The Young Son and the Sun's Standing
Searles

Fri Dec 22 11:58:55 2000
The Young Son and the Sun's Standing*p*At this time of the Winter Solstice, I honor Angus, the Mac ind Oic (the Young Son or the Mabon). His Father is considered to be represented by the Sun and his mother can then be considered to be symbolized by the Moon while his home at Newgrange is associated with "all of time" through the rays of the rising Sun illuminating his conception and birthplace at Brugh na Bo/inne (while the Sun stood still in the Sky). These events are illuminated by the bright knowledge of the Poets through their drinking of imbas from the ultimate sun well, the Well of  Segais. It is at this time of year that the Young Son and Sun is born to the Goddess of the Land (and through the efforts of the Moon her virgin handmaiden). His father is the Good God who sets an example for us all. *p*Dáithí Ó hÓgáin on the Dagda as Sun God *p*(_The Sacred Isle, Belieef and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland_, Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, "Basic Tenets in the Iron Age," p. 60)*p*"The sun god of the Continental Celts was sometimes represented as riding a great horse, and in one inscription he is even referred to as 'Atepomarus' - the epomarus here meaning 'great horse' 135 So it comes as no surprise that the Daghdha had an alternative designation Eochaidh(which means 'horseman'), and under this name was given the sobriquet Ollahair (literally 'father of all'). 136 Furthermore, early Irish literature refers to other characters called Eochaidh who can be taken as derivatives of him - these have sobriquets such as Áncheann and Aonsúla('glowing head' and 'one-eyed'). 137 Sources referring directly to the Daghdha give him the nicknames Aedh Álainn and Rúadh Ró-fhessa('beautiful fire' and 'ruddy one of much wisdom'), 138 which immediately call to mind the bright sun which sees all on earth. We have seen . that a similar belief in the sun as life-giving ancestor may have been current among some of the megalithic people of Ireland, and it is no surprise to find that Celticised Irish culture made the Daghdha into an inhabitant of Newgrange tumulus (known as Brugh na Bóinne)." *p*"Linguistically, the name of the Indo-European sky-god would have been *Deiwos or *Dyeus, from which are derived the Indic Dyáus, the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, and the Germanic Tyr. 140 The Daghdha ('the good Deuos') was ther Irish version of this same ultimate personage. A certain tendency to stress the solar aspect of the sky is apparent from some of the European personages, and this probably took place under the influence of a surviving Bronze-Age sun-cult; but it is notable that in the case of the Daghdha, the deity has become much more fully transformed into a personification of the sun. The explanation for this would lie in the influence of the much older and pre-Celtic Irish stratum of sun-lore, and specifically such lore in the context of Newgrange. 141" *br* *p*It also seems to be the opinion of MacKillop and O'Rahilly that the Dagda is a god of the Sun. Some of the Dagda's other names found in Irish literature and folklore seem to also  imply that he is a god of the Sun (Roth Rimairie Riog "Great King Wheel)" and Eochaidh "Horseman"). In my opinion, Bóand can also be considered to be a goddess of the Moon, (it's an imbas of mine that I can't shake). I expect that more solid evidence will eventually turn up about the relationship. I also have this strange (but unsubstantiated) notion That the roles between the two could be reversed and that she represents the Sun and he the Moon (this I think is because the Moon has so many wives in other Indo-European religions, but this awaits more evidence, meanwhile I've compromised on Jupiter as being a good candidate). I do know that the two of them should be represented by important heavenly objects considering their position as a kind of father and mother of gods in the Tuatha Dé Danann. When I see the Sun I think of the Dagda. When I bow my head to the Moon, I know her as Bóand (or an Morrigan at times). When I look at the stars I consider the river of Danu. When I see the darkness beyond I know that Domnu lurks therein. At the dawn, it is Ogma or Scathach that holds sway. Sometimes a relationship with deity is more than citations in a book, it's an understanding of their role with one another and the cosmos, as well as a personal relationship. Discussing such ideas from personal spirituality with you is predictably risky (as I've seen) but it's the truth I'm trying to get at and not so much being considered right or even wise.