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Druid Revival Gods
Aug. 12th, 2023 04:42 pmEvan Davies, Owen Morgan, Lewis Spence, and Ross Nichols
GODS:
Hu:
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
The meaning of "Hu," is that which is apt to pervade, or to spread over. It is used as an epithet of the Deity, in reference to His omniscience, and is not p. 222 unfrequently to be met with as such in the works of the Bards
Rhys Goch Eryri, also, in his "Cywydd Cyfrinach," speaks of "Pont Hu," the bridge of Hu, in reference to the subject of the Incarnation; pont being a term used bardically to denote a teacher that conveys his disciples over the bog of ignorance. Hence the adage--"A fo ben bid bont." He who is head let him be a bridge.
Both Hu and HUON were no doubt originally identical with the HEUS of Lactantius, and the HESUS of Lucan, described as gods of the Gauls. The similarity of the last name to IESU is obvious and striking.
Hu the Mighty is, moreover, described in the Triads as a Historical personage; that is, as the one who first established the Cymry in a civil community, taught them agriculture, with other useful arts, and conducted them over into the island of Britain. See Triad, 3rd Series, Ap. Myv. Arch. vol. ii.
Page 45
https://archive.org/details/magicartsincelti0000spen/mode/2up?q=hu
In Wales, at least up to the year 1538, oxen were offered up to the idol of a “saint” or deity, Darvell Gadarn, as we learn from the contents of a letter written by Ellis Price to Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State to Henry VIII, dated April 6th, 1538, from the diocese of St. Asaph. The people, says Price, flocked to this idol on April 5th, bringing oxen and kine. The idol was carried to Smithfield and duly burned, along with the priest who ministered to it and who bore the same name with itself. Now the name Darvell Gadarn closely resembles that of Hu Gadarn, an ancient British deity associated with the cult of the ox, and I have formed the impression that the prefix “Darvell”’ is a corruption of the Welsh word for a bull, tarw. Darvell Gadarn, I may add, has some reputation in Wales as a “‘saint’’.
Sul
Sul of the sun and the healing springs
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
What is the significance of Sul in Druidic mythology and how does it relate to other Celtic deities? Brave AI Search May, 2024
Based on the etymology of Sul’s name and her association with sight, civic law, and epithets relating to light, Sul has been interpreted as a solar deity, at least in pre-Roman times. Some researchers have further suggested a role as the de facto Celtic solar deity, with Sulevia and similar names being the goddess’s attestations elsewhere.
Relationship to Other Celtic Deities
Sulis was a deity worshiped at the thermal spring of Bath, and she was worshiped by the Romano-British as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tablets suggest that she was conceived of both as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess and as an effective agent of curses invoked by her votaries.
In the context of Celtic mythology, Sulis is associated with the goddess Minerva, who was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Athena. The Roman Baths Museum suggests a possible connection between the Gorgon and the goddess Sulis Minerva, as the Gorgon was often depicted as a symbol of protection and wisdom.
Comparison to Other Celtic Deities
Sulis shares similarities with other Celtic deities, such as the goddess Danu, who was the mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the goddess of fertility and sovereignty. Like Sulis, Danu was associated with the natural world and the cycles of life and death.
In terms of her role as a solar deity, Sulis is comparable to other Celtic deities associated with the sun, such as the god Lugh, who was often depicted as a solar deity and was associated with light, fire, and craftsmanship.
Conclusion
In summary, Sul is a significant figure in Druidic mythology, associated with the sun, sight, and civic law. Her worship was widespread in ancient Britain, and she was often depicted as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess. Her relationship to other Celtic deities, such as Minerva and Danu, highlights the complex and interconnected nature of Celtic mythology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulis
Esus:, Hesus
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
Hesus of the Oaks, chief of tree-spirits
https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Esus
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
Both Hu and HUON were no doubt originally identical with the HEUS of Lactantius, and the HESUS of Lucan, described as gods of the Gauls. The similarity of the last name to IESU is obvious and striking.
