Re: ANAM Bruane AwakenedAquarius@AquariusMail.net Wed Jun 5 13:46:17 2002 Searles wrote,*br*: ANAM, THE CELTIC SOUL*br*:*br*: In connection with our discussions on Druidic *br*: Truth, I would like to also present the Celtic *br*: concepts of the soul or anam. Knowing oneself is a *br*: prerequisite to embracing the Truth. Knowing one's *br*: soul is knowing one's eternal Truth. I do not *br*: believe that the anam is a part of the body *br*: itself, nor is it an elemental quality (duile). I *br*: further believe that the anam is separate from the *br*: fein (self). The anam surrounds the fein and gives *br*: it life as well as connecting us to one another. *br*: As spirit touches spirit within the web of *br*: Creation, the anam is the river of spirit. It *br*: springs forth from the Well of the Gods and flows *br*: through the twin doorways of Life and Death .*br*:*br*: If I were to relate the soul to an element, it *br*: might be connected to the Moon and the Sun and the *br*: Earth, since I believe that all three of these *br*: celestial objects are sources of life. Each of *br*: these three give us power. The Moon guides our *br*: dreams and our intuitive nature, the Sun gives us *br*: energy and clarity, the Earth nurtures us and *br*: feeds us. The Trinity of Sun, Moon and Earth each *br*: power the soul itself. Our souls perhaps are *br*: represented by the many stars that fill the Crois *br*: of Bride. They are many faceted and universal as *br*: they follow the rivers of the Beallach na Bó Finne *br*: (The Milky Way, the Way of the White Cow in Irish *br*: Celtic Tradition).*br*:*br*: The Celtic concept of the anam or soul surrounds *br*: and includes the duile or elements of the fein. *br*: The soul connects the fein and the *br*: "double" ("riocht") or *br*: co-walker ("coimimeadh") as well as the *br*: fein and the Dé ("Gods"). To the Celts, *br*: we consist primarily as a spirit which is *br*: manifested through our anam within our fein/duile. *br*: Our body or delb is the housing of our self, our *br*: soul and our spirit. The actions of birth involve *br*: the breath or anáil bringing life into our bodies. *br*: It is for this reason that the anáil derives from *br*: the anam. It may also be for this reason that we *br*: guard our names from the Sidhe, since our very *br*: name ("ainm") is closely related to our *br*: anam. At death, the scal or shade briefly visits *br*: the birthplace and the loved ones before passing *br*: over into the Summerlands. During our dreams our *br*: spirit double is more animated and sometimes *br*: passes into the astral realms. During ferg *br*: (possession of the battle spirit), our primal *br*: animal natures are revealed. When we are *br*: illuminated by "imbas" or *br*: "awen", is when our menma and our *br*: imradud sustain the "fire in the head" *br*: which is from the Gods.*br*:*br*: I sometimes wonder if the references to the Tuatha *br*: Dé Danann as beings that were "Dé agus *br*: Andé" (Gods and not-Gods), did not also refer *br*: to the dual aspect of the soul and the body. Many *br*: times one of the "people of peace" is *br*: killed only to reappear elsewhere. Eventually, *br*: after their defeat by the Gaels under Eremon and *br*: Eber, they were given the lands under Ireland to *br*: inhabit by Amergin. This means that their bodies *br*: were no longer necessary and that their spirits *br*: inhabited the Otherworld as well as the Land *br*: itself.*br*:*br*: The soul shrine ("coich anama") itself *br*: has three parts: the trust of the spirit *br*: ("crábhadh"), the heart's consent *br*: ("creideamh") and the mind's consent or *br*: "iris". These three relationships of the *br*: fein with the anam are paralleled in the Three *br*: Cauldrons (the Coire Goiriath, Coire Ermae and *br*: Coire Soís). How the nine elements and the Three *br*: Cauldrons relate is perhaps another matter that *br*: needs to be investigated, but that is another *br*: story. I will say that the Irish believed in the *br*: following practices related to the soul:*br*:*br*: Soul Leading ("Treoraich Anama"), Soul *br*: Friends ("Anam-chara"), The Hidden Soul *br*: or Double ("Riocht"), Soul-theft and the *br*: "Evil Eye" (Droch-shúil), Soul Healing *br*: and Retrieval (Aiseirigh Anama, Aisghabháil), *br*: Imrama ("Voyages of the Soul").*br*:*br*: In many of their soul traditions, the Irish have *br*: closely paralleled shamanic soul traditions and *br*: practices. Their death and soul transition *br*: practices also remind me of similar rituals listed *br*: in the Tibetan and Egyptian Books of the Dead. *br*: Many ancient Hindu and Inca death practices also *br*: share similar ways in which the soul is released *br*: from the body at death (as a kind of Cosmic Egg *br*: and an opening of the Chakras/Cauldrons/Energy *br*: Centers of the body).*br*:*br*: Perhaps the soul is what connects our spirit to *br*: our body and it is the ego *br*: ("leathleachas") that maintains our *br*: separation from Deity? Mastery over ego is the *br*: central work of many Mystery Religions. Such *br*: mastery could be at the center of the Celtic *br*: Mysteries as well. When our Ego has been *br*: "thinned" (by the constant awareness *br*: that we are not, by ourselves, masters of *br*: reality), then our soul can rejoin with our spirit *br*: to connect us to the Gods. This is the time when *br*: we can most easily walk the pathways between *br*: Worlds. I believe that soul awareness and ego *br*: mastery are the gateways to Draíocht.