Is there a Celtic Star Deity?

[Eilthireach]

Hello!

Does any of the Celtic pantheons have a deity who is explicitely linked to the stars, like the Egyptian goddess Nuit? I am not looking for a moon deity.

The goddess Sirona from Gaul has been mentioned, but there is not much known about her. Another try was Arianrhod, but she seems to be more of a moon goddess to me...?

Thank you very much in advance!

Eilthireach /|\.

[Corwen]

Arianrhod is the only one I can think of off the top of my head, her name is used for the Northern Crown constellation in Welsh (Caer Arianrhod), and her name's meaning (Silver Wheel) may refer to the wheel of the Zodiac. I'm sure there are others on this board who will have better ideas about this than I do.

[DaRC]

Hiya,

I think there have been references to the Great Bear / Big Dipper being called Arthur's Wain
although I do not think this is what you are looking for.

Are you looking for a stellar deity as opposed to a deity (if you call Arthur a deity) with a constellation named after them?

[Eilthireach]

Thank you both!

I am looking for a deity of the stars in general, like the Egyptian Nuit, or like Manannan mac Lyr is a god of the sea.
I know it's difficult... On the other hand I would be surprised if the Celts didn't have one.

Eilthireach.

[Beith]

Hi Eilthireach,

I don't know if there is much left in the way of evidence for a "star God" or goddess per se, but if you expand your "star" theme to include the sun and sky, then yes, there are several Gods/Goddesses with solar attributes and sky/God symbolism
in both Continental Celtic and Insular sources. My info below is very synoptic and brief as one could write much on the topic, but I just throw some ideas here. I know it's not specifically what you're looking for, if focusing on "stars" as opposed to "sun" "sky" but perhaps it fits if you expand your paradigm seeing the sun as a star and more generally, looking for sky Gods/Goddesses, which is in sync with the Celtic cosmology of Earth, Sea, Sky as realms bounding the world and which would be transgressed at "end times".

Continental sources:
From continental sources (Gaul) the ones that most readily spring to mind are:
- Belenus - who was likened by the Romans to Apollo, in his association with healing, sun and thermal springs and healing wells.
- Taranis - with solar wheel and epithet as "The Thunderer", equated with Jupiter by the Romans and strong "sky God" imagery
actually just in comment to Arianrhod above, her name literally translates as "Silver wheel" doesn't it? so that would seem a suitable insular analogy to the continental sun/sky gods with solar wheel representation.
- Apollo Granus & Sirona

I note in Prof Prionsias MacCana's "Celtic Mythology", that another name for the Gallo-Roman Apollo was "Grannus". I sought out info on the etymology of Granus and found a reference paper in ZCP 53 (Zeitschrif fur Celtische Philologie)by J Zeidler on the Etymology of Grannus, which highlights 3 associations in its introduction: (IE here meaning IndoEuropean root word)[Unfortunately I only have the beginning of the paper and not the full piece, but if you can access ZCP you can get it]

(1) from IE *gher/ghré meaning to "stand out", "project", and associated with "beard" "eyebrow"
(2) from IE *gwher- meaning "warm" "hot"
(3) from IE *gher- meaning "to shine" "gleam"

So again the light/warm/sun connection seems to be evident here as something related to a solar deity. That and the equivocation by the Romans of certain Gaulish Gods to theirs or to Greek Gods, such as Apollo and Jupiter, points to a sky/solar cult. By chance I happened across a note in MacCana on Apollo Granus saying he was often paired with the goddess Sirona, whose title derives from "Star" - so perhaps some searching there may lead to more information, both are associated with healing and healing wells. In one instance of her statutary, Sirona is depicted as wearing a tiara of stars.

This link from Wickipedia to the areas of her workship in east-central Gaul. I don't usually cite wickipedia but as it's dealing here with facts on depictions of the Goddess from temple sites and inscriptions extant - and on etymology of the name, it might be of interest.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirona

....The richly furnished spring sanctuary of Hochscheid (Cueppers 1990; Weisgerber 1975) was decorated with statues of Sirona and Apollo, again confirmed by an inscription (AE 1941, 00089 = AE 1945, 00121) Deo Apolli/ni et sanc/t(a)e Siron(a)e ... (to Apollo and holy Sirona ...). The statue of Sirona shows her carrying a bowl of eggs (Green 1986 p.162) and holding a long snake coiled around her lower arm (a link to the iconography of the Greek healing goddess Hygeia, daughter of Asklepios). She wears a long gown and has a star-shaped diadem on her head (a link with the meaning of the name Sirona).

