Mona the druidess or, The astral science of old Britain. 1904

Front matter

OR he Astral Science of Old Writain,

BY

ALICE K. HOPKINS,

Introduction

Tue Brigantes, or primitive inhabitants of Britain, held the celebrated district called Brigantia, which extended from the Humber to the present borders of Scotland. History states that the peculiar location and dense forest of this mountainous region rendered it almost inaccessible.

“Jn the year of our Lord 43, and in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the widely extended tribes of the Brigantes occupied the entire island from the Eastern to the Western sea, reaching from the Humber doubtless to the Firth of Forth.”

The numerous tribes called the Brigantes included many smaller ones which belonged to, or were dependent on them. The Brigantes are now known to have been the descendants of the earlier inhabitants of Britain, the original possessors of the soil, who had been driven northward by successive invasions. This brave, hardy and adventurous people were distinguished above every other British tribe for their love of liberty.

History affirms that Cesar never came in contact with this tribe, therefore what he says of the Britons of his time cannot apply to them. He was acquainted only with the southeastern part of the Island, and knew nothing of si people who held its mountain- fastnesses.

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INTRODUCTION.

Tue Brigantes, or primitive inhabitants of Britain, held the celebrated district called Brigantia, which extended from the Humber to the present borders of Scotland. History states that the peculiar location and dense forest of this mountainous region rendered it almost inaccessible.

“In the year of our Lord 43, and in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the widely extended tribes of the Brigantes occupied the entire island from the Eastern to the Western sea, reaching from the Humber doubtless to the Firth of Forth.”

The numerous tribes called the Brigantes included many smaller ones which belonged to, or were dependent on them. The Brigantes are now known to have been the descendants of the earlier inhabitants of Britain, the original possessors of the soil, who had been driven northward by successive invasions. This brave, hardy and adventurous people were distinguished above every other British tribe for their love of liberty.

History affirms that Cesar never came in contact with this tribe, therefore what he says of the Britons of his time cannot apply to them. He was acquainted only with the southeastern part of the Island, and knew nothing of oe people who held its mountain-fastnesses.

The name of Britain is said to be derived from the Thracian word Briga, signifying Breast. In this fact we find internal evidence of the origin of the early Keltic possessors of the soil of Britain.

We shall attempt to show why this remnant of an ancient people should have called themselves by this name, and why their laws were, and still are, called “ breast-laws.”

“ Centuries later the descendants of the Brigantes were associated under the term ‘Kymry,’ signifying the original owners of the soil; and a bond of brotherhood was established between them which was unique in history. The territory occupied by this people bears to this day the name of ‘ Kymryland.’ The ‘Kymry’ were those Keltic Britons who preserved the traditions and teachings of the Titanaides.”

In the following story we make use of the titles in vogue among this people, that starry blazonry from which all heraldic devices had their origin.

“The marks of the Britons called by Tertullian Britanorum-Stigmata may be regarded as a personal species of heraldry. These symbols were often burned in upon the body, and were also recognized in the patronymic.”

The cognomen of Arthog, the Bear, which we have given the chief of the Brigantine clans, was a name that among the ancient Kelts implied one versed in the use of the warchariot, the warrior who, running out on the pole of his chariot, could charge and retreat in this manner.

The title of Arthog was given to him only who had proven worthy of this blazonry. He must also have been born when the sun was in the constellation of the “ Bear,” Ursa Major, whose chariot or wain is ever circling about the pole of the heavens.

INTRODUCTION. re

This constellation which never sets, but is always in apparition wheeling about that mystic circle in the heavens called the pole, was anciently termed ‘« Arthur’s Wain ”; and the chief who could most dexterously use the pole of his chariot in those ‘circling charges upon the enemy was alone considered worthy in Arthur’s wars to bear the Hero’s name.

The religious system of the ancient Kelts had entirely to do with the starry cosmogony. Arth was the Keltic term for Bear.

The movements of the Sun through the great ‘starry circle, or zodiacal wheel, in whose radius the whole solar system revolves, was to the ancients Tepresentative of man’s progress through the great cycle, or precessional period.

