The Well of Wisdom
“The five streams that come from the Well are the five senses. The nuts from the hazels of wisdom drop down into the Well, to be eaten by the Salmon of Wisdom. The Salmon of Wisdom contains the Imbas, the mystical power of poetic inspiration and prophesy.”
Photo by Chris Marquardt
Learning to Listen
Then he sees… a shining fountain, with five streams flowing out of it, and the hosts in turn a drinking its water. Nine hazels of Buan grow over the well. The purple hazels drop their nuts into the fountain, and the five salmon which are in the fountain sever them and send their husks floating down the streams. Now the sound of the falling of those streams is more melodious than any music…
- From “Cormac’s Adventure in the Land of Promise,” translated by Whitley Stokes
According to tradition, there is a grove of nine hazel trees at the center of the otherworld, and at the center of this grove there is a mystical well of great power. Sometimes called the Well of Segais and sometimes the Well of Connla, this fountain contains a mysterious fiery water, so powerful that it can burn out the eyes of anyone who looks at it.
The five streams that come from the Well are the five senses. The nuts from the hazels of wisdom drop down into the Well, to be eaten by the Salmon of Wisdom. The Salmon of Wisdom contains the Imbas, the mystical power of poetic inspiration and prophesy.
These are some of the most important mythic symbols in Irish lore. The river Boyne was said to have been created when the goddess Boann approached this well in defiance of her husband Nechtan after her affair with the Dagda and the birth of Óengus. The well burst out and dismembered the goddess, and she became the river. A virtually identical story is told of the Shannon River and the goddess Sinann. Both rivers were traditionally considered sources of Imbas.
Places of Revelation
One day the lad fared forth till he was on the brink of the sea - for the poets deemed that on the brink of water it was always a place of revelation of science. He heard a sound in the wave, to wit, a chant of wailing and sadness, and it seemed strange to him. So the lad cast a spell upon the wave, that it might reveal to him what the matter was.
- From Colloquy of the Two Sages, Whitley Stokes translation
This passage from the Colloquy of the Two Sages describes the fili Néde standing at the edge of the sea and listening until he heard a message in the waves. This was one form of éicse or divination, a word which can also mean the power of inspiration or the art of poetry.
The concept of éicse, like the related concept of imbas, is closely connected to the lore of river goddesses like Boann. Boann’s name means “white cow,” and the traditional Gaelic name for the Milky Way means “the tracks of the white cow.” She is also the goddess of the Boyne, the most sacred river of ancient Ireland. In Indian mythology, the Milky Way is the goddess Ganga as well as the Ganges river and all other sacred rivers. Boann’s myth is essentially an Irish equivalent of this idea.
Boann was originally the wife of Nechtan or Elcmar, keeper of the Well of Segais. Nechtan wouldn't allow her access to the Well despite the fact that her proper name was actually Segais and therefore the Well was identical with her own self. Boann slept with the Dagda while Nechtan was away, conceiving the wonder child Óengus mac ind-Óg. Once the child was born, she walked tuathal or counter-sunwise around the Well of Segais, causing it to erupt violently and rip her to pieces. The waters of the Well flowed out into the world as the Boyne river, the new body of the goddess. The Salmon of Wisdom swims in this river, and the Imbas or magical power of inspiration arises from its waters. According to the Dindsenchas, all other rivers on Earth are manifestations of the Boyne.
Boann is the mother of Óengus mac ind-Óg, the “Young Son.” This is an Irish parallel of the Gaulish Matrona (“Great Mother”) and Maponos (“Great Son”), one of the most important pairings in Celtic mythology. She is either the mother or stepmother of Brigid, and shares her associations with poetry, prophesy and the Imbas.
A nearly identical legend is told of Sinann, the goddess of the Shannon river, in which the well is identified as either the Well of Segais or Connla’s Well and is described as the source of the “mystic bubbles” of Imbas or éicse.
Connla's well, loud was its sound,
was beneath the blue-skirted ocean:
six streams, unequal in fame,
rise from it, the seventh was Sinann.
The nine hazels of Crimall the sage
drop their fruits yonder under the well:
they stand by the power of magic spells
under a darksome mist of wizardry.
Together grow, in unwonted fashion,
their leaves and their flowers: —
a wonder is this, though a noble quality,
and a wonder their ripening all in a moment.
When the cluster of nuts is ripe
they fall down into the well:
they scatter below on the bottom,
and the salmon eat them.
