The irenicon
The irenicon - a journey in canvas. Obviously lots more to come as times permits.
'The irenicon' poem - a story about the ancient Celtic trees and their relationship to the formation of modern language, the calendar, the pantheons of gods and goddesses, and just about everything else has been placed under the painting of the same name. Go to the right and drag down to read it. As a poet I would rather leave the interpretation to you. I know that your comments will be genuine...
There are explanatory notes about the letters in the Beth-Luis-Nion sequence relating to other poems that employ the Dichetal o Chennaib (Language of the Finger Tips). Bear with them please... the tree alphabet gets hard to understand at times, particularly on rainy days (like it does here a lot in Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington)). I am tempted to give you a feed for our weather cams, but the Ngauranga Gorge southerly has put them out of action.
inanga
Read More'The irenicon' poem - a story about the ancient Celtic trees and their relationship to the formation of modern language, the calendar, the pantheons of gods and goddesses, and just about everything else has been placed under the painting of the same name. Go to the right and drag down to read it. As a poet I would rather leave the interpretation to you. I know that your comments will be genuine...
There are explanatory notes about the letters in the Beth-Luis-Nion sequence relating to other poems that employ the Dichetal o Chennaib (Language of the Finger Tips). Bear with them please... the tree alphabet gets hard to understand at times, particularly on rainy days (like it does here a lot in Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington)). I am tempted to give you a feed for our weather cams, but the Ngauranga Gorge southerly has put them out of action.
inanga
Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn, Saille
The ancient language of the trees is a fascinating area of study. In a lot of my works i make oblique references to the trees in the fingertips. Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn and Saille - birch, rowan, ash, alder and willow start the 22-letter sequence. For the relationship of parts of your hand to the seasonal calendar see my extended poem 'The irenicon' in this gallery.
The Welsh poets were well aware of the conventions relating to the use of the trees in poetry. There correct use had a magic undercurrent, rendering their bardic tradition eternal.
inanga
inangawiremuseasonsspringsummerautumnwinterhogproductionspaintingartnznewzealandaotearoajeffwilliamshandgodlonelyplanetmspjville2012
![The irenicon<br />
<br />
irenicism: the journey towards a better understanding of our relationship with God. It is the seed of the Trees of Life.<br />
<br />
The irenicon in the Book of the Book harks to the wisdom of I Kings, IV, 33:<br />
<br />
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and<br />
understanding exceeding much<br />
... and he spake of trees,<br />
from the cedar that is in Lebanon<br />
even unto the hyssop<br />
that is upon the wall..."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The irenicon<br />
<br />
i<br />
<br />
Sing Goddess...<br />
<br />
Open your left palm,<br />
Spread it like a rainbow,<br />
Look at the tips,<br />
Of your fingers;<br />
Left to right...<br />
<br />
Tip of the thumb is Beth,<br />
Noble birch,<br />
A self-propogating mystery,<br />
A flogging to spell away evil,<br />
Tree of inception,<br />
First month of the year;<br />
Now the cold solstice is gone.<br />
<br />
Tip of the forefinger is Luis,<br />
Quickbeam rowan,<br />
The compeller of demons,<br />
To admit the basest Truth,<br />
Quickfires of battle,<br />
For whom the dragon is guardian;<br />
An immobilizer of ghosts.<br />
<br />
Tip of the middle finger is Nion,<br />
Poseidon's ash,<br />
Charm against drowning, and friend<br />
to seafarers,<br />
Strangler of fellow trees,<br />
The power found in water;<br />
In the month of floods.<br />
<br />
Tip of the psychic finger is Fearn,<br />
The alder of Bran,<br />
Who stands in the front line,<br />
"... the very battle witch of all woods,<br />
tree that is hottest in the fight",<br />
The bonfire of Branwen's romance;<br />
"A burnt house, for a cut alder."<br />
<br />
Tip of the ear-finger is Saille,<br />
Willow of the death goddess,<br />
Tree of Hecate, Circe, Hera and<br />
Persephone,<br />
Much worshipped by witches;<br />
"Burn not the willow, a tree sacred<br />
to poets."<br />
<br />
Look at your fingertips<br />
Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn, Saille<br />
Five sacred trees<br />
Of the Dichetal do Chennaib:<br />
<br />
"Tree powers,<br />
Fingertips,<br />
First pentad of the four,<br />
Discover,<br />
all your poet asks;<br />
Drumming on his brow.<br />
<br />
Birch peg, throbbing thumb,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Bring him news of love;<br />
Loud the heart knocks.<br />
<br />
Rowan rod, forefinger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Unriddle him a riddle;<br />
The key"s cast away.<br />
<br />
Ash, middle finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Weatherwise, fool otherwise;<br />
Mete him out the winds.<br />
<br />
Alder, psychic finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Diagnose all maladies;<br />
Of a doubtful mind.<br />
<br />
Willow wand, ear finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Force confessions from the<br />
mouth;<br />
Of a mouldering corpse.<br />
<br />
Finger-ends, five twigs,<br />
Trees, true divining trees,<br />
Discover all your poet asks;<br />
Drumming on his brow."<br />
<br />
"Under the tongue root,<br />
A fight most dread,<br />
And another raging;<br />
Behind, in the head."<br />
<br />
ii<br />
<br />
Glance again at your<br />
fingers,<br />
And before the first knucle,<br />
