Here’s an excerpt from the discussion we had last week on the role of the awenydd and awen, at this point in the conversation from the perspective of The Book of Taliesin poem ‘Angar Kyfundawt’. My translation of the beginning of the poem is below. As I explained in this series of blog posts a few yearsContinue reading “Awen and Awenydd in Angar Kyfundawt”
Category Archives: Celtic Studies
The Coligny Calendar
A lot of nonsense has been written about Celtic calendars in recent years, but there is one Celtic calendar that is both ancient and authentic, and that is the Coligny Calendar.
The Tablet of Chamaliẻres
About two thousand years ago, a Gaulish Celt scratched a few words onto a piece of lead and gave it as an offering to a sacred spring. Why? You’re about to find out.
The Oldest Celtic Text in the World?
Celts from the West
I’ve been asked a few times in the last month or so about the recent turn (or revolution?) in the academic understanding of Celtic history. At the centre of this new perspective is Prof. Barry Cunliffe (with help from John Koch in Aberystwyth). This is the best (most thorough) video presentation I’ve found. Enjoy: HisContinue reading “Celts from the West”
Celts: Art and Identity
This week I visited the British Museum in London to take a look at their exhibition ‘Celts: Art and Identity’. Having studied many of the artefacts that were on display, it was always going to be a real treat for me. I arrived in great anticipation: I was finally going to see the Gundestrup cauldron, TheContinue reading “Celts: Art and Identity”
Translation . . .
The vast majority of those with an interest in Celtic myth will only ever read source texts in translation and with no prior exposure to Celtic language or culture. This is important to keep in mind because on occasion the more subtle ideas contained in a text can be mangled beyond recognition by the translatingContinue reading “Translation . . .”
Roland Barthes’ definition of myth
If, as many scholars have pointed out, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi are derived from an earlier mythology, it’s probably best to begin with the question: what exactly is a myth? In the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the first meaning given to a myth is . . . a traditional narrative usually involving supernatural orContinue reading “Roland Barthes’ definition of myth”
Cernunnos: a Jungian symbol?
To explore Jung’s theory of the unconscious I’m going to look at a very ancient symbol, that of the horned or antlered human. This symbol has been expressed by many cultures across the world – we find it in Africa, Asia and Europe in images dating from the very earliest periods of human history. IfContinue reading “Cernunnos: a Jungian symbol?”
Jung on myth and symbol.
All myths and symbols arise initially in peoples imaginations, and if they are artists they will express them in creative terms more or less understandable to those around them. All of human imaginative life is inherently influenced by the unconscious, that aspect of the psyche that’s outside of our awareness, containing such things as instinctsContinue reading “Jung on myth and symbol.”