The world has to day a sensual or material apprehension only of the great truths which the heavens are telling.

Davies in his “ British Antiquities ” affirms that Britain was the rich source of Druidical learning to all of continental Europe. The same writer recommends to the attention of the learned the ancient ‘declaration that—“ The Chair of the Preserver is here, and here it shall continue till the doom.”

The period when Christianity was introduced into -Britain is unknown, for the simple reason that the most ancient rites and ceremonies which had their ‘rise in the starry science are incorporated into all ‘Christian worship to-day.

That Christianity was not planted in Britain in ‘its Romanized period is amply proven, for temples ‘to the gods of Rome were as thickly scattered over Britain as were the Roman camps and towns.

The so-called legendary history of Britain rests chiefly on the Latin chronicle of Geoffrey of Monmouth who is believed to have translated an old manuscript brought over from Bretagne.

This was written in correspondences which the British historian either did not understand, or saw fit not to explain to a material age in which the knowledge of the divine science was lost.

It is from the old Latin Chronicler we get the tradition of the way in which the birth of the Nazarene was received in Britain, and in the quaint. phraseology of the historian.

“In the reign of Aimbelin the Keen who was King of Britain, there came on earth a maiden’s Son born in Bethlehem, of the best of all Maidens. He is. named Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost of all worlds the treasure.

“In Kimbelin’s day there lived here in Britain aman named Taliesen, and very marvelous things followed him, so that the people esteemed him for a prophet because of the wise things that he said. They always found it sooth what he foretold The King sent for Zaliesen and said—‘ There is. come to this land marvelous tidings of the birth ofa little child. Great and strong are the awe-tokens in the stars, in the moon and in the sun; and the writs are come to me, and I would know of Thee what this. meaneth ; to what it will tend ?’

“Then Taliesen answered, ‘It was of yore said, and the sayings are now sooth, that a child should be born of a Virgin, and of all'folk chosen ; and that he should be called the Saviour of the world. He should fulfil all prophecy, and release his people from their bonds. In sooth he should bring freedom to the whole race of man.’

“ When the King heard this he was very joyful, and caused the good tidings to be proclaimed throughout his kingdom.”

The Seer Taliesen figures in various periods of British history because the name signifies the «“ Radiant-browed,” or “The Illuminated One.”

The passing of the twelve zodiacal constellations across that point of the heavens where the celestial equator and the ecliptic intersect each other furnished to the ancient world the Sign of the age.

If the Breast-sign Cancer was crossing this point they knew that period to be the Breast-age. Here man quenched his thirst at Nature’s fountain. The many-breasted Diana was the personification of the principle here expressed.

If the starry Bull, or the Ram, were crossing this mystic point in the heavens, the ancients recognized the symbol of their age in these hieroglyphics. Hence Egypt and Greece as well as Britain knew their place in the great cycle. Egypt and Greece were the Head of the Grand-Body, expressing the principle of the cerebellum and cerebrum. The dominance of the Head was their cyclic manifestation. This is proven in infinite correspondences.

The World-Year of the ancients was the precessional period of twenty-six or twenty-seven thousand years. This included the twelve cycles of over two thousand years each in which the sun makes his stately progress through the twelve signs of the ecliptic.

That each sign expresses a functional principle of the human organism the heavens are telling.

The movements of the great zodiacal wheel with its twelve mystic emblems, and their thirty-six decans, or parts, were the foundation of the ancient science of correspondences.

The key to this celestial science is found in the figure of the Zodiacal-Man of the old almanacs with the twelve signs about his person. “This symbol is of unknown origin, and unsearchable antiquity.”

The scholars of our age have regarded this figure as having no significance, but God ever uses “the simple things, yea, and the things that are despised, to confound the wise and prudent.”

We are told that Egypt cared far more to know just where she was in the great cycle than any other astronomical fact. The period of her greatness was while the starry Bull, Zaurus, was passing the equinoctial colure.

