The Celtic Holidays

Triad Footnotes:

(1) Though these particular ones are part of a great many that were given by a Welsh Bard , whom I met at a major national gathering , these are the ones that I have found independent confirmation for . That confirmation is their listing in The Veil Of Isis or Mysteries Of The Druids , W. Winwood Reade, Newcastle Publishing , 1992 , ISBN 0-87877-176-X, I will only list those which I can find, in either an authentic ancient text (primary source) , or from independent sources which can be trusted.
(2) The Celtic Realms , Dillon and Chadwick , New American Library, 1967 , Library of Congress # 67-15326
Story Of The Irish Race, Seumas MacManus, Devin-Adair, 1966, ISBN 0-517-06408-1
(3) Story Of The Irish Race, Seumas MacManus, chapter 22.
Women Of The Celts, J. Markale, Gordon Cremonesi Pub, ISBN 0-86033-001-X
THE CELTS-The People Who Came Out Of The Darkness, Gerherd Herm, St. Martins Press, 1975, ISBN 312-12705-7, pgs 58-60
(4) La Tene
(5) Encyclopedia Brittanica Vol. 9 (Micropedia), Encyclopedia Brittanica Inc, ISBN 0-85229-591-X, pg. 509
(6) Individuals into clans, clans into tribes, tribes into races, races into species.....All things into all things, microcosm/s into macrocosm/s.
(7) MORALS AND DOGMA-Ancient and Accepted Rite; Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, A.A.S.R.,U.S.A.; 1950, Scottish Rite Free Masonry
(8) Encyclopeadia Brittanica Vol. 9; Encyclopeadia Brittanica; c. 1994; ISBN 0-85229-591-X; pg 509
(9) Ogygia; Roderick O'Flaherty; 1685
Lebor Gebala Erenn Vol 1-5; R.A.S. MacAlister;Irish Texts Society
History of the Irish Race; Seumas MacManus; Devin-Adair;c.1921, 1945, 1966; ISBN 0-517-06408-1
Iona; Fiona Macleod; Floris Books; c. 1910, 1991; 0-86315-5000-6
The Silver Bough Vol 1-4; F. Mirian McNeill; Wm. MacClellan; c. 1977; ISBN 085335-161-9, 0-948474-04-1, 0-948474-05-X
Carmina Gadelica; Alexander Carmichael; Lindisfarne Press; c.1992,1994; ISBN 0-940262-50-9
(10) THE CELTS-The People Who Came Out Of The Darkness; Gerhard Herm; St. Martins Press; c. 1975; ISBN 312-12705-7; chapter 10
(11) Published by the Irish Texts Society , London England .
(12) Clues to exactly which words to use came from the Gaelic language itself. Surprisingly, many of the thought processes and ways of the ancient Gaelic Celts can be found in the language itself.
(13) The Story of the Irish Race, Seumas macmanus, chapter 22
(14) Ibid
Celtic Realms, Myles Dillon and Nora Chadwick; New American Library; LoC#67-15326;chapters 1-5
(15) Originally found by me in The Secret Teaching of All Ages , Manly P. Hall , 1988 , 0-89314-830-X , (XXIII) ; they were confirmed in the Welsh Triads .
(16) THE MASKS OF GOD-Primitive Mythology; Joseph Campbell;Penguin/Arcana; c. 1987; ISBN 0-14-019443-6
(17) Dinneen's Irish-English Dictionary, Rev. Patrick S. Dinneen; Irish Texts Society; 1927
FOCLOIR SCOILE-English-Irish,Irish-English Dictionary;An Gum; c. 1986; 1-85791-121-0
(18) According to THE STORY OF THE IRISH RACE, Suemas MacManus, Devin-Adair Co., 1966, ISBN 0-51706408-1, pg 141 ; St. Patrick said that old Pagan law-givers were inspired by the Holy Spirit, quite a thing to come from him
(19) As a matter of fact , in their preserved form , some of the Triads rail against kept priesthoods. Who knows exactly how these made it past the redactors. Perhaps it is because they were preserved in Latin , and were therefore out of reach of even most of royalty.
(20) See notes under the triads on the Fila
(21) Books of the Invasions; R.A.S. MacAlister; Irish Texts Society; London, England; Vol. 2
(22) According to Strabo , Pliny , Caesar , and some of the Welsh Triads (these made it past the Christian censors , see section on Philosophy) the Celts believed in reincarnation.
(23) In the Christianized version this has come down to us as peace . However in the Gaelic context it is bravery and fearlessness that insures peace ; adversaries won't attack an opponent who is strong and brave.
(24) In the Triads the word "niggard" was used , an antiquated term not used today.
(25) In the original sense "national" was synonymous with "tribal".
(26) Fili' (fee-lah), the ones commonly, though errantly referred to as Druids. These were the brehons, the doctors that were called leeches, the joiners, smiths or metalworkers, poets, etc. They are those who created, or more concisely, those who had a skill.
It must be remembered that each Craft or trade had not only an oral history and body of "mundane" technical knowledge that had to be memorized, but there was also magikal technical knowledge that had to be memorized , this was in fact part of the technical information. For example, when a smith created a blade, the smith would also do magickal workings upon the artifact as it was being created. Not that there was necessarily a special ceremony for each blade, but that the magickal workings were part of the mundane workings. Each person in Celtic society was considered to have the ability and responsibility to mediate the Gods on their own accord. There was no special class or sector of the society that acted as a priesthood alone, this is evidenced by the many surviving Triads that speak against a kept priesthood or priests. Celtic people looked down on established priesthoods.
The amount of time required for the study of a Craft was up to nineteen years , this time being connected to the lunar cycle of the same length. This time was spent learning all the above mentioned information. This information was stored in triads and poems formulated in eight meter verse. Fili' who had mastered their skill, and were teaching their skill were called Draoi (by consensus Druid) or rather "they who teach under the Oak". The Fili' were in fact the nobility. They were the "wise" and their particular craft was considered a/the Craft of the Wise. The phrase has nothing to do with magickal or religious practice specifically, especially as pertain to modern religious practices that utilize a similar term.. Their appellation is "Aes Dana" (Il dah-nay), Beloved of the Mother.
Ruada (rue-ah-dah) or the warrior sector of society. It was out of this class that kings and queens who had been trained by the Fili' were usually selected, though there is evidence that the position was also filled out of the ranks of the Fili" as well.
The word Ri or Righ (both pronounced 'ree'" is a word for king, and rian (ree-ahn) that for a queen.
Aire means freemen. It constituted the rest of the productive society, their forte' being animal husbandry.
(27) Same as an Ard-Righ, that is, a High King or Queen with the suffix of "...an" added.
(28) The Righ (or rian), or King of the Tuath was oathed to a higher or superior king, the Ruiri. This person was bound to a yet higher King, the Ri' Ruirech or "the king of superior kings". The idea of a high or national king was a later development. To reconcile this with the American experience, it could be said that the Ri' ruled the Township, the Ruiri ruled the County, and the Ri' Ruirech ruled the State, there being no national king. It must be remembered that the basic unit was the clan, and that this familial unit, the Tuath, covered four generations. From Celtic Realms , Dillon and Chadwick
(29) hosteller
(30) Over-lord , in the modern sense could be either a politician or an employer.
(31) In the modern sense , the lazy servant could be an employee.
(32) In Celtic Society, the concept of land ownership was foreign, they believed that those who lived on or in a land were the stewards of the land
(33) A paramor is an illicit lover , which in the context of Celtic society would be a lover taken when a marriage contract did not allow for one . If the contract allowed for such, then by Celtic ethical standards , it was all right to take a lover.
(34) An employee would be the modern American equivalent.
(35) Concubinage was one of eight levels of marriage in Celtic culture.
(36) Those in power.
(37) Material possessions.
(38) Fili'
(39) Speaking with their mouth full.
(40) Cooked meat, already butchered meat awaiting cooking, still on the hoof. Restructured from information in The Story Of The Irish Race, chapter 31
(41) This version found in an old Scottish book on etiquette.
(42) food to feed the guest if they are hungry
(43) Welsh version
(44) Irish version
(45) Naidn most simply put was is surety given by oath in pledging ones honor. Aitire is when one pledges their own person and freedom in the case of default. A workable modern substitution is the pledging of ones' assets. In other words, collateral. Rath is surety given by another that the debtor will pay the debt.
(46) Honour price: log n-enech, eneclann in Goidelic; or gwynecbwerth in Predani.
(47) In Welsh (Cymry) , "Y Gwir Yn Erbyn Byd".
(48) According to two different Native American Elders , this was a part of the beliefs of White people who lived here centuries before the Christian Whites came. The feasibility of, and evidence for, is tenuously established in Dr. Barry Fells book America B.C.
(49) Gaelic "dire", Welsh "dirwy".
(50) Under Brehon law offenses were punishable by fines (dire, dirwy) being imposed and paid, usually in the form of cattle.
(51) According to the May 1988 issue of Celtica-The Journal of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies-School of Celtic Studies, it is accurate in that it was not the brehons who judged, it was the King or Queen. The Brehon only recited the law, he/she did not act in the capacity of a judge.
(52) Both of these triads are directly stated within the Dinneens dictionary.
(53) The source of this is a traditionally trained Unamcara.