See another;<br />
Five sacred trees.<br />
<br />
We begin with H-uath,<br />
Or hawthorn, or May,<br />
The whitethorn of Maia,<br />
some say,<br />
"Ne'er cast a clout, ere May be<br />
out",<br />
And Hermes conduct your<br />
souls to hell,<br />
The giant father of Olwen;<br />
Stands guard at the sacred well.<br />
<br />
Next is mighty Duir,<br />
Of Jupiter, Zeus and Hercules,<br />
Royal tree to All'ah,<br />
Compassionate and Merciful,<br />
Stout oak of the door,<br />
That separates Dagda,<br />
from Thor;<br />
The wisdom: that<br />
keeps a poet poor.<br />
<br />
On the middle finger,<br />
Spy the holly, passion of Christ,<br />
Oh, spy the flowers of July,<br />
And "... see a lady where<br />
she sate,<br />
Between an oak and a green<br />
hollen,<br />
She was clad in red scarlet."<br />
Was she Tinne, of<br />
the increase?<br />
<br />
The psychic finger, in the<br />
nutting season,<br />
And for this we have good<br />
reason,<br />
Look deep into the dripping<br />
branches,<br />
Of Coll to find;<br />
Poetic knowledge of<br />
Aes Sidha.<br />
<br />
The first of the two mysteries,<br />
Of the crane's bag begins,<br />
At the first joint of your<br />
ear finger,<br />
You will find Quert,<br />
close companion to<br />
the hazel,<br />
You have found sorb apple,<br />
Food of the god Apollo;<br />
Tree of poetic resurrection.<br />
<br />
H-uath, Duir, Tinne, Coll, Quert,<br />
The second sacred five,<br />
Of fifteen sacred trees;<br />
Hidden in your fingertips, in<br />
varying degrees.<br />
<br />
"Clay, water, wool and blood,<br />
wood, lime, and flax thread<br />
a full twist,<br />
Acacia, bitumen and virtue -<br />
The nine materials;<br />
of Nimrod's Tower."<br />
<br />
iii<br />
<br />
The second knuckles,<br />
More trees reveal,<br />
And spell out an ancient<br />
calendar,<br />
Read again, from left to right;<br />
And find your way, towards<br />
second sight.<br />
<br />
Muin begins, the tenth month,<br />
The spotted snake on the hill,<br />
The skilled, powerful artist,<br />
The hill of poetry,<br />
The noble vine in the<br />
vintage season,<br />
A principle ornament in the<br />
Temple of Jerusalem,<br />
Between the twin towers - Boaz<br />
and Joachim;<br />
The poet seeks<br />
resurrection.<br />
<br />
Gort, the flowering ivy,<br />
Is found beneath the mighty oak,<br />
In the season of the<br />
autumnal Dionysus,<br />
When the souls of the Mysterion,<br />
Imbibe ambrosia,<br />
In the eleventh month<br />
of Ariadne;<br />
All witness Christ, son<br />
of Alpha.<br />
<br />
In the middle is Ngetal,<br />
The reed sceptre of pharoahs,<br />
The sovereign arrows of<br />
sun-gods,<br />
The threatening noise of the<br />
sea,<br />
A wave breaking on a beach;<br />
Ready for cutting, in the<br />
twelth month.<br />
<br />
The second of the twin<br />
mysteries,<br />
Is found upon the psychic<br />
finger,<br />
For here lurks the blackthorn,<br />
The mirror of H-uath is Straif,<br />
Noble ignominy of Jesus,<br />
attired in scarlet;<br />
Dark heart of the poet's soul.<br />
<br />
And last comes, elder of<br />
the waterside,<br />
Ah, you will remember,<br />
"The curs'd elder and the<br />
fatal yew,<br />
With witch [rowan] and<br />
nightshade, in their shadows<br />
grew,"<br />
Ruis is the thirteenth month;<br />
And the tree, upon which<br />
Judas was hung.<br />
<br />
Muin, Gort, Ngetal, Straif, Ruis<br />
Five more sacred trees,<br />
Talking from your fingertips,<br />
Telling, living, foreseeing<br />
secrets,<br />
Such clever consonants;<br />
In different degrees.<br />
<br />
"Jehovah was sworn<br />
and will not repent:<br />
thou art a priest, forever<br />
after the order of<br />
Melchizedek."<br />
<br />
iv<br />
<br />
But what of the vowels?<br />
"Sweet cauldron of the Five<br />
Trees",<br />
Upon which are sworn<br />
Oaths of holy tetractys;<br />
What of?:<br />
<br />
Ailm, Onn, Ura, Eadha, Idho,<br />
What of these mysteries,<br />
of the crane's bag,<br />
The Triple Goddess in three<br />
aspects,<br />
Maiden, women, crone, perhaps,<br />
Beginning, prime and end,<br />
The mysteries of a poet's<br />
Muse,<br />
What of birth,<br />
What of initiation, and<br />
consummation;<br />
What of repose, death and<br />
poetic salvation?<br />
<br />
BIRTH<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall be found...<br />
<br />
Ailm is the silver fir,<br />
Sacred to Artemis, the<br />
Moon Goddess,<br />
The tree of phoenix birth,<br />
It is of Io, and under<br />
the fir,<br />
Was born the god of Byblos;<br />
First station of the year.<br />
<br />
Ailm, the beginning,<br />
Was it not of you that was<br />
constructed,<br />
The clever horse of Troy?<br />
You are the day,<br />
Of the birth of any,<br />
divine child,<br />
Man or woman;<br />
In any age.<br />
<br />
INITIATION<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall do wonders...<br />
<br />
Onn is the furze,<br />
Prickles of the spring equinox,<br />
"The furze but ill-behaved,<br />
Until he is subdued",<br />
The fiery daughter of youth,<br />
Good against bad witches,<br />
And worshipped by Gauls;<br />
In ash groves.<br />
<br />
The ash and fir, are the blaze,<br />
on every hill,<br />
Onn and Nion,<br />
praise great Yggrdrasil,<br />
Sacred to Wotan, Odin, Gwydion,<br />
The furze is the Dominical wand,<br />
That sprang from the<br />
blood of Uranus;<br />
When castrated, by angry<br />
Cronos.<br />
<br />
CONSUMMATION<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall reign...<br />
<br />
"The crane must aye,<br />
take nine steps ere she flie."<br />
<br />
I am Ura, gathered heather,<br />
I am of Isis and Venus,<br />
And I dine on venison milk,<br />
and eagle's breasts;<br />
I set my chair in a womb<br />
of hills.<br />
<br />
I am the season of women,<br />
The season of heaven bloom,<br />
I am Arianrhod, the Queen<br />
