate the belief that the ancient ballads had not been produced by minstrels but were, instead, the work of the people or “folk” acting communally. For the German, Herder, this idea of “folk music” served the purposes of German nationalism—giving the German people the ability to claim that they originated the culture of the Anglo-Saxons who had produced the ballad. For the English, like Lang, by the late 19th century, assertion of a communal origin sidestepped the problem of Celtic influence—each ethnic group could be assigned its own folk music. Analysis of gapped modes and presumptions about simplicity allied “folk” music with the base passions.446 The emerging imagery of humanism built on a duality of folk versus classical music or primitive versus modern civilization. It took the idea of centralized authority—the One articulated by Plato and Aristotle—and distributed that power to collections of people. Though humanism paid lip service to individualism, in practice individuals were valued mostly as they formed groups and, implicitly, created the republic. In this, it echoed the Protestant emphasis on sobriety and work.

134 The 19th century saw a ballad and social dance revival throughout the English speaking world based on these ideas. Virtually absent from this discussion was consideration of instruments or the musician as mediator between structure of creation and the structure of the instrument—the metaphysical ideas that had been fundamental during ancient times. In a literal sense, this mean that, during the early 19th century,, the old music needed to be adapted to the piano. And, after the American Civil War, German influence created an emphasis on orchestration and complex chord structure. The universal feeling seems to have been that if the old forms of music were to survive, technology must be brought to the service of that music. For much of the 19th century, scholarly purism had little effect—song writers continued to mine the ballads, traditional songs, popular songs and everything at hand, continually regenerating and adapting works. With Lomax, during the early 19th century, Herder’s theory of “folk music” came to dominate American academic thinking about the old music.

These cowboy ballads are not the expression of individuals but of the whole company which listens to them, and they are, in a very real sense, the work of other men than the author...447

Though criticized by later collectors, Bunting's arrangement of harp tunes for piano found a receptive audience, particularly among a middle class intelligentsia hungry for Celtic melodies to support Irish nationalism. It was assumed that one needn't have the old harpers to enjoy the ancient music—one only needed rough transcriptions of their melodies for the growing bourgeoisie. Upon its publication during 1810, Scott’s Lady Of The Lake saw great success. Building on earlier writing by Beattie and others, the poem's focus on the harp as Muse fed a public hungry for information about Celtic harp. The book’s notes exhibit almost little understanding of the historical instrument. Endnotes appended to Scott's first edition attempted to describe the harp in a scientific manner. They describe the harp having been supplanted by the bagpipe—an instrument that hardly fit the gentile, refined instrument that the harp and ideas of music had become in non-Celtic locations.

How it happened that the noisy and inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instrument that obtains universally in the highland districts.448

Moore published notes in Irish Melodies speculating on the respective nature of Irish and Scottish tunes. Still, like other literati, he had no idea of the harp’s method. One of Moore's songs “The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls,” used the disappearance of the harp as a metaphor for lost glory, echoing and reinvigorating the romantic view set forth by Scott and taking it on for the Irish. The image remains central to Irish romanticism, particularly in the wake of the diaspora of Irish across the world.

No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells: The chord alone, that breaks at night, its tale of ruin tells.449

135

The effort to write poetry in non-classical forms saw its most extended expression in the mock-heroic poem—an imitation of the old ballads. During the 19th century, with respect to ancient Britain, the mock-heroic form came to be dominated by Alfred Lord Tennyson 's Idylls Of The King. However, Tennyson was an English poet. While painting a nostalgic picture of lost Arthurian glory, he barely mentioned the Gaels or the harp. Reflecting a long-standing cultural prejudice—one still in place today— much of the Celtic element to the Arthurian lore remained appropriated to the English. Through the 19th century, English romanticism created chivalry as defined by manners and allegiance to social codes rather than the “wildness” ascribed to the Celts. As had been the case for many centuries, the harp symbolized the Celtic past but not the English past. When Tennyson mentioned the harp it was only in a brief reference to primal origins and the super-natural.

For truly, as thou sayest, a fairy king and fairy queens have built the city, son: They came from out a sacred mountain-cleft Toward the sunrise, each with harp in hand.450

With Irish emigration to America, the Irish desire to preserve, encode and claim the old music became enormous—central to rebuilding Irish identity in the wake of English rule. During the early 20th century, the principle collector of Celtic instrumental music proved to be Francis O’Neill, police chief of Chicago. 451 A strong supporter of the Gaelic League and allied, in general to the Irish revival, O’Neill labeled as “Irish” every tune that he could find in the hands of an Irishman. Music that, during the early 19th century, had been seen as Scottish took on a predominantly Irish reputation. During the mid-1960s, Gerald Hawkins found overnight success with his interpretation of Stonehenge as an observatory—as a scientific tool for objectively observing the heavens.452 Today, every time another buried stone turns up in England, primitive origins seem confirmed and people speculate about the ignorance of ancient society.

136 Author’s After Thoughts

Over the last 40 years, working on this book, a few over-arching truths have emerged for me. The amount of written and archeological material that could be integrated into this overall thesis remains vast. The need in modern society for language and imagery around structured process as a definer of culture and as a counter-weight to the oppressive tendencies possible within civilization grows daily. And, finally, the popular romantic mythology of Celticism may never allow either the historical or musical information in this book to gain wide acceptance. These factors may ensure that modern thought never adequately appreciates the significance to the milestone and potential that came with structuring and use of a musical instrument as an embodiment to understanding of structured process and pre-conscious thought. On the one hand, those understandings or ideas went through some changes in emphasis and were, ultimately, completely suppressed as part of a culture that challenged oppression by a moneyed elite. On the other hand, a remarkable effort to preserve a primary medium of that culture, the ancient harp, survived for millennia—its didactic and experiential role in society gradually reduced and, ultimately, redefined at the point of its demise. Romantic attention to the historical Celtic harp pushed its role into the realm of folk-story and allowed it to perish. The voyage of the bard into wild nature and his delivery of emotion into overly rational industrial civilization remains the defining story of modern “art.” Gone are the bards and minstrels going from inn to inn and sometimes into Court itself, delivering the story of creation—the division of the waters—celebrating the structure of process, playing strings named for the planets, alluding to the dog who hunts and the white bird on the shore, calling for Knowledge and then, and only then, praising those in power. Culture and an understanding of the structured process in culture comes before men in power rule. Process is about balance, communication and time. The modern world is perishing for lack of these.

137 Appendix Layers Of Imagery in Pre-Conquest Mexico453

The layering of imagery in Irish and Norse lore can be compared to the layering in pre- Columbian Mexico. At the time of the Spanish conquest, during the early sixteenth century, middle American culture consisted of feudal kingdoms in a state of decline. The learned people in these kingdoms possessed writing, astronomy and fine art. The dominant culture, that of the Aztecs, extended its influence and trade as far as the North American plains and in to South America. The basis for these feudal kingdoms lay in a widespread and ancient Olmec culture. The most widely found artifact of Olmec culture is the jaguar head. Up until the Spanish conquest, the jaguar figure played the most long-standing role as a symbol. In ancient Mexico, the word for priest was sometimes called jaguar and sometimes serpent. The jaguar appears to have been seen as a figure who both described the order of creation and who acted as an intermediary between man and the powers of creation. From later Mayan (the god Chac), Aztec (Tlaloc) and Zapotec (Cosijo) usage, we learn that the jaguar the rain god. The Mayan ceremony of this figure involved the renovation of the temple and he was associated with the four directions. Among the Mayans, he was associated with the planet Venus—a role taken over by the Serpent in Aztec lore. In the basic or civil Aztec calendar, Venus seems to have been used as a check upon the more erratic period of the sun—five-years of Venus equaling eight years of the sun. Until the 1840s, the North American Pawnee practiced sacrifice of a virgin to the Morning Star, a ritual probably gotten from the Aztecs. This ritual was connected with continued fruitfulness. It would seem to echo the festival of the first Aztec month—Atl Caulo (stopping of the water)—when children were sacrificed to Tlaloc. The jaguar figure may have come to middle America via Polynesia from the Shang culture of China, a dynasty that ended in 1100BC. The Olmec Jaguar may be related to Marduk among the Babylonians and Thor among the Norse—the rain or thunder god and his lightning bolt. If we accept this link, then it appears that the rain god, the Jaguar, represents an effort at synthesis—the division of creation and the power of lightning bolt brought together in one image. He is the Thunder god. In Norse lore, Thor slays the serpents. In Babylonian lore, Marduk seems to displace the older figure of Ea who sets the circle in the heavens. At the abrupt end of Olmec culture, c200AD, and until c.900AD, a major culture center continued to thrive at Mt. Alban in Oaxaca. St. Alban has been the most studied and excavated archeological site in Mexico. The early period is characterized by strong Olmec influence, jaguar figures on funerary urns as well as the "danzantes", a series of huge stone slabs each with a carved relief of eunuchs in a dance-like pose. These figures suggest that, as in Europe, an element of Olmec and later Zapotec priesthood may have lain in the renunciation of the male sex drive. We learn from Hopi and other ancient lore that the four directions balanced male and female influence—again suggesting the feminization of male priests.

138 Among the Maya, 300AD to 900AD, sophisticated calendar efforts may mirror the synthesis inherent to the jaguar image. The Maya, like the Celts, maintained both a civil and a sacred calendar. For both the Celts and the Maya, the civil calendar contained 360 days plus 5 intercalary days. Among the Celts the sacred calendar was based on the perfection of the number 30 and gave a five-year cycle and 30 year age while among the Maya the sacred calendar was based on the perfection of the number 20 and gave a 260 day year with a 52 year age A fierce northern people, the Chichimecs ("dog people") conquered much of Mexico around 900AD. This included the Toltecs, in Mexico City and the Mixtec-Puebla (900-1400AD) in Zapotec St. Alban. The Toltec preceded the Aztecs (1400-1527). The Chichmecs absorbed much of the wealth and culture remaining from the Olmecs, the Maya and Zapotecs. Additionally, the Chichimecs seems to have introduced imagery of the Eagle and Serpent—Quetzacoatl or "feathered or plumed serpent" for the Aztec, Kululcan for the Maya. The Chichimecs had heard a prophecy that they should locate their city where they saw an eagle eating a serpent on a cactus bush. This became the Mexico City—Teotihuacan. The prophecy probably relates the Aztec belief that they were the dog people. In divine lore, Quetzacoatle the serpent was said to have sacrificed himself to a fire, become a dog and gone down to hell where he sought for the bones of the dead and returned them to life. The Eagle represents the fire or the sun that consumes the serpent. Warriors who died in battle were said to have become a "companion of the eagle." After four years they would be reborn. This resembles Norse lore in which the Eagle transports Odin. Among the Aztecs, the term for serpent "Quetzcoatl" became a general term for priest. However, apparently due to their absorption of existing forms, the Aztecs recognized a second high priest devoted to the rain god—the jaguar. According to Aztec lore, their predecessors, the Toltecs, did not employ human sacrifice—Quezacoatl would allow only the sacrifice of snakes, birds and butterflies. This suggests that, as part of the Chichimec encounter with the image of the rain-god, they absorbed a long-standing and widespread practice of human sacrifice to the rain- god. The displacement of Quetzacoatl as the primary figure may explain the story in Aztec lore in which Quetzacoatl teaches the arts and then departs, promising to return. The Jaguar or rain-god has been explained as a god of the peasants in contrast to the Serpent who became associated with warriors. However, the Aztec military recognized Eagle and Jaguar divisions but no Serpent division. The Serpent image seems to have been associated with the priesthood as an overall expression of devotion while the Aztecs saw the Eagle and Jaguar as divisions of the worldly order. In the world as a whole, the image of the jaguar seems to represent a development later than the image of the serpent. The image of the serpent seems to be allied to a very early belief in cyclic renewal that originated with the earliest, purely lunar calendar systems. An Aztec hymn to Quetzacoatl.