Sirona Etymology:

The root is Gaulish *ster- (*h2ster) meaning a star (Markey 2001). The same root is found in Old Irish as ser, Welsh seren, Middle Cornish sterenn and Breton steren(n) (Delamarre 2003:282). The name Đirona combines the root *ster- with the -on- frequently, but not exclusively, found in theonyms (for example Epona, Matrona) and the usual Gaulish feminine singular -a (Hamp 1994).

Ancient Celtic Religon & Symbolism

J.A. MacCulloch's book: Religion of the Ancient Celts, also gives info on the "Celtic Apollo" and cites Diodorus, one of the classical writers (I presume Diodorus Siculus?) as stating that he had a circular temple in the "island of the hyperboreans" decorated with votive offerings and that every 19th year the God appeared in the sky dancing at the Spring Equinox.
Reference: http://books.google.ie/books?id=ZuxGB6A ... 9#PPA31,M1

For more detailed info on Gaulish deities and solar/sky associations, see Miranda Green "Symbol and religion in Celtic Art" . There's a link to sample chapters from her book here in which you may find some interesting reading (and for free!). I was googling for reference info on Camulus, for whom I think some sky-associations may also be found and this came up:
http://books.google.ie/books?id=km66Nu4 ... #PPA126,M1

She also comments on the "Sky Horseman" symbolism - because many portrayals in both Celtic and Roman sources of a sky God or some great father God, are represented through the association with the horse. I think this probably has strong parallels or common themes with ancient Hindu Horse lore and horse-sacrifice was practiced there to the Gods. For more info on that I think Dumézil would have some good info but also books on the Upanishads and contemporay practices of sacrifice and religious belief.

Irish sources
In Irish sources there's not a lot of info on a particular "sun God" or "sky God" really, moreso that solar imagery is associated with various Gods/Goddesses and the mothers of various Saints - their names and epithets invoking images of fire, radiance, sacred flame, etc.
- Irish/continental Brigit
- Irish Goddess Áine
- the name of one of the Gods of the Túatha Dé Danann - Mac Gréine "son of the sun"
- Lassair (names of many females supposed to have been mothers of Irish saints, name come from "flame", or "to light,burn" - an epithet for sanctity and gloriousness perhaps)
- I think St Gobnait may also have stemmed from a solar Goddess, her feast is also Imbolc in southwest Ireland and there are holy wells associated with her, for the cure of eyes, if memory serves.

Also - and here I note a comment from MacCana, p.32, that refers to St Patrick's Confessio, where he (St P) contrasts 'worship of the sun' as being inclined to damnation, with "worship of the true sun - Christ" (God who causes the sun to rise), which leads to eternal life. MacCana makes the point that although this piece from the Confessio seems to point towards sun worship as having been practiced, it does not necessarily make the case for it and may simply have been a theological analogy by Patrick through his training.

However one can look to the above Brigit, Áine, mac Gréine, and indeed to other local deities or early saints which have clear solar motifs and associations to see that the sun whether literally or metaphorically symbolizing greatness, power, brilliance, knowledge, radiance, glory, is present to a high degree in mythic and hagiographical sources. It appears in

(a) the legends and associations of gods/godesses - the obvious onces cited above but also consider "Balor of the evil eye" - his eye likened to a giant searing sun which burned all who stood before it promotes this idea (Rosc and suil in Old Irish used for both "eye" and "sun" in different pieces) and his place of death - Carn uí Néit - Mizen Head in south-west Ireland; and also possibly the Dagda - usually seen as an "earth God" but see below for a note on that.

(b) in the battles fought between the Formor and the TDD and Fir Bolg in the west of Ireland (at Moytura - Mag Tuired "the plain of towers") - west and southwest being the place of the setting sun - and the timepoints of occurrence of those battles perhaps having underlying solar significance - Bealtaine (Start of the summer half of the year) and a midsummer, according to some versions of tales.

(c) In legends of saints and their family - the use of Lassair to denote the mother of saints in early Ireland - a meaning taken from "flame", in the recognition of the saint at an early age by imagery of fire - great light, radiance projecting from their forehead or columns of flames rising over the houses in which they stayed.