of the circle of life,<br />
I reign in my prime now;<br />
And dispense children<br />
before advice.<br />
<br />
REPOSE<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall rest...<br />
<br />
Again, upon the psychic<br />
finger,<br />
Find Eadha as the<br />
crane cries,<br />
"I am the fourth tree,<br />
of the autumn equinox and<br />
old age,<br />
I am shifting leaves of white poplar,<br />
I am aspen, shield-maker's tree;<br />
Some say: 'I am the loss,<br />
of all hope.'<br />
<br />
Beside the psychic finger,<br />
You will find, the path<br />
you take,<br />
Towards your death,<br />
Think now, think hard,<br />
think long;<br />
Can I live forever;<br />
And like the poet,<br />
be immortal?<br />
<br />
"Moses obtained,<br />
By suffering, and<br />
In great necessity,<br />
The aid of three;<br />
Dominical rods.<br />
<br />
Solomon obtained,<br />
in Babel's Tower,<br />
All the sciences;<br />
Of Asia's land."<br />
<br />
DEATH<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
cannot live forever...<br />
<br />
You must overcome me,<br />
I am Idho, tree of death,<br />
Sacred to Hecate,<br />
Black bulls were sacrificed<br />
to me and,<br />
"Ghosts would lap their<br />
gushing blood;<br />
Wreathed with yew."<br />
<br />
I am the bow, and the<br />
poisoned arrows,<br />
Fired deep into the hearts,<br />
Of those that fear death,<br />
I am "... slips of yew<br />
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse",<br />
A double fatal yew;<br />
The spell of final knowledge.<br />
<br />
Win my favour,<br />
The favour of death<br />
itself,<br />
And I will give you;<br />
The end before...<br />
<br />
v<br />
<br />
SALVATION<br />
<br />
And you<br />
shall be saved...<br />
<br />
Two hidden trees,<br />
sacred mysteries,<br />
Are found far beyond,<br />
the hand's palm,<br />
In these two trees,<br />
The answer will not be,<br />
"Fir, womb of silver pain,<br />
Yew, tomb of leaden grief,"<br />
Gone shall be strife,<br />
When you realise;<br />
Death only begets<br />
life.<br />
<br />
Only these two trees,<br />
Know when salmon,<br />
Kings and Queens of<br />
river fish,<br />
Retire from philosophy,<br />
Only these trees,<br />
Have been set adrift;<br />
on boundless seas.<br />
<br />
Only these two trees,<br />
Inspire poets to learn,<br />
All secrets of the cosmos,<br />
All secrets of the sun,<br />
moon and stars,<br />
All the secrets,<br />
Of Jupiter, Mercury;<br />
Saturn, Venus and Mars.<br />
<br />
Alpha and Omega,<br />
The beginning to the end,<br />
The end and the beginning,<br />
Ask -<br />
"Sweet apple-tree crimson<br />
in hue,<br />
Which grows concealed in<br />
Forest Celyddon..."<br />
Where to find the sacred<br />
thicket,<br />
Where do you find<br />
the palm and mistletoe<br />
together?<br />
The herald of new life;<br />
And the berry of life<br />
itself?<br />
<br />
I am Ailm, the womb of<br />
every holt,<br />
I am Onn, the blaze on<br />
every hill,<br />
I am Ura, the Queen of<br />
every hive,<br />
I am Eadha, the shield<br />
to every head,<br />
I am Idho, the tomb to<br />
every hope,<br />
I am Omega, the gate to<br />
every hell,<br />
I am Alpha Tetragrammaton,<br />
the door to<br />
every heaven,<br />
I am consort to the celestial<br />
goddess,<br />
I am the celestial goddess,<br />
At times;<br />
<br />
I am your fingertips...<br />
<br />
inanga](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-NZhMPcB/0/93971c24/Ti/DSCF0058-Ti.jpg)
![The irenicon detail of sky<br />
<br />
i will, i will, and then i surrender to the will of God, the only will there truly is.<br />
<br />
In 'The irenicon' Mary Magdalene summons three Fates to the ascension of Jesu Christos to the 5th dimension assisted by the seven archangels. Why seven because it is the most magical of numbers. The archangels are from another dimension altogether different from the others we as 3-D beings know. At the moment they talk to me through Rammstein’s You-Tube video 'Engel'. Incidentally, the Three Fates were the daughters of Zeus to his second wife Themis - Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. They determined the destiny of all us humans. Destiny was a thread that emerged from the distaff of one Fate. Another wound it spirally through the course of a life before it was severed by the third, like an umbilical cord, when the span of life was over.<br />
<br />
What an electronic jungle our current Age has become. In the Age of Taliesin, the poet can seek inspiration from Apocaliptica on video, check a Jpeg image of the names of the archangels as they are written in stone on the canvas of The irenicon, and type these very words in harmony on a laptop computer. I look at the Jpeg irenicon008.jpg and on my Ulead Instant Viewer I see written in biro the names of the seven archangels that will come to stage manage Christ’s gentle dissolution into Phi-consciousness. I tire of Rammstein’s grinding industrial rock and melt into the voice of Katia Ricciarelli singing 'Dolorosa' from Pergolisi’s Stabat Mater. It is now that my material consciousness at the keys feels the true presence of angels.<br />
<br />
Their names of my angels are written in biro but the inscription is clear enough for anyone to see that they are written in Old Greek, although the names are Hebrew-Aramaic. How does GABRIEL, RAPHAEL, URIEL, SULIEL, BADAKIEL, ZAZIEL and MICHAEL sound? When these were written on the piece of stone in The Irenicon (Hebrew names in ancient Greek) – see the inset names in the side of the green hill on the left – the spelling given for Uriel was SOURIEL. We have to live with this as an artist, the possibility of an out-of-synch download. If someone said to you the Jewish name for God was SHEMHAMPHORAS you probabily would not be believed. It has been recorded in apochrypha that Jesu Christos invoked this name when he performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. But that is in apocrypha…<br />
