Axis Mundi
In the Irish collection known as the Immrama (“wondrous voyages”), there is a tale in which a group of men wandering about the sea come upon a tremendous column of silver ascending from the ocean protruding vastly up into the sky. This column had a girth of ‘8 oarstrokes in circumference without a sod of Earth upon it’.
May this pertain to the legendary axis mundi, the ‘axis of the world’?
For it is known through the accounts of Strabo that the so-called Keltoí feared nothing but the crashing down of the heavens upon the Earth. When Alexander the Great met with a group of friendly Celts, this is what they had to say:
“Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, says that during this campaign some Celts living near the Adriatic arrived seeking good will and friendship. Alexander received them warmly and while they were sharing a drink asked them what they feared the most, thinking they would say him. They answered that they feared nothing except that the sky might fall down on them but that they honoured the friendship of a man like him more than anything.” Ptolemy I (s.v. Strabo 7.3.8; Koch: 23-24).
If this great silver column (colún airgead) were in fact holding up the world (perhaps via opposite charges at either end?), would it not be the very thing the Celts would honor and respect the most if they feared nothing more than that the very sky it upheld would come crashing down upon them?
Druid and oak leaves on a 19th century silver piece
Tuatha Dé Danaan
Since before the time when Credne, the smith of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, crafted a hand of silver for their injured and maimed king, Núada, silver has held a place in both the magical and the practical amongst our ancient ancestors (a Welsh leader, Llaw Ereint, received the same title, being perhaps a reiteration of the same tradition).
King Núada Airmead (Núada “Silver Hand”) was the fabled king of the Tuatha Dé Danaan (perhaps translatable into “the tribe of the Gods of Dan, or Danú”; whereas some liken this namesake to those godly beings of ancient Sumeria, the Annunaki) who led his kind in victorious battle over the presiding Fírbolg who had ruled Ireland for a good while, oppressing its people with heavy taxation on their production from the land.
King Núada and his sword of Light (Artist: James Fitzpatrick)
At the two battles of Moytura, in the present day county Sligo, the Tuatha Dé Danaan drove the Fír Bolg back into the sea but not before King Núada’s hand was chopped off (Joseph Campbell and George Lucas were avid admirers of Irish Mythology). Because a king who had any physical blemish could not continue to reign, he was replaced by Brés the Beautiful. Brés, was born unto a Tuatha Dé mother, but his father, unbeknownst to him as of yet, was the Fómorian king, Elatha.
Bres’ reign was tumultuous, for despite his beauty and his destiny to become king, the people lived in misery and were taxed heavily. Upon discovering the identity of his father, he found unrequited love with him and his bitterness grew.
The Silver Branch
For me, it's to let Nature work on you, I think that's the essence of how to be in the world, to find your place in the world is to let Nature work on you.
Just to be and be part of, be part of the Silver Branch singing.
- Patrick McCormack (from the film, The Silver Branch)
The story of the silver branch, or silver bough, is a common theme in Irish mythology. It is said that an order of Druids (Anradhs) carried a silver branch representative of their training. What this means precisely I’m not sure, but it is indicative, no doubt, of the sanctity placed upon the element for its refined and unique properties.
As a primary conductor of electricity, silver offers a means by which one can control and influence subtle aspects of one’s environment. This, I believe, is what the Druids were capable of with their own technology, and is what is perhaps being referred to by ‘the silver branch’.
In the Immrama Bran, the Irish hero receives a passport to the Otherworld (Tír N-aill) from a fairy queen (Note: The Tuatha Dé Danaan are later sometimes referred to as the Fay, or Fey/Fé. Rí means “king” in Irish. Thus, Fé-Rí would pertain to a “King of the Tuatha Dé” or a royal member of the Tuatha Dé. That is how I’ve come to read it.), by way of a silver branch.
In the classic, Voyage of Bran, this king hears the sweetest music to which he attends, only to find this glistening white bough with flowers indistinguishable from its branch. Upon bringing the magical branch to his court, a glowing woman appears and sings…
A branch of the apple-tree from Emain
I bring, like those one knows;
Twigs of white silver are on it,
Crystal brows with blossoms.