I am a tender Ear of Corn from your mountains I come to see you, I your god. My life will be renewed; the sapling man grows strong; he who commands in war is born. 139

In contrast, the image of the rain god seems allied to the concept of a fixed calendar that takes into account the need to predict the growing season. The serpent seems derived from very early emphasis on a purely lunar calendar and monthly cycles. Some cultures saw the imagery of the serpent and rain god as competing—notably in the middle east. However, Celtic culture and middle American culture saw these two views—one supporting the military and one supporting the priesthood—flourishing side by side. Additionally, reminiscent of Odin, in Norse lore, the figure of the eagle also came to prominence in middle America—again brought by the Chichimecs. A fairly late image, the eagle seems emblematic of hierarchy, height, and the pre-eminence of the sun. Eagle and Jaguar military occur orders among the Aztecs, but Queztcoatl, the serpent, remained definition of priesthood in general. It seems to have been to the serpent—the creature that emerges from the waters to reveal the cycle—that the Aztecs and the Celts made their sacrifices at wells. Like the Celts, the Aztecs conserved the most ancient beliefs and seem to have been capable of integrating the newer ideas into the older. However, in both cases this proved temporary, such pluralistic societies did not lend themselves to strong central control. At the same time, whatever the strength inherent to the image of the jaguar among the Olmecs, a possible weakness may have lain in the literal manner with which they attempted to integrate male and female characteristics in their priesthood. Ultimately, neither Central America nor the Celts developed the centralized, hierarchical and patrician concept of authority inherent to the Roman concept of God. It is ironic and a measure of the decay into which the old ideas had fallen that the Aztec priests thought the Spanish Cortes' arrival fulfilled the prophecy of Queztcoatl's return. Like those Celtic Druids who embraced Christianity the Aztec priests seem to have longed to reinvigorate the ancient imagery. However, the white serpent's return probably did not originate as a prophecy of white men so much as a belief in the cycle of dark and light.

140

Endnotes:

1 Hesiod: Works and Days 2 Anderson, Alan Orr and Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie: Adomnan's Life Of Columba: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London 1961, I, 44b, p. 303. 3 O’Curry, Eugene: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, p. 248-249, from the Leabhar na h-Uidhre. Parenthesis mine. 4 Music of the Spheres and the Dance of Death by Meyer-Baer, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton N.J. 1970. Eleventh century. 5 See Martin Braun: ‘Bell tuning in ancient China: a six-tone scale in a 12-tone system based on fifths and thirds.’, 2003, . And re the AP HUW Mss. TUNING SUPPLEMENT PETER GREENHILL 2017 . http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/musicfiles/manuscripts/aphuw/aphuwtuning.pdf 6 Based on Bronson, Bertrand Harris: The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton Univ. Press. 1959. Vol 1 #10. 7 Diodorus, Book 2, 47. Diodorus Siculus, referring to information given by Hecateus of Abdera 8 The term "Gael" may be related to the English "Gale" meaning wind. The dual meaning in such a term is perhaps typical of how language was once used. The Gale is a wind and wind moves with force. The Gaels were known and feared as war loving warriors. In this the Gaels seem to have retained characteristics derived from the important prehistoric hunting culture of Western Europe. 9 See Plato, Critias, 4b. See Lee, Desmond: Timaeus and Critias, Penguin Books,N.Y. 1965, p. 136-137 10 Aristote: Metaphysics, I, 3, 5-6. 11 Zahan, Dominique: The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa, Uiv. Of Chicago, Chicago, 1970, quoting Junod, p. 22. Junod, Life of A South African Tribe, , 2:325-26. 12 Herodotus, Melopene, Chap. 158, p. 291 The History of Herodotus by Cary. 13 Stokes, Whitley: ed. "The Colloquoy of the Two Sages", RC 26:8 14 Anderson, Rasmus B.: The Younger Edda, Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. p 187-188. 15 Herodotus, Book XVII 50, p. 262-263 Vol VIII The famous oracle of Ammon was in Libya, Herodutus 1, 46. 16 Book XVII 50, p. 262-263 Vol VIII The famous oracle of Ammon was in Libya (Herodutus 1, 46. 17 Herodotus 4, 181. 18 Aristotle: On Coming-to be and Passing-Away II 9, 33a3 19 Bodewitx, H.W.: Jaiminiya Brahmana, translation and commentary, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1973, p. 30 20 From an Indian text. Buhler Georg; The Law of Manu, Chap. 1, st. 66. p.20, Dover pub. N.Y. 1969. See description of Mann and Maneros below. 21 The association of wetness with dark is explained by Plutarch in Isis and Osiris. 22 See Boller, Henry A.: Among The Indians, eight years in the far west,, 1858-1966, R.R. Donnelley and Sons, Chicago 1959. 23 Calvin, William H.: How The Shaman Stole The Moon, Bantam Books, N.Y. p. 116. 24 Stephans, Alexander, 1893. 25 Arirstotle: Metaphysics, Book C 26 Aristotle: Metaphysics Book A. 27 Parmenides. 130, e. 28 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica I. 494. Quoted. p. 39 Sources for the study of Greek Religion, David G. Rice and John E. Stambaugh, Scholars Press, 1979. 29 Younger Edda ed. by Rasmus B. Anderson. Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. p163-164 30 Dumezil argues that there was an archaic triad based on the structure of Indo-European gods. He cites the dual division of priest and king, a division which he says then defined broad social structures—religion and state—as well as the role of gods. To this, he states, was added a third function based on that of the commoner. However, what I am suggesting is that the concept of the Triad is an innate perceptual trait and that the concrete imagery of ancient times manifest this is in a number of ways, including possibly those described by Dumezil, though most abstractly in the imagery described in this book. See Dumezil, Georges: Archaic Roman Religion, The Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1966, p. 163.

31 http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57574897-1/3d-scan-of-stonehenge-reveals-hidden-ax-head-carvings/ 32 http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/10/11/bronze_age_axe_heads_reveal_secrets_behind_stonehenge.html 33 Psychomental Complex of the Tungus by Shikogoroff p123.See Mead for examples of the tri-paritite soul from Orphic and Chaldean traditions. 34 Damascius. Orpheus by G.R.S. Mead, John Watkins, London, 1965 p68 35 Damascius. Orpheus by G.R.S. Mead, John Watkins, London, 1965 36 See Warren, Henry Clarke: Buddhism In Translation: Harvard University press, 1922, "The Birth Of Buddha", p. 46-47. 37 THe Sacred Book of the ancient Maya Quiche, the Popol Vuh. Quoted in Hamlet's Mill. p. 175. 38 Heidel, Alexander: The Babylonian Genesis. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967. Tablet V1, st. 82-85, p.49. 39 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 144. 40 Acts X, 11. 41 Zahan, Dominique: The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa, Univ. Of Chicago, Chicago, 1970 42 Calder, George: ed., Auraicept na n-Eces: The Scholars Primer, Edinburgh, 1917, lines 5483-5488.) 43 Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. p. 235-236 The Lay of Sigrdrifa. 44 The Finnish Kalevala contains an interesting description of cutting down the oak tree to rescue the waters. "'Is there none to fell the oak tree, and o'erthrow the tree majestic? Sad is now the life of mortals, and for fish to swim is dismal, since the air is void of sunlight, and the gleaming of the moonlight." A man appears to cut down the oak which then becomes a bridge over the river border between the living and the dead. This echoes the role of the pillar or center as a connection between the halves of duality and suggests that, for many, oak was incorporated into the existing ritual of cyclic harvest. See Hamlet's Mill, p. 446. 45 Pliny Nat. Hist. XVI, 249 46 Clement, Strom. vi. 53. 3-5 (p139 of Gnosticism ed by Robert M. Grant, Harper and Brothers, N.Y. 1961. 47 Critias. 119-120 The inscriptions on the pillar at Atlantis parallel Diodorus' description of Greek inscriptions used at Stonehenge. The Greekness of the inscriptions at Stonehenge probably lay in the overall similarity of Greek letters to runes or other Indo-Europeon symbols. 48 O'Meara: The Voyage of St. Brendan, p. 50