<br />
So who are these angels present at the moment Mary Magdalene comes forth from the catacombs with three faceless women. Beyond the small village of Pitagliano - for all artists need a Tuscan model for their town – the archangels have placed a momentary omen in the white automobile Duco in the top right corner of the painting. I can only call these seven very busy angels. I want to know more so I look at the Jpeg again.<br />
<br />
In a Sufi text I had read these names. What I am trying to say is they were not just made up. These names have been transmitted through people of knowledge since this event occurred over 2000 years ago. There is nothing new in this universe, there is only the now. So Zaziel, Badakiel, Gabriel, Raphael, Suliel, Badakiel and Uriel know who they are and always will. These archangels manage the way of the rope, long since forgotten in anxiety and fear.<br />
<br />
Any person with a rudimentary knowledge of archangels will ask ‘Where is Metatron?’ the archangel responsible for Metatron’s cube and Ezekiel’s chariot, and indeed the revelation of Phi – the visible manifestation of a God well and truly beyond our understanding. Metatron could be forgiven for asking why he was not included in this list. Metatron is not insistent out of vanity but rather would want to see the record told as truth. At one stage of his evolution, as a servant of the single Phi-will of God Almighty, he was the Prophet Enoch, later transformed into an angel with 36 pairs of wings. Was he the angel of the Covenant, the Supreme Angel and the heavenly scribe who gave us the cube and the flower of life? Having said this, Metatron as Enoch sowed many poetic blinds as to the identity of the angels and it takes a thorough researcher to identify these. The truth about Lucifer is even more revealing… Look on my site for 'Watching Lucifer Fall'.<br />
<br />
Why Phi? Why, why? Phi is the Golden Ratio of 1.618033989 etcetera to infinity. It is the continuance of all that is created in the dream of God. ‘I was a hidden treasure and I wanted to be known, or should I say adored, so I created all that there is including you. You have within yourselves the answer in the universal representation of me - Phi. Find this ever evolving strand, the very DNA of my idea, and you shall find the path to dwell with me in the dream for eternity or for no time at all.’ [As an intellectual exercise I painted Phi to 10,000 places but that was many Phi evolutionary cycles ago.]<br />
<br />
My girlfriend’s Dad calls on the telling bone and I am primitive again realizing that in this 3-D existence I have to go out and water-blast a footpath so that I make some money to survive another day. Above these words is a photograph of 'The irenicon on a photocopier at Camera House in the Johnsonville Mall. How did it get there? My Palestinian mate Sam had a vehicle and he was ferrying an Iraqi refugee around Wellington – as Palestinians do for Iraqis all the time. He gave me a lift down the mall to copy the painting. It is big, too big for a photocopier so we put it on the photocopier and photographed it with a 7 Mega-pixel camera. Sam just loves being captured on CCTV security cameras in shopping malls!<br />
<br />
Being a Palestinian our Shamir was insistent and wanted to be part of the painting. It was big enough for his grandiose notions. I had painted a fair section of the painting – the sky with wall and spray paint, the village in just about everything you would expect to find in a village including pounamu and paua on the travertine, and the hills got their labyrinthine pathways, river valleys and the trees as pathway markers to the point of ascension – everywhere but nowhere. Sam turns up with a bottle of Syrian henna and that was scratched into the canvas. I had used henna before and I found that it suited the swirl perfectly. <br />
<br />
When the sky, hills and most of the foreground was painted there was a gap in the bottom left corner that remained unpainted for a while. I wanted four women of different races to model for me and I started to get this sorted. For the three fates I had a Somali from Little Mogadishu in the Hutt, a French woman who could speak Maori, a Maori woman who could speak French and a Japanese exchange student. None of them turned up so I took a big brush and red paint and painted ‘Wanted 4 Good Looking Chicks to fill this Space’ (In certain light this can still be seen.) I then had this silly fantasy that I was going to start a spot on cable TV – Triangle - where a panel interviewed prospective models. They would answer questions such as: ‘Without referring to world peace, tell me in 100 words or so why we should make your body and face part of art history?’ and ‘Do you see yourself as Scarlett Johansen in Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring?’ Maybe as all weird ideas it may come to fruition some day. In the background we could have a Heidi Klum look-alike saying that one of you will be in and one of you will be out. Nothing happened and faceless women appeared on the canvas. Come on, admit it, none of us have a clue what they looked like – the Fates and Mary Magdalene. Poetic license is all the go here.<br />
<br />
I may as well keep writing as I have an hour before I leave. Talk about living in the moment as it is captured. I have time for Ralph Vaughan Williams’s 'The Lark Ascending' on You-Tube. It is just the perfect music to write about ascension and out of body experiences. Add the King’s Singers singing as they do 'Greensleeves' and you have the complete vernal equinox harmony. I can’t find a good video of Ottorini Resphigi’s 'Concerto Gregoriano' with Takako Nashazaki on violin and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Chuo Hoy [Might have the spellings wrong and Spell Checker is of no use.] I am trying to describe ancient, timeless concepts in the argot of today’s youth, their world of devolutionary technology and fallen language, and fear I am not succeeding, so I will stand up and shut up.<br />