The Scriptures declare that these lights in the firmament were “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” But one of the tribulations pronounced upon erring man, was that—“The sun should be darkened in his going forth, and the constellations should not give their light.” These have been indeed fulfilled in our own age.

The religious system of the Keltic Britons was known as Druidism, and its priests as “Tree Sages.” “The shadowy oak glades formed their college halls, and these are said to have been thronged with noble youth who devoted many years to the study of those Nature-Mysteries which were the foundation of Druidism.”

“There are very authentic testimonies concerning the learning of the ancient Britons, especially among the Druids. Even the Romans affirmed them to be a wise and knowing people, who had from of old been much celebrated for their attainments in the most solid and useful parts of philosophy. They were accredited with the learning of Pheenicia and Egypt.”

“ The order of Druids embraced the most noble families. Their students were educated for the sacred offices with incredible vigilance and care. Their studies embraced the most elevated objects. The nature of the Deity, of the human soul, of the future state and of the heavenly bodies.”

“Their conceptions were sublime, and their speculations comprehensive. Under a variety of names they acknowledged one God, the maker of all things. They taught the immortality of the soul, moral responsibility and recompense after death. They observed and enjoined the most rigid justice in their decisions and dealings with mankind.”

“ Dinas Bran,” or the “Castle of the Raven,” an ancient fortress in Wales, is frequently alluded to in the following pages. “The early history of this castle is merged in profound oblivion. The researches of the most astute historians have completely failed to discover its origin. It is, however, conjectured to have been built by the Britons prior to the time of our Saviour.”

“ Kimbelin* the Keen,” or the Druid King of Britain (Cymbeline of Shakespeare’s drama), bears in history the names of Cunobeline and also Conobelinus its Latinized form. That gold was coined in his reign we have ample proof in the tribute money paid to Cesar, and also in the famous Camden coins, some of which bear the stamp of this king.

One of the royal residences of this monarch in Buckinghamshire is described in the following terms: “ No remains of antiquity can perhaps better convey to the mind the choice of situation selected by our early ancestors for the abode of monarchy than that spot amidst the Chiltern Hills. Here still appears a high circular mound or keep, in circumference about eighty paces, known to the present day as

* Cynvelin, the Welsh form,

Kimble’s Castle; while a little adjoining village bears the same king’s name, in defiance of the wreck of time and the lapse of centuries.”

This British fortress is said to have commanded an almost boundless prospect of surpassing beauty.

The name Caractacus, which occurs frequently in

the following pages, has to do with the hero of Britain, the son of Cadallan and brother of Boadicea. “It is rather remarkable that two princes should have been conspicuous at the same time in our annals, each bearing the name of Caractacus ; one the son, and the other the stepson of Cadallan and Cartismandua.” ' “The adventures of Arthur and his Knights, which were during so many ages popular throughout nearly all the countries of Europe, appear to be involved in impenetrable mystery.”

Writers have always confounded the great worldepic with the historical remains of that Prince Arthur whose deeds were claimed to be analogous with the Arthur of the great epic. That a Prince of this name did in the sixth century establish the order of the “ Knights of the Round Table” proves a knowledge of the starry lore to have been still extant.

This has given the historical Arthur the undying fame which has followed him down the ages. In other words, making him the rival of that Arthur whose glorious deeds were the theme of that great | cyclic epic written in the starry hieroglyphics.

As some writer of our own time has said—“ Arthur has left an undying name, while a nonentity in history.”

The “Knights of the Round Table” were pledged to seek the Sangreal—that sacred chalice, a pure heart, of which the starry Grail was the symbol.

The myths in regard to the Grail, its appearance and disappearance; and the wondrous magic of its presence, all have their roots in the starry teaching.

That the Grail contained the sacred blood was taught in the Druidical rites long prior to the birth of the Nazarene. This fact has stamped them as “bloody rites ” by the materialistic thinkers of our day.

MONA THE DRUIDESS.

Chapter I

“Brica, hast thou heard the strange tale which has reached the court, that a Man-child has been born of a Maiden than whom there is none of higher repute in the land?”