Elen:
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
Elen of the Roads, goddess of dawn and dusk
https://archive.org/search?query=%22elen+of+the+roads%22&sin=TXT
I checked a few of the titles in which "Elen of the Roads" was mentioned. Not much in them but I did enjoy this: https://archive.org/details/western-way-1-native/page/65/mode/2up?q=%22elen+of+the+roads%22
Ced:
Ced the Earth Mother, source of all life
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526/page/n239/mode/2up?q=ced
Page n239
To the Creator the Druids gave the name Celi (Concealing), and to his consort the name of Ced (Aid) or Keridwen. They believed that the firmament was one vast wheel, in which wheel, seated in a chair, the sun made his daily round. Celi and Keridwen are incomprehensible spirits, but are the originators of crude matter, which came in an embryonic condition from across the ocean, from the source of all elements. This essence is feminine and passive in its nature, and was brought every spring over the seas in a sacred boat shaped like the crescent moon and propelled by Keridwen, who applied intense heat beneath it, so that it also became a cauldron. Its work done, it returned once more to its source for a fresh cargo.
Page n241
The Druids believed in the eternity of matter in an atomic condition, and also in the eternity of water, and further that the passive o$ feminine principle of the divine nature pervaded both. They thought that at some inconceivably distant period the active principle of Celi concentrated its energy in the passive principle of Ced or Keridwen, and as the result of contact the sun was produced. Under its influence the atomic elements took solid shape and became a plastic chaos known as Calen.
Celi
Celi the Hidden One
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1105.htm
In a footnote Celi is mentioned but the English translation makes Celi = God. Of note, Google translation for "Da coeliwn, a’n Duw Celi" is "Good we believe, and our God Celi"
257:1 p. 256 This fragment, in connection with the fact that His is one of the Names of God, throws wonderful light upon the language of Rhys Brydydd, whilst that also bears testimony to the existence in his days, namely, between 1450 and 1490, of the curious doctrine of the text:
Bychanaf or bychenyd,
Yw Hu Gadarn, fe’i barn byd;
A mwyaf, a Naf i ni,
Da coeliwn, a’n Duw Celi,
Ysgafn ei daith, ac esgud,
Mymryn tes, gloewyn ei glud,
A mawr ar dir a moroedd,
A mwyaf a gaf ar goedd;
Mwy no’r bydoedd, ’marbedwn
Amarch gwael i’r mawr hael hwn.
The smallest of the small
Is Hu the Mighty, as the world judges;
And the greatest, and a Lord to us,
Let us well believe, and our mysterious God;
Light His course and active,
An atom of glowing heat is His car;
Great on land and on the seas,
The greatest that I manifestly can have,
Greater than the worlds--Let us beware
Of mean indignity to him who deals in bounty.
See Dr. Pughe's Diet. v. mymryn.
The Mysteries of Britain
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526
pg. 216 To the Creator the Druids gave the name Celi (Concealing), and to his consort the name of Ced (Aid) or Keridwen. They believed that the firmament was one vast wheel, in which wheel, seated in a chair, the sun made his daily round. Celi and Keridwen are incomprehensible spirits, but are the originators of crude matter, which came in an embryonic condition from across the ocean, from the source of all elements. This essence is feminine and passive in its nature, and was brought every spring over the seas in a sacred boat shaped like the crescent moon and propelled by Keridwen, who applied intense heat beneath it, so that it also became a cauldron. Its work done, it returned once more to its source for a fresh cargo.
The active warmth of the male principle, Celi, the Druids personified under the name Gwion Bach, the Keltic Bacchus, and the wine of which he is god is simply the liquid employed in their mysteries to symbolize the fertilized sap of fruit. This principle was introduced into the cauldron as the three drops mentioned in the allegory concerning it. The Druids believed that the sun and the earth had emanated from two separate eggs in the Boat of Keridwen, but the sun was believed to be a later product than the earth. He was known as Taliesin, but great confusion has been caused by the fact that various names were given to the sun at different stages of his annual progress, such as Hu Gadarn, Arthur, and Taliesin. Formerly the Druids probably symbolized the sun as a bull and the earth as a cow,
pg. 218 The Druids believed in the eternity of matter in an atomic condition, and also in the eternity of water, and further that the passive o$ feminine principle of the divine nature pervaded both. They thought that at some inconceivably distant period the active principle of Celi concentrated its energy in the passive principle of Ced or Keridwen, and as the result of contact the sun was produced. Under its influence the atomic elements took solid shape and became a plastic chaos known as Calen.
pg. 245 So far as the writings of Owen Morgan or “Morien” are concerned they exhibit an extraordinary knowledge of Druidic lore, but are almost inextricably mingled with classical and Eastern mysticism. He tells us that the Druids believed the firmament to be one vast wheel, in a chair in which Hu Gadarn was seated, but that the principal spirits of the Universe were Celi and Keridwen.