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49 Plate from Petelia, South Italy, 3rd-4th century BC. Cited by Guthrie, W.K.C.: Orpheus and Greek Religion, N.Y. W.W. Norton and Co. 1966. p. 172-173. 50 In Britain and still in parts of Africa, before the use of cremation and apparently before the idea that fire conveyed souls to the netherworld, male bodies were buried facing east while female bodies were buried facing west. Burl, Aubrey: The Stonehenge People, J.M.Dent and Sons Ltd. London, 1987, p. 120-121. "...Parmenides opinion is that when the right parts have provided the seeds, then the sons resemble the father; when the left, they resemble the mother." Censorinus: De Die Natali 6.8. Also see Aetius V. 11. 2 (Dox. Gr. 422) 51 For further discussion of the trees, see Quinn, Esther Casier: The Quest of Seth, Univ. of Chicago Press. 1962. p. 94 52 Charles, R. H.: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old Testament, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1913, reprinted 1963. The Book Of Enoch 25. 31-31 53 The Caedmon Poems. p22. 54 The Secret Book of John, Gnosticism by Robert M. Grant, Harper and Bros. N.Y. p80. 55 Plato. The Phaedo 56 The Old Testament. Ezekiel, Chap. 1 57 Charles, R. H.: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old Testament, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1913, reprinted 1963. The Book of Enoch, Chap. 22 58 Other mantic practices included bathing in the blood of a slaughtered animal. This should perhaps be understood in light of our discussion of the "waters of separation" in the Appendix. See O'Conner, Sarah Foster: The Indo-European Poet, his role and function in Celtic and Vedic Society and Myth, Thesis, UCLA, 1972 59 Memoirs of the Marquis of Clanricarde, 1722. Also, Keating, Geoffrey: Elements of The History of Ireland, Vol. 2 p 326 60 The Vision of Adamnan, 27. 61 Memoirs of the Marquis of Clanricarde, 1722 62 Mac Piarais, Padraig: ed. Bruidhean Chaothainn: Sgeal Fiannaidheachtha, Dublin, p. 15-16, trans by Nagy, Joseph Falaky: The Wisdom Of The Outlaw, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1985, p.24 63 Duff, J.W.,and Duff, A.M.: trans., Minor Latin Poets, Harvard Univ. Press,1935, The Chase, Grattius, p. 159. 64 Sjoestedt, M.L. Le Siege de Druim Damhghaire Rev. Celtic XLIII: 1-123. 1926, quoted. p. 263 Pagan Celtic Britain by Anne Ross, Routledge, Kegan, Paul, 1967. N.Y. 65 Anderson, Rasmus B.: The Volsung and Niblungs, Anglo-Saxon classics, Smart.1905. p. 36 Chap. 3 66 Provincial Names and Folklore of British Birds, p. 87. by Swainson. quoted p. 267 English Folk Rhymes by G. F. Northall London, Kegan Paul, 1892. Among the birds mentioned in these rhymes we find the "guku". This suggests that "cuckoo" may be an omnepoetic coruption of a formal name for the black bird— Gawk, Gowk, or Gaek. That bird was linked not only with the root Ga but also with the April fool. (see p. 232 English Folk Rhymes by G. F. Northall London, Kegan Paul, 1892.) To hunt the Gawk, the fool's errand, is thus based on anticipation of the waxing season. Fool's Day falls one month in advance of May 1st—Beltain. The fool is the active Gawk—the raven— and he goes hunting during April. 67 The Mandeans of Iraq and Iran by E.S. Drower, Leiden, E.J. Brill 1962, p. 260. 68 Scholfield, A.F.: trans. Aelian, On the Characteristics of Animals #47, Book I. On Animals. p. 67 Vol. 2. Harvard Univ. Press, 1958. 69 Plato, The Phaedo chap 85. For discussion of Bran and names of Celtic warriors see Rutherford, Ward: The Druids and Their Heritage, Gordon and Cremonesi, 1978, p.38. "...he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus' choosing the life of a swan..." See Lindsay, A.D.: trans. The Republic of Plato, N.Y., E. P. Dutton and Co., 1951, p. 404. Book X. The story of Apollo's having slain Linus parallels Osiris being slain by his brother. Like the ballad The Two Brothers, both may provide a male setting for the story also related in The Two Sisters, though without the harp as emblematic of order. "It is said that this Linus was a son of Urania and Amphimarus, a son of Poseidon, that he won a reputation for music greater than that of any contemporary or predecessor, and that Apollo killed him for being his rival in singing. On the death of Linus, mourning for him spread, it seems, to all the foriegn world, so that even among the Egyptians there came to be a Linus song, in the Egyptian language called Maneros." Pausanias Boetia xxix, 5-8. p Book IX. p.297 Also mentioned by Herodotus, Book 2, 79. Buddha also has two aspects—the serene and the clown. 70 Scholfield, A.F.: trans. Aelian, On the Characteristics of Animals, Harvard Univ. Press, 1958. #32 Book 2, p. 131. 71 See Gellind and Davidson: The Chariot Of The Sun, Frederick A. Praeger pub. N.Y. 1969, p. 121. Also 72 See "The Swan-neck lyres of Minoan-Mycenean Culture" by Leopold Vorreiter G.S.J. p. 93, XXVIII, Apr. 1975 73 Ford, Patrick K.: ed. The Mabigion and Other Medieval Welsh Tales, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1977. The Tale of Gwion Bach seems to have survived by virtue of having been grafted onto the story of Taliesen. 74 Aristottle Metaphysics, Book A, 5 75 Aristotle Ethics, 9878a 10. For what appears to be an early Celtic discussion of discrete forces as "round objects", see Tenga Bithnua, the Evernew Tongue, from the Book of Lismore, quoted p. 142 Early Irish Literature by Myle Dillon. 76 Ibid. p.318. 77 O’Curry, Eugene: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, p. 248-249, from the Leabhar na h-Uidhre. Parenthesis mine. 78 The Babylonian Genesis, p. 45. By Alexander Heidel, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967, Table 1. St. 60-63, p. 20. In India the clamor which completed duality was called OM. 79 Thomson, Charles : trans. The Septuagint, Falcons Wing Press, Colorado, 1954, st. 7—11 Chap XXVI Job p. 852. 80 Bronson, Bertrand Harris: The Singing Traditon of Child's Popular Ballads, Princeton Univ. Press, New Jersy, 1976 The Lochmaben Harper, p. 341 81 Eyre-Todd, George: ed. Scottish Ballad Poetry, Sands and Co. London. Glenkindie p. 119 82 Heidel, Alexander: The Babylonian Genesis. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967. Lines 60-68 Tablet 1, Lines 37-40 Tablet I. Enuma Elish 83 Heidel, Alexander: The Babylonian Genesis. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967. Lines 60-68 Tablet 1, Enuma Elish, p. 20 p.45. 84 The Atra-Hasis.. http://www.livius.org/fa-fn/flood/flood3-t-atrahasis.html 85 st. 22—33 . p. 113. Ibib. 86 Tablet 111, st. 17-23 Atra-Hasis, The Babylonian Story of the Flood by Lambert and Millard, Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1969.) , p. 89. 87 Kramer, Samuel Noah; Maier, John: Myths of Enki, The Crafty God, Oxford Univ. Press. 1989 p. 48-49 88 Horne, Charles F.: The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, "The Kojiki, p15-16, Vol XIII. 89 Meyer, Kuno: ed. The Voyage of Bran, David Nutt, London, 1895.

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The presumption is that this, like much early verse, was sung. 90 Younger Edda. p. 60 The Fooling of Gylfe st. 6,7. by Rasmus B. Anderson. Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. 91 Davidson, Hilda Ellis and Fisher, Peter: Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the Danes, D.S.Brewer, Cambridge, 1980 p 124. Book 5. 92 Malotki, Ekkehart: ed. Hopi Ruin Legends, Northern Arizona Univ. Lincoln, 1993. p. 3, Text 1. 93 Campbell points to a Semetic tribe whose triad included "Burrias". The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology. The Viking Press, 1964. 94 See Jacobsen, Thorkild; The Harps That Once...Vale Univ. Press, New Haven,1987 p. 206. 95 Rasmus B. Anderson, Rasmus B.:The Younger Edda, Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897.p.59-60. 96 #1. Book X1. p.359 Vol. 1 Aelian, On the Characteristics of Animals trans by A.F. Scholfield, Harvard Univ. Press, 1958. parenthesis mine. Aelian's source is Hecateus of Abdera who is also Diodorus' source for description of the harp in Britain. 97 See Rutherford, Ward: The Druids and Their Heritage, Gordon and Cremonesi, 1978 and Campbell, Joseph: The Masks of God, Primitive Mythology, The Viking Press, N.Y. 1959 for discussion of heads. The word "brain" probably derives from Bran, the raven. Bremmer points out that the "free soul" was associated with the head and the intellect. However, it was not associated with the personality. The free soul was also that which survived in the dead. Bremmer, Jan: The Early Greek Concept of the Soul, Princeton Univ. 1983. 98 For an outline of the problem see "The Deepening Conundrum of Neanderthal Man" by James Shreeve, Smithsonian Magazine, Dec. 1991. 99 The Mythology of Venus: Ancient Calendars and Archaeoastronomy By Helen Benigni 100 See Jacobsen, Thorkild: The Harps That Once... Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1987. "Inanna's Descent", p. 322. 101 Guthrie, W.K.C.: Orpheus and Greek Religion, W.W. Norton and Co. Y.Y.1966. Konon, fab 45+Kern, test. 39 and 115, quoted p. 62. Herodutus describes the Issedones as devouring all but the head when the father dies. Herodotus Book 4, 26. 102 Lattimore, Richard: trans., Theogony, Hesiod, Univ., of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1962. st. 187-191 103 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 141 104 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 143. 105 O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. Vol 3. The slaying of nine may have latter been rejected as a metaphor. See the references to nine heads and discussion of them in The Origin of the Grail LEgend by Arthur C.L. Brown, Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press. 1943. 106 Condensced from a longer passage. The Book of the Dead by Wallis Budge p. 511-514 The meker is equated to the thigh, which is refered to as the thigh of iron whereupon the gods stand—it may be an iron rod with markings. Meker is also written Mekhes or Mekhir. This was the sixth month of the Egyptian year, roughly April. It corresponds to the nineth month of the Assyrian year Mukhur ili. On the last day of the month Mekhir, the Egyptians celebrated a festival at the fullness of the Utchat. (p. 426 CHap CXXXXIX. The Book of the Dead by E.A. Wallis Budge, Barnes and NOble, N.Y. 1909) In Giglamesh the term appears in the phrase "my mikku and pikku have fallen into the spirit world." This is thought to refer to drumstick and drum. Meaning stick, Mekhir may be related to the Goidelic Maide—"stick". In Greek lore, Maia is the daughter of Atlas—the pillar. The thigh is the portion of highest food value and the part usually given in sacrifice. The word "net" may relate to the Egyptian word for god or spirit "neteri" or "nutru". In Egypt, "Neteri" was represented by the hieroglyph of an ax, an image for the fourfold order like that of the "bow", The two edged ax is a prominent Minoan symbol. Budge discusses the derivation of "neteri". (p. 63-74 and p. 450-465, The Gods of the Egyptians, E.A.Wallis Budge, Dover Pub. N.Y. 1969.) Cultural prejudice appears to have caused him to reject another derivative—"nature". Perhaps the Europeon "Neck" is similarly derived—its form in Beowulf is nicera means water spirit. 107 Budge, Sir E. A. Wallis: The Book Of The Dead, Barnes and Noble, Inc. 1909. Chapter CXIII, p. 139 108 Schmidt, Carl: ed. The Pistis Sophia, Leiden, J.J.Brill 1978 Book 111, Chap. 126, p. 635 The structure in the waters is sometimes mentioned in Irish as a whale or a stone in the waters. See The Voyage of Bran ed by Kuno Meyer, David Nutt, London, 1895. p. 97-98 Medieval Literature in Translation ed by Charles W. Jones, Longmans, Green, and Co. N.Y. 1950. 109 O'Meara, John: trans. The Voyage of Saint Brendan, the Dolmen Press, 1976, p. 19. 110 Hippolytus on the Peritae, quotes are from Aratus, V. 26. p. 290 Vol 1 Gnosis Vol 1. by Werner Foerster, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972. This quote from a Gnostic source also suggests the survival of serpent and water oriented imagery among some Gnostics—a fact which probably needs more exploration than can be given here. 111 Passage from Erybyggia Saga ch 4, from Atli's lost Islendinga-bok quoted p. 403 Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell: eds. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue Oxford, Clarendon Press. Often mentioned in the Landnama-bok, the pillar designation occurs as "ondvegis-sulor." In Irish lore, Brendan finds fishes shaped as "perfect circles" at the bottom of the ocean. 112 Anderson, Rasmus B.: ed. The Younger Edda, Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. p137-139. 113 Based on Bronson, Bertrand Harris: The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton Univ. Press. 1959. Vol 1 #10. 114 Hesiod's story of the lyre constructed from a tortoise shell may reflect the importance which the tortoise had in medicine and divination (See Pliny Geoponica i. 14. 8. Also, the Chinese Shu King) and/or be Hesiod's attempt to rationalize the story of the lyre's being created from a sea creature. 115 For references to the whale, see Anderson, Alan Orr and Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie: Adomnan's Life Of Columba: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London 1961, 25a-26b, p. 248-249 116 Finnish story quoted by Anderson, Otto: The Bowed Harp p. 71. 117 Quoted from "Fourteenth Century Instruments and Tunings, a Treatise by Jean Vallant" by Christopher Page, Galpin Society Journal, Mar. 1980, p. 27. 118 Evelyn-White, Hugh G.: trans.,The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, N.Y. MacMillan Co. 1914. p. 367 "To Hermes", 36-63 119 See O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sullivan. p236. Story told by Marbhan, circa 600 A.D. 120 Anderson, Rasmus B.: The Younger Edda, Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. p147-148 121 Hymn to the Sun God (Shamash) p. 388. Ancient Near Eastern Texts ed. by Pritchard Princeton Univ. Press. 1969 122 Ps. 141:10, 123 Prov. 1:17 124 Eccl. 9:12 125 Hab. 1:16 126 Ez. st. 13/14. 127 A hymn or spell in the Atharvaveda, Muir's metrical translation as quoted in Mythology of All Races, Indian, vol. V1, by A. Berriedale Keith, Boston, Marshall Jones Co. 1947. p. 23. 128 The Book of Leinster, 12th Century. Trinity College, Dublin. See p. 50 The Course of Irish History 143

