ANAM
Searles

Thu May 23 14:08:32 2002
ANAM, THE CELTIC SOUL*p*In connection with our discussions on Druidic Truth, I would like to also present the Celtic concepts of the soul or anam. Knowing oneself is a prerequisite to embracing the Truth. Knowing one's soul is knowing one's eternal Truth. I do not believe that the anam is a part of the body itself, nor is it an elemental quality (duile). I further believe that the anam is separate from the fein (self). The anam surrounds the fein and gives it life as well as connecting us to one another. As spirit touches spirit within the web of Creation, the anam is the river of spirit. It springs forth from the Well of the Gods and flows through the twin doorways of Life and Death .*p*If I were to relate the soul to an element, it might be connected to the Moon and the Sun and the Earth, since I believe that all three of these celestial objects are sources of life. Each of these three give us power. The Moon guides our dreams and our intuitive nature, the Sun gives us energy and clarity, the Earth nurtures us and feeds us. The Trinity of Sun, Moon and Earth each power the soul itself. Our souls perhaps are represented by the many stars that fill the Crois of Bride. They are many faceted and universal as they follow the rivers of the Beallach na Bó Finne (The Milky Way, the Way of the White Cow in Irish Celtic Tradition).*p*The Celtic concept of the anam or soul surrounds and includes the duile or elements of the fein. The soul connects the fein and the "double" ("riocht") or co-walker ("coimimeadh") as well as the fein and the Dé ("Gods"). To the Celts, we consist primarily as a spirit which is manifested through our anam within our fein/duile. Our body or delb is the housing of our self, our soul and our spirit. The actions of birth involve the breath or anáil bringing life into our bodies. It is for this reason that the anáil derives from the anam. It may also be for this reason that we guard our names from the Sidhe, since our very name ("ainm") is closely related to our anam. At death, the scal or shade briefly visits the birthplace and the loved ones before passing over into the Summerlands. During our dreams our spirit double is more animated and sometimes passes into the astral realms. During ferg (possession of the battle spirit), our primal animal natures are revealed. When we are illuminated by "imbas" or "awen", is when our menma and our imradud sustain the "fire in the head" which is from the Gods.*p*I sometimes wonder if the references to the Tuatha Dé Danann as beings that were "Dé agus Andé" (Gods and not-Gods), did not also refer to the dual aspect of the soul and the body. Many times one of the "people of peace" is killed only to reappear elsewhere. Eventually, after their defeat by the Gaels under Eremon and Eber, they were given the lands under Ireland to inhabit by Amergin. This means that their bodies were no longer necessary and that their spirits inhabited the Otherworld as well as the Land itself.*p*The soul shrine ("coich anama") itself has three parts: the trust of the spirit ("crábhadh"), the heart's consent ("creideamh") and the mind's consent or "iris". These three relationships of the fein with the anam are paralleled in the Three Cauldrons (the Coire Goiriath, Coire Ermae and Coire Soís). How the nine elements and the Three Cauldrons relate is perhaps another matter that needs to be investigated, but that is another story. I will say that the Irish believed in the following practices related to the soul:*p*Soul Leading ("Treoraich Anama"), Soul Friends ("Anam-chara"), The Hidden Soul or Double ("Riocht"), Soul-theft and the "Evil Eye" (Droch-shúil), Soul Healing and Retrieval (Aiseirigh Anama, Aisghabháil), Imrama ("Voyages of the Soul").*p*In many of their soul traditions, the Irish have closely paralleled shamanic soul traditions and practices. Their death and soul transition practices also remind me of similar rituals listed in the Tibetan and Egyptian Books of the Dead. Many ancient Hindu and Inca death practices also share similar ways in which the soul is released from the body at death (as a kind of Cosmic Egg and an opening of the Chakras/Cauldrons/Energy Centers of the body).*p*Perhaps the soul is what connects our spirit to our body and it is the ego ("leathleachas") that maintains our separation from Deity? Mastery over ego is the central work of many Mystery Religions. Such mastery could be at the center of the Celtic Mysteries as well. When our Ego has been "thinned" (by the constant awareness that we are not, by ourselves, masters of reality), then our soul can rejoin with our spirit to connect us to the Gods. This is the time when we can most easily walk the pathways between Worlds. I believe that soul awareness and ego mastery are the gateways to Draíocht.