Post by ardri79 on Jun 8, 2006 9:54:02 GMT -5
For those of you that dont know the Tain is an ancient Irish epic along the lines of the Illiad and sacral kingship is a practice where the king married a sovereign goddess to ensure fertility in the land during his rule.
I wrote this last year and the premis is slightly off but I'd be interested to hear your opinions on sacral kingship based on this paper and the reference material
[glow=red,2,300]The King, The Bull and Sacral Kingship in Tain Bo Cualinge [/glow]
I was studying Tain Bo Cualinge(The cattle raid of Cooley) and I wondered why Medb wanted the black bull so badly? I saw how the Bull was used in Rituals concerning the King during the Tarabh Feis (Bull Feast) where the flesh of a Bull was offered and consumned to bring a vision that aided in choosing a new King. I also knew that Bulls were prized as cattle in Gaelic society, but, could the Bull be tied symbolically to the King and but subject to acts of Sympathetic magic?
In my opinion Bulls can be symbollically tied to the King because a virile King symbolised the clan and its fertility and the Bull, the leader of Cattle, symbolised the fertility of the herd. By the law of Similarity (Like affects like) that would make the Bull a valid subject for any act of sympathetic magic with the intent of affecting the kingship.
Having established a symbollic link between the Bull and The King it occurred to me, What would be the point in injuring Conchobar in Tain Bo Cualinge, a single warrior already debilitated by the curse of Macha, when Cu Chulainn was the one doing the fighting?
That can be explained by the Gaels having a tradition of Sacral Kingship. In a Sacral Kingship the King would marry or impregnate a Goddess of Sovereignty and in that way be tied to the tripilism of Clan, Cattle and land to ensure fertility therin. As is seen in Tochmarc Etain (the wooing Of Etain) where the Dagda (the good god) who governs the weather and the crops impregnates Boann (White Cow) whose name marks her as a Goddess of Sovereignty. It can be seen again in the marriage of Bres to Brid in The Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh. Brid (Brigit) is associated with the festival of Oimealc or modern Imbolc (literally in the belly) which marks the perceptable beginning os spring, the lengthening of daylight and the reawakening of fertility in the body of the land.
Further proof of Sacral Kingship as a Gaelic tradition can be found in Togail Bruidne Da Derga (The destruction od Da Derga's Hostel) Where under the Rule of conaire, Son of Mess buachalla it was said there was
... Oakmast up to the knees every autumn, and plenty of fish in the river Bush and Boyne in the June of each year, and such abundance of good will that no one slew another in Erin during his reign. And to everyone his fellows voice seemed as sweet as the strings of lutes. From mid-spring to Mid-autumn no wind disturbed a cows tail. His riegn was neither thunderous nor stormy.
Proof that failure to affect the Clan, Cattle and Land through the sacral kingship could disqualify a King from ruling can be seen in The Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh where Bres is deposed and begging to be spared:
... If I be spared,' says Bres, the cows of Erin will be always in milk.'
'I will set this forth to our men,' said Lug.
So Lug went to Maeltine Mor-Brethach, and said to him 'Shall Bres have quarter for giving constant milk to the cows of Erin?'
'He shall not have quarter,' said Maeltine, he has no power over their age and their offspring, though he can milk them so long as they are alive.'...
Bres goes on to offer them a harvest in each quarter of the year and is refused but is spared in the end for telling the men of Ireland when to plough, sow and reap. Showing that while Bres can aid the Clan, has knowledge of the Cattle and of the Land that he has now power over them.
If Medb wanted to injure Conchobars sacral Kingship it would explain why she wanted the Black Bull so badly in Tain Bo Culainge but for a working theory I still need proof that sympathetic marriage was comon practice among the Gael.
Ensuring tgood harvest and fertility in Cattle by marrying the King to a Goddess of Sovereignty shows belief in sympathetic magic but to avoid hinging my argument on sacral kingship I'll point out the passage concerning Coire Breccain in Sanas Cormaic (Cormacs Glossary) where the blind poet Lugaid performs a Dichetal do Chennaib (One of the three illuminations) upon a dogs skull he finds on the beach and says
This is the skull of Breccains dog, the merest remnant of someone much greater for Breccain himself drowned among his people in this whirlpool
Through the Law of Contagion Lugaid devines information about breccain from the dogs skull because Breccain had owned the dog it carried a residue of him.
But after all is said and done, what use is my theory in our modern world? It puts another spin on an already interesting story, reveals some of the religious beliefs of our ancestry, and shows how the study of legend does honor to our Gods, shines truth on modern misconceptions and returns strength to our culture.
Seamus O'Broin 2005
An Buannach leis an Fian Craobh Crua
Truth to our enemie,
Strength to our Clan,
New life to our Culture.
www.CraobhCrua.org/
Sources:
Three Irish Glossaries
Sanas Cormaic ed. and trans. Whitley Stokes.
