Symbols BK

(A work in progress) While there are many symbols sacred to many cultures and toutas in our Sinnsreachd and of possible amulet or use in Draíocht . I will be trying to keep adding to this blog  so that it becomes a chapter in Lebor Druidic.

Ref.http://hoodoo-vodou-druido-grove.blogspot.com/2014/03/old-irish-terms-i-have-used.html

I will use some from dear departed Isaac Bonewits web site to start off.

http://www.neopagan.net/DruidSymbols.html

And then as time allows add historic links to their use if I can find them.

C::

Cauldrons
"The Cauldron of Poesy" Here we have both internal Cauldrons and again the number three.
http://www.ancientmusic.co.uk/files/cauldron_of_poesy.pdf


T::

The Triskellions: (tris·kel·i·on  trīˈskelēən,tri-)  anoun a Celtic symbol consisting of three legs or lines radiating from a center.

We start with one the Cosmic Salamander Inc. is bringing back into public use.

A modern labeled (Blessed by Druids) According to Ellen Evert Hopman of the Order of the Whiteoak (Ord Na Darach Gile), “this symbol, designed by J. Craig Melia, is meant to function as a Druidic equivalent to the Kosher marks used in Judaism

Here the  triple spiral or triskele is a Celtic and pre-Celtic symbol found on a number of Irish Megalithicand Neolithic sites, most notably inside theNewgrange passage tomb, on the entrance stone, and on some of the curbstones surrounding the mound. *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_spiral)So now we have some historic roots.

Triple spiral visible on entrance stone at Newgrange

Auspicious carved stone from the hill-fort of Santa Tegra (A Guarda, Galicia)
.

Triskel modelled after those of the Amfreville Gaulish helmet

Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age use in EuropeThe triskelion symbol appears in many early cultures, the first in Malta (4400–3600 BC) and in the astronomical calendar at the famous megalithic tomb of Newgrange in Ireland built around 3200 BC,[6] Mycenaean vessels, on coinage in Lycia, and on staters of Pamphylia (at Aspendos, 370–333 BC) and Pisidia. It appears as a heraldic emblem on warriors' shields depicted on Greek pottery.[7]
Familiar as an ancient symbol of Sicily, the symbol dates back to when Sicily was part of Magna Graecia, the colonial extension of Greece beyond the Aegean.[8] Pliny the Elder attributes the origin of the triskelion of Sicily to the triangular form of the island, the ancient Trinacria (from the Greek tri- (three) and akra (end, limb)), which consists of three large capes equidistant from each other, pointing in their respective directions, the names of which were Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybæum.[citation needed]
The Celtic symbol of three conjoined spirals may have had triple significance similar to the imagery that lies behind the triskelion. The triple spiral motif is a Neolithic symbol in Western Europe. It is considered a Celtic symbol but is in fact a pre-Celtic symbol.[9] It is carved into the rock of a stone lozenge near the main entrance of the prehistoric Newgrange monument in County Meath, Ireland. Newgrange, which was built around 3200 BC,[6] predating the Celtic arrival in Ireland but has long since been incorporated into Celtic culture.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskelion)
Ancient Greek beaked jug decorated with triple spirals


Rhine Celts, electrum 'regenboogschoteltje' or rainbow cup with triskele

2)

The Druid Sigils

Often used by the "RDNA Reformed Druids North America"

ADF  "Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship" Sigal

Merlins-Sigil

Keltria, a Neopagan Druid organization that branched off from ADF, has kept the Druid Sigil as a wreath and added the Awen in the cente.




3)

The Awen 

From the Lebors "Barddas  1862 and 1874" 
by Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg) 1747-1826

 Much could be said here but that is not our purpose now.


The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids places the Awen inside a set of three circles (right), representing Iolo’s three “stages of existence.”  Again influence from the "Barddas Lebors"

Celtic knots: are a variety of knots and stylizedgraphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic style ofInsular art. These knots are most known for their adaptation for use in the ornamentation of Christianmonuments and manuscripts, such as the 8th-century St. Teilo Gospels, the Book of Kells and theLindisfarne Gospels. Most are endless knots, and many are varieties of basket weave knots. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_knot)
Stone Celtic crosses, such as this, are a major source of knowledge regarding Celtic knot design.

Almost all of the folios of the Book of Kells contain small illuminations like this decorated initial.



4) The Druids Foot.


A serpentine stone with a hole in it is also called a Druid's Foot. Some also call a Pentacle a Druid's Foot.

 For (Drudden Fuss) see.

A dissertation upon the Druids

by M. Esaias Pufendorff, of Chemnitz. Translated from the Latin by Edmund Goldsmid 

Publication Date: 1650; this translation published in 1886.

5)

Pine-tree : symbolic of responsibility, valour, protection of the tribe and the social order.

6)

Bradán Feasa > Irish The Salmon of Knowledge.

Celtic Irish myth of the Well of Segais (Well of Wisdom), a well or pool surrounded by nine hazel trees.
These hazel trees dropped their nuts into the water and the water sustained the trees.
In turn the Salmon of Knowledge ate the nuts that fell into the water,and to eat the salmon
meant that the person was granted knowledge and poetic inspiration.  

7)
Stall and Distaff > Weaver’s distaff.
 Stang is an Old English term for a distaff which in its earliest form was simply a forked tree branch with two or more tines. A distaff was a tool for handspinning used every day by women for at least 2000 years before it went out of fashion with the invention of the spinning wheel and its introduction to Europe in the early 13th century and then mechanical wheels during the industrial revolution. Raw carded fibre is tied to the top of the distaff which was usually taller than the spinner and the fibre was continuously pulled, twisted and spun onto a spindle.

“The so-called ‘sacred object’ held in such reverence by some witches was in fact a weaver’s distaff–and could easily be mistaken for a phallic symbol. The weaver’s distaff, bound with reeds or straw, appears frequently in rural carvings and elsewhere. It again has reference to the Craft and supreme Deity. It would appear that the witches were not in the least influenced by Freudian concepts.”

8)
Bell Branch
 Lets not forget the Bard's Bell Branch or that of the Moot's too.




The Numbers

1:

2:

3:

While Three was the magic number of binding and establishing, nine symbolized completeness and wholeness.

Ref 09


"The Cauldron of Poesy" Here we have both internal Cauldrons and again the number three.
http://www.ancientmusic.co.uk/files/cauldron_of_poesy.pdf

4:
Now four is interesting and has many possibilities.  In the  Four Treasures we see four items and four lost cities too. One could see many ways to use these.

Four magickal treasures: the Stone of Fal, from Falias; the Spear of Lugh, from Gorias; the Sword of Nuada, from Findias; and the Cauldron of the Dagda, from Murias.

5:

Fairy count by five:

  

While the old man smiled, and Gwyn renewed his vow, the new wife began to

count by fives--one, two, three, four, five.
( http://www.zeluna.net/welsh-fairytales-theladyofthelake.html)
Mythological figures wore five-fold cloaks:

Also in Hanover: A church with a pentagram

For my full study of Five go here.

Penta Pentacle Pentagram
http://hoodoo-vodou-druidogrove.blogspot.com/2014/05/penta-pentacle-pentagram.html

6:

7:

8:

9:
 Nine : while Three was the magic number of binding and establishing, nine symbolized completeness and wholeness.

Ref 09

So do any or all of these symbols fit one Druidry, where, how and why?









Each of us must answer that for our selves or accept what ever Order if any we follows ideas.

Moon Rising

TDK / The Druid King