(d) The Túatha Dé Danann, according to myth, held three things of great importance "The Plough, the Sun and the Hazel" and it is from these things that three of their great kings are named: mac Cecht "Son of the plough", mac Gréine "son of the Sun" and mac Coill "Son of the Hazel. Their wives were the queenly personfications of Ireland: Banba, Eire and Fotla.

(e) Recalling the sun-god "horseman" above mentioned for Gallo/Roman sources, it could be also borne out in Irish lore where one of the names for In Dagda mor (The Great Good God) is Eochaid Ollathair which would translate something like "Horseman All-Father" and great kings like Eochaid Airem, "Horseman-Ploughman" or "horseman of the plough" which also seem to evoke "father God"/horseman imagery, but maybe I am pushing a tenuous link here?

(f) I did read somewhere, many years ago, source long forgotten of a possible link between the father of Fionn mac Cumhaill ("Cumal") and continental "Camulus" who himself was associated with both Mars and Jupiter by the Romans. However the C of Cumhal may have been prefixed to the name Umhal by transfer from the preceding word mac (ie. Mac Umhaill, phonetically mac Cumhaill) so I don't know etymologically or mythologically whether such an association could be made. But in the sense that both were "Champions", associated with the military, then perhaps that is the link through analogy?

Hopefully some of the above is of use, I know it isn't directly connected to "stars" as opposed to "sun", "sky" except perhaps in the case of Sirona if you find more info linking her to stars on your searches. I think the solar symbolism is a better category to look in for sky/sun associations.

best regards (and if you turn up anything in your searches, please let us know!)
Beith

[inis]

Hi Eilthireach, hi everybody,

well, a deity of the stars and the night would be quite opposed to a light / sun god, wouldn't she? Rather distant, cold, cristalline... that would be rather the attributes.

According to sources... I spent some time on researching the web for some ideas - has anybody here studied all the material about the calendar of Coligny? This is a fragment of a celtic calendar, written in roman letters, starting with the month of "SAMON" (...). I just dipped into it, but maybe there (or on related websites) one could find more information about celtic deities and the skies?
I found a quotation from Caesar's bellum gallicum about "Dis Pater" being the god of the night (I haven't looked it up in the original, because I'm too tired by now...). But Dis Pater, the Father of the Gods, is nobody else than THE god, who is also the sun god...?

The idea with Arianrhod / Ariadne, wearing the Corona Borealis, is one of the best so far, I'd say... unfortunately the whole astronomy is dominated by Greek mythology, nearly no signs left of a western or northern european terminology... in the greek mythology a minor goddess named Dike (or Dike Astraia) is related to the stars; she is linked with justice and the libra, too, she's one of the Horae and has given her name to a star in the constellation of the virgo. Is there any justice-loving virgin in the celtic mythology? (I'm still a beginner... ) Another hint comes from the goddess Asteria, mother of Hekate and daughter of Phoibe. But these ideas only point to THE goddess in her three faces as being also a patroness of the stars...

I hope we're going to find out more - I love digging in mysteries and symbols...

[Beith]

HI Inis

well, a deity of the stars and the night would be quite opposed to a light / sun god, wouldn't she? Rather distant, cold, cristalline... that would be rather the attributes.

I think it all depends on what you put into your "search parameters". ie. one could look at opposition of night and light and make personal associations to the stars as being "distant, cold and crystalline", but one can also use the definition of stars as being bright, hot, firey and emitting light - and that is also how we also define the sun as a star. Similarly, one can make a broad definition of the stars being celestial objects, features of the sky - and therefore use a wider search related to "sky" deities, as opposed to a specific one related to the stars. It all depends on what you are looking for and what you include as your "search criteria" doesn't it?

Eilthireach can maybe specify whether he's looking for specific star-related Celtic deity, or whether a wider definition of sky deity would also suit, or indeed a sun god or goddess, if one includes the sun as a star.