129 Jacobsen, Thorkild: The Harps That Once..., Yale Univ. Press. New Haven, 1987. See "in The Desert By The Early Grass." 130 Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. Voluspa st. 41-42, p.9 131 Geographica IV, 4,197, Strabo 132 Jones, Edward: Relicks of The Welsh Bards p.14, The Battle of the Vale of Garant, attributed to Taliesin. 133 OSee O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sullivan p. 317. 134 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 107 "His Three Calls To Cormac. 135 Ibid. p. 107 136 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 198., Credhe's Lament 137 Heidel, Alexander: The Babylonian Genesis. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967. p.45, St.15-20, Tablet V, 138 Lattimore, Richard: trans. Hesiod. Univ. of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1962. st. 810-813 The Works and Days, p. 115. 139 See The Historical Method Of The Celtic Harp by C.W. Bayer 1991. 140 The Key of Solomon The King trans. by S. Liddel MacGregor Mathers 1909, reprint Routledge and Kegan Paul, Londo, 1972. p15-16. 141 See Anderson, Rasmus. ed.: The Younger Edda, Scott, Foresman and Co. Chicago. 1897. p84-85 142 Horne, Charles F. ed.: The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Parke, Austin and Lispcomb, N.Y. p. 69 The Vendidad st. 30 Chap. II, Vol. 7. "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness all over the land until the ninth hour." Matt. 27:45 143 Tacitus, The Manners of the Germans, XI. This would seem to apply to the Europeans in the broad sense. 144 Retranslated from original in Voluspa, The Song of the Sybil ed. by Peter H Salus, The Windhover Press: Univ. of Iowa, 1968 p. with help from Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. p. 3, Univ. of Texas, Austin. 1969. Night numbers, ni∂jum= niht gerim, evening, aptan=aftan. Latin arrum=dry land. The nineth hour of the day was Nones—probably three o'clock—nine hours before midnight. It probably paralleled the monthly Nones which was nine days before the beginning of the full moon. The monthly Nones was the new or quarter moon and this survived in the Roman calendar as did the term Ides for the full moon. 145 Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. p. 36-37, "The Lay of Havamil". 146 p 20 The Mabinogion. 147 Plutarch: Moralia —Babbit, Frank Cole, trans.: Harvard U. Press. London 1957 Isis and Osiris,ch. 42 p. 103 Vol. V. 148 Isis and Osiris. Plutarch's Moralia, A Babylonian story describes the fourteen pieces as flesh and blood turned into clay. Here, between a division of the fourteen pieces into two groups of seven, a fifteenth piece is called a brick. 149 Plutarch, Isis and Osiris. 150 The Book OF Enoch Chap 233 151 Zahan, D: "Etudes Sur La Cosmologie Des Dogon et Des Bambara Du Soudan Francais", Africa, Vol. XXI No.!. Jan. 1951. p. 13-23 The Dogon and Bambara represent the sun's path as four chevrons. Early Chinese lore refers to the Four Mountains. Among these north Africans as probably among the ancient British the X figure also portrayed the sun's path during the course of the year—progressing in tighter or spiraling circles as it funneled down the top of the X and then in expanding circles as it journeyed down from the crossing of the X. 152 See Stephen, A.M.: "The Snake Ceremonials at Walpi", A Journal Of American Ethnology and Archeology, Vol. 4, 1894. Also Stephan, A.M.: "Hopi Tales", Journal of American Folklore, vol. 42, 1929. 153 Lambert and Millard: The Babylonian Story of the Flood , Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1969, st. 251—259. Atra-Hasis. 154 Lambert and Millard: The Babylonian Story of the Flood , Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1969.,st. 288-303. Atra-Hasis. The motif of sevens and nine is central to the Greek story of the Minotaur—suggesting that in early times Greece was a colony of Minos and that the story of Theseus reflects just such a ritual encounter with a beast as is described here. See Chap XIX p. 323 The Odyssey trans by Walter Shewring Oxford Univ. Press. 1980 also, see Book IV, 61. p. 11 and 12 Diodorus of Sicily trans by C.H. Oldfather, vol 111. Cambridge, Harvard U. PRess1939. Note the continuity of the numerical motif based on seven and nine. A case has been made for seeing in the basis of the Minotaur story the practice of bulljumping. See The Quest for Theseus by Ward, Connor, Edwards, and Tidworth, Praeger Pub. N.Y.1970 The deadly sport may have been similar to a dance as in the practice of women choosing mates by jumping over them, still done in Nubia.In this case, Theseus did not fight the bull but became the bull by wearing a head. 155 http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr113.htm Send verse, 17-31 Also: http://ksuweb.kennesaw.edu/~shagin/104enkiorder.pdf 156 All the Stonehenge dating given here is based on the information given by Chippindale, Christopher: Stonehenge Complete, Cornell Univ. Press, 1983. p. 264-272. This first date corresponds with the emergence of the hieratic city state in the middle east and Babylonia. See Campbell, Joseph: The Masks of God, Primitive Mythology, Viking Press, 1954. p. 404. 157 A number of modern interpretations have seen the 56 pits as representing the moon's cycle of 18.61 years tripled. I can find no evidence for this. Further, it is also suggested that the 56 pits represent the eclipse cycle of 18 years 11 days. Though why 18 years 11 days should round off to 19 is hard to explain. Stonehenge is not an observatory. The modern effort to attribute strictly literal or objective observation to ancient thought is inherently misleading. 158 See a Sumerian text from Ur in which the goddess is dead for three days. Quoted by Campbell, Joseph: The Masks Of God, Primitive Mythology, Viking Press, N.Y. 1954. p. 413-414. 159 Plutarch: Moralia See Babbit, Frank Cole: trans.: Harvard U. Press. London 1957 Isis and Osiris, Chap 30, p. 75. Plutarch's Vol. V. 160 See Strabo V. 2.4. Quoted by Bernal, Martin: Black Athena, Rutgers Univ. Press, New Jersey. 1991. p. 71. 161 As described by Chippendale the role of the station stones is central to many theories of Stonehenge. 162 The use of staked warriors is best described with respect to the Scythians. see Minns, Ellis H.: Scythians and Greeks, Bibol and Tannen, New York 1965. Its application to the Celts is suggested by Rutherford, Ward: The Druids And Their Heritage, Gordon and Cremonesi, 1978. 163 Skene, Walter F: Celtic Scotland 1877, Books for the Libraries Press. 1971 Appendix p.496, The Old Irish Life of St. Columba. Harvard Univ. Press. 1954. 164 See Ford, Patrick K.: ed. The Mabigion and Other Medieval Welsh Tales, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1977. Lludd nad Lleuelys, p. 115 165 Malotki, Ekkehart: ed. Hopi Ruin Legends, Northern Arizona Univ. 1993, p. 13. Text 11. 166 See Natural History. Book 2, xviii. 167 Pliny Nat Hist. XVI 249. 168 Irenaeus on Valentinus p 212-213 Gnosis VOl 1. Hence Horo-scope is a reading of the stars. We can suggest that "Sa-turn" means, literally, "slow turn." 169 Pliny Book 16, xcv, 250.

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The "oily" property of mistletoe is described by Pliny though not in relation to the Druids. Soaked in water, mistletoe berries loose their skin and become viscous. This was kneeded with oil to make a sticky substance which could entangle bird wings, suggesting perhaps both a literal hunt and a ritual means of snaring souls or the power of souls as contained within birds. This use of mistle-toe to ensnare birds reflects a more basic belief that mistle-toe had a specific effect upon the soul when taken internally. The Celts may have drank a similar oily mixture as a cure-all. Mistletoe's properties in this respect appear to have been as a purge and quite a strong purge at that. Pliny describes such use for cattle. It may have been a cure-all of last resort. Pliny states that weak cattle didn't survive it. It may also have been toxic to the extent that it produced some form of halucination or other psychological effect. Or, its ritual value may have been not only as a purge but as a test—if you weren't going to survive, mistle-toe hastened your end. Mistletoe is today considered to be poisonous. Pliny states that there is a difference in the "scent and poison" of mistletoe grown on oak. It was from the oak that the Druids gathered their mistletoe. See Pliny's Natural History Book 16, XCIII to XCIV 170 See Hastings, Vol. 5. p. 239. Egypt.ian Religion 171 This became the basis of the Babylonian counting system which was sexigesimal rather than decimal—based on a unit of 60 rather than 10. See the sexagesmial calendar of Shang Chine in Needham: Science and Civilisation in China (1962, vol. 4 Pt. 1, p. 181. 172 Kemble, John M.: The Dialog Of Saloman And Satunus, AMS reprint, 1974, p.145-146. 173 See Kinsella: Thomas,: The Tain, Oxford Univ. Press. London 1970, p. 46-50. 174 Aetius II, 7, I. Parmenides, quoted Kirk, G.S. and Raven, J.E..: The Presocratic Philosophers, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1966. p. 284 175 Plato, Critias, 4b. p. 136-137 Timaeus and Critias trans by Desmond Lee Penguin Books,N.Y. 1965. 176 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coligny_calendar 177 http://www.time-meddler.co.uk/gaulish.html 178 The large bronze panels found in 1897 and known as the Coligny calendar show the five-year cycle. A good discussion of the calendar is found in Hastings, James: Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Charles Scribner's Sons, N.Y. 1919. vol. 111. Also see Revue Celtique, XXI, (l900), 10 and 427; Dottin, Manuel, Paris, 1906, p. 79; Rhys, Proc. Brit. Acad., (1909-10, 207; l9ll-12, 339; and Prof. Eoin MacNeill, Eriu, X pt. I,i.) 179 Pistis Sophia, 4th century Gnostic Text. http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps144.htm 180 https://archive.org/details/jaiminiyabrahman014906mbp 181 (Book of Jubilees 4:17) 182 Charles, R. H.: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old Testament, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1913, reprinted 1963. Book of Enoch Chap 74, p. 240-241

183 Pythagorean saying quoted by Plutarch in Plutarch's Lives, Numa Pompilius, p. 86 Plutarch, the Lives of the Nobel Grecians and Romans trans. by John Dryden, Modern Libray. N.Y. 184 Psychomental Complex of the Tungus by Shikogoroff p123.See Mead for examples of the tri-paritite soul from Orphic and Chaldean traditions. 185 Book II,12. See Mathiesen, Thomas J. : trans. Aristides Quintilianus, On Music, In Three Books, Yale Univ. Press. New Haven. 1983 186 Plotinus Enn. 4.7.8. 187 Julius Ceasar, who had a Druid for a friend, named July for himself in revising the Roman calendar from ten months to twelve months. In a number of ancient Calendars, July was the first month. 188 The term May probably relates both the Goidelic Maide—stick—as well as to the Egyptian and Middle Eastern term Mekhir or Mukhur. Mukhur was the sixth month of the Egyptian year, roughly April. It corresponds to the nineth month of the Assyrian year Mukhur ili. On the last day of the month Mekhir, the Egyptians celebrated a festival at the fullness of the Utchat. (p. 426 CHap CXXXXIX. The Book of the Dead by E.A. Wallis Budge, Barnes and Noble, N.Y. 1909) In Giglamesh the term appears in the phrase "my mikku and pikku have fallen into the spirit world." This has been said to refer to drumstick and drum as well as to the staff and the ball or circle. Both meanings are possible. However, the central image seems to relate to the image of the pillar or stick as representative of the male or phallic nature in activity. In Greek lore, Maia is the daughter of Atlas—the pillar. Budge equates the meker to the thigh. 189 Sastry, Prof. T.S. Kuppanna: Vedanga Jyotisha of Lgadha, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1985. p. 39. 190 Sastry, Prof. T.S. Kuppanna: Vedanga Jyotisha of Lgadha, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1985. p. 41. 191 Plato: Critias, 113-114 192 (Strabo, B.X.C. 111, 22. Casaub 473. The Geography of Strabo, H.C. Hamilton. London. George Bell and Sons. 1903, p191) Diodorus associates the Dactyli with Crete. Book 5, 64. Robert Graves associates the Dactyls with the fingers. It is certainly possible that the five- years of the Colligny calender each had names. 193 Bodewitx, H.W.: Jaiminiya Brahmana, translation and commentary, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1973, p. 104. 194 Diodorus Siculus Book V, 32, 6 195 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970.. p. 28. 196 Anderson, Alan Orr and Anderson, Marjorie Ogilvie: Adomnan's Life Of Columba: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., London 1961, II 19, p. 365. 197 Josephus documents several people named Jesus during the period when the Jesus of the New Testament is said to have lived. 198 Foerster, Werner: Gnosis, Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1972, p. 189, "The Account of Hyppolytus, on Valentinianism" 199 The Sons of Lugaid. p. 88 Early Irish Verse trans and ed by Ruth P.M. Lehmann, Univ of Texas Press, Austin, 1982. 200 This synopsis is closely derived from the ideas of George Dumezil. See Dumezil, George: Gods of The Ancient Northmen, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1973. Chap. 1. My impression is that Dumezil sees these Indo-European patterns as unconscious archtypes. I do not hold with the concept of unconscious archtypes per se. 201 There is a good discussion of these five words by M. A. Kugener in F. Cumont's [Recherches sur le Manicheisme] i, p. 10, note 3. In English we may say: hauna means 'sanity’ mad'a means 'reason' re'yana means 'mind' mahshabhetha means 'imagination' tar'itha means 'intention' 202 ACTS OF THOMAS From "The Apocryphal New Testament" M.R. James-Translation and Notes Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924 http://wesley.nnu.edu/noncanon/acts/actthom.htm 203 Matthew Chap. 1V. st. 18-20. 204 Kinsley: The Sword and the Flute Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1975, Raya Vasanta in Sen, Brajabuli Literature, p. 42. quoted p. 34. 145