Clannada na Gadelica
www.clannada.org
Rites of the Sacral Kingship v. 2.6 by Tara NicScothach bean MacAnTsaoir
Craobh Crua
www.CraobhCrua.org
Imbolc and Brid by Sean Mac An Rí
The (Second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh,
Tochmarc Etain
C.E.L.T. The Corpus of Electronic Texts
www.ucc.ie/celt/
Tain Bo Cualinge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
Imbas
www.imbas.org/
Animal Symbolism in Celtic Mythology:
A paper for Religion 375 at the University of Michigan
by Lars Noodén, 22 November 1992
Clan na Fhaoil-Choin
www.fhaoil-choin.org/duile.htm
The Elements of the Dúile by Searles O'Dubhain
Sacred Texts
www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/
The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
I wrote this last year and the premis is slightly off but I'd be interested to hear your opinions on sacral kingship based on this paper and the reference material
[glow=red,2,300]The King, The Bull and Sacral Kingship in Tain Bo Cualinge [/glow]
I was studying Tain Bo Cualinge(The cattle raid of Cooley) and I wondered why Medb wanted the black bull so badly? I saw how the Bull was used in Rituals concerning the King during the Tarabh Feis (Bull Feast) where the flesh of a Bull was offered and consumned to bring a vision that aided in choosing a new King. I also knew that Bulls were prized as cattle in Gaelic society, but, could the Bull be tied symbolically to the King and but subject to acts of Sympathetic magic?
In my opinion Bulls can be symbollically tied to the King because a virile King symbolised the clan and its fertility and the Bull, the leader of Cattle, symbolised the fertility of the herd. By the law of Similarity (Like affects like) that would make the Bull a valid subject for any act of sympathetic magic with the intent of affecting the kingship.
Having established a symbollic link between the Bull and The King it occurred to me, What would be the point in injuring Conchobar in Tain Bo Cualinge, a single warrior already debilitated by the curse of Macha, when Cu Chulainn was the one doing the fighting?
That can be explained by the Gaels having a tradition of Sacral Kingship. In a Sacral Kingship the King would marry or impregnate a Goddess of Sovereignty and in that way be tied to the tripilism of Clan, Cattle and land to ensure fertility therin. As is seen in Tochmarc Etain (the wooing Of Etain) where the Dagda (the good god) who governs the weather and the crops impregnates Boann (White Cow) whose name marks her as a Goddess of Sovereignty. It can be seen again in the marriage of Bres to Brid in The Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh. Brid (Brigit) is associated with the festival of Oimealc or modern Imbolc (literally in the belly) which marks the perceptable beginning os spring, the lengthening of daylight and the reawakening of fertility in the body of the land.
Further proof of Sacral Kingship as a Gaelic tradition can be found in Togail Bruidne Da Derga (The destruction od Da Derga's Hostel) Where under the Rule of conaire, Son of Mess buachalla it was said there was
... Oakmast up to the knees every autumn, and plenty of fish in the river Bush and Boyne in the June of each year, and such abundance of good will that no one slew another in Erin during his reign. And to everyone his fellows voice seemed as sweet as the strings of lutes. From mid-spring to Mid-autumn no wind disturbed a cows tail. His riegn was neither thunderous nor stormy.
Proof that failure to affect the Clan, Cattle and Land through the sacral kingship could disqualify a King from ruling can be seen in The Second Battle of Mag Tuireadh where Bres is deposed and begging to be spared:
... If I be spared,' says Bres, the cows of Erin will be always in milk.'
'I will set this forth to our men,' said Lug.
So Lug went to Maeltine Mor-Brethach, and said to him 'Shall Bres have quarter for giving constant milk to the cows of Erin?'
'He shall not have quarter,' said Maeltine, he has no power over their age and their offspring, though he can milk them so long as they are alive.'...
Bres goes on to offer them a harvest in each quarter of the year and is refused but is spared in the end for telling the men of Ireland when to plough, sow and reap. Showing that while Bres can aid the Clan, has knowledge of the Cattle and of the Land that he has now power over them.
If Medb wanted to injure Conchobars sacral Kingship it would explain why she wanted the Black Bull so badly in Tain Bo Culainge but for a working theory I still need proof that sympathetic marriage was comon practice among the Gael.
Ensuring tgood harvest and fertility in Cattle by marrying the King to a Goddess of Sovereignty shows belief in sympathetic magic but to avoid hinging my argument on sacral kingship I'll point out the passage concerning Coire Breccain in Sanas Cormaic (Cormacs Glossary) where the blind poet Lugaid performs a Dichetal do Chennaib (One of the three illuminations) upon a dogs skull he finds on the beach and says
This is the skull of Breccains dog, the merest remnant of someone much greater for Breccain himself drowned among his people in this whirlpool
Through the Law of Contagion Lugaid devines information about breccain from the dogs skull because Breccain had owned the dog it carried a residue of him.
But after all is said and done, what use is my theory in our modern world? It puts another spin on an already interesting story, reveals some of the religious beliefs of our ancestry, and shows how the study of legend does honor to our Gods, shines truth on modern misconceptions and returns strength to our culture.
Seamus O'Broin 2005
An Buannach leis an Fian Craobh Crua
Truth to our enemie,
Strength to our Clan,
New life to our Culture.
www.CraobhCrua.org/
Sources:
Three Irish Glossaries
Sanas Cormaic ed. and trans. Whitley Stokes.
Clannada na Gadelica
www.clannada.org
Rites of the Sacral Kingship v. 2.6 by Tara NicScothach bean MacAnTsaoir
Craobh Crua
www.CraobhCrua.org
Imbolc and Brid by Sean Mac An Rí
The (Second) Battle of Magh Tuireadh,
Tochmarc Etain
C.E.L.T. The Corpus of Electronic Texts
www.ucc.ie/celt/
Tain Bo Cualinge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley)
Imbas
www.imbas.org/
Animal Symbolism in Celtic Mythology:
A paper for Religion 375 at the University of Michigan
by Lars Noodén, 22 November 1992
Clan na Fhaoil-Choin
www.fhaoil-choin.org/duile.htm
The Elements of the Dúile by Searles O'Dubhain
Sacred Texts
www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/
The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer