Song of Amergin: translated by Lady Augusta Gregory

Following that are some intertesting passages from Hindu scripture that follow the same poetic pattern, in which the god Krishna is speaking.

I am the taste in the waters, O Son of Kunti.
I am the light in the moon and sun.
I am the syllable Aum in all the Vedas.
I am the sound in ether and manhood in men.
I am the pure fragrance in earth and brightness in fire.
I am the life in all existances and the austerity in ascetics.
Know Me, O Partha, to be the eternal seed of all existances.
I am the intelligence of the intelligent.
I am the spleandour of the splendid.
I am the strength of the strong, devoid of desire and passion.
In beings I am the desire which is not contrary to dharma, O Lord of the Bharatas.
And whatever states of being there may be, be they harmonious, passionate, slothful-- know they are all from Me alone.
I am not in them, they are in Me.

See also Bhagavad-Gita 10:19-38 & 9:16-19

See also Santiparva 109.4: "There is nothing higher than the Truth."

The Instructions of King Cormac

Initiation into the Fianna

Of such not a man was taken into the Fiana; nor admitted whether to the great Gathering of Uisnech, to the Convention of Tailtiu, or to Tara's Feast; until both his paternal and his maternal correlatives, his tuatha and kindreds, had given securities for them to the effect that, though at the present instant they were slain, yet should no claim be urged in lieu of them: and this in order that to none other but themselves alone they should look to avenge them. On the other hand: in case it were they that inflicted great mischiefs upon others, reprisals not to be made upon their several people.

Of all these again not a man was taken until he were a prime poet versed in the twelve books of poesy. No man was taken til in the ground a large hole had been made (such as to reach the fold of his belt) and he put into it with his shield and a fore-arm's length of a hazel stick. Then must nine warriors, having nine spears, with a ten furrows' width betwixt them and him, assail him and in concert let fly at him. If past that guard of his he were hurt then, he was not received into Fianship.

Not a man of them was taken till his hair had been interwoven into braids on him and he started at a run through Ireland's woods; while they, seeking to wound him, followed in his wake, there having been between him and them but one forest bough by way of interval at first. Should he be overtaken, he was wounded and not received into the Fiana after. If his weapons had quivered in his hand, he was not taken. Should a branch in the wood have disturbed anything of his hair out of its braiding, neither was he taken. If he had cracked a dry stick under his foot [as he ran] he was not accepted. Unless that [at his full speed] he had both jumped a stick level with his brow, and stooped to pass under one even with his knee, he was not taken. Also, unless without slackening his pace he could with his nail extract a thorn from his foot, he was not taken into Fianship: but if he performed all this he was of Finn's people.

Fionn MacCumhall's advice to a younger hero

Fergus and the Druid
William Butler Yeats

Druid: What would you, king of the proud Red Branch knights?

Fergus: This i would say, most wise of living souls:
Young subtle Conchubar sat close by me
When I gave judgement, and his words were wise
And what to me was burden without end
To him seemed easy, so I laid the crown
Upon his head to cast away my sorrow.

Druid: What would you, King of the proud Red Branch knights?

Fergus: A king and proud! And that is my despair
I feast amid my people on the hill
And pace the woods, and drive my chariot-wheels
In the white border of the murmuring sea
And still I feel the crown upon my head.

Druid What would you, Fergus?

Fergus: Be no more a king
But learn the dreaming wisdom that is yours.

Druid: Look on my thin grey hair and hollow cheeks
And on these hands that may not lift a sword
This body trembling like a wind-blown reed
No woman's loved me, no man sought my help.

Fergus: A king is but a foolish labourer
Who wastes his blood to be another's dream.

Druid: Take, if you must, this little bag of dreams;
Unloose the cord, and they will wrap around you.

Fergus: I see my life go drifting like a river
From change to change, I have been many things
A green drop in the surge, a gleam of light
Upon a sword, a fir-tree on a hill
An old slave grinding at a heavy quern
A king sitting upon a chair of gold.
But now i have grow nothing, knowing all.
Ah! Druid, Druid, how great webs of sorrow
Lay hidden in the small slate-coloured thing!

Writings of Roman Historians

Throughout Gaul there are two classes of persons of definite account and dignity. The common people are treated almost as slaves and are neither heard nor listened to in councils. Most of them, in debt or under heavy tribute or by the injuries of those more powerful commit themselves in service to the nobles, who have over them all the rights which masters hold over slaves. Of the two notable classes, one consists of druids and the other of knights. The first concern themselves with divine affairs, managing public and private sacrifices and interpreting matters of religion. A great number of young men gather about them to learn and hold them in great honor. In fact, it is they who decide in almost all disputes, public and private; and if any crime has been committed, or murder done, or there is any dispute about succession or boundaries, they also decide it, determining rewards and penalties: if any person or people does not abide by their decision, they ban such from sacrifice, which is their heaviest penalty. Those that are so banned are reckoned as impious and criminal; all men move out of their path and shun their approach and conversation, for fear they may get some harm from their contact, and no justice is done if they seek it, no distinction falls to their share.

