Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood By Martin Vaughan-Watkin Book 1 Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 2 INTRODUCTION This book explores the spiritual link the Celtic people have with the forests around us. The ancient Celts revered the Wildwood, in both what it gave the Celtic people, and its ability to be a portal to the divine and the spiritual world. The Wildwood in both its physical and spiritual forms can be a source of guidance, healing and enlightenment. The book also contains the user's manual for the "Whispers from the Wildwood" oracle deck. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 3 Origins At the end of the last ice age as the ice retreated to the North; and vast forests advanced to replace the ice, followed by other plants, animals and people. But the classic land shape we think of today was yet to be, the seas around the British Isles was dry land giving rise to the many “Celtic Atlantis” flood stories found in Celtic lore. Unlike their Mediterranean counter parts these flooded lands were not flooded overnight, but gradually over centuries. Occasionally commercial fishing trawler pull artefacts from their nets from the lost land of “Doggerland” (that is what the land is known as today) mainly animal bones but also man made items as well. But one surprising fact is that some 'man made' artefacts were found long after the land flooded ,showing that the land remained in folk-memory and these artefacts which were offerings to the ancestors. The flooded lands were part of the Wildwood, and a twist of fate is, that all present day wooded areas in the Celtic lands Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 4 are either managed or “feral” woodland or new growth. But the wildwood of the flooded lands under certain conditions can still be visited. Around the coast of parts of Wales there are the remains of trees petrified (Fossilised), and at very low tides you can walk around them. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 5 One tip if you do go to visit this lost land, take note of the local tides that flows around the area they can be dangerous to the unwary. One of the best spots is round Borth a coastal village 7 miles north of Aberystwyth in the county of Ceredigion. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 6 The Celtic Atlantis(s) The Land of Tyno Helig Helig ap Glannawg, the prince of Tyno Helig, was said to have lived in the sixth century. His lands stretched from Flintshire in the east to Conwy in the west and beyond. In fact Helig’s Palace is said to have lain to the north, some two miles from today’s coastline, under the waters of Conwy Bay. Helig had a daughter Gwendud, who despite being fair of face had a wicked and cruel heart. Gwendud was wooed by Tathal, the son of one of the local barons of Snowdon, in comparison a young man of relatively humble birth. Eventually she succumbed to his charms but told him that they could not be married because he did not wear the golden torque (collar) of a nobleman. Tathal took it upon himself to secure a golden torque by fair means or foul. After offering to guide a ransomed young Scottish chieftain back to safety, he treacherously stabbed him and stole his golden collar. Tathal claimed that they had been set upon by a band of robbers headed by an outlaw nobleman, whom he had slain in fair fight. Gwendud now consented to marry Tethal, and Prince Helig ordering a great feast to celebrate the union. At some point in the proceedings the ghost of the murdered Scottish chieftain appeared and informed them that he would exact a terrible vengeance over four generations of their family. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 7 Cantref Gwaelod Cantref Gwaelod was a very fertile land and hundreds of people lived there. But the land was below sea level so the only way that they could keep the sea from flooding the land was with a huge stone wall. The person in charge of looking after the wall was Prince Seithenin. His job was to make sure that there were always at least two watchmen in the towers on the wall and more at high tide or when there was a storm. The watchmen were there to watch for holes in the great sea wall. Sometimes holes would appear, but it was not a problem. All they had to do was ring a big bell in the main tower and people would come running up from the villages to repair them. One day the king decided to have a big party and everyone was to be invited. Seithenyn was also invited and so he put two watchmen on the tower. It was a good party which ran all day and everybody got very drunk. Later that day, the two watchmen that were left on the tower were getting worried because their relief hadn't turned up. So Gwyn ap Llywarch, one of the watchmen, sent the other man to find out what was happening. After a few hours the other man had not returned and Gwyn started to get nervous. It was getting quite dark, no-one had come to relieve him yet and a storm was brewing. The storm became much worse and a hole appeared in the wall. Gwyn rushed to the main tower and rang the bell as loudly as he could, but no help came. So he jumped on his horse