There is a distant isle,
Around which sea-horses glisten:
A fair course against the white-swelling surge,--
Four feet uphold it.
And the woman disappears just as she had appeared but with the silver branch in hand as ‘there was no strength in Bran’s hand to hold the branch.’
Thus began an epic journey by Bran and his men, westward across the sea to visit enchanted islands over many ages.
Then there is Cormac's Adventure in the Land of Promise, a sad tale in which the great king becomes possessed by his quest while putting his family up for bargain.
This time, it was a grey-headed warrior who brought the silver apple branch tempting the king with its magical powers. For this silver branch could dispel the agony, misery, and sadness of whomever it may be waved upon by putting them into a deep slumber. For a king to know that he could restore the happiness of his people with the wave of a single branch was too great a temptation to pass up. But the boon which was to be asked three times, was at the discretion of the grey-headed warrior. So caught was the king Cormac by the magic of this branch, that he did not foresee his eldest daughter being taken from him by the grey-headed man as his first boon to be asked.
Alas, Cormac could dispel the pain and agony of the people, including his family, by a wave of the magic silver branch. But the grey-headed warrior came a second time and requested Cormac’s son. Not a one at Tara, the seat of the king of Érin, slept or ate that night. So Cormac waved the branch once again and all the people fell into a deep slumber to forget their ills.
The mysterious man returned a third time and Cormac asked, “What is it you ask this time?” “Your wife,” answered the man.
This time Cormac follows the man and embarks upon a journey. Eventually, he is engulfed by a great mist. Once the mist dissipates, he finds himself on a great plain, in the Land of Promise. There he finds palaces plated in gold and bronze. Houses plated in silver, thatched with the white wings of birds. He witnesses five streams flowing from the fountain of knowledge, these the five senses through knowledge is obtained. He sees the tree of knowledge, a hazel, 9 of them around the fountain, casting their glowing purple nuts into the stream from which the salmon of knowledge eats and retains all wisdom.
Taken into a palace Cormac beholds the most beautiful woman. He is brought to a feast whereby he is lulled into sleep by song. When he awakens, he finds himself reunited by his family and the great man of the sea, Manannan Mac Lír, the grey-headed warrior who had brought the silver branch, accompanies them.
Then he was given a cup of gold from which he may discern truth from falsehood. Should ever three words of falsehood be told before this cup, the cup will break into three pieces. And he was given the silver branch for music and delight. Upon waking next, he and his family were restored to their palace at Tara along with the golden cup and silver branch.
Is this possibly where the Greek journey of Aeneas to the Land of the Dead derives from??
On that note, I’ll mention that Aen, or Ain, is the Old Irish version of Ian, which is now written as Seán. An ancient meaning for this name is the “spiritually perfected form of man”. Author Conor MacDari wrote that this is why Jesus (“Iesa” in Old Irish) needed to be baptized by John (John = “Aen” in Old Irish). John was very much ‘of the Earth’, whereas Jesus (Iesa) was ‘of heaven’.
Although I would like to go into this at great depth at a later date, I will mention here that the use of a branch is very interesting. What does the branch symbolize?
Of course, it is reflective of a tree, and trees were central in the spiritual thematic of these forest dwelling peoples. Additionally, throughout ancient times, not only a branch, but a rod, staff, wand, sceptre, crozier, trident, and other long, thin objects were clear symbols of power, authority, sovereignty, or the transmission of energy.
