An Tríbhís Mhór is Irish for 'the great triskell'. (Pronounced /a treeveesh wor/.) The triskell, or triple spiral, is the most widespread symbol of the Celtic cultural continuum.
It stands for the native Celtic affinity for conceptualizing life in triplisms, the most common of which is the 'land/sea/sky' formula. Many cultural groups have various symbols of their own. Nation-states have flags. Religions have various mystical symbols.
That a continuum of cultures springing from one source, a civilization if you will, should have such a symbol is no surprise.
I feel that An Tríbhís Mhór
is the most potent symbol of the entire matrix of Celtic values and distinctiveness. Thus I have chosen it as the title for this collection of writings.
A lot of ignorant assumptions are held by many people of today in regards to the Celts, who they were, and who they are now. Some of the worst offenders are people who claim to
identify with the Celtic people, or with Celtic forms of spirituality. Celtic wisdom, culture, and languages display a profound variety of approaches to life. Some of them contradict the caricatures
that many people imagine are markers of Celtic identity. And contrary to what many think, much of Celtic culture, thought, and language is thoroughly different from the dominant Western socio-cultural world.
Ny yskynner war venydhyow dre vyras orta
"Mountains are not climbed upon by [merely] looking at them" [-Kernewek/Cornish]
The work of maintenance and revival of Celtic cultures is an ongoing difficult endeavor to affirm our basic right to exist as Celtic people, fully valid on our own, and not merely as colorful 'Celtic-tinged' appendages of Anglo-American or French societies.
It encompasses everything related to the following points:
the revival and reconstruction of our native forms of spirituality, whether Pagan or Christian;
the political struggles to have Celtic communities recognized as valid and worthy of autonomy and independence from the English and French societies which currently oppress them,
whether through social/civil disobedience, through other methods of direct action, or through physical force. The ultimate goal being socio-cultural autonomy and, if necessary, political independence for all Six Celtic Nations;
the movement to both restore Celtic languages to positions of vitality and to create social conditions in which Celtic language speakers can use their languages in all contexts;
the effort to construct a pan-Celtic view of history that tells the story of the modern Six Celtic Nations from the perspective of Celtic people themselves - a perspective that serves to give all Celtic people a sense of self-respect in the face of a Globalizing Market Culture which
threatens to both destroy all true distinctiveness and repackage cultural developments into shallow entertainment that only aims to smooth over our rich heritage into neat shiny and easily consumed products to be bought and sold in the Global Market.
Such a project, or collection of projects is, as mentioned above, difficult. Celtic languages, which are the central focus of the cultures and values of Celtic communities, are everywhere threatened with extinction - even Celtic languages that are coming to the fore once again in their own societies, such as Welsh, or the case of the Irish language.
In each Celtic land there are assimilated people descended from Celts who are hostile towards any effort to revive and/or maintain the native languages.
This hostility is a symptom of the colonization process that Celtic people have had to endure for the past several hundred years. Colonizers' attitudes about the Celts they have been conquering have been inculcated among many Celtic and Celtic-descended people.
The process continues today when tourists visit the remaining Celtic-speaking areas and insist upon speaking imperial languages, such as English or French - thus reinforcing the attitude that Celtic languages are 'small', 'provincial', and unimportant to the modern world. These attitudes betray the modern fallacy
that languages are only valid based solely upon their numbers of speakers, and not on the native systems of thought and feeling inherent within the languages. Such attitudes are also deceptive in their assumption that anything from one language (especially an 'unimportant' one) can be translated into another (especially 'dominant') language.
The previous assumption also carries the nuance that thoughts in languages deemed 'unimportant' are invalid until translated into an imperial language. Anyone who speaks more than one language knows that this assumption is false. Languages, and the continua of perception they contain, are relative to each other and
systems of perception and association that carry thoughts and feelings throughout time ARE NOT interchangeable, no matter how much the Global Market and its adherents imagine them to be.
Nid yw ein gwledydd ni ar werth!
"Our countries are not for sale!" [-Cymraeg/Welsh]
The following are essays and articles which I have written in defense of the
local and Pan-Celtic struggles for survival in the face of hostility and ignorance.
Some of the themes are repeated as each essay is meant to stand on its own. Where necessary,
I have cited sources or references where expected and needed.
However most of the essays are designed as polemics and, as such, will not contain citations. (Anyone interested in where particular thought-trains or rants came from can email me for more information.)
A little word to the wise: I have written this material in the English language simply because the audience I am trying to reach most likely speaks English either as a first or second language. I will eventually rework most of this material into Irish language
versions. Anyone who wishes to translate any of these texts into any of the other Celtic languages should feel free to do so, provided they send me a copy of the translated work. Likewise for those who wish to translate these texts into other non-Celtic languages. In the event that
I post or publish any of the translated texts, the translator will get full credit. Those who wish to contact me for discussion, debate, clarification, pointing out of errors, or to simply share thoughts on the matter, can do so by using this site's email address which is [ tribhis@yahoo.com ].
The site and the email address belong to the Discordian group known as the PMM/C - DSSS, so please put 'Celtic' or some other such marker in your subject line so that they can forward it to me. (Those of you who want to see what the PMM/C is about should go to their introduction at
PMM/C Introduction.)
-Irreverend Hugh, KSC
Is an athghabháil ár ndúchais féin athghabháil na Gaeilge
"The recovery of our own heritage is the recovery of the Irish language" [-Gaeilge/Irish]
Contents Index
Essays and Articles by Irreverend Hugh unless otherwise noted.