and rode to the castle for help. When Gwyn got there Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 8 he found everybody drunk and sleeping. He saw Seithenyn and tried to wake him, but it was no good. He couldn't wake anyone else either; they had all eaten and drunk too much. Then Gwyn noticed that the king's daughter wasn't in the hall. He ran upstairs and found the princess in her room. They ran down to the stables and jumped onto Gwyn's horse. They both rode away across the border and onto the high ground. There they stood and watched the sea wall burst and the whole of Cantref Gwaelod flooded. They were the only survivors. Everybody except Gwyn and the princess had died. Later that year they married and lived on the shore of the bay where once Cantref Gwaelod had been. It is said that on a quiet day, when the bay is calm, you can still hear the bells of the watchtower in Cantre'r Gwaelod ringing under the sea. Tegid Foel (Inland Celtic Atlantis) This story is not about a coastal flooded land but concerns the present day lake of Bala (Llyn Tegid) in North Wales. Although it is inland it shares geological and mythological characteristics with its coastal cousins. In geological terms many Celtic lakes, Llyns and Lochs were formed by melt water from the retreating ice. In Myths it was a good land lost due to folly or evil. Tegid Foel, was a very cruel prince, who lived in a palace in the town Cwm Tegid. Despite numerous warnings that vengeance would come for his cruelty, he still didn’t change his ways. When his first grandson was born, the prince held a banquet to mark the occasion and he invited all of his friends Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 9 and acquaintances who were all equally as cruel. Along with the food and the drink, the prince had hired the best harpist in the country to entertain them. During the feast, the harpist heard a voice saying “Vengeance will come!” When he looked over his shoulder he saw a little bird, which enticed him out of the palace and up to the hills where he fell asleep. Upon waking in the morning, the harpist saw that the old town of Bala had been drowned, and he found his harp floating on the lake. The lake was named after the cruel prince, and it’s said that boatmen, can hear at times, a feeble voice saying “Vengeance will come, vengeance will come” and another voice enquiring “When will it come?” The first voice replies “In the third generation”. According to legend the Llyn Tegid is inhabited by a monster akin to the Loch Ness monster, known affectionately as Teggie. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 10 Hy-Brasil Hy-Brasil, also called the Fortunate Island, may originate with the old Irish word, breas, meaning noble or fortunate. Located off the South West Irish coast; It was the home of a wealthy and highly advanced civilization. Those who visited the island returned with tales of gold-roofed towers and domes, healthy cattle, and opulent citizens. The lore of Hy-Brasil is equally fascinating. For example, it is shrouded in fog or perhaps beneath the ocean, and appears only briefly, once every seven years. The island has been visited by many people for centuries. Both Saint Barrind and Saint Brendan found the island on their respective voyages, and returned home with nearly identical descriptions of Hy- Brasil, which they dubbed the “Promised Land.” One of the most famous visits to Hy-Brasil was in 1674 by Captain John Nisbet of Killybegs, Co. Donegal, Ireland. He and his crew were in familiar waters west of Ireland, when a fog came up. As the fog lifted, the ship was dangerously close to rocks. While getting their bearings, the ship anchored in three fathoms of water, and four crew members rowed ashore to visit Hy-Brasil. They spent a day on the island, and returned with silver and gold given to them by an old man Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 11 who lived there. Upon the return of the crew to Ireland, a second ship set out under the command of Alexander Johnson. They, too, found the hospitable island of Hy-Brasil and returned to Ireland to confirm the tales of Captain Nisbet and crew. Spirituality of the Wildwood Our ancestors enjoyed a very different relationship with trees and nature. Prior to the industrial revolution that changed the very roots of society, humanity lived in greater harmony with the earth. This is reflected most clearly by our past connection to trees. The world over, trees were venerated and held as symbols of fertility, wisdom, power and renewal. Across cultures and continents, the mythologies of ancient civilizations had at their core a Cosmic Tree or Tree of Life that explained our earthly existence. From all corners of the world, stories of tree worship abound. Forests and groves were holy sanctuaries for spiritual practice, and impressively large, old trees were seen as a channel for connecting with the divine. A measure of how greatly trees were revered in the past is an example from Germany where the punishment for removing bark from a tree resulted in the guilty party's navel being cut out and nailed to the injured tree. The culprit was then driven around and around the tree until all his innards were wound about the trunk of the tree. What form of worship the “Proto-Celts” had we can only guess as they left us no written records, we have some fragments in Celtic lore (as the flood myths) and some in Norse lore such as Yggdrasil. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 12 Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life In the middle of Asgard, where the gods live, is Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil is the tree of life. It is an eternal green Ash tree; the branches stretch out over all of the nine worlds, and extend up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil is carried by three enormous roots. The first root from Yggdrasil is in Asgard, the home of the gods. By this root is a well named Urd’s well. This is where the gods held daily meetings. The second root from Yggdrasil goes down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, by this root is Mimir's well. The third root from Yggdrasil goes down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It is here the dragon Nidhug gnawed on one of Yggdrasils roots. Nidhug is also known to suck the blood out of dead bodies. At the very top of Yggdrasil there lives an eagle. And down by the roots of the tree lives a dragon named Nidhug. The eagle and the dragon are bitter enemies. They truly despise each other. A squirrel named Ratatosk, is spending a lot of time each day, running up and down the tree. Ratatosk does whatever he can, to keep the hatred between the eagle and Nidhug alive. Every time Nidhug says a curse or an insult about the eagle, Ratatosk will run up to the top of the tree, and inform the eagle what Nidhug just said. The eagle is equally rude in his comments about Nidhug. Ratatosk just loves to gossip which is the reason why the eagle and the dragon remains constant foes. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 13 The Proto-Celts may not have left written records but they were great builders, most have heard of Stonehenge and other standing stones and circles. But the Proto-Celts built wooden “temples” as well what they fully looked like we can again only guess at. As wood does not last like stone, but like fossils they left echoes of what they looked like. Post Holes In archaeology a posthole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 14 they are wide although truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive most postholes are mainly recognisable as circular patches of darker earth when viewed in plan. Archaeologists can use their presence to plot the layout of former structures as the holes may define its corners and sides. Construction using postholes is known as ”Earthfast” or post in ground construction. Around the Celtic lands are many sites which have been discovered and that were types of “wood temples” one of the most famous is Woodhenge, found about two miles from Stonehenge. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 15 The site consists of six concentric oval rings of postholes, the outermost being about 43 by 40 metres (141 by 131 ft) wide. They are surrounded first by a single flat-bottomed ditch, 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) deep and up to 12 metres (39 ft) wide, and finally by an outer bank, about 10 metres (33 ft) wide and 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. With an overall diameter measuring 110 metres (360 ft), the site had a single entrance to the north- east. Today concrete pillars mark out Woodhenge's postholes at the centre of the rings Most of the 168 post holes held wooden posts, although there is evidence that a pair of standing stones may have been placed between the second and third post hole rings. Recent excavations in 2006 have indicated that there were at least five standing stones on the site, arranged in a "cove". The deepest post holes measured up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) – and are believed to have held posts which reached as high as 7.5 metres (25 ft) above ground. Those posts would have weighed up to 5 tons, and their arrangement was similar to that of the bluestones at Stonehenge. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 16 ABOVE... Woodhenge BELOW....Seahenge Another famous wooded templeone is “Seahenge” aka Holme Timber Circle. It was discovered by chance in 1998 on Holme beach on the North Norfolk coast and excavated in Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 17 1999. It comprises a ring of timbers nearly 7 metres in diameter, formed from 55 oak posts standing side by side and 2 metres high. At the centre was a massive oak tree stump. The circle was originally built inland from the sea. Coastal erosion and other changes have transformed the landscape from marsh to beach. This mysterious construction was built around 2,050 BC, during the earlier Bronze Age, when people in this part of Europe first began to use metal tools. We cannot be certain why it was built. It was probably used during the burial of an important person in the region. The timber circle has now been reconstructed and can be seen in the Lynn Museum. The Ancient Celts and the