Contents

1. Preface 22. Respecting The Bad Home
2. An Omnium Gatherum 23. Pertaining To The Fili'
3. Respecting Excellence 24. Pertaining To Contracts And Agreements
4. Respecting The Conscientious Person 26. Good Health And Bad.
5. Respecting The Rewards Of Excellence 27. Advisements Of Prudence
6. Origins Of Wrong Doing 28. Respecting The Order Of Nature
7. Respecting Those Gone Amiss 29. Respecting The Nature Of Humankind
8. The Profits Of Those Who Have Gone Amiss 30. Respecting Action
9. Respecting Wealth And Poverty 31. Respecting Knowledge
10. Miscellaneous Wisdom 32. Respecting Wisdom
11. The Order Of Society 33. Respecting Those Who Are Wise
12. The Underpinnings Of Society 34. Respecting The Fool And Their Inanity
13. The Banes Of Society 35. Respecting Wisdom Applied
14. Respecting Land And Husbandry 36. Respecting Ambitions And The Roads To Success
15. The Respectable Citizen 37. Respecting Friendship
16. The Nocuous Citizen 38. Respecting Happiness
17. Respecting Legacies 39. Respecting Philosophy
18. Monitorial Advisements 40. Respecting Warriors
19. Manifold Blessings And Beneficence 41. Respecting The True Human
20. Respecting Etiquette 42. Respecting Spirituality
21. Respecting The Good Home  
Bibliography

 

 

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