205 For Labrys and Lambrynth see Cook, Arthur Bernard: Zeus, a study in ancient religion, 1925, reprinted by Biblo and tanne, N.Y. 1965. p. 560 etc. 206 Evelyn-White, Hugh G.: trans. The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, N.Y. MacMillan Co. 1914. To Hermes. approx. line 15, IV. Hesiod, p. 365 207 Schmidt, Carl: ed. The Pistis Sophia , Leiden, J.J.Brill 1978 p. 145. 208 O'Meara, John: trans. The Voyage of Saint Brendan , the Dolmen Press, 1976, p. 44 and 46 209 Bodewitx, H.W.: Jaiminiya Brahmana, translation and commentary, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1973, p. 115-116. Passages 45-50 210 Bodewitx, H.W.: Jaiminiya Brahmana, translation and commentary, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1973, p. 115-116. Passages 45-50 211 Graves, Robert: The White Goddess, Octagon Books, N.Y. 1976. p.9 , see The Ballad of Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar. 212 Wimberly, Lowry Charles: Minstrelsy, Music, and the Dance, Univ. of Nebraska. Lincoln, 1921, p.46, The Brown Girl. 213 Vigfusson, Gudfrand and Powell, F. York: ed. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue, Oxford, Clarendon Press, p.288

214 Bronson, Bertrand Harris: The Singing Traditon of Child's Popular Ballads, Princeton Univ. Press, New Jersy, 1976 The Two Brothers, Kentucky version, p. 131 The term "hopped" plainly originated as "harped." 215 The eclipse cycle was the basis for a complex intercalation suggested in 432 BC by Meton for Greece. The use of 19 year cycles for intercalation has also been suggested for the Babylonians, See Hastings, Vol. 3 p. 76, "Calendar," Babylonia. Also, Vol. 3, p. 107, Calendar Greek. 216 For a discussion of the eclipse cycle and the relation between macrocosm and microcosm in Bronze Age thought see Campbell, Joseph: The Masks of God, Occidental Mythology, The Viking Press, 1964, p. 163,164.. De Santillana and von Dechend: Hamlet's Mill, Gambit, Boston, 1969, cite these sources for discussion of the eclipse cycle: Reuter: Germanische Himmelskunde (1934) pp 291ff. Luise Troje, Die 13 und 12 im Prakat Pelliot (1925), pp7f., 25, 149f. Willy Hartner: "The Pseudoplanetar Nodes of the Moon's Orbit in Hindu and Islamic Iconographies,: ars Islamica 5 (1938) Pt. 1; Le Probleme de la planete Kaid (1955) and "Zur Astrologischen Symbolik des 'Wade Cup'" in Fesschrift Kuchnel (1959), pp 234-43. 217 See Hastings, James: A Dictionary of the Bible, T & T Clark, Edinburgh, Vol. 1. p. 503-503. 218 Abury, a Temple of the British Druids: And Some Others Described, Volume 2 By William Stukeley p.100 219 Rowe's Lucan, Lucan lib. i. v. 444. Quoted in notes to Manners of the Germans, Tacitus. 220 Quintilianus, Aristides: On Music Book III, 6 221 Vigfusson, Gudfrand and Powell, F. York: ed. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue, Oxford, Clarendon Press Vol 1, Vafthrundine-mal, p. 67. 222 Kinsella, Thomas: The Tain, Oxford Univ. Press, London 1970, p. 21, 22. 223 From the Spectral Chariot of Cuchulinn, quoted with further discussion of nine heads p. 67 and p. 98 The Origin of the Grail Legend by Arthur C.L. Brown, Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press. 1943. 224 Republic 617a. 225 Foerster, Werner: Gnosis, Oxford, 1972, p. 95. Account of Ophian sect. 226 Plato, Timaeus 35-36 227 Plato, Timaeus 35-36. Also see the description of the spindle in The Republic. For a detailed description see Cornford, Francis Macdonald: Plato's Cosmology, The Humanities Press, N.Y., 1952. p. 113 228 Music of the Spheres and the Dance of Death by Meyer-Baer, Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton N.J. 1970. Eleventh century. 229 For the basic scale of the ud, see O. Wright: The Modal System of Arab and Persian Music AD 1250-1300, Oxford Univ. Press, 1978. Appenxi 1, "Relative Pitch" for discussion of the "normative rast octave" and derived scales. 230 p.100 The Influence of Music from Arabic Sources. Sa-turn's slowness is also reflected in Pliny's statement that Saturn is "cold and frozen". (Pliny Book 2, vi. The discussion of the octave here suggests that the European syllabic scale originally designated this series beginning with G—Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. The speed of the spheres may be only part of the explanation. In Gaelic, Do means "into" or "to". Re refers to the moon. Mi may be a designation for the middle note—in this case Bb. So may relate to Sol or the sun. Fa is similar to the Sanskrit Pa—meaning fifth—and thus perhaps to the English "five". La may relate to the sixth Sanskrit note Dha meaning "putting" or to the Gaelic Lar meaning "floor"—on the bass harp D would be the lowest string. Whatever the explanation, it has been long lost. 231 quoted from p. 15 The Thousands of Abu Mashar by David Pingree, London, The Warburg Institute, Univ of London, 1968. For brief mention of Idris in the Koran see XIX 56, XXI 85. 232 http://ia700404.us.archive.org/11/items/cu31924014633568/cu31924014633568.pdf 233 The Slavonic Book of Enoch, chap. 10 234 CHAPTER XIV. TADG IN MANANNAN'S ISLANDS, Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press,

235 Welsh Triad 92. 236 Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. Voluspa St. 2-4 p. 2. 237 Wender, Dorothea: trans.,Theogony by Hesiod. Penguin Books. Middlesex, 1973, st. 53—60. p. 126. 238 - Lyd., p. 121. http://www.esotericarchives.com/oracle/oraclez.htm The Chaldæan Oracles of Zoroaster Edited and revised by Sapere Aude. [William Wynn Westcott] With an introduction by L. O. [Percy Bullock] [1895] 239 Gallop, David, trans.: Parmenides of Elea, Univ. of Toronto Press, Toronto. 1984, p. 49. 240 The Vision of Adamnan 1. 241 Nichomachus, The Enchiridion, Chap 3. 242 Charles, R. H.: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphia of the Old Testament, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1913, reprinted 1963. The Book Of the Secrets of Enoch, Chap. 40, 8-11 243 See Pagan Celtic Britain By Anne Ross, Columbia Univ. Press 1967. p. 237 244 Norroena, The Anglo Saxon Classics by Rasmus B Anderson 1905.,p. 333 245 Gallop, David: Paremenides of Elea, Univ. of Toronto Press, 1984. p. 69. 246 See Macrobius, The Saturnalia, Chap 19, 16-17. 247 p306 Book Ten, The Republic trans by Richard W. Sterling and William C. Scott, W.W. Norton and Co. N.Y. In Europeon stories, the middle fate is generally white and blind and her treasure is continually being taken from her by the two others who are both black. (Notes to Younger Edda p. 255 248 Cicero, De re publica. 249 Book III, 12. 146

250 Meyer, Kuno: ed. The Vision of Mac Conglinne, Lemma Pub. Corp. N.Y. 1974. p.50 251 Hesiod, Theogony. Describing the casting of the Titans into the netherworld. 252 Lattimore, Richmond, trans.: Theogony, Hesiod, Univ., of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1962. st. 789—803. 253 Metaphysics, Book 5. 254 Heidel, Alexander: The Babylonian Genesis. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1967.St. 35-48 Tab. 1V.p. 38 255 Akkadian version of the Creation Epic. trans by E.A. Speiser. p. 62 Ancient Near Eastern Texts ed. by James B. Pritchard Princeton Univ. Press. 1969 256 Excavations at Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley, Thomas Y. Crowell Co. N.Y., p 64. 257 Ion of Chios, late fifth century BC. Ethos and Education in Greek Music by Warren D. Anderson, Harvard Univ. Press, 1966, p.43. 258 The interpretation here is taken from the tablets as published by Kilmer, Crocker and Brown in the record and book set "Sounds from Silence", Bit Enki Publications, Berkeley, 1976. This being said, I make a completely different interpretation. These authors derive a fully developed set of tunings—a full musical system—from the tablets. I see a more idiosyncratic approach and instrument. 259 Quintilianus, Aristides: On Music, trans. by Thomas J. Mathiesen, Yale Univ. Press, 1983. 260 See Winnington-Ingram, R.P.: The Mode in Ancient Greek Music, Argonaut Publishers, Chicago. For libations called Sponde see Diodorus Siculus, Book 111 261 Heraclitus (W 119; D51; By 45) quoted by Manca p.15. The "back-bending bow" is mentioned twice in the Illiad. The Gaelic "gleusda" means the back bending of the bow. 262 (In the Illiad, Homer mentions the back-bending bow of Apollo.) 263 CHAPTER III. THE GREAT BATTLE OF MAGH TUIREADH