The Writings of “Morien” 217 but in his later type he seems mystically to have been known as Taliesin or the High Hesus.
pg. 249 Perhaps a reconstruction of the broader aspects of the ancient British mystical cult might follow some such lines as these : The sun was regarded as the seat and centre of the divinity, Hu, Hesus or Taliesin, who, it was believed, occupied a chair or throne in the hub of its golden wheel. His demiurges, Celi and Keridwen, were responsible for the drudgery of material creation. The earth was the Cauldron of Keridwen, the matrix, as it were, of the divine mother, into which the fecundating essence of Celi was introduced. In its other aspects this cauldron was a sacred coracle, the moon, which brought embryonic matter to the earth across the ocean. Symbolically, too, the sun was regarded as a white bull and the earth as a white cow. Now these several ideas make it plain to the student of mythology that the cult which embraced them all must have done so at rather widely different periods, that they are, indeed, myths edited so as to fit in with one another by an able and fully conscious priesthood.
pg. 255 Into this cauldron, or matrix, the three fertilizing drops fall from Celi, the male counterpart of Keridwen. Now, to anyone with only a ’prentice knowledge of mythology the basic nature of the myth we have here becomes perfectly plain. It is the myth of Sky-Father and the Earth-Mother over again, the self-same myth as is found in ancient Egypt, and indeed in many other mythologies. It is, indeed, the most primitive type of creation myth known to us. In many cosmologies the earth is formed out of the remains of a giant or monster, and in others is merely an “extension” of a god’s soulforce.
Awen
In this phase we call on a word of power: Awen, the Grand Word of the Druid Tradition.
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 56
https://www.druidry.co.uk/awen-the-holy-spirit-of-druidry/
The first recorded reference to Awen occurs in Nennius’ Historia Brittonum, a Latin text of circa 796 CE, based on earlier writings by the Welsh monk, Gildas. After referring to King Ida of Northumbria, who reigned from 547 to 559, Nennius says that:
"Then Talhearn Tad Awen won renown in poetry."
Tad means ‘father’, so Talhearn is the Father of Awen. This doesn’t tell us much about what Awen is, but, if we accept Nennius as a reliable source, it does show that Awen existed as a concept at a time when Diarmait mac Cerbaill still reigned as the last semi-pagan High King of Ireland, and only a century or so after St. Patrick’s mission to convert the Irish to Christianity.
To discover what Awen is, we should first look at what the word means. The feminine noun, Awen, has been variously translated as ‘inspiration’, ‘muse’, ‘genius’, or even ‘poetic frenzy’. According to a 19th century Welsh dictionary, the word itself is formed by combining the two words, aw, meaning ‘a fluid, a flowing’, and en, meaning ‘a living principle, a being, a spirit, essential’. So Awen may be rendered literally as ‘a fluid essence’, or ‘flowing spirit’. However, more recent dictionaries do not support this interpretation. The next stage of our quest takes us to the surviving works of the Bards of medieval Britain, who were both the inheritors and the medium of transmission of remnants of pagan Druid tradition.
NOTES:
Evan Davies (Myfyr Morganwg)
https://archive.org/search?query=Evan+Davies&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22
Search narrowed down to Welsh ballads
https://archive.org/search?query=Evan+Davies&and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Welsh+ballads%22&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22
Iolo Morganwg / Edward Williams,
Iolo manuscripts : A selection of ancient Welsh manuscripts, in prose and verse, from the collection made by the late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the purpose of forming a continuation of the Myfyrian archaiology; and subsequently proposed as materials for a new history of Wales
https://archive.org/details/b24855352/page/n1/mode/2up
Poems, lyric and pastoral
https://archive.org/details/poemslyricpastor01ioloiala
The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
Sir Owen Morgen Edwards
Llyfr Nest
In Welsh on Inernet Archive
The Mabinogion Vol. 1 (of 3)
TRANSLATED FROM THE RED BOOK OF HERGEST BY LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST
https://ia800306.us.archive.org/0/items/themabinogionvol19959gut/19959.txt
Arthur legends
The Mabinogion Vol. 2 (of 3)
https://ia600308.us.archive.org/6/items/themabinogionvol19973gut/19973.txt
The Mabinogion Vol. 3 (of 3)
https://archive.org/details/themabinogionvol19976gut
This volume contains the oldest of the Mabinogion--the four branches of
the Mabinogion proper--and the kindred tale of Lludd and Llevelys. In
all these we are in a perfectly pagan atmosphere, neither the
introduction of Christianity nor the growth of chivalry having affected
them to any extent.
