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Post by wren on Aug 1, 2006 11:06:47 GMT -5
"The poets or fili were closely in touch with the Otherworld. This much is clear from the shamanic regalia of their office, chief among which was the musical branch which they carried. A chief poet, or ollamh, was entitled to a gold branch, an anruth carried a silver one and all other lower classes of poets were entitled to a brass branch. These branches had bells which tinkled as the poet rode along, or which chimed as he walked into the hall.
In the ‘Settling of the Manor of Tara, we read of Trefuilngid Tre-eochair (T. of the Three Keys or Saplings), a great Otherwordly being of titanic size, who comes to Tara bearing in his hands a branch with fruits upon it: nuts, apples and acorns. This concept of the ever fertile Otherwordly tree is closely related to the vitality of poetic tradition, which is continually renewed in every generation, passing from master to student. ~ The Celtic Tradition, Caitlin Matthews There are many stories which include a branch which is flowering and bearing fruit. In honor of Lughnasadh, my daughter and I created one of these branches for our hearth and rituals. It is an apple branch from the same columnar tree that also provided my wand (apple being the tree that speaks most to my heart). We added nine bells, three apples, nine nutmeg nuts and there is an acrorn at the tip, along with some other leaves and decorations. We are also going to make one to present this weekend to the Grove we've been visiting, though theirs will be oak. It is a lovely thing and sounds wonderful when held and shaken gently. She wants to be the one to carry it outside for our private rituals and to hold it as she reads any poetry she writes. In the meantime, it will sit on my private hearth, where I will offer its sweetness (sound, aroma and meaning) as part of my daily meditations and offerings. The exercise of creating this with her and discussing the meanings and history of it together was wonderful in itself. She helped me choose the bells and decorations and worked on each step of its creation.
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Post by Senbecc on Aug 2, 2006 9:26:37 GMT -5
"The poets or fili were closely in touch with the Otherworld. This much is clear from the shamanic regalia of their office, chief among which was the musical branch which they carried. A chief poet, or ollamh, was entitled to a gold branch, an anruth carried a silver one and all other lower classes of poets were entitled to a brass branch. These branches had bells which tinkled as the poet rode along, or which chimed as he walked into the hall.
In the ‘Settling of the Manor of Tara, we read of Trefuilngid Tre-eochair (T. of the Three Keys or Saplings), a great Otherwordly being of titanic size, who comes to Tara bearing in his hands a branch with fruits upon it: nuts, apples and acorns. This concept of the ever fertile Otherwordly tree is closely related to the vitality of poetic tradition, which is continually renewed in every generation, passing from master to student. ~ The Celtic Tradition, Caitlin Matthews There are many stories which include a branch which is flowering and bearing fruit. In honor of Lughnasadh, my daughter and I created one of these branches for our hearth and rituals. It is an apple branch from the same columnar tree that also provided my wand (apple being the tree that speaks most to my heart). We added nine bells, three apples, nine nutmeg nuts and there is an acrorn at the tip, along with some other leaves and decorations. We are also going to make one to present this weekend to the Grove we've been visiting, though theirs will be oak. It is a lovely thing and sounds wonderful when held and shaken gently. She wants to be the one to carry it outside for our private rituals and to hold it as she reads any poetry she writes. In the meantime, it will sit on my private hearth, where I will offer its sweetness (sound, aroma and meaning) as part of my daily meditations and offerings. The exercise of creating this with her and discussing the meanings and history of it together was wonderful in itself. She helped me choose the bells and decorations and worked on each step of its creation. You certainly have some thought provoking posts sometimes, I'll give you that. The Filidh's branch was not only (as you said a symbol of rank) within a given poet's circle it was also a tool to be used for effect durring recitals. The Druids and Filidh had several ways of ranking their members, some of these were the colors they wore. "Tighernmas introduced the colors of yellow, green and blue to Ireland in 900 BCE. From the Tain Bo Cuailgne: (describing the calvalcade of Bodb Derg) "There was no person among them that was not the son of a king or a queen. They all wore green cloaks; and theuy wore kilts with red interweavings, and borders or fringes of gold thread upon them, and pendants of white bronze thread upon their leggings or greaves, and shoes with clasps of red bronze in them." >From "The Story of the Irish Race" by Seamus Mac Manus: (said of Tighernmas, Milesian King of Ireland) "Sometimes to him, sometimes to his successor, Eochaid, is credited the ancient ordinance which distinguished the various classes and professions by the colors of their dress. A King or Queen might wear seven colors; a poet or Ollam six; a chieftain five; an army leader four; a land-owner three; a rent-payer two; a serf one colour only." www.fhaoil-choin.org/druidcolor.htmand www.summerlands.com/crossroads/library/druidic_clothing%20_and_dress.htmAs I told you before. Anything by Searls O'Dubhain is not to be missed IMO. The Bards or filidh (the first level of training for any of the three paths,) were the keepers of the oral tradition; the history of the tribe. They memorized hundreds of stories, poems, philosophies and Ogham, and were held in high esteem. The greatest of the Bards was a revered member of the King's court. While the training curriculum for bards differed in Scotland and Wales, Irish bards followed a training regimen that lasted 12 years. The student progressed from the entry level classification of 'Principal Beginner,' during which time he carried the bronze branch, through gold branch, or 'Doctor of Poetry' status. By the time a student graduated