264 Ibid. p.318. 265 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 71. 266 Euterpe, Chap 47, p. 114 The History of Herodotus by Cary. See Mead, G.R.S.: Thrice Greatest Hermes, John M. Watkins, London, 1964, p. 189 Vol. 1. 267 Joseph Campbell discusses the succession of animal figures, beginning with the pig. 268 See Skene: The Four Ancient Books Of Wales, Edmonston and Douglas, Edinburgh, 1868, v.1, p. 105 for information on the Pictish Ur. 269 See etymology of Crwth. 270 Rta— "any settled point in time, fixed time, right or fit time." Monier Williams: Sanskrit Dictionary. See Bhattachariji, Sukumari: Indian Theogony, Cambridge U. Press, London, 1970, p.29. See Miller, Jeanine: The Vision of Cosmic Order in the Vedas by Miller, Jeanine: Routledge, Kegan, Paul, London, 1985. 271 See O'Kelly, Michael J.: Early Ireland, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1989. p. 249. O'Kelly remarks on the puzzle of Q-Celtic, the existence of which in Ireland requires some immigration to Ireland and a definition of Celtic other than the strictly eastern European one associated with the La Tene culture. For discussion of early references to Prythne see Kenney, James F.: Early History of Ireland Octagon Books, N.Y. 1966. 272 The Battle for Gaul by Julius Ceasar. Chap V1, part. 14 . See Wiseman, Anne and Peter: The Battle for Gaul by Julius Ceasar, Chatto and Windus, London, 1980, p. 121-122. 273 Diodorus, Book 2, 47. 274 Plato Timaeus. Early transfer of a Western European heroic culture from a land-linked Britain/France and possibly Spain into the Mediterranean is also suggested by the general pattern of "megalithic tombs." Aegean "megalithic tombs" came much after their fifth millenium BC Western European counterparts. See "Carbon 14 and the Prehistory of Europe" by Colin Renfrew, Scientific American, October 1971. 275 Plato: Timaeus 276 Plato: Timaeus. 277 The Biblical account seems to refer to the Hyksos as the Amalekites—probably a Semetic tribe. In both that account and in those refering to them as Hyksos, the invasion is preceeded by an earth quake and a sudden flood—probably a tidal wave. See Velikovsky, Immanuel: Ages In Chaos, Doubleday & Co. N.Y. 1952 p.89-91. For description of Kassite and Mitanni seals dating from around 1300BC and found at the Grecian Thebes see McDonald, William A.: Progress Into The Past, Macmillan Co., N.Y. 1967 p. 352-353. For a description of Egypt's rule by Hyksos or foriegners see Van Seters, John: The Hyksos, New Haven, Yale Univ. Press. 1966. Also, see Herodotus's account of the Libian Arcesilaus and of Cambyses Book 4, 164. Perhaps the identification of Hyksos with "shepards"—as in Manetho— has to do with their social status as a ruling class. The story of Jason may reflect early sea people colonization as combined with an earlier more symbolic story of the sacred boat. Or, it may be a telling of the the migration to Lybia. See Herodotus, Chap. 179 p. 297 See Lee, Desmond: Timaeus and Critias, Penguin Books. N.Y. 1965. Appendix. Also Doumas, Christos G.: Thera, Thames and Hudson,1983. Plato's account of Atlantis was gained from Egyptian sources. Herodotus gives an account of the Theran colonization of Lybia in which a calamity befalls Thera as divine retribution for an earlier failure to colonize Lybia. Herodotus 4: 151-152. Herodotus gives an account of the Therans initial adventures in Libya, Melopene IV, chap 155-165. 278 For a review of the various theories as to the collapse of Mycenean culture see McDonald, William A. : Progress Into The Past, Macmillan Co. N.Y. 1967 279 Book of Sothis, st. 46 from Syncellus, Manetho p. 243. 280 See Manetho: Book of Sothis, st. 46 from Syncellus, p. 243. 281 Exodus 6:20 282 Breasted p. 599 A History of Egypt. 283 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaus 284 Numbers Chap 20. 285 See "mikku and pikku" refered to in Sumerian lore. Or the English ballad of the Two Brothers. 286 Critias. 119-120 The inscriptions on the pillar at Atlantis parallel Diodorus' description of Greek inscriptions used at Stonehenge. The Greekness of the inscriptions at Stonehenge probably lay in the overall similarity of Greek letters to runes or other Indo-Europeon symbols. 287 Numbers 21:9 288 See Velikovsky, Immanuel: Peoples of the Sea, Doubleday and Co. 1977, p. 53. He points out the similarity between "Athenian" and Denien. His dismissal of identification between the Denien and the Danaan is wrong. 289 The eighteenth dynasty and the Asiatic campaign Ancient Records of Egypt by James H. Breasted VOl.2. N.Y. Russell and Russell, Inc. 1962. p310-311, 147

There were several Sea Peoples, generally associated with Asia minor, yet the Danaan were singled out by Ramses III, as "People of the Islands." P. 53 Peoples of the Sea by Immanuel Velikovsky, Doubleday and Co. 1977. 290 Manetho, see. p. 306. The History of Herodotus, Appendix, by George Rawlinson. N.Y. D. Appleton and Co. 1875. 291 Quoted by Markdale, J: Celtic Civilization, Gordon and Cremonesi, Payot, Paris, 1976. p. 107. 292 This may be hard for modern historians to accept—given the prejudices long inherent to modern history and its focus on physical artifacts as a measure of influence. Yet, at the very least, it should be acknowledged that Stonehenge represents a significant undertaking, that it requires some explanation when we realize that it remained in use for at least a millenium and that it is all the more impressive when one looks at what, at the most conservative estimate, was its principle epoch—3000 to 2000 BC. If there is one thing which exemplifies the impoverishment of late 20th century history and thought it is the inability or unwillingness to come to grips with Stonehenge. 293 - Proc. in P1at. Th., 143. Z. 294 - Psellus, 24; Pletho, 30. Z http://www.esotericarchives.com/oracle/oraclez.htm 295 - Proclus in Platonis Theologiam, 376. T. 296 297 See Nagy, Joseph Falaky: The Wisdom Of The Outlaw, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1985, p. 209 298 As described in the Appendix, the Lu/Bel dichotomy seems to be Semetic in origin and mported into Europe, probably along with the Danaan around 1200 BC. 299 See Hastings, J.: Ed. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Charles Scribners and Sons, N.Y. 1922 vol. 2, p. 283-298. 300 See passage quoted by Campbell, Joseph: The Masks Of God, Occidental Mythology, Viking Press, 1954, p.75. 301 Hollander, Lee M.: trans. The Poetic Edda, Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1969. The Lay of Grimnir, p. 62-64. A list of Othin's poetic names among the Norse. Tude relates to Teud, Gaelic for "harp string". Both stem from an older meaning found in Sanskrit—"to strike". As diefied, the name seems to go back to Tydeus. For a story of Tydeus see Lattimore, Richmond: The Illiad of Homer, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1951. p. 123. 302 Battles and Enchantments p. 62 Italics mine. 303 See Anderson, Rasmus. ed.: The Younger Edda, Scott, Foresman and Co. Chicago. 1897. p132. 304 Battles and Enchantments p114,115. 305 Inana's descent to the nether world: translation http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr141.htm 306 The Literature of Ancient Sumer by Jeremy A. Black. Oxford Univ. Press. P. 200 307 See See O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sullivan Uaithne means several things. In bardic verse, it means the consonance of words in lyrics and may thus stand for harmony in general. As with the intricate allusions of much Celtic verse, this does not preclude its other meanings—"pillar" and female parturition. See O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sullivan p. 322. Uaithne perhaps relates to the Greek Atlas and the Anglo-Saxon Aethel—"noble". The noble is the connection to the divine. Its application to Atlantis seems to stem from the association of the western invaders with a nobility or aristocracy. See the Appendix. Boyne means Bofind or white cow. 308 Chap V1, part. 14 The Battle for Gaul by Julius Ceasar trans by Anne and Peter Wiseman, Chatto and Windus, London, 1980, p. 121-122. 309 In Sumeria the inter-calary month was called Dir.se. Gurkud. See Enclopedia Brit. p. 577 Vol. 4, 1961. 310 In Brittany the term Gourdeziou survived as a name for the 12 days between the solar and lunar year. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics by J. Hastings, Charles Scribners and Sons, N.Y. 1922 Vol. 2 "calendar, Celtic" p79. See Welsh referance by Dafydd ap Gwylym to "Eiddilig Gor" in "A Girl's Magic." p. 179 Dafydd ap Gwilym, The Poems by Richard Morgan Loomia, Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, N.Y. 1982. 311 The Bardic Triads A Celtic geneology of Idris Gawr: "Idris Gawr, ab Gwyddno, ab Cynur Farfdwch, ab Cadwaladr, ab Merion of Meirionydd, ab Tibion, ab Cunedda Wledig." In modern spelling, this would be,"Idireug Gearr (Gaelic, literally 'short change of the month'), ap Gwyddonol, ap Cynnar Fardrych, ap Cadw- lladdwr, ap Merion, ap Teibeid (Gaelic), ap Cynedau Wedyn," possibly meaning "Short Change of the Moon, son of Irish (or Science), son of Early Farsightedness (prediction), son of the Killer who Saves (sacrifice?), son of Marrow, son of the Cutter, son of the Former Thread Afterwords (continuation?)." The Welsh term for science also means Irish. 312 Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite Translated by Gregory Nagy 313 The Way of Lao Tzu, #65, p. 216 314 Aristides Quintilianus: Book II, 7. See Mathiesen, Thomas J. : trans. Aristides Quintilianus, On Music, In Three Books, Yale Univ. Press. New Haven. 1983 315 Volsung saga Chap 20 The Volsung Saga, Norroena, the Anglo Saxon Classics by Rasmus B. Anderson. The terms Thurs, Tyr and even perhaps Thor may all be reflections of the cross or sword symbol—Tau or Thau—and reflect the power of the sword as well, perhaps, as the power of letters or symbols as representative of divine knowledge. According to Higgins, Schedius in de Mor. Germ. xxiv, the Druids inscribed Thau over the cross beam on an oak tree shaped into a cross. Higgins, Godfrey: The Celtic Druids, p. 130 The Tau, Thau or T symbol became emblematic of slaying the serpent. Lucian associates the letter Tau with crucifixion. Harmon, A.M.: trans. Lucian, N.Y. The MacMillan Co. 1913, p. 409, "The Consonants at Law". In Norse belief, the Tau or sign of the cross blessed the waters to prevent harm from them. "...when the first cup was poured, then spake Earl Sigurd thereover, and signed the cup to Odin, and drank off the horn to the king. Then the king took it, and made the sign of the cross thereover; and Kar of Griting spake and said: 'Why doeth the king thus, will he not so worship?" Earl Sigurd answers, 'The king doth as they all do who trow in their own might and main, and he signeth the cup to Thor." 315p169 The Heimskringla vol 1. by William Morris and Eirkr Magnusson. In the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, a sword pattern welded of nine iron strands—nine glory twigs— slays an adder into nine pieces. (See The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England, Ellis Davidson, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962 for pattern welding and the ring-pattern created on the blade by pattern welding. This is not the reason for the reference to the sword as a ring-cleaver. 316 Harmon, A.M.: trans. Lucian, N.Y. The MacMillan Co. 1913, p. 409, "The Consonants at Law". 317 http://www.academia.edu/1535818/PLATOS_X_on_Roman_Coins_Coin_News_Jan_2012_ 318 Lactantius, quote by Cook, Arthur Bernard: Zeus, a study in ancient religion, 1925, reprinted by Biblo and tanne, N.Y. 1965. p. 602. Cook makes an excellent case for the direct derivation of the Constantinian Labrum from the double ax. l 319 See Pitt-Rivers, George: The Riddle Of The 'Labrum', George Allen, London 1966.

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320 See Matt. 23:38 and 24:2 321 See Matt 27:51 322 The Gospel of Philip. 125, p100-101, Gnosis 323 O'Meara: The Voyage of St. Brendan, p. 50 324 See the Norse story of Freyr in Snorri's Heimskringla.