A Short History of Wales
https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofwa00edwa/page/n9/mode/2up
pg. 19 After all this, you will be surprised to learn that many of the old gods still remain in Wales, and much of the old pagan worship. Who drops a pin into a sacred well, or leaves a tiny rag on a bush close by, and then wishes for something? A young maiden in the twentieth century, who sacrifices to a well heathen god. Until quite recently men thought that Ffynnon Gybi, and Ffynnon Elian, and Ffynnon Ddwynwen, had in them a power which could curse and bless, ruin and save.
NOTE: Ffynnon = Well
Lud of the Silver Hand was the god of flocks and ships. His caves are in Dyved still, and his was the temple on Ludgate Hill in London. Merlin was a god of knowledge ; he could foretell events. Ceridwen was the goddess of wisdom ; she distilled wisdom-giving drops in a cauldron. Gwydion created a beautiful girl from flowers, "from red rose, and yellow broom, and white anemony." I am not quite sure what Coil did, but I have heard children singing the history of " old King Cole." Olwen also walked through Wales in heathen times,and it is said that three white flowers rose behind her wherever she had put her foot.
Wales
https://archive.org/details/wales00edwa/page/340/mode/2up
He doubts, not only whether the saintly holiness of St. David was above suspicion, but even whether he ever existed at all ; he might be something like Dervel Gadarn or Conoch, or such other Welsh gods, " antique gargles of ydolatry."
Lewis Spence
The Mysteries of Britain
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526
Entries on:
Awen = many
Ced = 2
Celi = many
Elen = 0
Hesus = many
Hu = many
Sul = 0
The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain
https://archive.org/details/magicartsincelti0000spen/mode/2up?q=elen
Awen - not a goddess but word for inspiration
Ced = o
Celi = 0
Elen = 0
Hesus = 0
Hu = multiple entries. Will need another post dedicated to Hu for them all.
Sul = 0
British Fairy Origins
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77103
GODS:
Hu:
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
The meaning of "Hu," is that which is apt to pervade, or to spread over. It is used as an epithet of the Deity, in reference to His omniscience, and is not p. 222 unfrequently to be met with as such in the works of the Bards
Rhys Goch Eryri, also, in his "Cywydd Cyfrinach," speaks of "Pont Hu," the bridge of Hu, in reference to the subject of the Incarnation; pont being a term used bardically to denote a teacher that conveys his disciples over the bog of ignorance. Hence the adage--"A fo ben bid bont." He who is head let him be a bridge.
Both Hu and HUON were no doubt originally identical with the HEUS of Lactantius, and the HESUS of Lucan, described as gods of the Gauls. The similarity of the last name to IESU is obvious and striking.
Hu the Mighty is, moreover, described in the Triads as a Historical personage; that is, as the one who first established the Cymry in a civil community, taught them agriculture, with other useful arts, and conducted them over into the island of Britain. See Triad, 3rd Series, Ap. Myv. Arch. vol. ii.
Page 45
https://archive.org/details/magicartsincelti0000spen/mode/2up?q=hu
In Wales, at least up to the year 1538, oxen were offered up to the idol of a “saint” or deity, Darvell Gadarn, as we learn from the contents of a letter written by Ellis Price to Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State to Henry VIII, dated April 6th, 1538, from the diocese of St. Asaph. The people, says Price, flocked to this idol on April 5th, bringing oxen and kine. The idol was carried to Smithfield and duly burned, along with the priest who ministered to it and who bore the same name with itself. Now the name Darvell Gadarn closely resembles that of Hu Gadarn, an ancient British deity associated with the cult of the ox, and I have formed the impression that the prefix “Darvell”’ is a corruption of the Welsh word for a bull, tarw. Darvell Gadarn, I may add, has some reputation in Wales as a “‘saint’’.
Sul
Sul of the sun and the healing springs
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
What is the significance of Sul in Druidic mythology and how does it relate to other Celtic deities? Brave AI Search May, 2024
Based on the etymology of Sul’s name and her association with sight, civic law, and epithets relating to light, Sul has been interpreted as a solar deity, at least in pre-Roman times. Some researchers have further suggested a role as the de facto Celtic solar deity, with Sulevia and similar names being the goddess’s attestations elsewhere.