*br*:*br*: Like the ancient Celts, I also believe that we are *br*: spirits inhabiting bodies. The soul is the aura of *br*: spirit that gives life to the body. It is made up *br*: of duile but it is also made of spirit. Perhaps, *br*: like the Tuatha Dé Danann, we are also "Dé *br*: agus Andé "?*br*:*br*: This attitude about names connecting to souls and *br*: "power over someone" could have *br*: similarities to how some view Magical and/or craft *br*: names today. In the tale and book _Cath Maige *br*: Tuired_, a Fomorii princess attempts to get The *br*: Dagda's name to have power over him (it's a lively *br*: episode). He has so many names that she never gets *br*: them all and hence she succumbs to his other *br*: powers. :-)*br*:*br*: In _Auraicept na n-E/ces_ translated and noted by *br*: George Calder, Ogma is said to have created the *br*: Ogham (an alphabet used by the Druids and Filidh). *br*: In the book, Ogam, The Poets' Secret, Sean ÓBoyle *br*: develops the idea that, regardless of their many *br*: other uses, the Ogham were also a way of relating *br*: musical tones and relationships. This is stated *br*: plainly within the Book of Ballymote:*br*:*br*: "Ogham received its name from Sound and *br*: Matter - who are the father and mother of *br*: Ogham..."*br*:*br*: Poets and Bards carried 'craebh ciuil,' branches *br*: with bells and amulets attached to them. A *br*: beginner's branch would be made of bronze, while *br*: journeymen carried a silver branch, and the Master *br*: Bards (Ollamh) carried a golden branch. The music *br*: of the bells would announce the Bard's presence *br*: and perhaps an impending performance or ritual. *br*: Sean ÓBoyle made a very convincing case for the *br*: first use of Ogham to be as a musical tablature. *br*: ÓBoyle showed how each Ogham had its own *br*: corresponding note on the Irish small harp. Much *br*: of ÓBoyle's analysis is based upon the relative *br*: positions of tones and semi-tones (steps and half *br*: steps). He was able to successfully show a direct *br*: correspondence between the symbols of the Ogham *br*: alphabet and the tones and semi-tones,. He also *br*: explained how the relationship of the 'tri *br*: foilcesta in ogaim,' ('three composite letters of *br*: the Ogham: Q, NG, and STR), accounts for *br*: inflections in the sequence of musical tones. This *br*: reliance on sound and structure, which was *br*: inherent within the Druidic Ogham system, was also *br*: found within another school of ancient philosophy, *br*: the school of Pythagoras. From the "Fragments *br*: of Philolaus" (a Pythagorean of the fifth *br*: century BCE), we hear similar thoughts to those *br*: expressed within the Book of Ballymote:*br*:*br*: "The world's being is the harmonious compound *br*: of Unlimited and Limiting principles; such is the *br*: totality of the world and all it contains."*br*:*br*: Damian McManus is considered to be a foremost *br*: academic expert on Ogham. His views represent the *br*: latest current research and scholarly approach *br*: (though he does not endorse esoteric or magical *br*: interpretations for Ogham). McManus clearly states *br*: (in his book _A Guide to Ogam_) that Ogham are not *br*: a cipher for Latin but are the product of Irish *br*: minds and are based on the sounds of the language:*br*:*br*: "The evidence suggests that they had a *br*: language with a phonemic inventory of its own in *br*: mind, that the creation was accompanied by a *br*: careful analysis of the sounds of that language, *br*: and that the alphabet was designed as a vehicle *br*: for them. Put another way the values of the Ogam *br*: characters are not to be regarded as those of the *br*: Latin alphabet arranged topsy-turvy and *br*: camouflaged in a primitive Morse code, but rather *br*: as the sounds of Primitive Irish as perceived by *br*: the inventors."*br*:*br*: This is exactly what the Ogam Tract has to say *br*: about the invention of Ogam from a mythological *br*: and esoteric point of view: that its parents were *br*: sound and matter.*br*:*br*: There is much more to be said about "sound *br*: and being" as well as how they are used in *br*: Celtic Magic and Draíocht, but for now I'll leave *br*: the door open to questions and discussions.*br*:*br*: Searles*br*:*br*: P.S. I got many of my ideas about the Celtic *br*: concepts of the soul from reading "The *br*: Encyclopedia of Celtic Knowledge" by John and *br*: Caitlin Matthews, "The Sacred Cauldron" *br*: by Tadhg MacCrossan, "The Tibetan Book of the *br*: Dead" by W.Y. Evans-Wentz, "Robert Kirk, *br*: Walker Between Worlds" by R.J. Stewart, *br*: "Carmina Gadelica" by Alexander *br*: Carmichael. Much in the way that these ideas are *br*: put together and presented follows my own personal *br*: experiences with the Otherworld itself. A few good *br*: books on Druids for starters would be _Druid *br*: Magic_ by Maya Sutton and Nicholas Mann, _The *br*: World of the Druids_ by Miranda Green and _The *br*: Druids_ by Peter Beresford Ellis. Two more *br*: advanced books about the Filidh and Filidecht *br*: would be _Medieval Irish Lyrics and The Irish *br*: Bardic Poet_ by James Carney and _The Learned *br*: Tales of Medieval Ireland_ By Proinsias Mac Cana.*p**br* *br* I definetly agree with you on the Soul idea, I have done some research on the "Soul" as a college paper and was surprized on how well the paper went as thier was no limit to information to be found. What I find more intrieging is how you put the soul and Ogam together in the same message..purhaps you have hit on something there. As music can have a effect on the "Cauldrons or Chakras" perhaps the "Bards" played a Key role in unlocking the canals into the soul. ANAM Searles 1084 Thu - May 23 - 2:08pm 64.12.103.24