325 Diodorus Siculus, Book 5, 27. 326 Beowulf, v. 3123-3129. In the end, Beowulf does not keep the gold. That would perhaps have been too much against tradition. 327 Beowulf, vs. 3040-3056, p. 233 328 Bede, Eclesiastical History. 111. XXVII. 329 Kenney, James F.: Early History of Ireland Octagon Books, N.Y. 1966, p142, from the Leydon Glossary. 330 Aristotle Metaphysics. Book No. 30. 331 http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps141.htm 332 http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps141.htm 333 Pistis Sophia, 4th century Gnostic Text. http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps144.htm 334 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. "His Three Calls To Cormac: 335 The Key of Solomon The King trans. by S. Liddel MacGregor Mathers 1909, reprint Routledge and Kegan Paul, Londo, 1972. p. 125. The description shows that the derivation of the magic number seventy two, also mentioned by Plutarch in relation to Osiris, comes from the multiplication of the twenty four by three. Despite this widespread emphasis on twenty four as the whole, the actual number of letters varied. The Key of Solomon uses magical alphabets of twenty two and twenty eight symbols. The Key of Solomon The King trans. by S. Liddel MacGregor Mathers 1909, reprint Routledge and Kegan Paul, Londo, 1972. 336 Robert Graves' book The White Goddess discusses the "tree alphabet" at length. 337 Ceasar, Julius: De Bello Gallico. 338 Revelation 4: 5-8 339 Revelation 14: 2-3 340 An Introduction to English Runes. p61 341 Irenaeus on Valentiniansim, 5, p205-206 of Gnosis, Werner Foerster, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972 342 The Book Baruch p53-54, Gnosis Foerster Vol. 1) 343 From Gerold, Theodore. Histoire de la musique des origines a la fin du XIV siecle, '36. Quoted p. 60 Music In The Middle Ages, Gustave Reese. W. W. Norton '40. 344 O'Meara, John J.: The Voyage of Saint Brendan, Dolmen Press. 1976, p. 44 345 Skene: Celtic Scotland, From The Old Irish Life of St. Columba, trans. in the Appendix Vol 2. p. 477. Books for Libraries Press, N.Y. 1971, 1877. 346 O'Meara, John J.: The Voyage of Saint Brendan, Dolmen Press. 1976. p. 29-30 347 Isidore of Seville (d. 636). Retranslated from original in See O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sulliva p239. "Measure of the net" is "diph", or, in modern Gaelic "dipin." 348 Campbell, A.: ed. De Abbatibus, Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1967, p. 13-14. 349 Campbell, A.: ed. De Abbatibus, Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1967, p. 40. 350 Translated from Patrologia Latina, Vol. 30, p. 214. For other discussion of the letter, see "Biblical Instruments in Medieval Manuscripts" by Christopher Page, Early Music, July 1977. p. 302. 351 The possibility that a triangular shape came late to the British isles—around 500 AD—is in line with the island’s isolation. It can be argued that the harp's triangular frame construction was imported into Britain by the Danes or Norse during their raids and colonization. According to this scenario, in Britain, northern France and possible northern Spain—areas of continued Gallic or Celtic influence—harpers would have adapted the new methods of triangular frame construction to older playing methods associated with the existing tradition based on the lyre. Apparently, the frame harp was played in Norse countries and in Asia with the sound box at the bottom of the instrument and the highest pitched strings away from the performer. In contrast, in Western Europe the instrument was reversed so that the sound box became vertical and the highest pitched strings lay against the harper’s shoulder. The problem with this scenario lies in evidence that areas possessing the lyre also possessed the triangular harp back into very ancient times. Further, early medieval pictures and references suggest that the lyre may long have been an accompaniment instrument rather than a melody instrument—that the lyre of four strings was long viewed as a different class of instrument. Apparently, the four stringed lyre spawned a class of larger lyres just as the harp spawned a class of larger harps—the lyres remaining accompaniment instruments while the harp remained melody instruments. Thus, while more difficult and, in some areas, less common the triangular harp may never have supplanted the lyre. The triangular harp may simply have been rarer. Widespread depiction of the lyre may simply reflect the importance of lyric and the easier playing methods of the accompaniment instrument. 352 Quoted in full by Pount, Louise: Poetic Origins and The Ballad, Macmillan, N.Y. 1921 p. 186 353 See Ford, Patrick K.: ed. The Mabigion and Other Medieval Welsh Tales, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1977. 354 Jones: Relicks of the Welsh Bards, p. 23. Jones gives an old list of the four and twenty Knights, assigning them historical status. The number twenty four is pervasive in early Welsh laws. Arthur is said to have flourish mainly in four disparate centers. (See Jones.) 355 Morris, John: The Age of Arthur, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1973. Quoted p. 121 from The Prologue To Life. The same text cites Arthur's two chief helpers as Cei and Bedwyr. 356 A Welsh Triad. 357 Uth and Uthar may relate to the term Uaithne. See discussions of Uaithne above. Also perhaps to the Norse Urth. I have wondered if there is some ancient relation between Uth and the early European term for the solmization of the note Do—Ut. 358 Gantz, Jeffrey: trans. and ed. The Mabigion, Penguin Books, N.Y. 1976, p. 170-171. 359 http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps143.htm 360 http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps091.htm

361 In archeology, the fish appears to be associated with Poseidon and is found on both early Hebrew and Christian tombstones. Pitt-Rivers, George: The Riddle Of The Labarum, George Allen, 1966. 362 Vigfusson, Gudfrand and Powell, F. York: ed. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue, Oxford, Clarendon Press, p24 The Lay of the House by Wolf Uggason.

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363 Chap XII p15 Vol 2 Heimskringla.) Song praising King of Norway (1015-1030) Olaf the Holy's victory over the English. 364 From the epic La Prise de Cordres et de Sebille, quoted by Page, Christopehr: Voices and Instruments of the Middle Ages, Berkeley '76. p. 31 365 Harp was orginally a verb—Hearpan. It's first recorded use for a musical instrument among the Europeans was by Venantius Fortunatus, 530- 609AD."Romanusque lyre, plaudit tibi barbarus harpa." It is hearpian in old English and harpien or harpen in middle English. The term relates to the Greek harpe, "sickle," the Latin sarpere, "to prune", and the French harpin "to grasp".The Oxford Dict. of English Etymology.p 428., Ed. C.T. Onions, Oxford, Clarendon Press. 1966.) (A Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language by Dr. Ernest Klein p. 704, Vol. 1. Elsevier Pub. Co. N.Y. 1966.) 366 Perseus's grandfather, Acrisius, resides in Ethiopia. (See The Legend of Perseus by E.S. Hartland (1894-96.) 367 The Whale from the Anglo Saxon Physiologus. 368 Williams, Sir Ifor: The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry, Cardiff, Univ. of Wales Press. 1972, poem by Juvencus, p. 102. 369 Widsith, Old English Poetry p. 76 370 p. 1019 Archaiology of Wales by Owen Jones, Book I of The Laws of Howel the Good. Denbigh 1870. 371 Gunlaug Snakestongue and the Raven", Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell: eds. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue Oxford, Clarendon Press. Vol.2. p. 110. 372 "Loke has yet more children. A giantess in Jotunheim, high Angerboda. With her he begat three children. The first was the Fenris-wolf; the second Jormungand, that is, the Mid-gard serpent, and the third Hel. When the gods knew that these three children were being fostered in Jotunheim, and were aware of the prophecies that much woe and misfortune would thence come them....etc." The Fooling of Gylfe, The Younger Edda by Rasmus B. Anderson. Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Co. 1897. p. 92. 373 "Harps of gold, and silver, and Findruinne (fine embroidery, hair strings?) with figures of serpents, and birds, and grayhounds upon them." See O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Custom of the Ancient Irish, 1873 vol. 3, Lemma Publishing Corp. New York l971 edited by W.K. Sullivan p. 220. This Irish passage refers to the harps of the nearly mythical Danaan. Surviving low headed Irish Clairseachs are decorated with dogs. Irish pictures of harps sometimes show the bird sitting on it—presumably the eagle or raven now associated with prophecy from the height. The Irish are said to have extensively decorated their harps with jewels and precious metals. 374 Swedish folk tale. p.149 The Fairy Mythology by Thomas Keightley, London George Bell and Sons. 1889. The origin of "Necks" may be niceras—see Beowulf VS422. Saint Nick is a Neck.

375 Vigfusson, Gudfrand and Powell, F. York: ed. Corpus Poeticum Boreale, the poetry of the old Northern Tongue, Oxford, Clarendon Press, p. 302. 376 The Vision of the Cross p. 124 Old English Poetry by J. Duncan Spaeth, Princeton Univ. Press, New Jersey, 1927. Seventh century 377 O'Meara, John: The Voyage of Saint Brendan, The Dolmen Press, 1976, p. 21. 378 O'Curry. Eugene: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, Vol 3, . p387. 379 O'Curry. Eugene: Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, Vol 3, . p. 387, from Zeuss' Gramatica Celtica vol. 11, p. 929. (p. 30 1840 ed.) 380 Cook, Albert: ed., The Old English Elene, Phoenix, and Physiologus, New Haven, Yale Univ. Press, 1919. trans from Vs. 131b-139 The Phoenix, p. 52-53 381 A Celtic Miscellany, p. 283, St. Brendan and the Harper. Penguin Books, 71. Not all early Irish Christian references to the harp or to Brendan convey the same message. There is conflict and this passage illustrates it well.

382 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 352 383 Acallamh na Senorach. Irische Text 4, pt. 1, Ed by Whitley Stokes and Ernest Windish. Leipzig. 384 Gregory, Lady: Of Gods and Fighting Men, John Murray, 1904 reprinted Irish Univ. Press, 1970. p. 129 385 Leach, MacEdward: ed. The Ballad Book, Harper and Brothers, N.Y. 1955. Thomas Rhymer, p. 133 386 English Folk Songs From The Southern Appalachinas, Cecil Sharp, London, Oxford Univ. 1932. 387 King Horn VS 1503-1510 388 Flower, Robin: The Irish Tradition, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1948, p. 43. 389 Graves, Robert: The White Goddess, Octagon Books, N.Y. 1976., st. 30-40. Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the trees, trans by D.W. Nash, p. 31. 390 Graves, Robert: The White Goddess, Octagon Books, N.Y. 1976. st. 59 Cad Goddeu, the Battle of the Trees, trans. by D.W. Nash., shown p. 30. 391 From "A Bell Rings on the Red Ridge" p. 93 Early Irish Verse, trans. and ed. by Ruth P.M. Lehmann, Univ. of Texas PRess, Austin 1982. 392 Petrie, George: The Ancient Music of Ireland, Univ. Press, Dublin, 1855. p. 173. From the Annals of the Four Masters. 393 The Voyage of Bran ed by Kuno Meyer, David Nutt, London, 1895. quoted from poem p. 97-98 Medieval Literature in Translation ed by Charles W. Jones, Longmans, Green, and Co. N.Y. 1950 394 Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach (A.D. 1210), from Parzival, trans by Jessie L. Weston, David Nutt, London, 1894.. quoted from poem p. 396 Medieval Literature in Translation ed by Charles W. Jones, Longmans, Green, and Co. N.Y. 1950 395 Clancey, Jospeh P: Medieval Welsh Lyrics, MacMillan, St. Martin's Press. N.Y. 1965 396 Loomis, Roger Sherman: ed. Medieval Romances, The Modern Library, N.Y. 1957. p. 127 Tristan and Isolt. by Gottfried von Strassburg,. This basic story has been attributed to both Latin and Persian influence. See Page, Christopher: Voices and Instruments of the Middle Ages, Berkeley, '76. Page attributes the story to the Roman story "Applonius of Tyre." See p. 104. In my view, the motif is much older—relating to the ancient journey across the waters to win the goddess. For a discussion of women offered to visitors in Celtic stories, see Brown, Arthur C.L.: The Origin of the Grail Legend , Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press. 1943, p. 106 See Hollander : The Skalds for examples of romantic verses which pre-date the troubadours. 397 Sumarized by Jones vol. 1, part 2, p.vii. 398 The harpers among the nobility inherited the blue cloak while the common minstrels wore the green. Hence, Y Bardd Glas Keraint (Keraint the blue bard, harper to Owain, Prince of Glamorgan). The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Child p. 138. 399 Leach, Macedward ed.: The Ballad Book, Harper and Brothers, N.Y. 1955, Glasgerion, p. 226 400 Ribera, Julian: Music in Ancient Arabia and Spain. ed by Eleanor Hague, Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, 1929. p 165 Also see p. 163. 401 O'Meara, John: Giraldus Cambrensis, p. 87 Note that Cambrensis does not mention any difference in harp size between Britain and Ireland. 402 As I describe in The Historical Method Of The Celtic Harp, it is with respect to melody that, as Bunting says, the Welsh played "on their national harp in the same manner" as did the Irish—right hand below left. 403 Giraldus Cambrensis. As given by Page, Christopher: Voices and Instruments of the Middle Ages, Berkeley, '76. p. 230. 404 The English Works of Wyclif, Hitherto Unprinted, Early Text Society Original Series, 74 (1880) p. 9.quoted from Hollander, John: Untuning the Sky W.W. Norton, N.Y. 1970 405 Das Narrenschiff trans by Alexander Barclay, 1509, quoted from p. 69-70 Untuning the Sky by John Hollander, W.W. Norton, N.Y. 1970

