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Druid Magazine 8 ews Dharma & Druidry: eatures My Personal Journey into Belief and Science, Part 2 NF By Renu K. Aldrich he Dharmic religions, in my case specifically, have a rich his- Ttory linking it to ancient Celtic worship. In the first part of this series, I explored the connections between Dharma and Druidry in my personal life and through associations in linguistics, spiritual traditions, beliefs, sacred chant and meditation, and festivals and holidays. In this second part, I explore commonal- ities in mythology and folklore, symbols, astrology, music and poetry, and laws, customs, and training. Join me in my exploration into the mists of time, back into the present where we strengthen our ties to one another.

Myths & Folklore symbolism and inspiration. Evidence of common folklore from had multiple functions and represented Ireland to India is purported by Peter the forces of nature, dispensing ideas on Berresford-Ellis (2000) as well as Stith ethics, justice, knowledge, arts, crafts, Thompson (2007) in his book The Folk- medicine, speech, and harvests (Ralls, tale, which traces stories from Ireland 2008). They were called deuos or “shin- to India. Many surviving Irish and Welsh ing one” (Hinduism Today, 1994). show remarkable resemblances to Meanwhile, the stories of Hindu the themes, stories, and even names in Gods and Goddesses teach dharma, the the sagas of the Indian (Berres- spiritual code of right from wrong, and ford-Ellis, 2000). other important life lessons. The ear- As a historically oral tradition, ly Vedic pantheon included deities with Druids believe in and the power overlapping functions, such as natural of storytelling to heal and enlighten as forces, speech, crafts, arts, harvest, well as entertain. Teachings are trans- medicine, ethical order, and war (Hin- mitted through the creative arts—most duism Today, 1994; Ralls, 2008). They especially via parables and songs full of were invoked as devas or “shining ones.”

CELTIC VEDIC The God of thunder was Taranus, The God of rain and thunder was who carried thunderbolts , who carried thunderbolts God of fire is Aedh (pronounced uh-ee) The God of fire was The sun deity is Sulios The solar being was

The Celtic word for invocation is gutuater The Sanskrit word for invocation is hotar

Figure 1. A comparison of Celtic and Vedic Gods (Hinduism Today, 1994) 9 Summer - 2016

(See Figure 1 for a few comparisons.) waters created the Danuvius River. From this sprang the pantheon of gods known According to Berresford-Ellis as the Tuatha de Danaan, who taught (2000), the parallels among Hindu and wisdom to humankind and fought val- Druid Gods and Goddesses are almost iantly against invaders. This race was endless. One common myth correlates also known as the sidhe. Interesting- the Hindu Goddess Ganga and the Celtic ly enough, in Sanskrit the word siddha Mother Goddess Danu. Hindu myth says means “power” and danu means “waters Ganga was a Goddess resting in of heaven.” There is a temple in Bali when Lord Siva brought her to the earth dedicated to the Goddess of the Lake, in the form of water to save and puri- Danu. A Hindu Danu is depicted fy the sons of King Sagar and to rinse in the Vedic story “The Churning of the away the sins of mankind. According to Oceans,” a story with parallels in Irish an early Celtic creation myth, Danu fell and Welsh mythology. from heaven in the form of rain and her © Pumpkin Tripsa Pumpkin © © Raja Ravi Varma Ravi © Raja

(Left) Hindu Goddess Ganga descending to Earth; (Right) a depiction of the Celtic Goddess Danu Druid Magazine 10

in 1891 and has been dated to at least the 1st century BCE. Analysis of the cup has challenged experts to re-think what we believe about prehistoric society:

Ethnicity, gender and mythology may all have been more complex than previously supposed. Firm cultural boundaries may not have existed, humanity and its gods may have been viewed as having more than simply male and female A section of the Gundestrup Cauldron— depicting the Celtic God Cernunnos or the Hindu God Pashupati? genders, and religious beliefs may have been flexible and multifacet- Other deities are also comparable. ed (Taylor, 1992, p. 84). The Celtic God Cernunnos, or Horned The cup has both what is consid- One, is the God of fertility, produce, and ered to be extensive Celtic imagery and the . He has long hair and a Indian iconography, but experts have beard, and sits cross-legged in a medi- also suggested Thracian or Scythian tative state when not hunting. He wears origins. This has led scholars to debate torcs, which are ornate neck-rings. He how Indian culture could have been is associated with a serpent, which has transmitted from the East to the West the horns of a ram. Pashupati is the (Taylor, 1992). of the Indus Valley and the proto-God of Lord Siva, the long-haired Symbols Hindu God who spent time immersed The similarities in symbols be- in the forest in the form of a deer. He tween the two cultures occur in many often assumes a meditative pose, is other areas. In modern times, the re- garlanded with snakes, and is associ- semblance between the Indian and Irish ated with fertility a la the Siva Lingam. flags is no coincidence. Both are repre- He also uses a Bisana, a long horn. As sentative of a truce between cultures part of the , he is the Destroyer and living in peace: Hindus, Muslims, in order for re-creation to occur and, and all other religious communities (Flag thus, wears the ashes of the dead on of India, 2016); and Roman Catholics his body. Both are known as Lord of the and Protestants (Col, 2010). Animals. Ancient symbols illuminate the Gundestrup Cauldron is a silver enormous connections among Druids vessel that was found in a Danish bog and Hindus, most notably the signif- 11 Summer - 2016

icance of dalas. Hindus perceive threes all the number throughout creation. In addition three. Druid to having three letters and three teachings in- hidden sounds, the word Aum clude a store- consists of three curves repre- house of pow- senting the erful triadic three states poems. One of con- of the most sciousness: Indian (left) and important Celt- Irish (right) flags moving ic symbols is the wakeful, in- triple spiral, which is found in ner moving many types of images, including dream, and a triskele or triskelion, and offers an ar- deep sleep state (Jayaram, 2010). The ray of associations to the sacred three, Hindi language’s devanagri script de- including the realms of land, sea, and picting Aum even looks like the numeral sky, or mind, body, and soul. The spiral three. of life represents the cycle of life, death, In Hinduism, the three strands of and rebirth as well as the Triple God- creation themselves are called gunas: dess—the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Raja, which means activity, passion, It also symbolizes the male, female, desire, and movement; Sattva, and child on the path of life. The which means truth, goodness, OBOD symbol has three outer intelligence, and conscious- circles representing the circles ness; Tamas, which means of creation, three bars of inertia, darkness, and light representing the heaviness (Doran, Triple Deity, and a 2010). The gu- of sunrises nas entwine to symbolized by make everything dots (Summer in creation, Solstice, the including human Equinoxes, and the consciousness. There Winter Solstice). are numerous other Hindu In traditional Buddhist triadic associations, including art, triskeles are frequent- the three duties of a Brah- ly seen in the center of Dharma min (sacrifice, study the Vedas, wheels, four-pronged vajras, and charity), three paths to and auspicious symbol man- Four-pointed Buddhist vajra self-realization (knowledge, Druid Magazine 12

love, and action), and the three lines of sacred site where the famous Khumb ash worn by Saivites (those who wor- Mela religious festival occurs. Temples ship Lord Siva) on their foreheads (Ja- line the area, and hundreds of thou- yaram, 2010). sands of worshippers bathe in the water to purify themselves of sin. As mentioned previously, Hindus also have Trimurti, a Triple Deity—Brah- Astrology ma the Creator, the Preserver, Berresford-Ellis (2000) cites nu- and Siva the Destroyer. Siva is known merous references linking Celtic and as Tryambaka, the three-eyed Lord Vedic cosmology in addition to their use (Gradinarov, 2005). The of the same word for three eyes have multi- the planet Mercury. ple associations and can Celtic astrologers used represent triloka, the a system of 27 lunar three worlds: the phys- mansions similar to ical, astral, and causal the nakshatras in Ve- (Subramuniyaswami, dic Sanskrit. Both the 2003); the three aspects Hindu God and of time: past, present, King Ailill of Connacht, and future (Baba, 2010); Ireland, had a circular or the sun, moon, and Aum, the Hindu symbol for the seed of creation palace constructed with fire (Pandit, 2010). The 27 windows to gaze third eye signifies spiritual knowledge upon the 27 star alignments. A 1st cen- and power. Siva is third in the , is tury BCE Celtic calendar (the Coligny often represented as a triangle to mean Calendar) discovered in 1897 had par- ‘absolute reality,’ and has three braids of allels to Vedic calendrical computations hair that represent the integration of the (Berresford-Ellis, 2000; Hinduism Today, physical, mental, and spiritual energies. 1994). He carries a trident that some say rep- resents God’s three fundamental Both cultures conceived of cosmic or powers: icchha (desire, will, love); creation as a sacrifice of a primal per- kriya (action); and jnana (wisdom) son or being, and they recognized four (Subramuniyaswami, 2003). He is often interrelated worlds of existence (Carr- depicted with a snake wrapped around Gomm, 2006; Hinduism Today, 1994). his neck three times. The Celts perceived the netherworld; the earth realm; the heavenly realm of In India, the confluence of three the dead and demi-gods; and a white rivers—the revered Ganges, Yamuna, realm of supreme Deities and energy and Sarasvati rivers in Allahabad—is a source of stars. Vedic cosmology cites 13 Summer - 2016