Relationship to Other Celtic Deities
Sulis was a deity worshiped at the thermal spring of Bath, and she was worshiped by the Romano-British as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tablets suggest that she was conceived of both as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess and as an effective agent of curses invoked by her votaries.
In the context of Celtic mythology, Sulis is associated with the goddess Minerva, who was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Athena. The Roman Baths Museum suggests a possible connection between the Gorgon and the goddess Sulis Minerva, as the Gorgon was often depicted as a symbol of protection and wisdom.
Comparison to Other Celtic Deities
Sulis shares similarities with other Celtic deities, such as the goddess Danu, who was the mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann and the goddess of fertility and sovereignty. Like Sulis, Danu was associated with the natural world and the cycles of life and death.
In terms of her role as a solar deity, Sulis is comparable to other Celtic deities associated with the sun, such as the god Lugh, who was often depicted as a solar deity and was associated with light, fire, and craftsmanship.
Conclusion
In summary, Sul is a significant figure in Druidic mythology, associated with the sun, sight, and civic law. Her worship was widespread in ancient Britain, and she was often depicted as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess. Her relationship to other Celtic deities, such as Minerva and Danu, highlights the complex and interconnected nature of Celtic mythology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulis
Esus:, Hesus
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
Hesus of the Oaks, chief of tree-spirits
https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Esus
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
Both Hu and HUON were no doubt originally identical with the HEUS of Lactantius, and the HESUS of Lucan, described as gods of the Gauls. The similarity of the last name to IESU is obvious and striking.
Elen:
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
Elen of the Roads, goddess of dawn and dusk
https://archive.org/search?query=%22elen+of+the+roads%22&sin=TXT
I checked a few of the titles in which "Elen of the Roads" was mentioned. Not much in them but I did enjoy this: https://archive.org/details/western-way-1-native/page/65/mode/2up?q=%22elen+of+the+roads%22
Ced:
Ced the Earth Mother, source of all life
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526/page/n239/mode/2up?q=ced
Page n239
To the Creator the Druids gave the name Celi (Concealing), and to his consort the name of Ced (Aid) or Keridwen. They believed that the firmament was one vast wheel, in which wheel, seated in a chair, the sun made his daily round. Celi and Keridwen are incomprehensible spirits, but are the originators of crude matter, which came in an embryonic condition from across the ocean, from the source of all elements. This essence is feminine and passive in its nature, and was brought every spring over the seas in a sacred boat shaped like the crescent moon and propelled by Keridwen, who applied intense heat beneath it, so that it also became a cauldron. Its work done, it returned once more to its source for a fresh cargo.
Page n241
The Druids believed in the eternity of matter in an atomic condition, and also in the eternity of water, and further that the passive o$ feminine principle of the divine nature pervaded both. They thought that at some inconceivably distant period the active principle of Celi concentrated its energy in the passive principle of Ced or Keridwen, and as the result of contact the sun was produced. Under its influence the atomic elements took solid shape and became a plastic chaos known as Calen.
Celi
Celi the Hidden One
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 60
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1105.htm
In a footnote Celi is mentioned but the English translation makes Celi = God. Of note, Google translation for "Da coeliwn, a’n Duw Celi" is "Good we believe, and our God Celi"
257:1 p. 256 This fragment, in connection with the fact that His is one of the Names of God, throws wonderful light upon the language of Rhys Brydydd, whilst that also bears testimony to the existence in his days, namely, between 1450 and 1490, of the curious doctrine of the text:
Bychanaf or bychenyd,
Yw Hu Gadarn, fe’i barn byd;
A mwyaf, a Naf i ni,
Da coeliwn, a’n Duw Celi,
Ysgafn ei daith, ac esgud,
Mymryn tes, gloewyn ei glud,
A mawr ar dir a moroedd,
A mwyaf a gaf ar goedd;
Mwy no’r bydoedd, ’marbedwn
Amarch gwael i’r mawr hael hwn.
The smallest of the small
Is Hu the Mighty, as the world judges;
And the greatest, and a Lord to us,
Let us well believe, and our mysterious God;
Light His course and active,
An atom of glowing heat is His car;
Great on land and on the seas,
The greatest that I manifestly can have,
Greater than the worlds--Let us beware
Of mean indignity to him who deals in bounty.