«“ Nay, husband, I have not heard such a tale, but what is there marvelous init? Do we not know that, ‘Great Arthur’ is to come again through a rebirth? Are not our people always looking for His return, and for the ‘Golden Age,’ which He will again bring in?”

“ Wife, thou sayest truth; but there is, it seemeth, much marveling in all lands over the appearance of this ‘ Maiden’s Son,’ for great tokens of His strength are declared to be seen in the stars. This is thought the more strange as he cometh of no kingly line. The Magi, though, affirm Him to be of royal birth because He is of the heavenly, or celestial, genesis. All the signs, they say, are fulfilled in Him.

“The King also hath received many writs bearing on the matter, for it appeareth that great and disturbing omens are attached to this birth; and because of these the King hath called in the Seer Taliesen to make known to him their import.”

« And what sayeth the radiant-browed Seer? He surely can tell our good King the meaning of this marvel. The advent of a Maiden’s Son, of the celestial genesis, may well bring omens in the stars.”

Briga had spoken with a pathos which did not escape her husband, for she had been a wife more than a twelvemonth, but the joy of prospective motherhood was not yet hers.

“ Taliesen declares this birth to be the fulfilment of Druidic prophecy. He affirms that it was foretold from of old by the very stars of heaven that a virgin should bring forth a Son. The great Seer says that the Magi have always prophesied such an advent.”

“Yes, I mind me of such a prediction,” said Briga thoughtfully. “He was to come when the great star Spica, in the constellation of the Virgin was on the prime meridian. Yes, and our priests assert that this symbol of divine motherhood has now reached its apex in the heavens.” Briga’s eyes filled with tears as she added: “It must be He. Oh the wonder of it!” musingly.

She presently, however, asked: “How taketh the King this matter?”

“Rumor hath it that he is very joyful since the great Seer finds all the signs fulfilled. In fact, so pleasured is he that he has caused the good news to be proclaimed throughout Britain.”

« Arthog, the Bear,” went on to commend the King’s action in this matter, for “Kimbelin the Keen ” was greatly beloved by his people, both for the goodness of his heart, and for the unexcelled wisdom of his reign. A sort of halo has come down the ages surrounding the name of this King, who history tells us, was from kings descended.

When her husband left the house, as he presently did, to communicate these tidings to the various clans over whom he was chief, Briga turned with a sigh to the work upon which she had been engaged. But her hand had lost its cunning, and the fine straws which she had been weaving into baskets lay unplaited in her fingers while she mused upon the ancient prediction, that “Great Arthur” was to come again through a re-birth. This woman in her simple faith in the old prophecies failed to grasp the fact that He who was to come was the synonym of a perfected race. That it is indeed only through multitudinous births that the divine genesis will ultimately come in, Immanuel, God with us. Well did Briga remember the first time she had heard this prophecy of Arthur’s return. How her heart had swelled with the hope that hers might be that blessed motherhood which should restore to her people this Prince in whom all perfection lay. He who should conquer the world, and sway an undivided Kingdom. Had she not aright to this hope with other Keltic maidens? Briga had then asked herself.

Now it seemed He had indeed come, and her race had no lot or part in the matter, since He was not even of her Keltic line. But how did she know that. this Prince was not of her race? Had not the Kelts. been largely wanderers ever since their exodus from the “Summer country?” And had not the habitable world been called Celtica for them?

This Prince must be of her race since it was they who held the traditions of his glorious deeds. He would surely come to them who had so long regarded as sacred the prophecies concerning Him.

But why did not the very stones proclaim His. advent? The face of nature was unchanged, as Briga noted, for she had gone to the open door in her fit of musing. It would have seemed to her in keeping that every inanimate thing should bear testimony to the coming of the great Conqueror, who was to break His people’s bonds, and restore Nature to her pristine loveliness.

Briga felt no little pride in her stalwart husband,. for Chieftain Arthog was of great repute among the clans. And did he not bear upon his shield the royal blazonry of the starry “Bear”? Any woman of her race would have felt it an honor to have. been so mated.