From the juice of the nuts (no paltry matter)
are formed the mystic bubbles;
thence come momently the bubbles
down the green-flowing streams.
- From The Metrical Dindsenchas, translation by Edward Gwynn
The description given in this text links the Well of Segais with the fountain Cormac MacArt found in the Land of Promise:
The fountain which thou sawest, with the five streams out of it, is the Fountain of Knowledge, and the streams are the five senses through the which knowledge is obtained. And no one will have knowledge who drinketh not a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams. The folk of many arts are those who drink of them both.
- From “Cormac’s Adventure in the Land of Promise,” translated by Whitley Stokes
The brink of water is “a place of revelation” because it gives access to this mystical Well – which is present both under the ocean and at the source of every river. For this reason, listening to the sound of water is a way to receive communications from the world of spirit.
The Fiery Water
To represent the fiery water of the Well of Wisdom, all you need is a candle and a small bowl of water. Light the candle and shine its light into the water, maintaining a solemn and spiritually focused silence. Once the water is ready, you can sain and purify yourself or anyone else with it by touching it to the palms and forehead.
You can also make fiery water by dipping any piece of gold or silver jewelry into it, or even –traditionally – by spitting in it. Spittle is potent with magic force in Gaelic lore, especially “fasting spittle.” The longer the fast, the more powerful it is.
Your other option is to use a bowl of ale, mead, whisky or wine Any kind of alcoholic drink can be interpreted as “fiery water,” and Gaelic prayers such as the “Invocation of the Graces” refer to alcoholic drinks as liu nan lasa or “the water of the fire.”
The Well of Wisdom
One consequence (and cause) of our broken Pact with the spiritual powers is a pervasive sense of being disconnected from the physical world – a type of alienation. We can focus on our senses to reconnect. This also happens to be a traditional training method for hearing and understanding the subtle communications of the spiritual powers, who often communicate through hints of scent or sound, glimpses seen out of the corner of the eye, and so on.
As the sea god Manannán mac Lir tells Cormac MacArt:
The fountain which thou sawest, with the five streams out of it, is the Fountain of Knowledge, and the streams are the five senses through the which knowledge is obtained. And no one will have knowledge who drinketh not a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams. The folk of many arts are those who drink of them both.
If the fountain contains mystical inspiration and the streams are the senses, then wisdom and the mastery of “many arts” can only come from both together – in other words, from the union of mind and body.
To practice the Well of Wisdom, pour water in a bowl or cauldron and position a lit candle to reflect its light into the water. Stare into the water for a time and mentally focus on the senses – notice everything you see, smell, hear, taste, or touch while staring into the fiery water. (You can also perform the exercise by staring into a fountain with light glinting on the surface of the water.)
Drink a sip from the water, then spend a period of time (anywhere from an hour to a day) focused on one of your senses as acutely as possible. For instance, while going about your daily business you could make an attempt to notice as many visual details as possible, or as many scents as possible. As you gain experience, look for the subtle cues of spiritual communication. With enough practice and experience, you can use the initial meditation period as a method of scrying, or divination by staring into water or flame.
The Place of Revelation
This is basically an advanced version of the Fiery Water exercise, the main difference being that this version of the exercise is performed outside and is specifically used for scrying. To perform this exercise, go to the brink of any body of water and walk for a time in meditative silence, focusing on the question to which you want an answer. Sit on the edge of the water with legs crossed and eyes closed, or simply continue to walk. Shift your focus to the senses – notice everything you see, smell, hear, taste, or touch. Continue the meditation until you hear or see an answer to your question.
According to Keating:
As to the druids, the use they made of the hides of the bulls offered in sacrifice was to keep them for the purpose of making conjuration, or laying geasa on the demons; and many are the ways in which they laid geasa on them, such as to keep looking at their own images in water, or gaze on the clouds of heaven, or keep listening to the noise of the wind or the chattering of birds. (Wiseman, Andrew E.M., “Caterwauling and Demon Raising: The Ancient Rite of the Taghairm?”)
You can improvise any number of variations on the practice of éicse by focusing on other sounds and sights: your own reflection in the Fiery Water, the sound of the wind, and so on.
Christopher Scott Thompson
Photo by Tam Hutchinson.
is an anarchist, martial arts instructor, devotee of Brighid and Macha, and a wandering exile roaming the earth.