*p*When the roles of the father and mother of the gods is considered in other Indo-European cultures (and also in ancient human mythology and culture from around the world), a trend becomes apparent. The primary deities seem to always be equated to male and female horses, cows or to the Sun and the Moon themselves. Bo/ann is said to be the wife of the Dagda in the traditional Irish literature as she also is said to be the wife of Nechtan. The Brugh na Bo/inne area is not just one passage grave or mound but many, many passage graves. There are three (of course) that dominate the others. Within them and on them are to be found symbols that can be interpreted to represent the Sun, the Moon and the stars (Martin Brennan among others). Like Newgrange and the Sun, there is an astronomical tie in between Knowth and the Moon (http://website.lineone.net/~tom.dunne/Knowth.htm): *p**** Beginning of quoted material *** *p*A map of the Moon, 10 times older than anything known before, has been found carved into stone at one of Ireland's most ancient and mysterious Neolithic sites; Knowth. Dr Philip Stooke of the University of Western Ontario, who prepares maps of asteroids based on spacecraft observations, and also maps of the moon, identified the carving. Before this discovery, the oldest map of the moon was by Leonardo da Vinci, drawn around 1505. So, the Knowth map is ten times older. Knowth, already a major research centre for understanding prehistoric man, will now become one of the most important scientific sites in the world. "The people who carved this moon map were the first scientists", says Dr Stooke. "They knew a great deal about the motion of the moon. They were not primitive at all". Knowth was obviously built by people with a sophisticated understanding of the Sun, Moon and Stars. Investigations at Knowth almost 20 years ago, showed that at certain times the moonlight could shine down the eastern passage of the tomb, and remarkably, the moonlight would also fall on the Neolithic lunar map. *p**** End of quoted material *** *p*The patterns of the stones carved at these sites presents testimony to the mind that spans cultures as well as language. It is a major teaching of mine that humans have a universal language that speaks directly to the subconscious. So it is with what I've said about Bo/ann and the Brugh na Bo/inne her home. I can't (yet) point to a stone at Newgrange and say that *here* is testimony that she was a goddess associated not only with a river and the land through which it flows, but also with the Moon that shines down upon it. Twenty years ago no one in modern times had recognized the lunar significance of Knowth. Who is to say that there is no such connection at Newgrange? *p*Bo/ann is also the "Woman of the White Cows" or the "White Cow" herself. The relationship between the "White Cow" and the heavens is well attested in the Irish name for the Milky Way. There it is called the "Way of the White Cow" (Bothar Bo Finne, sometimes also translated as the "Track of the White Cow"). The associations of a long held European belief that this "milky" track and the path recently departed souls is not too different from a similar European belief that the Moon is the intermediate home of departed souls. Here's the URLs to a few diverse websites that discuss these associations: *p*http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/royalrds.htm http://www.inishbofin.com/heritage.htm *p**** quote from the above URL *** *p*"The origins of the island's initial colonisation are still obscure. The most common and basis version relates how two fishermen lost in fog, landed on an enchanted island and lit a fire. The flames broke the spell and the mist lifted to reveal an old woman driving a white cow along a shingle beach, which ran between a lake and the sea. She was observed to strike the cow, whereupon it turned to stone. Another tradition has that the old women and the cow emerge from the lake every seven years or alternatively to forewarn of some impending disaster. The lake in question is Loch Bo Finne (Lake of the White Cow) in West Quarter village. " *p**** end of quote *** *p*The woman mentioned above appears to be the Cailleach but perhaps she is a goddess of sovereignty instead? In any event, the associations of magical events in the night are well attested concerning white cows (and other white animals). These manifestations are indeed seen to be Otherworldly in many Celtic tales. *p*I am not alone among modern-day Celtic Pagans in equating the White Cow to the Moon rather than to the Milky Way (though perhaps the Milky Way is the pathway that the White Cow took when she came to earth?). Having an ancient citation or twowould  greatly bolster the case for a correspondence between Bo/and and the Moon. *p*If the Dagda is the Sun (an idea embraced by MacKillop and O'Rahilly, as well as many earlier Celtic scholars) then what heavenly body does he mate with (a hypothetical question