Sarasvati and Brigit continued (8)
Human knowledge and its expression and display in speech was honoured as sacred. Through this knowledge humankind was able to bring order out of chaos and to interact with the supernatural forces of the universe; ritual with its use of speech in hymn and incantation was a mainstay of the cosmic order. In Vedic tradition the knowledge of origins (jatavidya in Sanskrit) was held to be of primary importance for the maintenance of the universal order, and competitions in such esoteric knowledge were an essential part of religious ritual. Possibly something similar is in operation in The Colloquy of the Two Sages, for Néde and his brothers turn back from their journey to ritually challenge Ferchertne for the ollamship of Ireland when they are unable to give the etymology for three plants they come across on their way.
Certainly in Celtic tradition the word and its manifestations held a sacred place since it was it creative and ritually powerful. According to Miranda Green, not only was the voice the source of the druids' power (compare Vac saying "Whom I love I make awesome: I make him a sage, a wise man, a Brahmin") but also speech itself was seen as a quality of life and it is possible that the absence of a mouth on a carving meant that the person was dead. (38)
Religion and its ritual was a science which enabled man to negotiate a living with the cosmic forces, and inspired sound in the form of prayer, incantation and hymn, was an engine of ritual. It was the emanation of the thinking mind, of the human mind, which was not only celebrated but actually raised to the level of divinity.
The study of Sarasvati and sacred sound in Hindu
religion may invigorate our understanding of Brigit. 'The Colloquy of
the Two Sages' text already referred to relates Brigit not only to
poetry and speech but also to the functions and abilities of the
human mind which are connected with Sarasvati in Hindu thought. When
Ferchertne asks Néde whose son he is, Néde replies:
I am son of Poetry,
Poetry son of Scrutiny,
Scrutiny son of Meditation,
Meditation son of Lore,
Lore son of Enquiry,
Enquiry son of Investigation,
Investigation son of Great-Knowledge,
Great-Knowledge son of Great-Sense,
Great-Sense son of Understanding,
Understanding son of Wisdom,
Wisdom, son of the three gods of Poetry
and a gloss on this points out that Brigit the poetess, daughter of the Dagda, was the mother of the three gods of Poetry. She is then the ancestress and progenitor of Poetry, Wisdom, Knowledge, Investigation, Enquiry, Lore, Scrutiny, Meditation and Understanding, just as Sarasvati is not only Vagadevi, Goddess of Speech, but is also given epithets which identify her with the powers of thought which give rise to speech such as Smrtisakti, the Power of Memory, Jnanasakti, the Power of Knowledge, Buddhisaktisvarupini, Whose Form is the Power of Intellect, Kalpanasakti, Who is the Power of Forming Ideas, and Pratibha, She who is Intelligence.
In her role as goddess of poetry then, Brigit does not only function as a muse, a patron of eloquence and the word. She is implicit in the human mind itself, bringing gifts of wisdom and understanding, helping us with scientific enquiry, with critical thought and discernment, with meditation and inspiration.
She also, in my opinion, calls us to remember the sacred nature of the word, whether written or spoken, and its implications for power and control.
The Greek writer Lucian described a Gaulish depiction of the god Heracles, dressed in his lion skin and carrying his club. In the image he saw, the god was old and wrinkled and he is followed by a group of men who are seemingly happy to be bound by a chain attached to their ears which is attached at its other end to Heracles' tongue. A Gaul, standing next to Lucan as he gazed at this picture, pointed out to him that his people saw Heracles as the god of wisdom, rather than Hermes, because he was stronger, and that in their language he was called Ogmios.
This is a graphic image of the power of the word to control and enslave. Whether or not the physical universe was formed by the word, it certainly enabled human beings to survive and dominate and the so-called civilized world owes its existence to communication. The voice of the media is today as powerful as the voice of the druids was in ancient times. Newspapers and television influence the 'people's choice' of government and also determine to a large extent not only how we think about things but even what things - what events, what people, what issues - we think about. In other words, they shape our perception of reality.
The importance of truth may be seen in the Irish concept of 'the truth of the ruler' (fírinne flátha) which compelled the king to uphold the truth, seen as a magical force that maintained the cosmic order, ensuring the movement of the seasons and bringing prosperity to agriculture which the people depended upon: " Truth in a ruler is as bright as the foam cast up by a mighty wave of the sea, as the sheen of a swan's covering in the sun, as the colour of snow on a mountain. A ruler's truth is an effort which overpowers armies. It brings milk into the world. It brings corn and mast". (39) This concept is similar to the Vedic concept of Rita, the cosmic, ritual and moral order. (40)
The goddesses of sovereignty and their representatives were able to confer kingship on those they found worthy but they were also capable of taking it away and even causing the death of the king if he abused his sacred role and did not uphold the firinee flátha. As a goddess with sovereignty associations, Brigit not only aids us in a skilful and potent use of language but also, I believe, calls upon us to maintain a right use of language; a use which upholds the truth and by doing so also upholds the order and healthy functioning of the universe. Perhaps now more than ever, since globalisation is occurring at such a pace, we need those in government and in positions of power in the international corporations to uphold the truth and with it the natural order of things which is necessary for the survival of ourselves and our fellow-creatures. But we can make a start ourselves by becoming open to inspiration and sacred truth and being more aware of our utterances and their effect.
An awareness of Brigit then becomes a reminder to us to choose our words with care. Like any tool, they may be used for good or ill. Unlike those who use words to deceive, Brigit, like Sarasvati, enjoins us to awaken to inspiration from those truths which as Sri Aurobindo has said, liberate the life and being from falsehood, weakness and limitation, and open it to supreme happiness. The utterance of these truths then becomes a sacred act.
© Hilaire Wood 2001
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The merciful word, the singing word, the good word: may the power of these three holy things be on men and women for evermore.
Irish Blessing
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Recommended Reading
O' Flaherty, Wendy Doniger: The Rig Veda, Penguin Books, London, 1981.
David Kinsley: Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, University of California Press, California, 1986.
Sri Aurobindo: The Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 1971
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