searles odubhain

I was writing an introduction to my series of books on Ogham and Druidic
wisdom when this realization finally came to me after literally years of
living in a self-imposed darkness about it. I'm offering it here as it


earth.

In Irish texts, the Tower of Nimrod is mentioned as being the place
where Fenius Farsaidh had his school of languages. These texts sometimes
follow Biblical interpretations of the Tower's purpose in construction
and the confusion placed upon languages by the Hebrew god. The standard
line there is that men were able to aspire to Heaven by their own merits
and accomplishments because they all spoke the original language of the
first human. The Hebrew god confused their languages so that they could
no longer work together to do such things as challenge the gods or
himself in this case.

An ****ogy to this story is found in the dindshenchas associated with
both Dowth/Dubad and Knowth/Cnogba (two of the three major passage
mounds in the Brúgh na Bóinne complex, along with Newgrange). In this
****ogy, Bressal is said to be building a tower like Nimrod's so that
one could go to Heaven. He is doing this with the aid of the Men of
Ireland from all quarters in a single day. To allow this monumental feat
to happen, Bressal's sister stays the course of the Sun in the heavens.
The dindshenchas says that:

"The maiden went apart to work her magic. Bressal followed her and had
union with her: so that place is called Ferta Cuile from the ****** that
was committed there. Night came upon them then, for the maiden's magic
was spoilt. 'Let us go hence,' say the men of Erin, 'for we only pledged
ourselves to spend one day a-making this hill, and since darkness has
fallen upon our work, and night has come on and the day is done, let
each depart to his place.' 'Dubad (darkness) shall be the name of this
place for ever', said the maiden. So hence are Dubad and Cnoc Dubada
named."

Now one can take this as a case of ****** where an earthly act defeats a
heavenly quest or one can look beyond the surface to see what is
actually being said (as in most Druidic tales and traditions that have
passed through the filters of time and bias). What the tale tells me is
much more than a case of down and dirty ***ual escapades.

The idea of building a tower to Heaven is actually a symbol for the
quest for wisdom that is ancient and ever-new at the same time. The
union that occurs between brother and sister is not a ***ual union alone
but a reintegration of forms of thought, perception and knowledge. It is
no less than the bridging of the left and right sides of the brain, the
coming together of the grand feminine with the grand masculine,, and the
putting away of the rule of deduction over intuition. The union of
intuition with knowledge is the mating of Bóann and the Dagda. This
union occurs in an instant within darkness that has no time associated
with it. It is the spirit of inspiration that is being described in
these tales and the other metaphors for it (such as the ecstasy that is
mentioned in the Cauldron of Poesy texts). The Sun stands still as the
place of creation is reached. When this moment passes, the Sun resumes
its course in the skies and the initiate returns from darkness to the
world of humans (the Men of Ireland,etc.).

This tale of Nimrod's Tower occurs also in the Auraicept na n-Éces story
about the invention of Ogham and the Irish language. It is in the idea
that a universal language is the source of wisdom and power that is
central to the secrets of the ogham and its use as a way of describing
being. In this describing of being, it also can be used as a way of
charting the heavens from which or through which its wisdom is shared.
Just as the Brúghs of the Bóinne Valley are surrounded by inscribed
stones in a language that speaks to deeper levels of the mind and its
consciousnesses, so too do the Ogham surround all things in their
ability to describe and categorize everything that exists. That is why
the parents of Ogham were said to be "sound and matter." The word used
for sound in the text is "sund" but the word used for matter is "rét"
which can have another meaning. That meaning is "star."

The universal language of humans is the product of the natural mind. The
language of the stars is astrology which is also a language that speaks
universally to humans. The alphabets used to shape and form the
words/concepts of such universal languages are very often associated
with the stars through correspondences and mantras. It sould be no
surprise to us that Ogham lends itself to these usages as well. This is
what Robert Graves did in the throes of imbas when he developed such a
system in his book, _The White Goddess_. Unfortunately for all
concerned, he did not go much beyond the initial inspiration. What was
left behind is a confused and often inaccurate jumble of correlations
that he produced based on a less than perfect understanding of Irish or
Ogham.

