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Searles

Sun Dec 17 13:00:03 2000
Brícht and Roscanna*p*In another thread on the boards called "Divination and Magic" I've mentioned two forms of magical energy called bríg and bua. These terms are found in older Irish writings about the magic of the Druids and the Poets. Here is a rosc that the Druid Mogh Roith chanted against the army of Cormac (as given and translated by Seán O'Duinn in his _Forbhais Droma Dámhgháire_):*p*Ferim bricht,*br*anirt nel,*br*cuma braen,fola ar fer,*br*bid fo an bith,*br*bruitter druing,*br*cu mba crith,*br*ar cuain Cuind.*p*I cast a spell,*br*on the power of cloud,*br*may there be a rain,*br*of blood on grass,*br*let it be throughout the land,*br*a burning of the crowd,*br*may there be a trembling*br*on the warriors of Conn.*p*Note that it equates "bricht" with a spell of power.*p*This is the same way that briocht is translated by Seán O'Tuathail (from The Excellence of Ancient Word found at http://www.imbas.org/eaw.htm) in a different transliteration and translation of the rosc from the same tale:*p*21. Rosc Catha Déanaigh le Mogh Ruith*br*Fíoraim bríocht*p*a neart néil cuma*br*braen fola ar fhear.*br*Bíodh fó an bíth.*br*Bruiter drong, go mbá crith,*br*ár cuain Chuinn*br*go mbá i n-eas,*br*gach neart níath.*br*Bíodh flaith fúach.*p*Fhir do-liach, go luidh brách.*br*Búaidnibh slógh*br*biáidh ós gach Eoghan Mór.*br*Mogh Corb cas cliti sealaig.*br*Bíodh ráidh, flaith nóifer.*br*Fíoraím bríocht.*p*21. Mogh Ruith's Final Battle Spell*p*I fashion-and-verify a verbal spell*br*its power of clouds, a shape*br*of a rain of blood on a man.*br*Be good the wound.*br*Be goaded, the rabble to drown atrembling.*br*a slaughter of the dog-pack of O'Cuinn*br*to drown in the rapids*br*each a warrior's strength.*p*Be there a sovereignty of stanzas (poetry).*br*O man very wretched, keep fleeing forever.*br*Of the triumphs of the hosts,*br*a blessing above all on Great Eoghan.*br*Mogh Corb is replused, necessarily vanquished, laid low.*br*Be it a proverb, sovereignty will spread*br*I fashion-and-verify a verbal spell.*p*There is more to be found on bríg and bua in the message board archives.  Right now browsing is the only way to find this information there but soon I'll be installing a search engine for the message threads.*p*Alexei Kondratiev defines bríg as:*p*More precisely, _bríg_ (from Old Celtic _briga_ "that which rises") is the name of the energy, and _bricht_ (from Old Celtic _brigta_ [cf. Gallo-Brittonic _brixta_]) was a specific instance or use of that energy (eg, a spell).*p*Seán O'Tuathail provides these definitions from Foclóir Draíochta - Dictionary of Druidism:*p*brí - inherent/intrensic personal power set by dán (lit. essence, vigour, significance), cannot be won or gained, only developed or allowed to atrope; cf bua.*p*bua - 1) gained or attained personal power, esp. in a given area (cf brí); 2) [usually as plural buatha:] actions which win or maintain bua v tairbhe); (lit. victory, merit, talent).*p*O'Tuathail goes on to describe his subjective sensing of these two forms of power at various sites around Ireland in his artilcle "Power and Landscape in Ireland" from Cainteanna na Luise:*p*In Irish druidism "power" in the landscape is conceived by rather different ontological parameters than in Hermetic Magic or in systems using "leys". There are, first, two types of "power" (there are, in fact, three, but the first is simply that by which a thing exists at all - X has it, and exists, or X does not have it (is functionally self-contradictory, etc.) and doesn't exist. There is no "amount" to this and so it cannot be "patterned"). The two types (which can be patterned) are:*p*Brí - intrinsic, inherent power. This may be "developed" or "atrophied" but can not, substantially, be changed in potential amount.*p*Bua - power that is gained or lost, depending upon actions.*p*Landscape has, as does everything else, both types. Skipping, for the moment, that these may be "keyed" to certain affinities, in summary a place's brí is linked to it's basic nature. Isolated hills, sea cliffs, etc., have higher intrinsic brí. A place's bua is determined (and changed) by what occurs there (a major battle, etc.). In fact, it is more complicated because humans deliberately pick high-brí places for their religious and, less often, political centers, thus layering bua over the already existing brí. While usually this occurs so that the bua develops the brí, the opposite can occur. The Mallacht Dhealúis, great curse of bareness, laid upon Teamhair by a coven of 13 Irish saints is an example. In this case, the saints' own brí-empowered bua was used to drain and ward-restrict the bua of "Tara" and hinder its bua. The site once had a great deal of both, but it now has fairly low bua, while retaining brí in a form difficult, but not impossible, to access.*p*Brí may be "keyed" by its basic nature, but bua is far more likely to be keyed because it is gained or lost by specific actions. Personally keying may involve not only one's own bua being compatible but season, time of day, and so forth, since such bua is highly contextual.*p*Brí, and far more often bua, may become "keyed", that is it may gain affinity or malevolence toward other types of brí/bua (some people may, for example feel "at  home" in a place that others will feel uncomfortable in). In a few cases, a place will have general malevolence (the term frithbhuachán is used for either a  place or thing that drains bua and assaults brí. *p*O'Tuathail has much more to say about the topic in his article that can be found by going to the link provided below. Hopefully we can expand or clarifiy what these forms of energy are for ourselves as we continue discussing them here and identify how they are used in modern Celtic and Druidic magic.*p*Searles*p*




http://www.imbas.org/pli.htm
Power and Landscape in Ireland