Of all these druids one is chief, who has the highest authority among them. At his death, either any other that is pre-eminent in position succeeds or, if there be several of equal standing, they strive for the primacy by the vote of the druids, or sometimes even with armed force. These druids, at a certain time of the year, meet within the borders of the Carnutes, whose territory is reckoned as the center of all Gaul, and sit in conclave in a consecrated spot. [Note: Chartres Cathedral, in France,is built on the site where that gathering occurred. --Cath] There assemble from all directions those who have disputes, and they obey the decisions and judgements of the druids. It is believed that their rule of life was developed in Britain and from there transferred to Gaul; and today those who would study the subject more accurately journey, as a rule, to Britain to learn it. [VI:13]

The druids usually hold aloof from war, and do not pay war-taxes with the rest; they are excused from military service and exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great rewards, many young men are attracted to the training; many others are sent by parents and relatives. Reports say that in the schools of the druids, they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. I believe that they have adopted the practice for two reasons: that they do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing and so neglect the cultivation of the memory; and in fact it does usually happen that the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of the memory.

The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass from one to another; and this belief they hold to be the greatest incentive to valor, as the fear of death is thereby cast aside. Besides this, they have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.[VI:14]

The whole nation of the Gauls is greatly devoted to ritual observances, and for that reason those who are smitten with the more grievous maladies and who are engaged in the perils of battle either sacrifice human victims or vow to do so, employing the druids as ministers for such sacrifices. They believe, in effect, that, unless for a man's life a man's life be paid, the majesty of the immortal gods may not be appeased; and in public, as in private, life they observe an ordinance of sacrifices of the same kind. Others use figures of immense size, whose limbs, woven out of twigs, they fill with living men and set on fire, and the men perish in a sheet of flame. They believe that the execution of those who have been caught in the act of theft or robbery or some crime is more pleasing to the immortal gods; but when the supply of such fails they resort to the execution even of the innocent. [VI:16]

Among the gods, they most worship Mercury [Note: This is the Roman god who was equated with the Celtic deity Lugh --Cath]. There are numerous images of him; they declare him to be the inventor of all arts, the guide for every road and journey, and they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making and traffic. After him they set Apollow, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Of these deities they have almost the same idea as all other nations: Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva supplies the first principles of arts and crafts. Jupiter holds the empire of heaven; Mars controls wars. To Mars, when they have determined on a decisive battle, they dedicate as a rule whatever spoil they may take. After a victory they sacrifice such living things as they have taken, and all the other effects they gather into one place. In many states heaps of such objects are to be seen piled up in hallowed spots, and it has not often happened that a man, in defiance of religious scruple, has dared to conceal such spoils in his house or to remove them from their place, and the most greivous punishment, with torture, is ordained for such an offense. [VI:18]

The Gauls affirm that they are all descended from a common father, Dis[Roman god of the Underworld], and say that this is the tradition of the druids. For that reason they determine all periods of time by the number, not of days, but of nights, and in their observance of birthdays and thebeginnings of months and years day follows night. .... [VI:18]

Those states which are supposed to conduct their public administration to greater advantage have it prescribed by law that anyone who as learnt anything of public concern from his neighbors by rumor or report must bring the information to a magsitrate and not impart it to anyone else; for it is recognized that often times hasty and inexperienced men are terrified by false rumors, and so are driven to crime or to decide supreme issues. Magistrates conceal what they choose, and make known what they think proper for the public. Speech on state questions, except by means of an assembly, is not allowed. [VI:20]

The Germans differ much from this manner of living. They have no druids to regulate divine worship, no zeal for sacrifices. They reckon among the gods those only whom they see and by whose offices they are openly assisted, such as the Sun, the Fire-godand the Moon. Of the rest they have not even heard. [VI:21]

Flat-bottomed boats were built to contend with the shifting shallows,and these took the [indigenous] infantry across. Then came the cavalry; some utilized fords, but in deeper water the men swam beside their horses. The enemy lined the shore in a dense armed mass. Among them were black-robed women with dishevelled hair like Furies, brandishing torches. Close by stood Druids, raising their hands to heaven and screaming dreadful curses.

This weird spectacle awed the Roman soldiers into a sort of paralysis. They stood still, and presented themselves as a target. But then they urged each other (and were urged by the general) not to fear a horde of fanatical women. Onward pressed their standards and they bore down their opponents, enveloping them in the flames of their own torches. Suetonius garrisoned the conquered island. The groves devoted to Mona's barbarous superstitions he demolished. For it was their religion to drench their altars in the blood of prisoners and consult their gods by means of human entrails.

