Awen - inspiration - was, as Caitlin Matthews reminds us,
"the supreme preoccupation of Celtic poets, especially among those who had
inherited the ancient prophetic and visionary arts of the ovate or faith -
probably the earliest form of Celtic shaman." [1] The word awen derives
from the Indo-European root -uel, meaning 'to blow', and is kissing
cousin with the Welsh, awel meaning "breeze". In
contemporary druidism, awen is depicted as three rays emanating
from three points of light.
We have a precious twelfth-century account of the importance of dreaming
in the access to awen for the ancient Celtic poets and
prophets. The source is Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) in his Itinerary
of Wales. Gerald describes the practice of the awenyddion,
or "inspired ones". In a key passage, he writes:
Their gifts are usually conferred
upon them in dreams, Some seem to have sweet milk or honey poured on their
lips; to others [it seems] that a written document is applied to their mouths,
and immediately on rising up from sleep, after completing their chant, they
publicly declare that they have received this gift. [2]
1. Caitlin Matthews, "The Three
Cauldrons of Inspiration" in Caitlin & John Matthews, The
Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom. Shaftesbury, Dorset and Rockport MA:
Element, 1994, p. 219.
2. Translation from Gerald of Wales
in Nikolai Tolstoy, The Quest for Merlin. : Little, Brown,
1985, p. 140.
Art: John Martin, "The Bard" (1817)
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