The marriage of intuition and knowledge that can produce a new "Young
Son" of Ogham wisdom needs to be rediscovered in the darkness where it
awaits a rebirth. In this new mating, let us hope that its being is
fostered more wisely by the members of both families.

It is not a jealous god that confounds our wisdom. It is our own
distractions from the task. The marriage of intuition and deduction
within each of us are our deities of eloquence. In our birthing of a new
creation, may each of us hold to the pathway and the intersection that
is the primal cause. It is in attempting to limit what cannot be limited
that the heavens slip away and the tower crumbles. It is not a shame of
its inception or the joy of its discovery that does this for us. It is
the I that does not see in its blindness and does not hear the here and
now.Being ever-new should always be our quest while also remaining
connected to our parents of intuition and knowledge, the Moon and the
Sun

Searles O'Dubhain

darcyleg

Quick question from the non Gaelic speaker - what does Ferta Cuile mean?


The concept of ****** is also intrinsic to the Norse Wanes - the Lord
and Lady and their parents Njord (Sea) and Nerthus (Earth). Once
again the symbology seems to have been deeper than this


Many tales seem to have this too.

Mathematicians often argue that algebraic formulae are a universal language.

As ever some good food for thought.
Cheers, Dave.

searles odubhain

news:<QumdnR00V4nklrPcRVn-pg@giganews.com>...


Ferta refers to "a mound or tumulus" (other meanings are a recess; a
hollow; a confirmation; a pole or hook on a chariot; a miracle; an act
of confirming) and Cuile can mean "bedroom" (it can also mean
storehouse). It also seems to be associated with being "sinful" or "out
of place" in figurative associations. "Ferta Cuile" can mean the
"Bedroom of the Passage Mound" or even the "Sin of the Mound" I think
this is one of those usages that has many meanings within a variety of
contexts but the surface implication is that intercourse had occurred.
There's all kinds of combinations of the meanings of the two words that
can change the interpretation of the name itself.; everything from the
"Miracle of the Mound" to the "Chariot Pole in the Bedroom!" :-). In the
briatharogam of Morann mac Main, there is a reference to this (from my
Ogham Correspondences for Holly or Tinne - T):

Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main: Trian (roith) ('holly; a third part of...
a wheel, i.e. the axle of the wheel; the essence of...'). The most
important part of any activity is what keeps it going and focused. This
is called its central principle and represents the center for that
activity. It is this idea of our own central principle and center that
defines ourselves and our connections to family and world. The Wheel of
the year and the seasonal festivals define for us a center of continuing
life. The turning of the seasons upon their own axle was like a chariot
through time. The holly is an evergreen; a tree of summer and winter; a
tree that persists through the entire revolution of the wheel, providing
Continuity.

The idea of Ferta Cuile is interesting in that both words seem to be
associated with the Holly or Tinne (Ferta through axlepole or chariot
pole - trian; Cuile through its usage in the other word for Holly which
is Cuilenn in Irish).. One wonders if the "brother and sister" that came
together were both of the family of the Holly? More speculations suggest
to me that perhaps there is a connection to ever renewing properties of
the Holly (or Tinne) at Dubad and Cnogba in this type of name while the
Sun motifs at Newgrange would suggest that there is an association with
the Oak (or Duir). This gets me back to some speculations I've had about
the conflict between the Sons of Tuirenn (Sons of the Holly) and Lugh/
(the Sons of the Oak). All these associations have more to do with what
is seen in the mind's eye than they do with a direct pathway to hard and
fast meaning however. They are more appropriate for the Way of the Seer
than the Way of the Scholar.

<snip>

Thanks. Sometimes I think that what I've posted is either too simple or
too complex for replies. Often, the only threads that get activity are
those where great misunderstandings or disagreement occurs. This
peculiarity of newsgroup postings seems to bias the focus and the
impression of visitors to the actual work/topics/make-up of the
newsgroup.