*p*Like the ancient Celts, I also believe that we are spirits inhabiting bodies. The soul is the aura of spirit that gives life to the body. It is made up of duile but it is also made of spirit. Perhaps, like the Tuatha Dé Danann, we are also "Dé agus Andé "?*p*This attitude about names connecting to souls and "power over someone" could have similarities to how some view Magical and/or craft names today. In the tale and book _Cath Maige Tuired_, a Fomorii princess attempts to get The Dagda's name to have power over him (it's a lively episode). He has so many names that she never gets them all and hence she succumbs to his other powers. :-)*p*In _Auraicept na n-E/ces_ translated and noted by George Calder, Ogma is said to have created the Ogham (an alphabet used by the Druids and Filidh). In the book, Ogam, The Poets' Secret, Sean ÓBoyle develops the idea that, regardless of their many other uses, the Ogham were also a way of relating musical tones and relationships. This is stated plainly within the Book of Ballymote:*p*"Ogham received its name from Sound and Matter - who are the father and mother of Ogham..."*p*Poets and Bards carried 'craebh ciuil,' branches with bells and amulets attached to them. A beginner's branch would be made of bronze, while journeymen carried a silver branch, and the Master Bards (Ollamh) carried a golden branch. The music of the bells would announce the Bard's presence and perhaps an impending performance or ritual. Sean ÓBoyle made a very convincing case for the first use of Ogham to be as a musical tablature. ÓBoyle showed how each Ogham had its own corresponding note on the Irish small harp. Much of ÓBoyle's analysis is based upon the relative positions of tones and semi-tones (steps and half steps). He was able to successfully show a direct correspondence between the symbols of the Ogham alphabet and the tones and semi-tones,. He also explained how the relationship of the 'tri foilcesta in ogaim,' ('three composite letters of the Ogham: Q, NG, and STR), accounts for inflections in the sequence of musical tones. This reliance on sound and structure, which was inherent within the Druidic Ogham system, was also found within another school of ancient philosophy, the school of Pythagoras. From the "Fragments of Philolaus" (a Pythagorean of the fifth century BCE), we hear similar thoughts to those expressed within the Book of Ballymote:*p*"The world's being is the harmonious compound of Unlimited and Limiting principles; such is the totality of the world and all it contains."*p*Damian McManus is considered to be a foremost academic expert on Ogham. His views represent the latest current research and scholarly approach (though he does not endorse esoteric or magical interpretations for Ogham). McManus clearly states (in his book _A Guide to Ogam_) that Ogham are not a cipher for Latin but are the product of Irish minds and are based on the sounds of the language:*p*"The evidence suggests that they had a language with a phonemic inventory of its own in mind, that the creation was accompanied by a careful analysis of the sounds of that language, and that the alphabet was designed as a vehicle for them. Put another way the values of the Ogam characters are not to be regarded as those of the Latin alphabet arranged topsy-turvy and camouflaged in a primitive Morse code, but rather as the sounds of Primitive Irish as perceived by the inventors."*p*This is exactly what the Ogam Tract has to say about the invention of Ogam from a mythological and esoteric point of view: that its parents were sound and matter.*p*There is much more to be said about "sound and being" as well as how they are used in Celtic Magic and Draíocht, but for now I'll leave the door open to questions and discussions.*p*Searles*p*P.S. I got many of my ideas about the Celtic concepts of the soul from reading "The Encyclopedia of Celtic Knowledge" by John and Caitlin Matthews, "The Sacred Cauldron" by Tadhg MacCrossan, "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, "Robert Kirk, Walker Between Worlds" by R.J. Stewart, "Carmina Gadelica" by Alexander Carmichael. Much in the way that these ideas are put together and presented follows my own personal experiences with the Otherworld itself. A few good books on Druids for starters would be _Druid Magic_ by Maya Sutton and Nicholas Mann, _The World of the Druids_ by Miranda Green and _The Druids_ by Peter Beresford Ellis. Two more advanced books about the Filidh and Filidecht would be _Medieval Irish Lyrics and The Irish Bardic Poet_ by James Carney and _The Learned Tales of Medieval Ireland_ By Proinsias Mac Cana.*br*







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