Eilthireach, in giving the analogy to Nuit, which aspects of her mythos are you looking for? ie. from my understanding she was a sky deity, pictured with her body holding up the heavens or as a woman cloaked in stars, who birthed the sun God each day, and as such also became associated with death and rebirth. Would Hathor also fall into that category as a celestial Goddess with solar connection?*
I found this link to legends of Nuit/Nut which threw up two interesting points for me -
(a) She is also known as the solar cow or cow goddess (in which case compare mythology of Boand /Boann of the Irish Celtic mythology possibly derived in name from 'Bo fionn' "white cow")*
(b) the days on which birthed her children were 5 extra days in the Egyptian calendar. These days were labelled as "Lucky" or "unlucky" , which is also very similar to how the Coligny Calendar is divided - where days are categorized as MAT (cognate of Irish "maith" meaning "Good") and ANM (ANMAT) cognate with Old Irish prefix an (negative) and Maith (Good) therefore "Ungood". It would be interesting to know for what these 5 Egyptian calendar days were "lucky" or "Unlucky" - the Col Cal. seems to indicate certain days were good or not good for various activities.

*When I went to explore more of the Cow-Goddess image, I discovered Hathor has the same or similar imagery and is sometimes pictured as a cow with a sun-disc between her horns and also has relation to death and liquid. (as Nuit has solar-sky, cow and death/rebirth symbolism) see link: http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/hathor2.htm

I'm taking this info from here: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/nut.htm

Osiris - an unlucky day
Horus the Elder - neither lucky nor unlucky
Seth - an unlucky day
Isis - a lucky day, "A Beautiful Festival of Heaven and Earth."
Nephthys - an unlucky day

Re. Coligny Calendar,
Yes that's a wonderful piece of evidence of the teachings of a learned caste in Gaul in ancient times. I mentioned it above in my post above and wrote on it some time ago in a post in the Celtic studies forum, I think it was on "evidence for iron age druidry" if I recall, but it's some time ago since that post was active. But if you're interested, I think I put reference material to it from a paper by Prof MacNeill from last century who wrote a study of it and on the Gaulish names for the months and other terminology (the ATENOUX and ANM , MAT designations), format of the calendar, computation and the division of days and nights, etc. and on the associations with the computations based on the moon as per Pliny's record of the Mistletoe rite occuring on the "6th day of the moon" and so forth.

Thank you for posting the info on the Greek Goddesses mentioned above, I am not so well up on Greek mythology so I will look into those out of interest.

best wishes
Beith
(love your user name by the way!)

[Aethnen]

With Celtic deities, it's much harder to say "god/goddess of x,y or z" ... instead it's easier to look for associations, not actual roles or functionary deities.

So I don't really know of any Celtic star deity, BUT Arianrhod is the one of the lot who has the closest connections to the stars. As far as I know and as far as I've worked with her.

Otherwise, I think Brighid can be vaguely associated with the stars ... particularly venus or the morning star, because of her connections to Imbolc. If you wanted proof of that historically though, I couldn't give it. To me, it just makes sense ... stars are flames at night ... she is a flame/hearth/light goddess. Seems logical!

[wyeuro]

Isn't it fairly obvious after searching all the old literature, looking into obscure bits of abstruse research and even invoking the IE root words list (of which the Celts were entirely ignorant, that there just simply wasn't one? Only the Romans ever found a Roman-like Pantheon for the Celts. They themselves left us few records and most of what they did leave us was misinterpreted around Roman expectations. The Romans admitted that they found the Celts incomprehensible.

Why not, instead of following in the footsteps of our ancestors, seek what they sought. If you want a star deity to personify all the stars, and/or to guide your meditation upon them, why not simply ask the stars? That way, if poor old Arianrhod, or whoever else you wrestle into the role, persists as a living, conscious entity in the world, (as I'm convinced she does) she isn't being asked to be distorted into serving purposes she can't or doesn't want to serve at the expense of what she does want to inspire you with, as she would be if your guesses happened to be wrong. It would be discourteous at the very least.

If you ask me, the deva you want is the seal - the good old common seal of the Hebrides. Nobody knows the stars as well as they do, and they love getting in our human heads to share with us. I don't think they know the Zodiac, but they have a very articulate and detailed awareness of the forces and energies of the stars, and the thought transference (for the want of a better expression - it's articulate thought but not as we know it) coming from the different parts of the sky, and the different stars to planet earth. Try invoking the Selkie/sylkie/selchie spirit, which is half-human anyway, and see whether that improves your meditation on the stars.
You can find one of many versions of the old ballads about the selky here: http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selki ... ulesk2.htm , but actually seeing the animal or studying pictures of it and learning a bit about it might prove more truly druidic than looking for a deity. Didn't the Celts themselves (bearing in mind that that's a vague term and not necessarily what they called themselves) revere as a deity only that which had no image, no human face and could not be represented through any symbollism, but was the all of everything conceived of as being alive and aware?