the physical world; the astral world of of marbhnai, also called “death song” or dead and demi-gods; the causal universe keening, has been compared with the of deities, the raga style Supreme Be- because both ing, and primal are impro- energy; and vised around the nether- three or four world. These notes. planes divide Both into small- cultures val- er existences ued music, occupied by sound, and those of sim- vibration for ilar character its spiritual and where time Sheila , former musician of Indian descent, singing the benefits and moves slower. Scottish tune Lament of McCrimmon/Song of the Banshee. because it The Vedas say that the pleased the Gods. Irish music critic Fan- were divided into 17 regions. In Irish ny Feehan (1982) noted in a paper that mythology, the Druids advise Maelduin to when she played a Claddagh recording of take only 17 men with him on his famous Barr an tSleibhe for an Indian professor voyage, and in the Book of Invasions1, of music, her counterpart was transfixed Mil arrived in Ireland in the 17th of the by the eerie musical resemblance to an moon. The age of consent in early Ire- Indian raga about a young girl being land was 17 (Ralls, 2008). lured toward a mountain.

Music & Poetry Taking the arts further, we reach the common ground of poetry. Poetic Historian Bryan McMahon plays a verse was a revered force in both worlds. game with every Indian guest he meets In the first part of this series, we talked at his hotel in County Kerry, Ireland. about the epic poems of each culture. He hums Irish folk music and asks the Both the Druid and Vedic Bards trained traveler to complete the tune (Hinduism for 12 years and orated epics conveying Today, 1994; Ralls, 2008). Almost every spiritual knowledge. The poetic meter time, Indian guests sing like they already was a fixed syllable line, free form, with know the song, indicating to him that In- a three-part cadence at the end (Hin- dians and Irishmen have a common past. duism Today, 1994; Ralls, 2008). Both Just as a slow ballad on the Celtic harp ancient societies had a class of poets is reminiscent of an Indian raga played who chanted in praise of their kings and on a sitar, the ancient Celtic music form warriors. Among the Druids, the Bards Druid Magazine 14

Song of Amergin Krisna I am the wind on the sea I am the taste in the waters, O Son of Kunti. I am the wave of the sea I am the syllable Aum in all the Vedas. I am the bull of seven battles I am the sound in ether and I am the eagle on the rock manhood in men. I am a flash from the sun I am the pure fragrance in earth and brightness in fire. I am the most beautiful of plants I am the life in all existences and I am a strong wild boar the austerity in ascetics. I am a salmon in the water Know Me, O Partha, to be the I am a lake in the plain eternal seed of all existences. I am the word of knowledge I am the intelligence of the intelligent. I am the head of the spear in battle I am the splendour of the splendid. I am the God that puts fire in the head I am the strength of the strong, Who spreads light in the devoid of desire and passion. gathering on the hills? In beings I am the desire which is Who can tell the ages of the moon? not contrary to dharma, Who can tell the place where the sun rests? O Lord of the Bharatas. And whatever states of being there may be, be they harmonious, passionate, slothful-- know they are all from Me alone. I am not in them, they are in Me.

