Druidic Cosmology (an in progress section of The C
Searles

Wed Feb 26 15:38:19 2003
The Druidic Cosmology *br*(from the soon to be released book, The Cauldron of Formation by Searles O'Dubhain, copyright 2003)*p*Taliesin is said to have lived and worked during the early Christian era (6th century CE) in Britain and what is now known as Wales. His cosmology and expression is understandably influenced by Christian theology and understandings of the cosmos. However, the Celts and Druids (including the Irish Filidh and the Welsh Bards) were noted for their conservation of tradition and belief. We should expect much to have been preserved up until that time and we will not be disappointed. The Old Ways of relating to deity and expressing spirituality were not completely abandoned in early Celtic Christianity (indeed, they're not completely absent, even today). What remains from that time can help us to understand the Druidic cosmology. It is best summarized as follows:*p*•	The worlds and the self are composed of many elements and qualities (Dϊile).*p*•	The hierarchy of these qualities seems to progress from lowest or heaviest element to the highest and consequently lightest elements (i.e. Stone-Land-Nature-Sea-Moon-Sun-Stars-Sky).*p*•	The Sky (the air above the Land) was divided into three parts in typical Celtic fashion: lower air (dense and moist), higher air (lighter and ethereal) and the firmament (the canopy of the heavens).*p*•	In the upper air and close to the firmament (caelum in Latin; neamh in Irish) were objects that traveled from east to west (like the Sun and the Moon), while in the firmament there were the Stars which were considered to be the lights or lamps of the night and were figuratively called the "cattle of Tethra" (at least among the Irish). There were also the wandering objects of the Sky (the visible planets) and there were other mysterious things in the heavens known as "hairy stones" or "dragons" (meteors/comets). All these together were sometimes called the seven heavens (mainly regarding the spheres of influence of the visible planets). *p*•	Around everything was the ocean or Sea which had its three parts as well: the depths, the ocean, and the celestial waters that surrounded everything in the universe. This all-connecting function of water may explain why Otherworldly journey were sometimes expressed as voyages to islands. *p*•	Deities and spirits lived at the bottom of the Sea, within the hollow hills, passage mounds and in the brughs (under the Land), as well as beyond the roof of the Sky (upon the plains of the heavens). *p*•	The waters of ocean were conceived to be a conduit around and beneath all things, forming a connection between Land, Sea and Sky. In this, they were considered to be like the Sacred Bile which has its roots beneath the Land; reaching into the underground and surrounding Sea) while its limbs, branches and leaves reached toward the Sky.  The Sky itself was thought to be held in place by the World Tree though sometimes this support for the heavens was conceptualized as a column, pole or even a tower. *p*•	Fire and water were the two elements that the Druids said would at times prevail over the world. These are the elements that are also at the center of Druidic ritual. They were considered to establish a boundary between the center and the periphery of reality. Beyond their functioning as barriers between the mundane and the esoteric in Celtic culture, fire and water also served as ritual ways to transform or transport one's spiritual needs across the boundaries between Land, Sea and Sky. This was accomplished by sacrificial offering (in the case of fire) and votive offering (in the case of water). The cosmology is expressed in the classical Celtic forms of Land, Sea and Sky where Sky is represented by the three circles of fire, while Land is the chair in Caer Siddi, and the Sea is the ocean itself that surrounds and connects everything*p*There are various ways to symbolically represent these cosmological relationships: linear (in a straight line or direct causal relationships), polar (or circular), and in blended transitions that are both linear and circular (these are the spirals so prevalent in Celtic and pre-Celtic art forms). Classifying the elements and realms in a linear fashion, they would make up the rungs of a ladder that reached from the depths of the Sea and under-Stone up through the Land, and into the realms of Nature and humans on the surface. This ladder would then continue upward through the two layers of the air (winds?) and the edge of the Sky which would be separated from the rest of reality by barriers of fire. The Waters would run through and around all parts of this linear cosmos, serving as a pathway and a connection for all the realms as well as the ladder itself. In a sense, the Sacred Bile or World Tree was a living breathing form of such a ladder that existed at the center of every Celtic tribal Land.*p*If we consider the horizontal axis of existence, then the elements of being should be oriented around a common center. They can then be seen more as concentric circles that ripple outward from a common center with each progressive circles being larger in diameter than the one that it follows. This center can be a well, bile or a ritual site associated with fire. Once again, the heaviest qualities and elements are closest to the world of the physical. The Stones and Land are supporting the center. Nature spreads over the surface and into the surrounding Sea. The Air (or Wind) is above the Sea yet also touching the Land and the Sky through its many layers and the passage of fire. The Sky itself is the container for all of the other elements because it is the outermost and lightest element, though at times, the Sea flows through and around the Sky (just as at times, fire prevails in all the realms of the Druidic cosmos).*br*







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