<br />
I would like to know what you think of it – contact inanga on <a href="http://www.hogproductions.com">http://www.hogproductions.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Acrylic, oil, gouache, spray paint, henna, glitter, collage trees, biro, pencil, greenstone (pounamu) and paua on canvas (framed by Artworks, Johnsonville), 2007<br />
<br />
Original: 1160mm x 1520mm](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-XdK6GQr/0/9d342b96/Ti/irenicon%20010-Ti.jpg)
![Phi to 10,000 Places<br />
<br />
'As we know the secret of travel between worlds is rooted in the marriage of quantum and chaos, particularly in the elusive mathematics of fractal tesseracts (visualise a 4-dimension Mandelbrot set - one of the simplest of trans-dimensional 'maps' or 'catastrophic topologies').<br />
<br />
Wisdom from the 'Incunabula' <a href="http://deoxy.org/inc1.htm">http://deoxy.org/inc1.htm</a>.<br />
<br />
And this as good a place as any in which to introduce you to Little Gwion's 'Diversified Song'.<br />
<br />
YR AWDIL VRAITH<br />
<br />
[The text in the 'Peniardd MSS' is incomplete, but in some stanzas preferable to the 'Red Book of Hergest': [R Graves]<br />
<br />
'The All-Being made,<br />
Down the Hebron Vale,<br />
With his plastic hands,<br />
Adam's fair form:<br />
<br />
And five hundred years,<br />
Void of any help,<br />
There he lingered and lay<br />
Without a soul.<br />
<br />
He again did form,<br />
In calm paradise,<br />
From a left-side rib,<br />
Bliss-throbbing Eve.<br />
<br />
Seven hours they were<br />
The orchard keeping,<br />
Till Satan brought strife,<br />
The Lord of Hell.<br />
<br />
Thence were they driven,<br />
Cold and shivering,<br />
To gain their living,<br />
Into this world.<br />
<br />
To bring forth with pain<br />
Their sons and daughters,<br />
To have possession<br />
Of Asia's land.<br />
<br />
Twice five, ten and eight<br />
She was self-bearing,<br />
The mixed burden<br />
Of man-woman.<br />
<br />
And once, not hidden,<br />
She brought forth Abel,<br />
And Cain the solitary<br />
Homicide.<br />
<br />
To him and his mate<br />
Was given a spade,<br />
To break up the soil,<br />
Thus to get bread.<br />
<br />
The wheat pure and white,<br />
In tilth to sow,<br />
Every man to feed,<br />
Till great yule feast.<br />
<br />
An angelic hand<br />
From the high Father,<br />
Brought seed for growing<br />
That Eve might sow;<br />
<br />
But she did then hide<br />
Of the gift a tenth,<br />
And all did not sow<br />
In what was dug.<br />
<br />
Black rye then was found,<br />
And not pure wheat grain,<br />
To show the mischief,<br />
Thus of thieving.<br />
<br />
For this thievish act,<br />
It is requisite,<br />
That all men should pay<br />
Tithe unto God.<br />
<br />
Of the ruddy wine,<br />
Planted on sunny days,<br />
And the white wheat planted<br />
On new-moon nights;<br />
<br />
The wheat rich in grain,<br />
And red flowing wine<br />
Christ's pure body make,<br />
Son of Alpha.<br />
<br />
The wafer is flesh,<br />
The wine, spilt blood,<br />
The words of the Trinity<br />
Consecrate them.<br />
<br />
The concealed books<br />
From Emmanuel's hands<br />
Were brought by Raphael<br />
As Adam's gift.<br />
<br />
When in his old age,<br />
To his chin immersed<br />
In Jordan's water,<br />
He kept a fast.<br />
<br />
Twelve young men,<br />
Four of them angels,<br />
Sent forth branches<br />
From the flower Eve.<br />
<br />
To give assistance,<br />
In every trouble,<br />
In all oppression,<br />
While they wandered.<br />
<br />
Very great care<br />
Possessed mankind,<br />
Until they obtained<br />
The tokens of grace.<br />
<br />
Moses obtained<br />
In great necessity<br />
The aid of three<br />
Dominical rods.<br />
<br />
Solomon obtained<br />
In Babel's tower,<br />
All the sciences,<br />
Of Asia's land.<br />
<br />
So did I obtain<br />
In my bardic books,<br />
Asia's sciences,<br />
Europe's too.<br />
<br />
I know their arts,<br />
Their course and destiny,<br />
Their going and coming<br />
Until the end.<br />
<br />
Oh! what misery,<br />
Through extreme of woe,<br />
Prophecy will show<br />
On Troia's race!<br />
<br />
A chain-wearing serpent,<br />
The pitiless hawk<br />
With winged weapons,<br />
From Germany.<br />
<br />
Loegria and Britain<br />
She will overrun,<br />
From Lychlyn sea-shore<br />
To the Severn.<br />
<br />
Then will the Britons<br />
As prisoners be<br />
By strangers swayed<br />
From Saxony.<br />
<br />
Their Lord they will praise,<br />
Their speech they will keep,<br />
Their land they will lose,<br />
Except Wild Wales.<br />
<br />
Till some change shall come,<br />
After long penance,<br />
When shall be made equal<br />
The pride of birth.<br />
<br />
Britons then shall have<br />
Their land and their crown,<br />
And the stranger swarm<br />
Shall vanish away.<br />
<br />
All the angel's words,<br />
As to peace and war,<br />
Will thus be fulfilled<br />
To Britain's race.'](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-C6Fstkh/0/a82f2703/Ti/DSCF3206-Ti.jpg)
![The Finger Alphabet: Basis of all Language<br />
<br />
illustration from Robert Grave's 'The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'.<br />
<br />
i have altered O-micron = AA and Y = I I for ease of explanation for those who are interested in studying 'The irenicon' and 'The Battle of the Trees' in more depth.<br />
<br />