See Dr. Pughe's Diet. v. mymryn.
The Mysteries of Britain
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526
pg. 216 To the Creator the Druids gave the name Celi (Concealing), and to his consort the name of Ced (Aid) or Keridwen. They believed that the firmament was one vast wheel, in which wheel, seated in a chair, the sun made his daily round. Celi and Keridwen are incomprehensible spirits, but are the originators of crude matter, which came in an embryonic condition from across the ocean, from the source of all elements. This essence is feminine and passive in its nature, and was brought every spring over the seas in a sacred boat shaped like the crescent moon and propelled by Keridwen, who applied intense heat beneath it, so that it also became a cauldron. Its work done, it returned once more to its source for a fresh cargo.
The active warmth of the male principle, Celi, the Druids personified under the name Gwion Bach, the Keltic Bacchus, and the wine of which he is god is simply the liquid employed in their mysteries to symbolize the fertilized sap of fruit. This principle was introduced into the cauldron as the three drops mentioned in the allegory concerning it. The Druids believed that the sun and the earth had emanated from two separate eggs in the Boat of Keridwen, but the sun was believed to be a later product than the earth. He was known as Taliesin, but great confusion has been caused by the fact that various names were given to the sun at different stages of his annual progress, such as Hu Gadarn, Arthur, and Taliesin. Formerly the Druids probably symbolized the sun as a bull and the earth as a cow,
pg. 218 The Druids believed in the eternity of matter in an atomic condition, and also in the eternity of water, and further that the passive o$ feminine principle of the divine nature pervaded both. They thought that at some inconceivably distant period the active principle of Celi concentrated its energy in the passive principle of Ced or Keridwen, and as the result of contact the sun was produced. Under its influence the atomic elements took solid shape and became a plastic chaos known as Calen.
pg. 245 So far as the writings of Owen Morgan or “Morien” are concerned they exhibit an extraordinary knowledge of Druidic lore, but are almost inextricably mingled with classical and Eastern mysticism. He tells us that the Druids believed the firmament to be one vast wheel, in a chair in which Hu Gadarn was seated, but that the principal spirits of the Universe were Celi and Keridwen.
The Writings of “Morien” 217 but in his later type he seems mystically to have been known as Taliesin or the High Hesus.
pg. 249 Perhaps a reconstruction of the broader aspects of the ancient British mystical cult might follow some such lines as these : The sun was regarded as the seat and centre of the divinity, Hu, Hesus or Taliesin, who, it was believed, occupied a chair or throne in the hub of its golden wheel. His demiurges, Celi and Keridwen, were responsible for the drudgery of material creation. The earth was the Cauldron of Keridwen, the matrix, as it were, of the divine mother, into which the fecundating essence of Celi was introduced. In its other aspects this cauldron was a sacred coracle, the moon, which brought embryonic matter to the earth across the ocean. Symbolically, too, the sun was regarded as a white bull and the earth as a white cow. Now these several ideas make it plain to the student of mythology that the cult which embraced them all must have done so at rather widely different periods, that they are, indeed, myths edited so as to fit in with one another by an able and fully conscious priesthood.
pg. 255 Into this cauldron, or matrix, the three fertilizing drops fall from Celi, the male counterpart of Keridwen. Now, to anyone with only a ’prentice knowledge of mythology the basic nature of the myth we have here becomes perfectly plain. It is the myth of Sky-Father and the Earth-Mother over again, the self-same myth as is found in ancient Egypt, and indeed in many other mythologies. It is, indeed, the most primitive type of creation myth known to us. In many cosmologies the earth is formed out of the remains of a giant or monster, and in others is merely an “extension” of a god’s soulforce.
Awen
In this phase we call on a word of power: Awen, the Grand Word of the Druid Tradition.
JMG - Sphere of Protection The Way of the Golden Section, 56
https://www.druidry.co.uk/awen-the-holy-spirit-of-druidry/
The first recorded reference to Awen occurs in Nennius’ Historia Brittonum, a Latin text of circa 796 CE, based on earlier writings by the Welsh monk, Gildas. After referring to King Ida of Northumbria, who reigned from 547 to 559, Nennius says that:
"Then Talhearn Tad Awen won renown in poetry."
Tad means ‘father’, so Talhearn is the Father of Awen. This doesn’t tell us much about what Awen is, but, if we accept Nennius as a reliable source, it does show that Awen existed as a concept at a time when Diarmait mac Cerbaill still reigned as the last semi-pagan High King of Ireland, and only a century or so after St. Patrick’s mission to convert the Irish to Christianity.