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406 Bunting, Vol 1. 1809, p. 18. See Thomas de Elmham, vit et Gest. Henry V.) 407 Mentioned in Burney's History of Music, Vol. 1. Also, See G.R. Rastall, "Secular Musicians in LAte Medieval England, Phd. Diss. U. of Manchester, 1968 408 Remnant, Mary: English Bowed Instruments by p. 82 409 p. 1026 Archaiology of Wales by Owen Jones, Book I of The Laws of Howel the GOod. Denbigh 1870. Elsewhere the Grwda is refered to as Uchelwr (high man). (1057). 410 Bullock-Davies, Constance: Menestrellorum Multitudo, Cardiff. 1978, p. 25 411 During the seventeenth century, Keating wrote a poem punning Clairseach on the root Clar— “smooth board”. This has often been assumed to be the source for the term. And, Clairseach has often been written “Clarsach”. However, centuries before Keating, the writing and presumably the pronunciation of the term was often Clairshoe or Clershoo: “clarscheouch, clar-,clairscheocht; clarscha(w), clarcheo, clarshon, clairshoe, -schol(w), - schew; klerscharch, clerscha, -scheo, schew.” Craig, Sir William: Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, Univ. of Chicago, vol 1. “It (cleir) is used (a) of poets in general and (b) in contemptuous references to low-grade entertainers.” Celtic Heritage by Alwyn Rees and Brinley Rees, Thames and Hudson, London, 1961. See Palmer: The Hurdy Gurdy for description of how socially critical terms characterized that instrument. In Celtic areas, harpers in residence at monasteries journied about the countryside on circuits called clera. This is described by Jones in Relicks of the Welsh Bards, p. 43, citing Madox’s History of the Exchequer and Caradoc’s Welsh Chronicle. Pennant describes clera as the term for the fee payed to minstrels. Pennant, Thomas: Tours In Wales, ed. by John Rhys, Caernarvon, 1883, p. 97. This may have been an obligatory fee payed for seven years to a minstrel. He also cites cler y dom, a term for “dung-hill bards.” The term cler is also the root of clergy. For a late medieval french passage which describes the clerc who both plays the harp and studies books see Carpenter, Nan Cooke: Music In The Medieval University, Univ. of Oklahoma, 1958, p. 69. See a Spanish reference to the wire strung harp as a professional’s instrument by Bermudo, described in “The double harp in Spain from the 16th to the 18th centuries” by Cristina Bordas, Early Music, Vol. XV, no.2 May 1987. 412 Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale. 413 Parenthesis mine. Proclamation by King Edward from Hearne's Append. ad Leland Collect, Vol. vi, p36. From Old English Popular Music by WIlliam Chappell, Chappell and Co. and MacMillan and Co. N.Y. 1893. p. 17. During the early fourteenth century, musician guilds were formed in England, France and Wales. These guilds set rules for solicitation and the teaching of music. A minstrel king was chosen to resolve disputes with the guilds. See Music In Chaucer's Time. 414 Evan's Specimens' of Welch Poetry, 1764, 4 to pv. quoted p. lxxiv Percy's Reliques. 415 See Nagy, Joseph Falaky: The Wisdom Of The Outlaw, Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 1985, p. 35 416 Statues of the Colleges of Oxford, Oxford, 1853, 1, Statues of Queen's College, p. 18.from p. 52 "String Instrument Making in Medieval England and Some Oxford Harpmakers 1380-1466," Christopher Page, GSJ May 78. 417 Roman De Brut by Wace, Le Roman de Brut de Wace ed. I Arnold. Societe des anciens textes francais, 1938) p. 553.f. LL. 10543-49. Cited in Parker's article, retranslated here. 418 Hogg, James: The Jacobite Relics of Scotland, Vol. 1 Edinburgh. 1821, reprinted AMA Press, N.Y. 1974. "There cam' a fiddler our o' Fife", p. 21. The lear or Lar-stone was a stone used for the punishment of criminals. Lar also means "floor" or "base" as in Urlar, the Gaelic term for a ground in divisions. The lance was kissed, "We'd join the dance and kiss'd the lance, And swore us foes to strangers." Hogg, James: The Jacobite Relics of Scotland, Vol. 1 Edinburgh. 1821, reprinted AMA Press, N.Y. 1974. "At Auchindown", p. 81. Vol. 1. 419 Cambrensis. p. 88 O.Meara 420 Bullock-Davies ,Constance: Menestrellorum Multitudo Cardiff, Univ. of Wales. 1978. p. 28 The author points out that the crwth was Edward 1's favorite instrument. 421 See p. 76—80, "Music in Medieval Scotland", by H.G. Farmer, Vol. 56, Royal Musical Assoc. proceedings, Kraus Reprint, Vaduz.) 422 "The Harp of Cnoc I Chosgair" A Celtic Miscellany, p. 237. 423 Thomson, Derick: An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry, Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1974, p. 37, poem to Tomaltach Mac Diarmeda. 424 The last referances to specific patronage among the high nobility appear to be from 1594, a harper to the Earl of Argyll and 1650, a harper to Earl of Errol, both in Scotland—reflecting the continued strength and independance of Scottish chieftains. See The Clarsach by A.F.Philip Christison, An Comunn Gaidhealach publication No. 8. 1969. Inverness and Glascow. 425 Vid. Pult. Stat. p. 1110, 39. Eliz. cited p. xli Percy's Reliques. 426 The Story of the Harp by H.G. Flood, 1905, Longwood Press, 1977 p. 73 427 Quoted by Capt. Francis O'Neill: Irish Minstrels and Musicians, Norwood Editions reprint, 1973. p. 27 428 Jones, Edward: Relicks Vol 2, p103 429 Davydd ab Gwilym, c. 1320-1380. Rel. vol 2 p119 430 See the story of "MacLeod's tables", Moncreiffe, Sir Iain: The Highland Clans, Bramhall House, 1967, p. 68. The famous College of Piping at Borreraig in Skye was established by Alasdair "Crouchback" 8th Chief of MacLeod (1481-1547). Note that the MacLeod's were of Norse descent. Notice in The Historical Method Of The Celtic Harp that the older methodical division methods of the Clairseach are discerned with significant information from Scottish sources and that at least some of the division terms seem to be of Scottish origin—such as Crunludh. Similarly, the most basic form of the Lament survived longest in Scotland. The techniques of bardic verse lasted somewhat longer in Scotland than in Ireland. Dillon, Myles: Early Irish Literature, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948. p. 182, cites the longer survival of Scottish bardic verse and gives final dates for that survival which closely correspond to the decline of the Clairseach. 431 For double stringing of the Irish harp's upper strings see "The Dalway or Fitzgerald harp" by Michael Billinge and Bonnie Shalijean, Early Music, Vol. XV, no. 2, May 1987. 432 Shakespeare: Henry IV, 3, 1, 209. 433 "...short measures pleasing onely the popular eare: in our courtly maker we banish them utterly." Puttenham, Geroge: The Arte of English Poesie, c. 1580 modern ed. by Wilcock and Walker, Cambridge, Univ. Press. 1936, p.84. Puttenham, speaks of rectifying the historical ballads sung by common harpers with their "short meetres" by composing written "divisions" in both "short and long meetres" to be played on the ha 434 Puttenham, Art of English Poesie, 1589, p69. also quoted Percy's Reliques p. 369 435 The Arte of English Poesie, c. 1580 modern ed. by Wilcock and Walker, Cambridge, Univ. Press. 1936 p. 42. By "long meetres", Puttenham means lines of greater length, such as the Alexandrine. (p. 85 Ibid.) 436 Archdeacon Lynch in Cambrensis Everus, quoted by Flood, H. Gratten: The Story of the Harp 1905, Longwood Press. 1977, p. 93 437 Dr. M' Donnel c. 1838, quoted by Conran, Michael: The National Music of Ireland, London, 1850, p. 259

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438 The best concrete description of surviving and almost surviving Celtic harps is still Armstrong, Robert Bruce: The Irish and Highland Harps, Edinburgh. 1904. Armstrong cites several harps known to have existed at the close of the eighteenth century which had disappeared by the beginning of the twentieth. This is a measure of the distance between those interested in saving such relicks and the undercurrent of fear and loathing with which common religion as well as element of humanism had come to regard the instrument. 439 Jones, Edward: Relicks of the Welsh Bards, 1792, Vol. 2. Intro. p. xvi. By "lawful" church, Jones seems to suggest that it was Protestants of a puritan nature who were to blame here while the Catholic church was not. 440 Bunting, Edward: The Ancient Music Of Ireland. Jones, Edward: Relicks of The Welsh Bards, The Bardic Museum Fraser, Angus: The Angus Fraser MS. Edinburgh Univ. Library: EUL MS. Gen. 614 441 Dillon, Myles: Early Irish Literature, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948. p. 182, cites the longer survival of Scottish bardic verse and gives final dates for that survival which closely corresponds to the decline of the Clairseach. 442 O'Curry, Eugene: Manners and Customs of The Ancient Irish, Dublin, 1873, from lectures delivered during 1862. Vol. 3 443 Scotland In Music, a European enthusiasm by Roger Fiske, Cambridge Univ. Press. 444 Friedman, Albert B.: The Ballad Revival, Univ. Of Chicago Press, 1961. 445 "The Minstrel, or Pocket songster." New-York. : Printed for the....booksellers, 1827 446 See English Folk Songs From The Southern Appalachians by Cecil Sharp for a good example of this process. Oxford Univ. London, 1932. Also the earlier work of Kodaly. 447 W.W. Lawrence, introduction to Lomax's Cowboy Songs. Quoted by Pound, Louise: Poetic Origins And The Ballad, Macmillan, N.Y. 1921. p. 216 448 Campbell's Journey through North Britain, London, 1808. 4to. I. 175, quoted xviii notes to Lady of The Lady by Sire Walter Scott, Ballantyne and Co, Edinburgh, 1810. 449 From "The Harp That Once Thru Tara's Halls" by Thomas Moore, p. 208 The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, Oliver S. Felt, New York, 1865. 450 Gareth and Lynette by Alfred Lord Tennyson, lines 255-258. p. 452 The Poemts and Plays of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Modern Libary, New York, 1938. One of a very few references to the harp by Tennyson. 451A harvest saved : Francis O'Neill and Irish music in Chicago / Nicholas Carolan Cork, Ireland : Ossian Publications, 1997 452 More accurately, Stonehenge was both a ritual site and an objectification of metaphysical ideas. These ideas not only described hidden forces but observable forces—the passage of time. More precisely, it was an objectification of memory and of the seer's power to use memory as a means of understanding divine order. 453 Based on information found in: Soustelle, Jacques: The Daily Life Of The Aztecs, MacMillan Co. NY 1955. Covarrubias, Miguel: Indian Art of Mexica and Central America, Knopf, 1971. Covarrubias, Miguel: The Eagle, The Jaguar and the Serpent, Knopt, NY 1967 Morley, Brainerd: The Ancient Maya, Stanford Univ. press, 1946

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