This is something I have thought about at length as a rod is slat in Irish (the root word of my surname). In fact, a king’s sceptre is slat na rí, or slatanrí - the Irish name for the belt of Orion. But I will leave that story for another time…
The symbol of the silver branch, I feel, relates a deeply profound and expansive concept deeply rooted in the nature of our reality, bridging the material and immaterial realms. As a sacred symbol with which to cross into the Otherworld, one could say it is emblematic of the crossing of the threshold from one aspect of the fundamental duality of our existence into the other. The vehicle - from the standpoint of consciousness - being our knowledge, sensual knowledge, of the realms of existence by which we are guided through our heart-mind consciousness into unknown terrain (our Tír Raon). Silver, therefore, represents the electrical and fluid nature of our being and the resonant qualities of all of creation by which we gather information, thus knowledge, from our senses across the entire plain of existence. When tuned properly (as the magical silver branch was), our instrument hums a melodious tune which dispels angst, agony, fear, and doubt.
Cycles of Time
Across Indo-European folklore, we have reference to extensive ages which ran in the thousands of years. The Vedas of India refer to these yugas in terms of 26,000 years - a number not too dissimilar from a full precession of the equinoxes (@25,868 years). The movement of the equinoxes along the ecliptic, as the Earth passes through the zodiac, is what allows us to experience a different “age” approximately every 2,155 years. Thus, we have the age of Pisces, age of Aquarius, and so on. Each age is marked by the presence of its particular constellation along the horizon at sunrise of the vernal equinox. Thus, we are considered to be moving from the age of Pisces unto Aquarius (as the Earth rotates around the sun in reverse through the progression of the zodiac) as one can find the top of Pisces located along the eastern horizon at sunrise on the vernal equinox (in spring).
Pisces relates to fish, Aquarius is referred to as the water bearer. Jesus is often referred to by the symbol of the fish. As the time of Jesus ushered in the Piscean age, we are now on the cusp of the Aquarian age. This is referred to in the Aquarian Gospel:
‘And then, the man who bears the pitcher will walk forth across an arc of heaven; the sign and signet of the ‘Son of Man’ will stand forth in the eastern sky. The wise will then lift up their heads and know that the redemption of the earth is near.’
In ancient depictions, gold & silver are displayed to represent the sun and the 12 signs of the zodiac, respectively. In this way, we can see the interplay of gold and silver throughout ALL ages of the full precession. As we’ll see, both gold and silver had their day (and their particular “age”), but this does not necessarily conflict with the reality of the continued interplay between the two primary precious metals of the ancient world.
Well now that we’ve established that, I’d like to point out that there were 4 major ages as identified within Vedic scripture, and then later by the Greeks (who openly admit they derived all of their knowledge from a much older source), and these were…
Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron
The 4 ages of humanity each related to a particular state of development in both our spiritual or mental nature, as well as the aspects of our material world. In relation to the Hermetic axiom: ‘As above, so below; as within, so without’.
Author of Irish Mythological Cycle and the Celtic Mythology, D’Arbois de Jubainville, states that the time of the Tuatha Dé Danaan’s reign represents the Golden Age, that of Partholon (who first colonized Ireland after the Great Flood) relates to that of the Silver Age, and the Nemedians as the Iron Age. But did perhaps Núada’s reign symbolize the Silver Age? And Bres’ reign the decline into the Bronze Age?
This is an interesting take, but perhaps on a different cycle of time than that of the Great Cycle?
Arianrhod, the daughter of Don in Welsh mythology, her name meaning “silver circled” (notice the familiar “Ar-“ prefix), referring to a circle of stars known as the Northern Crown is reminiscent of this concept of the sun (a golden orb) being surrounded by the silver stars of the zodiac.
The fabled “Golden Age” presaged the Age of Silver. Thus, the highest form of humankind is associated with the element gold itself, thus silver was the next step in the so-called devolution of humankind. Cyclical in nature, these same ages are meant to repeat, each time a tumultuous transition ushering in the new.
It should be noted that we are believed to be in the final days of the Kali Yuga (“age of darkness”), embarking once again onto the threshold of the Satya Yuga (“age of truth”). Through the lens of the Greeks, we might say that we are transitioning from the Iron Age back unto the Golden Age. As such, we are to be embarking upon a tumultuous path of tremendous upheaval from within ourselves and of the entire Earth, as well.
Airgead
Irish silver coin
The ancient name for money in Ireland was “airgead”. Like plata in Spain, this word also means silver.