i have also put the final sequence for the trees considered in my version of the Battle. Robert Graves suggested this sequence, and the one underneath my superimposed characters is from an early chapter in 'The White Goddess'. His sequence accords with that [which] i have used in 'The irenicon' and with the 52 trees that i have used in 'The Battle of the Trees'. The difference is hemispheres. The 22 trees of 'The irenicon' are found predominantly in the northern hemisphere and the 52 flowers, plants and trees of 'The Battle of the Trees' are indigenous to Aotearoa - hence 'the trees of the nation'. The only tree in the latter that is not indigenous is the pinus, a predominantly northern hemisphere tree.<br />
<br />
Confuse you, how do you think i feel Plogging this! In short, the finger language of the trees is applied to both poems.<br />
<br />
Those who are hooked at this stage might wish to look at a few more poems that applied these techniques of writing:<br />
<br />
The Hanes Taliesin<br />
<br />
The Song of Amergin<br />
<br />
Cad Goddeu - The [original] Battle of the Trees<br />
<br />
inanga](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-CPxf79Z/0/5be9be3e/Ti/SANY0929-Ti.jpg)
![The Dolmen Arch: Source of Poetic Wisdom<br />
<br />
No the 'H' up there doesn't stand for Holden (an Australian make of car - i once had an EH). This seems to be the sequence of trees used in 'The Song of Amergin'. This accords with Grave's final sequence - and it is the same that i used in my Battle of the Trees (with southern hemisphere equivalents) and in 'The irenicon'.<br />
<br />
i'll explain it as simply as is allowed.<br />
<br />
The Left Support Arch - consonants<br />
<br />
Beth - Birch<br />
Luis - Rowan<br />
Nion - Ash<br />
Fearn - Alder<br />
<br />
The Supported Arch - consonants<br />
<br />
Saille - Willow<br />
H-uath - Whitethorn<br />
Duir - Oak (prime place in centre of supported arch)<br />
Tinne - Holly<br />
Coll - Hazel (wisdom)<br />
<br />
[Quert - sorb apple is deliberately missing]<br />
<br />
The Right Support Arch<br />
<br />
Muin - Vine<br />
Gort - Ivy<br />
Ngetal - Reed (or 'broom' where reed is absent)<br />
Ruis - water elder<br />
<br />
[Straif - the blackthorn is deliberately missing.]<br />
<br />
The Earth - vowels<br />
<br />
Ailm - Silver Fir<br />
Onn - Gorse (introduced to southern hemisphere)<br />
Ura - Heather<br />
Eadha - Poplar<br />
Idho - Yew<br />
<br />
AA = O-micron = Palm - not in Amergin's sequence<br />
I I = Y = Mistletoe - not in Amergin's sequence<br />
<br />
Please note that the sequence used in the original 'Battle of the Trees' (Cad Goddeu) has only one variation from this sequence. It is B -L - F - N - S instead of B - L - N - F - S as the Alder god Fearn (Bran) was overcome by the Ash god Nion (Woden) - just referred to as Achren (the trees) in the poem. Overcome the riddle and the letter sequence changes, as:<br />
<br />
'conquering gods their titles take, from foes their captives make...'<br />
<br />
more to come...<br />
<br />
inanga](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-bfP28zP/0/af154da6/Ti/SANY0931-Ti.jpg)
![To My God<br />
<br />
This is the centerpiece of a painting I was doing when I was coming to grips with my heavy Islamic leanings. It says: ‘Bishmalláh er-Rahmin, er-Rahim’ – God the Compassionate, the Merciful’ and I thank Karl Sims (alias Goldie the Forger and Utterer) for making it possible. I forged the Arabic text – I couldn’t have done it any other way and embellished the piece with gold leaf. I thought at this stage of the very special lines of Ibn el-Arabi’s Bezels of Wisdom, attributed to have been passed to Muhammed Blessings Be upon Him from God the Compassionate, the Merciful but not mentioned in the Holy Qu’ran:<br />
<br />
‘I was a hidden treasure and I wanted (literally ‘loved’) to be known, so I created the universe that I may be known’. <br />
<br />
The piece is based on the famous arch in Cordoba, Spain. Someone said the spirals in the green area look like taniwha and don’t even try asking me about the stuff in the top right hand corner. It is as controversial as it is iconoclastic.<br />
<br />
Rifa'i tells it best:<br />
<br />
'Seventy Thousand [not Seven] Veils separate All'ah, the One Reality, from the world of matter and sense. And every soul passes before his [or her] birth through these seventy thousand. <br />
<br />
The inner half of these are veils of light: the outer half, veils of darkness.<br />
<br />
For every one of the veils of light passed through, in this journey towards birth, the soul puts 'off' a divine quality: and for every one of the dark veils, it puts 'on' an earthly quality. Thus the child is born 'weeping', for its soul knows its separation from All'ah, the One Reality.<br />
<br />
And when the child cries in its sleep, it is because the soul remembers something of what it has lost.<br />
<br />
Otherwise, the passage through the veils has brought with it forgetfulness (nisyan): and for this reason man is called 'insan', and women 'insan' also.'<br />
<br />
The Gnosticism of Rifa'i. <br />
<br />
Gouache, acrylic, oil, glitter and gold leaf, 2006<br />
<br />
Kaitiaki: Kilbirnie Masjid, Whanganui-aTara, Aotearoa](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-wzTnjmC/1/98e4482e/Ti/DSCF1621-Ti.jpg)
![The irenicon<br />
<br />
irenicism: the journey towards a better understanding of our relationship with God. It is the seed of the Trees of Life.<br />
<br />
The irenicon in the Book of the Book harks to the wisdom of I Kings, IV, 33:<br />
<br />
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and<br />
understanding exceeding much<br />
... and he spake of trees,<br />
from the cedar that is in Lebanon<br />
even unto the hyssop<br />
that is upon the wall..."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The irenicon<br />
<br />
i<br />
<br />
Sing Goddess...<br />
<br />
Open your left palm,<br />
Spread it like a rainbow,<br />
Look at the tips,<br />
Of your fingers;<br />
Left to right...<br />
<br />
Tip of the thumb is Beth,<br />
Noble birch,<br />
A self-propogating mystery,<br />
A flogging to spell away evil,<br />
Tree of inception,<br />