blessed be
wyverne /|\

[Beith]

Hello,

Lest it not have been clear,

The point of the IE root-words - from which Celtic languages and other IE language sub-groups derive, is to show the origin or relationship of the God-name or epithet "Grannus" to words relating to "Gleam" "shine" etc. - sun-like, star-like, bright, radiant, light-related properties - all of which are associated with solar/sky deities, as demonstrated in repeated instances of God/Goddess attributes from Continental and Insular Celtic regions and are significant in the naming of a Gallo-Roman deity "Apollo-Granus" associated with the sky/sun. It may not match up to a star-deity per se, but if one is following ancient Celtic mythos regarding sky deities, perhaps one can include it, especially given the concordance the Roman's made between Apollo and Belenus, a celtic solar /sky god.

best regards
Beith

[wyeuro]

And of course, there's the great bear of the starry heavens.
wyverne /|\

[Eilthireach]

Good morning,

thank you all for your contributions, especially to Beith for her wonderful elaborations!

To complicate things more, the Egyptian goddess Nuit appears in two different cultural contexts.
In Egypt, she was more of a 'general' sky goddess.

Originally she was the goddess of the daytime sky, but in later times she was known simply as the sky goddess.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(goddess)

Via the 'Egyptian revival' Nuit came to the Golden Dawn and from there to Thelema. There, she is the goddess of infinite space and associated with the starry night sky.

Nuit is the Egyptian sky goddess who leans over her husband and her brother, Geb, the Egyptian Earth God. She is usually depicted as a naked woman who is covered with stars and is arching on all fours over Geb.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuit

I was referring more to the latter aspects of the goddess Nu(i)t: night sky, blue, stars...

I am aware that the gods and goddesses are not just drawers in a piece of furniture that we can fill with aspects and ideas as we like. On the other hand it should be possible to associate at least the most basic elements of every life experience (sky, sea, sun, moon etc.) to the deities of a pantheon, if that pantheon should be of more than a mere academical value.

Beltane blessings,

Eilthireach /|\.

[Corwen]

I don't think there is a clear Celtic parallel to Nuit, but there is a clear Germanic one if you don't mind mixing your pantheons...

Nótt (Night) is a Goddess mentioned in some of the later Norse sources. She is daughter of Nörvi (one of Loki's sons) and mother of Dagr (Day). She rides a chariot drawn by a horse with the beautiful name Hrimfaxi/Rimfax which means "Frost-mane" as in the English dialect word Rime meaning frost. Hrimfaxi's passing brings the frost and the foam from his mouth is the dew. In the Alvíssmál Nótt is also given the title Draumnjörun or "Dream-Norn" which means something between "Dream Goddess", "She who weaves Dreams" or "Fate-Dream". Dagr's chariot is drawn by a horse called Skinfaxi ("Shining-Mane").

I suspect this is really old Bronze Age stuff related to the votive gold chariots found in some Germanic contexts.

For a stunning musical evocation of this Goddess I can recommed the Gjallarhorn album Rimfaxe. http://www.gjallarhorn.com/rimfaxe.html

BTW nice to see you back Aethnen.

[astrocelt]

Hi Eilthireach

You may find this of interest if you are looking into Ra and Nut and its relationship to the Sun

The sun god is attributed to Ra who is born from the female sky goddess Nut. Nut is projected on the milky Way or the galatic disc which can be geocentrically viewed. Annually Nut swallows the sun as her mouth opens on the setting horizon.This is situated between Gemini as its sets on the horizon during the Spring Equinox c. 4500 - 3500 BCE.

The sun is reborn from the sky goddess at the winter solstice where the milky way divides into two arms or in this case from between Nut legs, situated at the constellation of cygnus. As the milky way fades in the morning of the solstice, leaving the helical rising of the Cygnus visible a little longer, the sun is then re born via the birth channel in the milky way. In the 4th millennium it was perceived as the goddess nut whom arched herself around the semi circular night vault, gave birth to the sun at its observed southeastern stand still point on the horizon. This cult was held at Heliopolis in lower Egypt on the Delta area until the unification with upper Egypt c. 3000 BCE.

Upper Egypt was more concerned with the helical rising of Sirius which marked the flooding of the Nile. However Sirius became equated with Isis becoming the daughter of Ra.

In the Pyramid Texts (c. 2400 BC), the dead pharaoh seeks to fly up to heaven and join the sun-god Re on his unceasing journey across the sky, incorporated, thus, in a mode of existence beyond change and decay. A passage in the later Book of the Dead (1200 BC) represents the deceased, who has been ritually identified with Osiris, declaring that he comprehends the whole range of time in himself, thus asserting his superiority over it.

Quoted from the communities Astronomy section relating to the Sun in Mythology|Druidic Dawn. A full Bibliography is also available to the sources used.

Cheers
astrocelt

[Eilthireach]

Thank you both! Very interesting!


Eilthireach.

[DaRC]

Maybe it is too simplistic to look to the Celtic Pantheon for a single deity as a general rule.
I had some time (a rarety at the mo' most of my life is taken up by training for the Etape) and did a hunt.

This Wikipedia entry has an intriguing thought from the Welsh Mythology that many in the House of Don have constellations named after them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%B4n
This could make the clan cognate with the heavens.
To extend this thought the Children of Llyr could, tenuously and tentatively, be regarded as a clan of the sea.

With regards to the Germanic mythology you can also view Odin and his brothers (who his brothers are is a completely separate debate) as responsible for the night sky - when they placed Ymir's skull above Ginnungagap to create it and then populated it with sparks from Musphelheim.
Odin also places Thjazi eyes in the heavens as Stars. In this respect the Heathen worldview seems to seperate Night and Day, Sun and Moon from the heavens and it's constellations.

[Eilthireach]

Hello Dave,

good thoughts, thank you!

Eilthireach /|\.

[odubhain]

I know I'm coming into this late but there is some evidence for Danu or Anu being a star goddess. She is sometimes called after a universal river that has among its many names "Roof of Heaven." I can see the Celts or their culture moving across the land and naming or renaming rivers after her as an echo of the "Sky River."

Searles O'Dubhain

[DaRC]

Interesting - I wonder if this "sky river" could be the Milky Way?

In the Norse myths the milky way flows from teats of Audhumla, the cow of creation so similarly linking the Milky Way with the central creation of the mythology. I know there is no Celtic creation myth but could this be a long lost echo from the past?

[odubhain]

I'm intrigued by the mention of a primal cow as this mirrors my understandings about Bóann. Here's an article onthis I posted to a newsgroup and am including in a book I'm writing:

Bóann as the Zodiac – The Wall of Beasts

While searching for the dindshenchas about Bóann, I came across this entry from the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland (Author: [unknown])

(http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100017/text001.html):

595 Kl. (And this is the twenty-fourth of the thirty-two years omitted at the deest.) The death of Colum Cille in the seventy-sixth year of his age; of which Fedelm sang:

1. Alas, truly,
for the salmon who was caught in the net;
the speckled salmon that was in the Bóand,
the Bóand that generates the wall of beasts;

2 the wall of beasts that surrounds Iasconius,
Iasconius who hides his fins;
alas for the death of the king's son;
alas for the destruction of Eithne's son.

This is a death poem honoring Collumcille and likens him to the Salmon of Wisdom. One wonders if the "wall of beasts" is a reference to the zodiac as if it was an enclosing ring between Earth and the heavens? This analogy is expanded or changed when one also understands that to the Irish,the Milky Way is the "Way of the White Cow" which also seems to be another name for Bóann (or Danu).

I include here some additional information from the dindshenchas as well as speculation on how the "Hazels of Wisdom" might well be divisions of the sky/year:

However the tale was told in Ireland about 1500 years ago as well. In that case Bóann challenged the Well of Segais and it cost her an arm, an eye, and a leg as she was washed to the sea by the well's rising. It's a story of opening one's inner flows to the source (as found in the Dindshenchas at http://www.mythicalireland.com/mytholog ... boand.html ):

Nechtain son of bold Labraid
whose wife was Boand, I aver;
a secret well there was in his stead,
From which gushed forth every kind of mysterious evil.

There was none that would look to its bottom
but his two bright eyes would burst:
if he should move to left or right,
he would not come from it without blemish.

Therefore none of them dared approach it
save Nechtain and his cup-bearers:-
these are their names, famed for brilliant deed,
Flesc and Lam and Luam.

Hither came on a day white Boand
(her noble pride uplifted her),
to the never-failing well
to make trial of its power.

As thrice she walked round
about the well heedlessly,
three waves burst from it,
whence came the death of Boand.

They came each wave of them against a limb,
they disfigured the soft-blooming woman;
a wave against her foot, a wave against her perfect eye,
the third wave shatters one hand.

She rushed to the sea (it was better for her)
to escape her blemish,
so that none might see her mutilation;
on herself fell her reproach.

Every way the woman went
the cold white water followed
from the Sid to the sea (not weak it was),
so that thence it is called Boand.

In Irish, the names of these three cupbearers (Flesc and Lam and Luam ) mean:

fleasc\1/ {.nf.} =
<1.a> rod
wand
fleasc choill, hazel-rod

<1.b> fleasc droma, spine

<1.c> stripling
scion

<2.a> band
hoop
circlet
(of wheel) rim
stud

<2.b> garland
wreath

<3> strip
splinter
fillet


<4.a> line (in ogham writing)
stroke (in ogham writing)

<4.b> dash

lámh\1/ {.nf.} =
hand
arm

<1.a> arm and hand

<1.b> hand

<12.b> lámh deoraí, "stranger's hand"
lámh deoraí, death
lámh ladrainn, "robber's hand"
lámh ladrainn, death

<14.a> handwriting

<14.b> signature

<16.a> an lámh mhór, the minute-hand
an lámh bheag, the hour-hand

<16.b> handle

<17> measure

luamh {.nm.} =
<1.a> pilot
steersman
guiding hand

<1.b> abbot

<2> yacht

As can be seen from the above definitions and the dindshenchas that was provided, these names are associated with Ogham, circles, wands, hands, arms and guidance as in steering or guiding hand. I maintain that the names seem to fit into the tale of how Ogham was invented by Ogma. It is said that Ogham's mother and father are the hand and the knife of Ogam, which were first used to carve a warning on a rod or wand of Birch. Here we can see equivalence between Ogma and Luam the steersman, Ogham and flesc, as well as the hand of Ogma and Lam. The controllers of the Well of Wisdom are then all associated with the Ogham.

The name of the well is Segais and it represents the flow of goodness and rightness into the world, even wisdom. It is associated with Bóann through here invocation of it but also because the root word of its name means milk or flow of milk. Bóann is the White Cow that nourishes the world from its beginnings. The flow of milk from it is the Milky Way. This well was also surrounded by the Nine Hazels of Wisdom (which we've discussed in greater detail previously on this newsgroup). I've done a similar analysis of their names and this is what I found:

These are the names of the nine hazels of wisdom according to Senbecc:

Sall – dirt; a prop? a post or beam?
Fall – satire; an enclosure; a ring; a circuit; a spot
Fuball – filth? a moving land? a course? a decision?
Finnam – bright song / time?
Fonnam – foundation song / time? ground song / time?
Fofuigell – (under? in the process of?) speech; discourse; a judgment
Crú – blood, gore; inheritance, enclosure
Crínam – withered, decayed, old time?
Cruanbla. – a crimson plain; lawn; field

Sall, Fall, and Fuball seem to represent the Sall - Pole Star (a post or beam), the Fall - Milky Way (an enclosure or circuit), while Fuball is the Zodiac (a moving land, a course, a decision).

Finnam, Fonnam and Fofuigell seem to be names for a time of Finnam - bright singing (Summer and Bealtaine/Bright Fires) and Fonnam – Foundation Song (Winter and Samhain/beginnings), while Fofuigell – Speech/Judgement seems to be a master of both.

Crú, Crínam and Cruanbla are names for the Otherworld with Crú being Lugh’s Enclosure, Crínam being the Ancient Plain or Sen Mage, while Cruanbla is the Crimson Plain which is the world that is reached by passing through (or beyond) blood. Red is the color of the Otherworld and it is also the color of the Dagda’s wisdom as found in one of his many names, Ruadh Rofessa.

The names of the Nine Hazels of Wisdom as given by Senbecc seem to be:

The Pole Star
The Milky Way
The Zodiac
Bealtaine
Samhain
Judgement
Lugh’s Enclosure
Sen Mage
The Otherworld

I hope to pursue these ideas and correspondences further as time allows.

Searles