to the level of gold branch, he or she had mastered 350 stories. Training Curriculum for Irish Bards Year Title Rank Requirements 1 Ollair (Principal Beginner) Tamhan (Poet's Attendant) Drisac (Apprentice Satirist) Bronze Branch Grammar, 20 stories, Ogham Tree Alphabet 2 - 5 10 additional stories each year, philosophy, poems, dipthongal combinations, Law of Privileges 6 Cli (Pillar) 48 additional stories, 20 poems 7 - 9 Anruth (Noble Stream) Silver Branch 95 additional stories, prosody, glosses, prophetic invocation, the styles of poetic composition, specific poetic forms, and the place-name stories of Ireland 10 Ollamh (Doctor of Poetry) poetic forms and composition 11 100 poems 12 Gold Branch 120 orations and the four arts of poetry The attributed 'branch' title referred to the type of branch carried by the Bard when entering a hall. The bardic branches had bells attached to them that would ring musically whenever the bard entered the hall to recite a poem or tale. These bells served a dual purpose: signaling to the audience that a performance was about to begin, and summoning the muses, or inner realms to empower the poem or story. According to Ross Nichols (The Book of Druidry,) "All Bards are Herald Bards, who tell of noble acts, assign arms, and make prognostications. These are considerable powers to wield. They are steeply graded, and the highest grade evidently includes great originals. Members are called Princes (Privardd), who are inventors of rhythms and forms, and go by the titles of Merlin Sylvester, Merlin Ambrosius, and Taliesin. Amongst them shone the chief harpist of the land who lived in the King's palace, the Bard Telyn (Harper)." The training of a Druid encompassed the levels of both Bard and Ovate, so the entire learning process undoubtedly took the greater portion of the Druid's life. Caesar stated that the training of a Druid took 20 years, but that is not known to be fact.
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Post by wren on Aug 2, 2006 10:36:28 GMT -5
Thanks for all that information. I'll share it with the Druid-ette. It is her plan that, as we progress together through our training, we will add brass, silver and gold badges to the branch, to signify our progression.
Only "some" of my posts are thought-provoking, eh? I'll have to work on that!
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Post by Senbecc on Aug 2, 2006 12:24:59 GMT -5
Thanks for all that information. I'll share it with the Druid-ette. It is her plan that, as we progress together through our training, we will add brass, silver and gold badges to the branch, to signify our progression. Only "some" of my posts are thought-provoking, eh? I'll have to work on that! The Druid-ette huh? You have many thoughts that make one stop and rub their chins.
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Post by wren on Aug 2, 2006 15:19:19 GMT -5
Thanks for all that information. I'll share it with the Druid-ette. It is her plan that, as we progress together through our training, we will add brass, silver and gold badges to the branch, to signify our progression. Only "some" of my posts are thought-provoking, eh? I'll have to work on that! Well, she is a Druidess-in-training, as it were. Ah, I like 'many' better than 'some'...
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Post by Marcus on Aug 2, 2006 15:31:46 GMT -5
Thank you for posting this topic Wren! This is something i am not very familiar with so it wil require some study! Since you have started posting Wren I have spent more time reading and studying on what you have said than i have ever before lol.
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Post by wren on Aug 3, 2006 11:40:09 GMT -5
Thank you for posting this topic Wren! This is something i am not very familiar with so it wil require some study! Since you have started posting Wren I have spent more time reading and studying on what you have said than i have ever before lol. The Druidette used the poet stick to open our ritual for Lughnasadh and she asked for a blessing upon it, to inspire our Bardic studies. She wants to fashion brass and silver and gold medallions for it, to mark our progress as we study our College courses. She's now working on her first big lesson at the College, on Taliesin's transformation. And, her assignment is to submit a creative work of art (any form).
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Post by Senbecc on Aug 3, 2006 11:41:44 GMT -5
She is a lively study...Thats for sure. it's refreshing to see one so curious.
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Post by Senbecc on Aug 3, 2006 11:44:20 GMT -5
Thank you for posting this topic Wren! This is something i am not very familiar with so it wil require some study! Since you have started posting Wren I have spent more time reading and studying on what you have said than i have ever before lol. The Druidette used the poet stick to open our ritual for Lughnasadh and she asked for a blessing upon it, to inspire our Bardic studies. She wants to fashion brass and silver and gold medallions for it, to mark our progress as we study our College courses. She's now working on her first big lesson at the College, on Taliesin's transformation. And, her assignment is to submit a creative work of art (any form). Taliesin's transformation? Are you refering to the story of Kerridwen and Taliesin?
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Post by wren on Aug 3, 2006 11:51:00 GMT -5
Yes. The course book she is using is presented with Taliesin as a guide. He tells the story of his transformation from Gwion and they read about the different meanings to be found in the story.
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Post by Senbecc on Aug 3, 2006 11:52:39 GMT -5
Yes. The course book she is using is presented with Taliesin as a guide. He tells the story of his transformation from Gwion and they read about the different meanings to be found in the story. I see, sounds most educational.
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Post by wren on Aug 3, 2006 18:30:37 GMT -5
She is really enjoying it! And, I am enjoying taking this journey with her. A teacher once said she is an 'old soul in new sneakers'. I have no doubt she's been here many times before!
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