Searles

A language is communal property.
A joint undertaking.
Like the electric streetcars that most cities
once had, Capital has taken them over,
preempted them, and destroyed them.
Just so language. Advertizing continues
its relentless destruction of language
-- even as we speak.

Remember Loglan? One of the developers
decided to hijack the language by
-- get this -- copyrighting the
vocabulary list.
What could be the objective of this,
if not to destroy it?
Therefore I think he was "persuaded"
to do this by those who would not want
people to understand each other.

Universal principles can be used for
both good and evil. In this case the
principle was "start with a thing when
it is small, before it becomes a big
problem".

A might oak grows from a small acorn.

I am not a lawyer. I do not even see email sent to this address, due to
past DOS attacks. If you wish to respond, do so through this newsgroup.

searles odubhain

I remember the joy on the face of Declan Conroy when he recounted
Hillary Zollar saying , "Dia dhuit" to him in her shop at Dragonwood. It
was a coming home to him, a man thirsty for the language of his own
roots. He returned the favor by teaching it to a group of us in a class
at the same place. When he would speak his native tongue, he changed
into a giant of olden days and was himself a mighty oak. Go mbeannaí Dia
annseo is an ocean measured in pints.

Searles

So are you for or against the idea of a universal
language? somehow I got the impression from
your first post in this thread that you were.

I am not a lawyer. I do not even see email sent to this address, due to
past DOS attacks. If you wish to respond, do so through this newsgroup.

searles odubhain

I'm all in favor of everyone being able to communicate even with the
various parts of themselves. The difficulty with a universal language is
that it changes once ego becomes involved. That's why the fables
describe things like the "Sun stood still" or the "razor bridge."

Searles

You should be careful. You're in danger of
agreeing with me.

Language is always and necessarily communal property.
Or at the very least jointly owned property.
It is simply useless if it is not.
As such, it is always possible that it will
become a victim of "the tragedy of the commons".
Hence the problem with Ego which you described.
But the main problem with a universal language is:
what could you possibly have to say that would
be relevant to everybody? And not only relevant,
but also interesting to them and believed by them?

And furthermore, if you could speak to everyone in
the world, then so could everyone else. We would
be buried in a flood of words, all of them struggling
to get our attention.

I am not a lawyer. I do not even see email sent to this address, due to
past DOS attacks. If you wish to respond, do so through this newsgroup.

searles odubhain

<snip>

The answer is simple. If there were a universal language, then
everything that is said would be said in concepts that were universally
understood and believed. How else would it be universal if not that?
Love is such a concept that is generally accepted as being universal.
When ego is not present then belief is unimportant. What is important is
fact and truth. These are related to actuality through linkages between
experience, cause and effect. People speaking a universal language
would evaluate what is said based on a better understanding of what is
actually said or described. Perhaps one would say that the world has
only so many resources and that we should consider how each person's
actions affect those of others as well as the world's ability to
continue existing? That'd be worth discussing in any language.

Perhaps the ability to speak to everyone is not also actually speaking
to everyone at the same time? Those who understand the universe might
choose to keep silent more often than not. How would one language
increase the noise level that already exists with a large number of
different languages? How can the buried be buried or the flooded become
flooded?

Searles

darcyleg

Ahh the irreverent multi-layered kennings strike again. I have just
been reading an ****ysis of an Norse poem which, unlike the scholarly
translations, points out the various different layers of kennings.
IMHO it must be most un-scholarly of the translators to just translate
literally a bawdlerized version. Even modern translations do without
mentioning the innuendo inherent in the poetry.


As it says in the I-Ching (and I paraphrase) "it's not the axle or the
hub that is important but the gap in the middle."

Thanks for the commprehensive reply (I've been vacationing en France
;-).

The links to the relations between brother and sister remind me of the
Vanir/Wanes from the Norse where the Lord and Lady are banned from
relations as part of the Peace with the Aesir.

I don't necessarily think it's a bias of usenet, it is not uncommon
elsewhere too.

Cheers, Dave.