Tacitus, Annals XIV.28-30 (Penguin ed, pp. 327-328). There is talk of human sacrifice in sacred groves also in Tacitus' Germania: (9) worship of "Mercury" by human sacrifice, "Hercules," "Isis," and "Mars" mentioned, noting that the Germans consider it "unfitting with divine majesty to confine their gods within walls or represent them resembling human features, making instead their holy places in woods and groves, calling godlike that hidden something which is seen only by the eye of piety." This is also mentioned in (39) where the grove ceremony is opened with a human sacrifice and "reverence is paid to the grove in that no one may enter unless bound by a cord to acknowledge the power of the deity." (40) makes reference to a belief in Nerthus, a "Mother Earth" who "takes interest in humanity and rides through their tribes. In an island of Ocean [Britain/Ireland?] stands a sacred grove" and within that a draped "holy of holies," the goddess being paraded through the people who in deference lay down arms and "lock all objects of iron away" until she is returned and washed clean in a secluded lake, after which the slave/washers who do so are drowned, to increase the mystery about her." The Suebians are particularly marked out by Tacitus as revering women and goddesses in his Germania.

The Charm of Making

Old Irish: Ana/l nathrach, orth' bha/is's bethad, do che'l de'nmha.

Modern English: Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making.

Preparing for The Battle

Then he asked the cup-bearers what help they could give. "We will put a strong thirst on the Fomor," they said, "and then we will bring the twelve chief lochs of Ireland before them, and however great their thirst might be, they will find no water in them: Derc-loch, Loch Luimnech, Loch Orbsen, Loch Righ, Logh Mescdhae, Loch Cuan, Loch Laeig, Loch Echach, Loch Febail, Loch Decket, Loch Riach, Mor-Loch. And we will go." they said, "to the twelve chief rivers of Ireland: The Buas, the Boinn, the Banna, the Nem, the laoi, the Sionann, the Muaid, the SLigech, the Samair, the Fionn, the Ruirtech, the Siuir; and they will all be hidden from the Fomor the way they will not find a drop in them. But as for the men of Ireland", they said, "there will be drink for them if they were to be in battle to the end of seven years."

And Figol, son of Mamos, the Druid, was asked then what he would do, and he said "It is what I will do, I will cause three showers of fire to pour on the faces of the army of the Fomor, and I will take from them two-thirds of their bravery and their strength, and I will put sickness on their bodies and on the bodies of their horses. But as to the men of Ireland, "he said, "every breath they breathe will be an increase of strength and of bravery to them; and if they are seven years in the battle they will never in any way be tired."

Then Lugh asked his two witches, Bechulle and Dianan: "What power can you bring to the battle?" "It is easy to say that", they said, "We will put enchantment on the trees and the stones and the sods of the earth, till they become an armed host against the Fomor, and put terror on them and put them to rout."

Then Lugh asked Carpre, the poet, son of Etain, what could he do. "It is not hard to say that," said Carpre, "I will make a satire on them at sunrise, and the wind from the north, and I on a hill-top and my back to a thorn tree, and a stone and a thorn in my hand. And with that satire", he said, "I will put shame on them and enchantment, the way they will not be able to stand against fighting men".

Then he asked Goibniu the Smith what he would be able to do. "I will do this", he said. "If the men of Ireland stop in the battle to the end of seven years, for every sword that is broken and for every spear that is lost from its shaft , I will put a new on in its place. And no spear-point that wil be made by my hand," he said, "will ever miss its mark. And that is more than Dolb, the smith of the Fomor, can do" he said.

"And you, Credne", Lugh said then to his worker in brass, "what help can you give to our men in the battle?" "It is not hard to tell that", said Credne, "rivets for their spears and hilts for their swords and bosses and rims for their shields, I will supply them all."

"And you, Luchta," he said then to his carpenter, "what will you do?" "I will give them all they want of shields and of spear shafts" said Luchta.

Then he asked Diancecht, the physician, what he would do, and it is what he said: "Every man that will be wounded there, unless his head is struck off, or his brain or his marrow cut through, I will make him whole and sound again for the battle on the morrow."

Then the Dagda said: "Those great things you are boasting you will do, I will do them all with only myself." "It is you are the good god!" said they, and all gave a great shout of laughter.

Selections from the Triads of Ireland

Three nurses of theft: a wood, a cloak, night.

Three things that hide ugliness: good manners in the ill-favoured, skill in a serf, wisdom in the misshapen.

Three keys that unlock thoughts: drunkenness, trustfulness, love.

Three signs of a bad man: bitterness, hatred, cowardice.

Three candles that illume every darkness: truth, nature, knowledge.

Three sparks that kindle love: a face, demeanour, speech.

Three ruins of a tribe: a lying chief, a false judge, a lustful priest.

Three things that constitute a physician: a complete cure, leaving no blemish behind, a painless examination.

Three rude ones of the world: a youngster mocking an old man, a robust person mocking an invalid, a wise man mocking a fool.

Three youthful sisters: desire, beauty, generosity.

Three aged sisters: groaning, chastity, ugliness.

Three things that ruin wisdom: ignorance, inaccurate knowledge, forgetfullness.

Three things that are best for a chief: justice, peace, an army.

Three things that are worst for a chief: sloth, trechery, evil councel.