(Chapter 7, Verse 8, ) © Nancy Wisser © Nancy 15 Summer - 2016 are the shaman poets who teach through ers (including merchants). Upward pro- verse using the magic of sound in words, gression through classes was possible. music, and song. Praise poems were The Druids memorized the history and called narasamsi in Sanskrit and fursun- knowledge of the Celts and passed it on dud in old Irish (Berresford-Ellis, 2000). orally, forbidding written transmission. They were divided into several class- Amairgen, the warrior-poet son es: seers, judges, royal advisors, hymn of the Celtic Iberian chief Golamh and chanters, poet bards, and sacrificers. the first Druid They were also to set foot in astronomers, Ireland, wrote healers, and

a poem in the Dangi © Rajesh magicians. Book of In- vasions1 with Vedic a philosophic society was outlook that divided into parallels a castes: priests, declaration by warriors, mer- in the chants, and Bhagavad Gita workers (Hin- (Berresford-El- duism Today, lis, 2000) (see 1994). Upward poems here). mobility was Berresford-Ellis sanctioned in contends that Vedas, but later the Amairgen frozen in soci- poem is simi- etal law books. lar in style and The Brahmins, content to the priests of the more ancient Vedic communi- Sri Rudra chant ty, also memo- of the Yajur Veda. rized scriptural, societal, and legal knowl- edge of the Hindus, passing it on only Laws, Customs, & Training verbally. Brahmins had several classes, Theories of a common origin for including seers, royal advisors, medical, Druids and Hindus are further buttressed and cosmology specialists. In life stages by the similarities in societal structure defined by both cultures, enlightenment (Hinduism Today, 1994; Carr-Gomm, was sought after one had reached old 2006). Celtic society was divided into a age, and the ideal was to live 100 years. hierarchy: priests, warriors, and produc- They also both recognized eight forms Druid Magazine 16

of marriage from arranged to love to evolved from a common ancestor. abduction, and the groom conveyed a There are at least five origin the- gift or money for his bride. The family ories from India to Africa, but only the unit comprised four generations from a Kurgan Hypothesis has not been sum- great-grandfather. marily rejected—though it remains con- There is an interesting parallel in tentious (Kurgan Hypothesis, 2015). It debt law, according to Hinduism Today’s suggests a common origin in the Pon- (1994) extensive comparison of the cul- tic-Caspian steppe (Volk, 2000). This tures. A man who owed money in Celtic comprises the area north of the Black society could fast at Sea, the Ukraine, the door of the debt- and Southern Rus- or, who had to join sia. In addition to the fast until he paid the animal hus- or they entered into bandry practices of arbitration. In Hindu the Kurgan people law, a creditor could from the 5th mil- fast at the door of lennia, linguistic, the past due debtor, archaeological, and who then had to pro- genetic evidence tect the health of the support the theory. creditor by paying the debt. In other According practices, Druids uti- to reconstruction- lized breathing, pos- ists, the expansion ture, and meditation of these nomadic techniques that resemble hatha yoga. tribes began during the Copper Age. They had a threefold division of priests, Common Ancestry? warriors, and peasants or farmers. The Linguistic, archaeological, and number five was sacred to these people genetic evidence support the theory of as it is in Druidry. They had hill-forts, common ancestry. In addition, similari- which could have been prototypes for ties in beliefs, spiritual practices, myths, the Celtic castle-hills. Their horse my- symbols, laws and customs, traditions, thology links the Kurgans to both East- holidays, and astrology all point to a link ern and Western cultures; both ancient between the two spiritual practices and Indian kings and the tribal kings of their members. Scholars have long puz- Ulster in Ireland consumed sacrificial zled over ancient maps and wondered horseflesh (Druid, 2016; Volk, 2000). how Hindus and Druids might have 17 Summer - 2016