that could lead to an answer)? Who would be his wife? Equating a father god and a mother goddess to a bull and a cow or a stallion and a mare, as well as the Sun and the Moon, seems to be a universal tendency that holds true in many of the world's religions. *p*Here's a site addressing this topic (and a quote from it): *p*http://www.mension.com/oracle/mcclath.htm *p*"A regular system, too, pervades the whole of this animal symbolization. By whatever creature the Great Father was represented, the Great Mother was invariably typified by the corresponding female. If the one was a man, the other was a woman; if the one was a bull, the other was a cow; if one was a horse, the other was a mare, &c. All represented, in pairs, the Great Father and Mother, who during their various "Changes and Transformations", had successively passed through each by transmigration. Further, as this deified first man and woman were supposed to have assumed the forms of all animals, these not only became their symbols, but the Great Father and Mother themselves were severally designated by the names of these animals, according to sexual difference; e.gr., a bull, a cow, a dragon, a fowl, a dog, a swine, a bee, a serpent &c" *p**** end of first quote *** *p*Even Confucius said that this divine father and mother were the Sun and the Moon, "The Yin and Yang (i.e. K'een and Kwan) are synonymous with the sun and moon." *p**** end of second quote *** *p*"The Egyptians and Greeks depicted their Isis and Io with the horns of a Cow; and hence as Herodotus states, they venerated Cows as being the hieroglyphic of their Magna Mater. "The male kine, therefore, if clean, and the calves, are used for sacrifice by the Egyptians universally; but the female they are not allowed to sacrifice, since they are sacred to Isis. The statue of this goddess has the form of a woman with horns like a Cow; resembling thus the Greek representations of Io." (Rawlinson's Herod. lib.ii. ch.41.) Io is the same as Isis, and both are the Moon. (Ibid. note.) Both the Egyptians and Hindoos (like the Chinese) declare the Cow to be a type of the Earth, and she is pronounced to be a symbol of the Moon, because the shape of her horns resembles a crescent, and hence the Moon is sometimes represented with the face of a heifer, and as riding in a chariot drawn by bulls. Hence also sacred cakes dedicated to the Moon were made in the form of an Ox. The Hindoo Parvati is precisely the same character as the Egyptian Isis. One of her titles in fact is Isi, and both these goddesses are alike symbolized by a Cow, and are alike declared to be the Moon, and the Earth, and a ship (or Receptacle). Plutarch states that the Egyptians regarded their Osiris as the Beginning, Isis as the Receptacle, and Horus (their son, the First Man) as the completion. In like manner the K'een or Heaven of the Chinese is regarded as the Great Beginning (T'ae-ts'u. ðChin. Rep. Vol. xvii. 630); Kwan or Earth as the Great Receptacle in which all things are stored up; and their son, the First Man, is considered to be the completion of the san tsai or "Three powers of Nature." The sacred Cow of Isis had a lunette stamped upon her, and her horns were polished in order to represent a boat-like crescent." *p* *** end of third quote ****p*The Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Hebrews, the Egyptians and possibly the Hindus sometimes saw the Sun and the Moon as being symbolic of their chief male and female deities. Why should the Celts be any different (especially when Celtic culture derives from or was influenced by many of these cultures)? It is my belief that the Dagda is symbolized by the Sun in Irish Celtic tradition and it is also my belief that Bo/ann his wife is represented by the Moon.  Their children represent the planets and the elements of the Sky. At this time of the Winter Solstice (Grianstad in Irish),  when the New Sun rises over a new year (representing the birth of Angus in the Brugh), I think it is especially important to recall and honored these heavenly correspondences that were most probably also honored by our ancestors. In a few days, the Sun and Moon will be joining once again in the skies above us. May we always know that all of time is represented in an instant or a night and a day as the Mac ind Oic told his father.*p*Searles*br* *p**p*Sources for Dáithí Ó hÓgáin's work:*p*135) This is from O'Rahilly's book Early Irish History and Mythology, some of his articles in Ériu, as well as Miranda Green's books. *p*136) R.A.S. Macalister (Lebor Gabála) and the RIA Dictionary. *p*137) O'Rahilly again. *p*138) O'Rahilly again and also Meyer in Irische Texte 3, 354-7. *p*139) Macalister again. *p*140) Walde/Pokorny (1930), Buck (1949), Krappe (1978), Eliade (1987), Mallory (1989). *p*141) Chapter 1 of The Sacred Isle.*br*