First month of the year;<br />
Now the cold solstice is gone.<br />
<br />
Tip of the forefinger is Luis,<br />
Quickbeam rowan,<br />
The compeller of demons,<br />
To admit the basest Truth,<br />
Quickfires of battle,<br />
For whom the dragon is guardian;<br />
An immobilizer of ghosts.<br />
<br />
Tip of the middle finger is Nion,<br />
Poseidon's ash,<br />
Charm against drowning, and friend<br />
to seafarers,<br />
Strangler of fellow trees,<br />
The power found in water;<br />
In the month of floods.<br />
<br />
Tip of the psychic finger is Fearn,<br />
The alder of Bran,<br />
Who stands in the front line,<br />
"... the very battle witch of all woods,<br />
tree that is hottest in the fight",<br />
The bonfire of Branwen's romance;<br />
"A burnt house, for a cut alder."<br />
<br />
Tip of the ear-finger is Saille,<br />
Willow of the death goddess,<br />
Tree of Hecate, Circe, Hera and<br />
Persephone,<br />
Much worshipped by witches;<br />
"Burn not the willow, a tree sacred<br />
to poets."<br />
<br />
Look at your fingertips<br />
Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn, Saille<br />
Five sacred trees<br />
Of the Dichetal do Chennaib:<br />
<br />
"Tree powers,<br />
Fingertips,<br />
First pentad of the four,<br />
Discover,<br />
all your poet asks;<br />
Drumming on his brow.<br />
<br />
Birch peg, throbbing thumb,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Bring him news of love;<br />
Loud the heart knocks.<br />
<br />
Rowan rod, forefinger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Unriddle him a riddle;<br />
The key"s cast away.<br />
<br />
Ash, middle finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Weatherwise, fool otherwise;<br />
Mete him out the winds.<br />
<br />
Alder, psychic finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Diagnose all maladies;<br />
Of a doubtful mind.<br />
<br />
Willow wand, ear finger,<br />
By power of divination,<br />
Force confessions from the<br />
mouth;<br />
Of a mouldering corpse.<br />
<br />
Finger-ends, five twigs,<br />
Trees, true divining trees,<br />
Discover all your poet asks;<br />
Drumming on his brow."<br />
<br />
"Under the tongue root,<br />
A fight most dread,<br />
And another raging;<br />
Behind, in the head."<br />
<br />
ii<br />
<br />
Glance again at your<br />
fingers,<br />
And before the first knucle,<br />
See another;<br />
Five sacred trees.<br />
<br />
We begin with H-uath,<br />
Or hawthorn, or May,<br />
The whitethorn of Maia,<br />
some say,<br />
"Ne'er cast a clout, ere May be<br />
out",<br />
And Hermes conduct your<br />
souls to hell,<br />
The giant father of Olwen;<br />
Stands guard at the sacred well.<br />
<br />
Next is mighty Duir,<br />
Of Jupiter, Zeus and Hercules,<br />
Royal tree to All'ah,<br />
Compassionate and Merciful,<br />
Stout oak of the door,<br />
That separates Dagda,<br />
from Thor;<br />
The wisdom: that<br />
keeps a poet poor.<br />
<br />
On the middle finger,<br />
Spy the holly, passion of Christ,<br />
Oh, spy the flowers of July,<br />
And "... see a lady where<br />
she sate,<br />
Between an oak and a green<br />
hollen,<br />
She was clad in red scarlet."<br />
Was she Tinne, of<br />
the increase?<br />
<br />
The psychic finger, in the<br />
nutting season,<br />
And for this we have good<br />
reason,<br />
Look deep into the dripping<br />
branches,<br />
Of Coll to find;<br />
Poetic knowledge of<br />
Aes Sidha.<br />
<br />
The first of the two mysteries,<br />
Of the crane's bag begins,<br />
At the first joint of your<br />
ear finger,<br />
You will find Quert,<br />
close companion to<br />
the hazel,<br />
You have found sorb apple,<br />
Food of the god Apollo;<br />
Tree of poetic resurrection.<br />
<br />
H-uath, Duir, Tinne, Coll, Quert,<br />
The second sacred five,<br />
Of fifteen sacred trees;<br />
Hidden in your fingertips, in<br />
varying degrees.<br />
<br />
"Clay, water, wool and blood,<br />
wood, lime, and flax thread<br />
a full twist,<br />
Acacia, bitumen and virtue -<br />
The nine materials;<br />
of Nimrod's Tower."<br />
<br />
iii<br />
<br />
The second knuckles,<br />
More trees reveal,<br />
And spell out an ancient<br />
calendar,<br />
Read again, from left to right;<br />
And find your way, towards<br />
second sight.<br />
<br />
Muin begins, the tenth month,<br />
The spotted snake on the hill,<br />
The skilled, powerful artist,<br />
The hill of poetry,<br />
The noble vine in the<br />
vintage season,<br />
A principle ornament in the<br />
Temple of Jerusalem,<br />
Between the twin towers - Boaz<br />
and Joachim;<br />
The poet seeks<br />
resurrection.<br />
<br />
Gort, the flowering ivy,<br />
Is found beneath the mighty oak,<br />
In the season of the<br />
autumnal Dionysus,<br />
When the souls of the Mysterion,<br />
Imbibe ambrosia,<br />
In the eleventh month<br />
of Ariadne;<br />
All witness Christ, son<br />
of Alpha.<br />
<br />
In the middle is Ngetal,<br />
The reed sceptre of pharoahs,<br />
The sovereign arrows of<br />
sun-gods,<br />
The threatening noise of the<br />
sea,<br />
A wave breaking on a beach;<br />
Ready for cutting, in the<br />
twelth month.<br />
<br />
The second of the twin<br />
mysteries,<br />
Is found upon the psychic<br />
finger,<br />
For here lurks the blackthorn,<br />
The mirror of H-uath is Straif,<br />
Noble ignominy of Jesus,<br />
attired in scarlet;<br />
Dark heart of the poet's soul.<br />
<br />
And last comes, elder of<br />
the waterside,<br />
Ah, you will remember,<br />
"The curs'd elder and the<br />
fatal yew,<br />
With witch [rowan] and<br />
nightshade, in their shadows<br />
grew,"<br />
Ruis is the thirteenth month;<br />
And the tree, upon which<br />
Judas was hung.<br />
<br />
Muin, Gort, Ngetal, Straif, Ruis<br />
Five more sacred trees,<br />
Talking from your fingertips,<br />
Telling, living, foreseeing<br />