Argentina is named for its silver deposits - argent is French for “silver”, argentum in Latin.
The prefix Ar-, or Agr-, has ancient underpinnings. It is used across the board in all higher aspects of culture from architecture, agriculture, arithmetic, artist, aristocrat - all relating to the Irish word ard, to mean “high, noble, lofty” which is cognate with the Spanish aire, meaning “air” also, rarified, noble, exalted.
Yet in this country, and throughout much of the Western world, silver was demoted from its honored place within the realm of commerce since antiquity beginning in the 1870s.
In 1871, silver was de-monitized in America. However, US coinage continued to be made with silver up until 1964 (at 92% pure).
This steady debasement of the silver coinage mirrors that of the Roman Empire and its steady decline. Their practice may be considered even more disingenuous in that they shaved the edges of their coins thus reducing the weight and putting the saved shavings back into circulation as additional coinage (to the governing body’s favor, of course). Modern governments, via central banks, can do the same thing today but by the push of a button.
This is how the marked edge of coins came to be, so that it could clearly be discerned that the coins had not been tampered with.
Money is our collective savings as a human race. The product of our contributed material value. The work that we have done. This is where so-called precious metals have value as a store of this valuation of our work completed. The properties of gold & silver are honored due to their uniqueness and they are often referred to as “God’s money”.
In that regard, no digital or paper money will ever supplant the true qualities of precious metals regardless of how people may come to believe in these surrogates, or fiats (something “decreed” by the powers that be, not by the Creator of life), as they are commonly referred to.
Thus, it is within the unparalleled fineness and beauty (once clearly represented in its name, Airgead) of the metal that it derives its status.
Perhaps if we were to restore an economy of “sound money” based upon the inherent and natural valuation of all goods and services, might we return to a global economy of just valuation, honor, integrity, and righteous, benevolent action for the benefit of all humankind?
In Andrew Powers’ insightful book, Ireland: Land of the Pharaohs, he states:
“Gold and silver were such a powerful money, during the founding of the united states of America, that the founding fathers declared that only gold or silver coins can be “money” in America. Since gold and silver coinage was heavy and inconvenient for a lot of transactions, they were stored in banks and a claim check was issued as a money substitute. People traded their coupons as money, or “currency.” Currency is not money, but a money substitute. Redeemable currency must promise to pay a dollar equivalent in gold or silver money. Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) make no such promises, and are not “money.” A Federal Reserve Note is a debt obligation of the federal United States government, not “money?’ The federal United States government and the U.S. Congress were not and have never been authorized by the Constitution for the united states of America to issue currency of any kind, but only lawful money, -gold and silver coin.”
I don’t believe that an economy of money is absolutely necessary for humans to live a fulfilling life on this Earth, but I do not see a way forward from where we are currently at without it. Undoubtedly, the spiritual ways of those such as the Australian Original peoples, and other long-lived, Earth-based cultures of the world, for example, whom have known a primarily spiritual state of existence with minimal emphasis on the material aspects of our world, show us that it is possible.
Are we living a ‘higher form’ of life on Earth within a monetary system? Do we even have a monetary system at present, or are we subject to a centralized system of financial currency that is at its core, criminal?
Whether it is a higher form or not (even with “real money”), is yet to be determined, in my opinion. Perhaps it is the grandest challenge for each of us - to find the real value in life regardless of material riches?
To become enthralled by the magic and splendor of the world’s greatest riches, and what they may offer us, such that we may bargain away those closest to us to receive these treasures - as the great Cormac did - is but a common human pitfall. But then to seek out our heart’s greatest adoration for the sake of reconnecting with our loved ones so that we may once again restore the richness of our “kingdom” with our loved ones close at hand, and to experience life’s greatest riches all the same…perhaps this is the grand task offered to each of us now.
References
Bonwick, James. Irish Druids and the Old Religion. 1894.
MacBain, Alexander. Celtic Mythology and Religion. 1885.
Powers, Andrew. Ireland: Land of the Pharoahs.