But Briga was troubled. She had begun to fear that hers was no true marriage since Heaven did not bless her with offspring; for to be childless was a sore grief to a Keltic woman.

Stealing from her husband’s side that night after he was soundly sleeping, Briga sought her couch under the stars. Here the symphonies of nature, in which there is never a discord, soothed the unrest in her bosom. Lying prone upon the ground with her eyes fixed upon the constellation of the “ Virgin” which was at the time declining, she invoked the Great Mother—that prolific principle in nature of which the “ Virgin” is the starry type.

With Rachel’s prayer upon her lips—“Give me children or else I die,” Briga watched the great star Spika, whose brilliance paled all others near it. This star, called from time immemorial “The Promised Seed,” and which is borne by the “ Virgin,” Briga knew to be that in which all the prophecies culminate. Her fascinated gaze was fixed upon it as the constellation slowly declined in the heavens.

Suddenly Spika dropped below the horizon. This star of the “Seed” had set; but as it disappeared from sight Briga sprang to her feet. “The Seed! the Seed!” she cried, “has come to earth! Happy augury. The Great Mother will make me fruitful.” Then dropping down again upon the greensward she fell to musing upon the old teachings of this symbol. Naturally did the prophecies all point to the starry “ Virgin.” Would it not be the last sign on the ecliptic in the great cycle, ushering in the virgin motherhood of the race ?

What did the term “virgin” mean but the wonderful possibilities of bearing? Hence man had applied it to the virgin soil which yielded so richly to the husbandman; also to the virgin forests where man has not lawlessly entered.

The jiction of the constellations rising and setting is still kept up to-day ; for while they really maintain their place in the starry dome, our planet is constantly changing its position toward them.

Thus to Briga’s vision the great star of the “ Virgin” seemed to set as it disappeared below her horizon. From this she augured an answer to her prayer. Hadshe not seen the “ Seed” fall to earth? And was not this star called the “ Promised Seed ? ” Heaven did not mock her. The stars were those bright messengers of truth which her people had always declared them. To the ancient Kelts every phenomenon of nature had a spiritual significance.

The years that followed saw Briga’s hope fulfilled. The desire of her heart was granted, for children blessed her home. These brought both joy and sorrow, as two had tarried but a little time.

Chapter II

More than three decades had rolled away since Briga’s starry vigil. Three times ten times had the sun traversed the starry wheel in its yearly revolutions when a youth and a maiden meeting by the roadside held the following conversation :

“JT am glad to see thee, Mistress Mona, for I have a question to ask thee. In fact I have more than one,” the youth added.

« And I will answer thy question, Carac, if I have the wit.” The speaker a tall, fair girl, who as if disdainful of covering, suddenly threw back the hood of the dark red cloak which draped her whole figure. This action revealed a brow of snowy whiteness, under which a pair of wondrously beautiful blue eyes met those of the youth with an expression at. once gentle and vigilant.

“First, then, what is the foundation of the belief’ which has taken such a hold upon our people, that Arthur has come again?”

“Because He who has come fulfils the starry prophecy. His advent was long foreseen by the Magi. Every Great cycle witnesseth His appearing.. But the people mistake,” the maiden added, an.

expression of pain crossing her features. “ Arthur is not a person as personality is understood to-day ; but perfected or regenerated man, the S-O-N. He who has come, the Maiden’s ‘ Son,’ is the great forerunner of the race, our Exemplar.”

“T do not understand,” replied the youth. “The people believe that Arthur himself has come again.”

For a moment the maiden regarded her companion closely. ‘Then with sudden vehemence she said, “ How shall I declare unto you, who are not an Initiate, this mystery of the ages?

“Every Great cycle brings in this manifestation in the flesh. It is the promise of that divine manifestation for which the whole creation waiteth, that travail of Nature which is consummated in the sign of the Virgin ; for Nature is always in travail with Arthur.

“Dost thou not know, Carac, that the starry ‘Bear’ is called the prototype of Arthur because this constellation never sets, but is always in apparition ? In other words, Arthur’s star never sets.”