Conclusion Notes

My investigation into a common 1. Lebor Gabala Erenn, known as The Book of Invasions, is the earliest known history ancestry is no longer a driving ambition written by the Irish. It recounts the successive because I have reached a point where it invasions of Ireland by different tribes from the no longer matters to me to find evidence creation of the world to the coming of the Iberi- of what I know in my soul. I loved learn- an Celts (Jones, 2010). ing that I was not alone in my search References for answers, and that seems to be con- clusion enough for me. Learning early Baba, B. (2010). Who is Lord Siva? Retrieved online from author’s web site at http:// on that my own Druid order, OBOD, has www.eaisai.com/baba/docs/shivas.html identified and appreciated this connec- tion validated my inner sense that I be- Berresford-Ellis, P. (2000). Our Druid cousins: Meet the Brahmins of ancient Europe, long to both cultures despite my brown the high caste of Celtic society. Hinduism skin. Today Retrieved online at http://www. hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsec- I enjoy the parallels that I contin- tion/item.php?itemid=4274 ue to see (such as Druids using woad Carr-Gomm, P. (2006). What do Druids believe? and Hindus using henna as natural (What do we believe?). London: Granta dyes), but my spirituality has reached Publications. a place of acceptance that these faiths actually require no more commonali- Carr-Gomm, P. (2009). Druidism and the an- cient religions of India. The Order of ty than the fact that I incorporate both Bards, Ovates & Druids. Retrieved on- into how I live and what I believe. In the line at http://www.druidry.org/modules. end, it comes back to dharma. I choose php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=in- to live my life with a combined faith that dex&topic_id=1&page_id=164

gives me many deities and energies to Col, J. (2010). The Republic of Ireland’s flag. Re- connect with, multiple communities of trieved online from Enchanted Learning’s likeminded souls, and confirmation that web site at http://www.enchantedlearn- humanity is more about similarities than ing.com/europe/ireland/flag.shtml differences, whether we grew from the Doran, W. (2010). Transcending the three Gu- same plant or we are different branches nas – the primary forces of creation. Re- emerging from a Mother tree. trieved online from the author’s web site at http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/ I hope you have enjoyed this ex- yoga/gunas.htm ploration! If you are interested in con- Druid. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Re- versation about Dharma and Druidry, trieved online at http://www.britannica. please join our discussion group. com/EBchecked/topic/172029/Druid Editors of Hinduism Today Magazine. (1994, May). The Celts: Common ground of Eu- Druid Magazine 18

ropean Celts & Indian Vedic Hindus. Hin- Kurgan Hypothesis. (2015). In Wikipedia. Re- duism Today Magazine. Retrieved online trieved online at http://en.wikipedia.org/ at http://www.hinduismtoday.com/mod- wiki/Kurgan_hypothesis ules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3289. Pandit, B. (2010). Kashmiri Overseas Association Feehan, F. (1982). Suggested links between USA, Inc. Retrieved online at http://www. Eastern and Celtic music. The Celtic koausa.org/Gods/God9.html Consciousness. New York, Ralls, K. NY: George (2008). Druid- Braziller. ism. In Ancient Quest. Re- Flag of India. trieved on-

(2016). In Garrison-Kinsman © Teri line from the Wikipedia. author’s web Retrieved on- site at http:// line at http:// ancientquest. en.wikipedia. com/talks/dru- org/wiki/Flag_ idism/ of_India#De- sign_and_sym- Subramuni- bolism yaswami, S. S. (2003). Danc- Gradinarov, P. (2005). ing with Siva. Tryambakam. Himalayan In Indopedia. Academy. Retrieved on- line at http:// Taylor, T. www.indope- (1992, March). dia.org/Tryam- The Gunde- bakam.html strup Cauldron. Scientific Amer- Jayaram, V. (2010). ican, 266, 84- Symbolic 89. Retrieved significance online from of numbers in http://www. Hinduism. In scientificamer- Hinduwebsite. ican.com/arti- com. Re- cle/the-gunde- trieved online strup-cauldron/ at http://www. hinduwebsite.com/numbers.asp. Thompson, S. (2007). The folktale. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. Jones, M. (2010). Lebor Gabala Erenn. Retrieved online from the author’s web site at Volk, S. (2000). Kurgan culture. Retrieved online http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/leborga- from the author’s web site at http://www. bala.html iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/Kurgans. htm (currently inactive link).