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introductory article.
Endnotes:
1 The Tuatha Dé Danann - "The People of the Goddess Danu," they were the next to
the last 'invaders' of pre-historic Ireland. They brought to Ireland Four Treasures: the
Stone of Fál, the Spear of Lugh, the Sword of Nuada, and the Cauldron of the Daghda.
2 Shunnache - An Old Faery name for the most basic energy underlying all life and
presence. It is the "energy" tapped into by the practice of draíocht.
3 Manred - A Welsh concept referring to structures and patterns lying immediately
behind the surface of our experienced reality.
4 Draíocht - One of the three primary arts, the word is used to refer to what we would
now called "magick" (in both the simple and the ritual sense). It means "the use of
powers to effect ends." Spell-casting, the use of evocations and invocations, the practice
of chanting, circle dancing (intended to bring about a particular end) and other arts are all
considered disciplines of draíocht.
5 Taghairm - A primary art of the wise, it refers to all the arts of'determining the nature
of events and places.' It involves the use of oracles or the interpretation of natural events
in an attempt to figure out "what's going on" and "what a mortal should do." Taghairm
has to do with discerning the way we should go.
6 Nechtan - the god and guardian of the Pool of Segais and the consort of the Boann. He
is the one who knows where the source of Inspiration is, and he goes there. He does not
have to go questing for Inspiration. He receives those seeking Inspiration, often offering
them a sacred Hazelnut or perhaps suggesting to them how they might catch one of the
elusive Salmon in the Pool.
7 The Boann - the All-Mother of the Irish Celts, the 'wife' of the Daghda and the mother
of Angus mac Óg; the Irish love-god. One of the Tuatha Dé Danann, she is said to have
dwelt at Brug na Bóinne and was primarily known as the Mistress of the Pool of Segais.
There she tends the salmon of wisdom and the nine sacred hazelnut trees. She is thus a
"mother of inspiration." Along with Brighid and Ceridwen, she is invoked by Celtic
Poets as the Muse.
8 Salmon - were sacred to the ancient Celts. If you caught one with your hands and held
it up to your ear, it would whisper wise ranns to you. Salmon leaping from a river were
symbolic of self-transcendence.
9 Hazelnuts - were symbolic of wisdom throughout the Celtic world. If you collect
Hazelnuts in the light of a Full Moon, it is said, they will be charged with lunar power
and thus eating them will help facilitate poetic inspiration. To hold a hazelnut in the
palms of ones hands while meditating was though to put one in touch with one's Muse.
10 Corrguine - One of the three primary arts of the wise, this word refers to what we
would now think of as "herbalism." It is connected with the word for "heron" in Gaelic,
and thus with all of the magic and mystery associated with that bird in Celtic mythology.
11 Habondia - A Goddess of Gardening and Horticulture and thus a sister of Brighid,
she was revered among the Celtic Britons. She was later adopted by the Anglo-Saxons in
England. She is sometimes known by the title, "Lady of Flowers and Delight."
12 Cernunnos - The Celtic God of the Wildwood and Lord of wild animals, he often
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