secrets,<br />
Such clever consonants;<br />
In different degrees.<br />
<br />
"Jehovah was sworn<br />
and will not repent:<br />
thou art a priest, forever<br />
after the order of<br />
Melchizedek."<br />
<br />
iv<br />
<br />
But what of the vowels?<br />
"Sweet cauldron of the Five<br />
Trees",<br />
Upon which are sworn<br />
Oaths of holy tetractys;<br />
What of?:<br />
<br />
Ailm, Onn, Ura, Eadha, Idho,<br />
What of these mysteries,<br />
of the crane's bag,<br />
The Triple Goddess in three<br />
aspects,<br />
Maiden, women, crone, perhaps,<br />
Beginning, prime and end,<br />
The mysteries of a poet's<br />
Muse,<br />
What of birth,<br />
What of initiation, and<br />
consummation;<br />
What of repose, death and<br />
poetic salvation?<br />
<br />
BIRTH<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall be found...<br />
<br />
Ailm is the silver fir,<br />
Sacred to Artemis, the<br />
Moon Goddess,<br />
The tree of phoenix birth,<br />
It is of Io, and under<br />
the fir,<br />
Was born the god of Byblos;<br />
First station of the year.<br />
<br />
Ailm, the beginning,<br />
Was it not of you that was<br />
constructed,<br />
The clever horse of Troy?<br />
You are the day,<br />
Of the birth of any,<br />
divine child,<br />
Man or woman;<br />
In any age.<br />
<br />
INITIATION<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall do wonders...<br />
<br />
Onn is the furze,<br />
Prickles of the spring equinox,<br />
"The furze but ill-behaved,<br />
Until he is subdued",<br />
The fiery daughter of youth,<br />
Good against bad witches,<br />
And worshipped by Gauls;<br />
In ash groves.<br />
<br />
The ash and fir, are the blaze,<br />
on every hill,<br />
Onn and Nion,<br />
praise great Yggrdrasil,<br />
Sacred to Wotan, Odin, Gwydion,<br />
The furze is the Dominical wand,<br />
That sprang from the<br />
blood of Uranus;<br />
When castrated, by angry<br />
Cronos.<br />
<br />
CONSUMMATION<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall reign...<br />
<br />
"The crane must aye,<br />
take nine steps ere she flie."<br />
<br />
I am Ura, gathered heather,<br />
I am of Isis and Venus,<br />
And I dine on venison milk,<br />
and eagle's breasts;<br />
I set my chair in a womb<br />
of hills.<br />
<br />
I am the season of women,<br />
The season of heaven bloom,<br />
I am Arianrhod, the Queen<br />
of the circle of life,<br />
I reign in my prime now;<br />
And dispense children<br />
before advice.<br />
<br />
REPOSE<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
shall rest...<br />
<br />
Again, upon the psychic<br />
finger,<br />
Find Eadha as the<br />
crane cries,<br />
"I am the fourth tree,<br />
of the autumn equinox and<br />
old age,<br />
I am shifting leaves of white poplar,<br />
I am aspen, shield-maker's tree;<br />
Some say: 'I am the loss,<br />
of all hope.'<br />
<br />
Beside the psychic finger,<br />
You will find, the path<br />
you take,<br />
Towards your death,<br />
Think now, think hard,<br />
think long;<br />
Can I live forever;<br />
And like the poet,<br />
be immortal?<br />
<br />
"Moses obtained,<br />
By suffering, and<br />
In great necessity,<br />
The aid of three;<br />
Dominical rods.<br />
<br />
Solomon obtained,<br />
in Babel's Tower,<br />
All the sciences;<br />
Of Asia's land."<br />
<br />
DEATH<br />
<br />
He or she<br />
cannot live forever...<br />
<br />
You must overcome me,<br />
I am Idho, tree of death,<br />
Sacred to Hecate,<br />
Black bulls were sacrificed<br />
to me and,<br />
"Ghosts would lap their<br />
gushing blood;<br />
Wreathed with yew."<br />
<br />
I am the bow, and the<br />
poisoned arrows,<br />
Fired deep into the hearts,<br />
Of those that fear death,<br />
I am "... slips of yew<br />
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse",<br />
A double fatal yew;<br />
The spell of final knowledge.<br />
<br />
Win my favour,<br />
The favour of death<br />
itself,<br />
And I will give you;<br />
The end before...<br />
<br />
v<br />
<br />
SALVATION<br />
<br />
And you<br />
shall be saved...<br />
<br />
Two hidden trees,<br />
sacred mysteries,<br />
Are found far beyond,<br />
the hand's palm,<br />
In these two trees,<br />
The answer will not be,<br />
"Fir, womb of silver pain,<br />
Yew, tomb of leaden grief,"<br />
Gone shall be strife,<br />
When you realise;<br />
Death only begets<br />
life.<br />
<br />
Only these two trees,<br />
Know when salmon,<br />
Kings and Queens of<br />
river fish,<br />
Retire from philosophy,<br />
Only these trees,<br />
Have been set adrift;<br />
on boundless seas.<br />
<br />
Only these two trees,<br />
Inspire poets to learn,<br />
All secrets of the cosmos,<br />
All secrets of the sun,<br />
moon and stars,<br />
All the secrets,<br />
Of Jupiter, Mercury;<br />
Saturn, Venus and Mars.<br />
<br />
Alpha and Omega,<br />
The beginning to the end,<br />
The end and the beginning,<br />
Ask -<br />
"Sweet apple-tree crimson<br />
in hue,<br />
Which grows concealed in<br />
Forest Celyddon..."<br />
Where to find the sacred<br />
thicket,<br />
Where do you find<br />
the palm and mistletoe<br />
together?<br />
The herald of new life;<br />
And the berry of life<br />
itself?<br />
<br />
I am Ailm, the womb of<br />
every holt,<br />
I am Onn, the blaze on<br />
every hill,<br />
I am Ura, the Queen of<br />
every hive,<br />
I am Eadha, the shield<br />
to every head,<br />
I am Idho, the tomb to<br />
every hope,<br />
I am Omega, the gate to<br />
every hell,<br />
I am Alpha Tetragrammaton,<br />
the door to<br />
every heaven,<br />
I am consort to the celestial<br />
goddess,<br />
I am the celestial goddess,<br />
At times;<br />
<br />
I am your fingertips...<br />
<br />
inanga](https://photos.smugmug.com/Writings/The-irenicon/i-9SkRh6d/0/c04630dd/Ti/DSCF0058-Ti.jpg)
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