To discover what Awen is, we should first look at what the word means. The feminine noun, Awen, has been variously translated as ‘inspiration’, ‘muse’, ‘genius’, or even ‘poetic frenzy’. According to a 19th century Welsh dictionary, the word itself is formed by combining the two words, aw, meaning ‘a fluid, a flowing’, and en, meaning ‘a living principle, a being, a spirit, essential’. So Awen may be rendered literally as ‘a fluid essence’, or ‘flowing spirit’. However, more recent dictionaries do not support this interpretation. The next stage of our quest takes us to the surviving works of the Bards of medieval Britain, who were both the inheritors and the medium of transmission of remnants of pagan Druid tradition.
NOTES:
Evan Davies (Myfyr Morganwg)
https://archive.org/search?query=Evan+Davies&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22
Search narrowed down to Welsh ballads
https://archive.org/search?query=Evan+Davies&and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Welsh+ballads%22&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22
Iolo Morganwg / Edward Williams,
Iolo manuscripts : A selection of ancient Welsh manuscripts, in prose and verse, from the collection made by the late Edward Williams, Iolo Morganwg, for the purpose of forming a continuation of the Myfyrian archaiology; and subsequently proposed as materials for a new history of Wales
https://archive.org/details/b24855352/page/n1/mode/2up
Poems, lyric and pastoral
https://archive.org/details/poemslyricpastor01ioloiala
The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1096.htm
Sir Owen Morgen Edwards
Llyfr Nest
In Welsh on Inernet Archive
The Mabinogion Vol. 1 (of 3)
TRANSLATED FROM THE RED BOOK OF HERGEST BY LADY CHARLOTTE GUEST
https://ia800306.us.archive.org/0/items/themabinogionvol19959gut/19959.txt
Arthur legends
The Mabinogion Vol. 2 (of 3)
https://ia600308.us.archive.org/6/items/themabinogionvol19973gut/19973.txt
The Mabinogion Vol. 3 (of 3)
https://archive.org/details/themabinogionvol19976gut
This volume contains the oldest of the Mabinogion--the four branches of
the Mabinogion proper--and the kindred tale of Lludd and Llevelys. In
all these we are in a perfectly pagan atmosphere, neither the
introduction of Christianity nor the growth of chivalry having affected
them to any extent.
A Short History of Wales
https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofwa00edwa/page/n9/mode/2up
pg. 19 After all this, you will be surprised to learn that many of the old gods still remain in Wales, and much of the old pagan worship. Who drops a pin into a sacred well, or leaves a tiny rag on a bush close by, and then wishes for something? A young maiden in the twentieth century, who sacrifices to a well heathen god. Until quite recently men thought that Ffynnon Gybi, and Ffynnon Elian, and Ffynnon Ddwynwen, had in them a power which could curse and bless, ruin and save.
NOTE: Ffynnon = Well
Lud of the Silver Hand was the god of flocks and ships. His caves are in Dyved still, and his was the temple on Ludgate Hill in London. Merlin was a god of knowledge ; he could foretell events. Ceridwen was the goddess of wisdom ; she distilled wisdom-giving drops in a cauldron. Gwydion created a beautiful girl from flowers, "from red rose, and yellow broom, and white anemony." I am not quite sure what Coil did, but I have heard children singing the history of " old King Cole." Olwen also walked through Wales in heathen times,and it is said that three white flowers rose behind her wherever she had put her foot.
Wales
https://archive.org/details/wales00edwa/page/340/mode/2up
He doubts, not only whether the saintly holiness of St. David was above suspicion, but even whether he ever existed at all ; he might be something like Dervel Gadarn or Conoch, or such other Welsh gods, " antique gargles of ydolatry."
Lewis Spence
The Mysteries of Britain
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.283526
Entries on:
Awen = many
Ced = 2
Celi = many
Elen = 0
Hesus = many
Hu = many
Sul = 0
The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain
https://archive.org/details/magicartsincelti0000spen/mode/2up?q=elen
Awen - not a goddess but word for inspiration
Ced = o
Celi = 0
Elen = 0
Hesus = 0
Hu = multiple entries. Will need another post dedicated to Hu for them all.
Sul = 0
British Fairy Origins
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77103