“Thou art right,” the youth responded thoughtfully, “the constellation of the ‘Bear’ is too far north to go below the horizon. Is this the foundation of the legend that Arthur is suckled by the ‘Great Bear’ of the heavens ?”

“ Arthur is most certainly suckled by no other than the heavenly bear. Every cyclic revolution of the pole ushers in the Divine Appearing—that celestial-bringing-forth which the Kelts termed Arthur.”

‘“‘T catch something of thy meaning, Mona. That Arthur comes not of natural birth our legends have always taught. The ward of Pendragon he is termed in the starry allegory.”

“ Yes, since Draco, the dragon, keeps watch and ward over His Appearing. But the Magi alone are able to read this celestial allegory. They are first to announce the divine genesis, and to render that adoration which it ever calls forth.”

“T perceive what thou meanest, Mona,—that the constellation termed the Bear is the symbol of the cyclic-harvest. Its other names, that of the Great Plough, and the Wain, seem to express this also.”

“ Didst thou ever consider why the ‘Great’ and the ‘ Lesser-Bear’ are separated in the heavens by the Head of the starry ‘ Dragon’ ?” Mona asked.

“No, I have never thought about it. What may its significance be?”

“The Head of the Dragon signifies dogma, doctrine. Canst thou see the correspondence here ? Doctrine and dogma, are guarding the mysteries, so do they also separate and divide the natural and the spiritual. While our ancient legends affirm Pendragon to be the guardian of Arthur, they often represent him as hostile to the interests of his ward.”

“TI do remember that they seem to teach this, and

I am reminded by your words that the Dragon does not set, but, like the ‘ Bear,’ it is always in apparition.

“Does this teach that doctrine, and dogma are always to occupy our zenith, or the prominent place they do to-day?”

“Tt would appear to imply this if thou wert indeed correct in saying the Dragon does not set. The fact is the time will come when this constellation will not as now occupy the zenith. The Magi have told us that the Dragon will slowly recede and decline in the heavens, eventually passing out of sight. Thus do the very stars affirm that dogma and doctrine will also decline and pass away when their work is done. Meanwhile they are the drapery of Truth, veiling and guarding from profanation the divine Mysteries.”

“It seems then that every dragon-mound in Britain is bearing witness to this also,” said Carac, who added thoughtfully: “ Like the polar circle in the heavens these mounds are representative of the ‘Round Table’ of Arthur where the cyclic record is kept. I never thought of the old dragon mounds having any connection with the stars, for I did not associate them with the constellation ‘ Draco. ”

“Yes, they are the Dracontia mounds of the ancient world, and they do, as thou sayest, keep the record of the Arthurian cycle. Even the form of these mounds is designed to show the coils into which man is brought through dogma, creed and doctrine; for these Dracontia mounds portray the coils of the starry Dragon.”

“Thou wert ever keen in penetration, Mona, for thine is arare insight. But to change the subject. I have another question to ask thee. Art thou fully resolved to join the order of Mylitta ? I would know this from thine own lips.”

For a moment Mona did not reply. Then with a grave, sweet dignity she said: “ We have gone over this ground before. Why dost thou ask this question now? ”

“ Because I would bid thee remember, ere it is too late, that the vows of Mylitta once taken must always hold thee. Art thou willing to forego entirely the ties of family ; never to know the loving clasp: of thy children’s arms about thy neck, or the shelter of a husband’s home and heart? Mona, I love thee, and I ask thee once again to be my wife.”

Mona had been standing so near to Carac that the long, hanging sleeve of her cloak must have brushed his person in any chance movement, but at these last words she started back, putting the distance of several feet between them.

“TI trusted thou wouldst never speak to me in this way again,” she said in a grieved tone, her eyes reproachfully meeting his. “Thou shouldst know that I am as fully pledged to service in the temple as if all my vows were taken.

“ Nature herself ordained me to the order of Mylitta, for she ushered me into life when the great luminary was in the breast-sign Cancer. I was born one of Mylitta’s Bees.”

As her companion made no response to this, she continued more gently, or at least with less vehemence.