Wildwood The ancient Celts saw the wildwood very differently to the way we do today, this place was holy it was both spiritual and practical at the same time. Practical in the way it was the “high street “of its day it catered for most of their needs food, medical (herblore), building materials (timber), etc. It held the divine trees “The Ogham” more about the Ogham is found in book 2. A snap shot of the ancient Celts and the wildwood (be it bias or they were “leading him up the garden path”) can be found in the book “Natural History” by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, written in the 1st century AD. “We should not omit to mention the great admiration that the Gauls have for it as well. The druids – that is what they call their magicians – hold nothing more sacred than the Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 18 mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it is a hard-timbered oak [robur].... Mistletoe is rare and when found it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the sixth day of the moon.... Hailing the moon in a native word that means 'healing all things,' they prepare a ritual sacrifice and banquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion. A priest arrayed in white vestments climbs the tree and, with a golden sickle, cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloak. Then finally they kill the victims, praying to a god to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren and that it is an antidote to all poisons”. Another snap shot comes from Celtic lore such as” Cad Goddeu “(English: The Battle of the Trees) this is a medieval Welsh poem preserved in the 14th-century manuscript known as the Book of Taliesin. The poem refers to a traditional story in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion animates the trees of the forest to fight as his army. The poem is especially notable for its striking and enigmatic symbolism and the wide variety of interpretations this has occasioned. Cad Goddeu is 248 short lines long (usually five syllables and a rest), and falling into several sections, the poem begins with an extended claim of first-hand knowledge of all things, in a fashion found later in the poem and also in several others attributed to Taliesin. Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 19 Cymraeg/Welsh English Gwern blaen llin, Alder, front of the line, A want gysseuin formed the vanguard Helyc a cherdin Willow and Rowan Buant hwyr yr vydin. were late to the fray. For a full English translation of Cad Goddeu visit the link...... www.celtnet.org.uk/texts/llyfr_taliesin/cad_goddeu_eng.html Another place we can find the way the ancient Celts practice d their tree spirituality can be found in surviving (or recorded before it was lost) Celtic Folk wisdom, customs and Celtic legends. I could reel off a load of these customs, traditions and stories but apart from taking up a few books in themselves, these things are best explored for yourself. But I will point you in the right direction; look up the works of the “Antiquarians”. Antiquarians were researchers from the late 17 th to early 20th centuries; they recorded customs and stories from interviews with village elders or just a good chat over a pint in the pub. Some of the best works I have found are.... The Celtic Twilight, by William Butler Yeats The Religion of the Ancient Celts, by J. A. MacCulloch The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, by W. Y. Evans Wentz Legends, Charms and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Wilde Vaughan-Watkin / Whispers from the Celtic Wildwood / 20 Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmichael. What I like about these books, is they may have been written in the 19 th century for example, but the “data” inside the book goes back centuries before that. If you think of the 19 th century London for example was connected to the rest of the world with the latest technology of the day at hand. But life was a lot slower on the Celtic fringe and decades behind larger urban areas of the day, there was no phone, no railway and not the best roads. When writers like W. Y. Evans Wentz interviewed these elders they were people in their 60s to 90s recalling stories told them as children by the elders of their childhood. So you can see by these facts how the data in these books was “pushed back in time”. A lot of today’s books about the Celts have their foundation based on these old texts. The best thing about them is, they are copyright free due to their age. If you want “paper” copies of these books to read them you have to purchase them (unless you can borrow them of course), but there are some wonderful people digitizing these works and uploading them to online databases so you can download them for free to your e-reader or device. Below are a few sites with these works on them; to find the books, just use key words like you would on a standard search engine. With each book you read you will find lists of “further reading” and references of other works when you get a title you can use the databases to download further titles. https://www.archive.org www.sacred-texts.com