{"id":3307,"date":"2011-09-24T06:59:09","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T10:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/?p=3307"},"modified":"2011-09-22T13:04:52","modified_gmt":"2011-09-22T17:04:52","slug":"the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html","title":{"rendered":"The dream secret of Celtic inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/80\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3308\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/80\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Awen<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; inspiration &#8211; was, as Caitlin Matthews reminds us, &#8220;the supreme preoccupation of Celtic poets, especially among those who had inherited the ancient prophetic and visionary arts of the ovate or\u00a0<em>faith<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; probably the earliest form of Celtic shaman.&#8221;\u00a0[1]\u00a0The word\u00a0<em>a<\/em><em>wen<\/em>\u00a0derives from the Indo-European root\u00a0<em>-uel<\/em>, meaning &#8216;to blow&#8217;, and is kissing cousin with the Welsh,\u00a0<em>awel<\/em>\u00a0meaning &#8220;breeze&#8221;. In contemporary druidism,\u00a0<em>awen\u00a0<\/em>is depicted as three rays emanating from three points of light.<\/p>\n<div>We have a precious twelfth-century account of the importance of dreaming in the access to\u00a0<em>awen<\/em>\u00a0for the ancient Celtic poets and prophets. The source is Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) in his<em>Itinerary of Wales.\u00a0<\/em>Gerald describes the practice of the\u00a0<em>awenyddion<\/em>, or &#8220;inspired ones&#8221;. In a key passage, he writes:<\/div>\n<div>&#8211;<\/div>\n<div><em>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\u00a0<\/em><em>have received this gift.\u00a0<\/em>[2]<\/div>\n<div>&#8211;<\/div>\n<div>1. Caitlin Matthews, &#8220;The Three Cauldrons of Inspiration&#8221; in Caitlin &amp; John Matthews,\u00a0<em>The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom.\u00a0<\/em>Shaftesbury, Dorset and Rockport MA: Element, 1994, p. 219.<\/div>\n<div>2. Translation from Gerald of Wales in Nikolai Tolstoy,\u00a0<em>The Quest for Merlin.\u00a0<\/em>: Little, Brown, 1985, p. 140.<\/div>\n<div>&#8211;<\/div>\n<div><em>This article first appeared in <a href=\"http:\/\/mossdreams.blogspot.com\/\">The Robert Moss Blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Awen\u00a0&#8211; inspiration &#8211; was, as Caitlin Matthews reminds us, &#8220;the supreme preoccupation of Celtic poets, especially among those who had inherited the ancient prophetic and visionary arts of the ovate or\u00a0faith\u00a0&#8211; probably the earliest form of Celtic shaman.&#8221;\u00a0[1]\u00a0The word\u00a0awen\u00a0derives from the Indo-European root\u00a0-uel, meaning &#8216;to blow&#8217;, and is kissing cousin with the Welsh,\u00a0awel\u00a0meaning &#8220;breeze&#8221;. In&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,38,20,3,36],"tags":[602,605,604,607,603,393,606],"class_list":["post-3307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ancestral-traditions","category-ancient-religions","category-history-of-dreaming","category-imagination","category-myth","tag-awen","tag-bard","tag-caitlin-matthews","tag-celtic-shsmanism","tag-gerald-of-wales","tag-inspiration","tag-ovate"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The dream secret of Celtic inspiration - Dream Gates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The dream secret of Celtic inspiration - Dream Gates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Awen\u00a0&#8211; inspiration &#8211; was, as Caitlin Matthews reminds us, &#8220;the supreme preoccupation of Celtic poets, especially among those who had inherited the ancient prophetic and visionary arts of the ovate or\u00a0faith\u00a0&#8211; probably the earliest form of Celtic shaman.&#8221;\u00a0[1]\u00a0The word\u00a0awen\u00a0derives from the Indo-European root\u00a0-uel, meaning &#8216;to blow&#8217;, and is kissing cousin with the Welsh,\u00a0awel\u00a0meaning &#8220;breeze&#8221;. 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In&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html","og_site_name":"Dream Gates","article_published_time":"2011-09-24T10:59:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-09-22T17:04:52+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/files\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg"}],"author":"Robert Moss","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html","name":"The dream secret of Celtic inspiration - Dream Gates","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/files\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg","datePublished":"2011-09-24T10:59:09+00:00","dateModified":"2011-09-22T17:04:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/#\/schema\/person\/941740e4115cce34706832d06aa76b6b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/files\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/files\/2011\/09\/Awen_symbol.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/09\/the-dream-secret-of-celtic-inspiration.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The dream secret of Celtic inspiration"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/","name":"Dream Gates","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Robert Moss","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/#\/schema\/person\/941740e4115cce34706832d06aa76b6b","name":"Robert Moss","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/777\/7770e3a2cde4458084d9a31237336b92x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/777\/7770e3a2cde4458084d9a31237336b92x96.jpg","caption":"Robert Moss"},"description":"Robert Moss describes himself as a dream teacher, on a path for which there has been no career track in our culture. He is the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. Born in Australia, he survived three near-death experiences in childhood. He leads popular seminars all over the world, including a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. A former lecturer in ancient history at the Australian National University, he is a best-selling novelist, journalist and independent scholar. His nine books on dreaming, shamanism and imagination include Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, The Dreamer's Book of the Dead, The Three \"\"Only\"\" Things, The Secret History of Dreaming, Dreamgates, Active Dreaming and Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole. His most recent book is The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse. Over the past 20 years, he has led seminars at the Esalen Institute, Kripalu, the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, Bastyr University, John F. Kennedy University, Meriter Hospital, and many other centers and institutions. He has taught depth workshops in Active Dreaming in the UK, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Brazil and Austria and leads a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. He hosts the \"\"Way of the Dreamer\"\" radio show at www.healthylife.net. He has appeared on many TV and radio shows, ranging from Charlie Rose and the Today show to Coast to Coast and the Diane Rehm show on NPR. His articles on dreaming have been published in media ranging from Parade to Shaman's Drum.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mossdreams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/author\/rmoss"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3307"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3310,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions\/3310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}