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The Three Illuminations

There were three forms of divination employed by the druidic and poetic class. Two of these were outlawed by St. Patrick, because they involved invocation of pagan gods. Very few examples of these methods have survived but through the surviving sources brief glimpses of their power may be seen. They are known as Imbas forosna, Teinm laeghda and Díchetal do Chennaib. These were the three 'qualifications of the poet'.

Imbas forosna or 'The Inspiration of the Masters' was performed when the poet or druid would chew upon the flesh of certain animals and after ritual invocations, would cast himself into a sleep of incubation during which he would give a true augury. It would seem that this method gave access to the wisdom guarded by the totemic beast thus consumed. Imbas forosna was further accomplished by the poet lying in a darkened room, with the palms of his hands over either eye, crossways across his face. This is an instance of magical posture which is not unknown in other systems of meditation, since it acts as a total blotting out of light which may interfere with the inner vision.

Teinm laeghda or 'The Cracking Open of the Poem' might be further translated as 'The Illumination of Rhymes'. Its chief exponent in Irish tradition is Fionn mac Cumhail who possessed the thumb of knowledge. He had only to put this in his mouth and he would divine what needed to be known. A story which shows a combined instance of Teinm laeghda and divination by ogham is found in the Fionn cycle:

The Faithful Fool
Fionn left his wife to go hunting. Lomna, his faithful fool, observed the woman's friendlines with Cairpre, one of Fionn's warriors. She bade Lomna keep silent on this matter, which he did reluctantly. Unable to keep Fionn in ignorance, Lomna shaped a quadrangular wand and cut the following upon it in ogham letters: 'An alder stake in a palisade of silver; a sprig of hellebore in a bunch of cresses; the willing husband of an unfaithful wife among a select band of tired warriors; heath upon the bare hill of Ualainn in Luighne'. He then left the wand where he knew that Fionn would be sure to find it.

Fionn's Otherworldly knowledge helped him understand this obscure message and to cover her tracks, Fionn's wife bade her lover kill Lomna. The fool's headless body was shortly found and the Fianna asked Fionn to divine whose body it was and how he met his end. Fionn put his thumb in his mouth and spoke through the power of Teinm laeghda :

'He has not been killed by people -
He has not been killed by the people of Laighné -
He has not been killed by a wild boar -
He has not been killed by a fall -
He has not died on his bed - Lomna!

Fionn let loose his hounds, who tracked to where Cairpre was cooking a fish on a stone. Lomna's head was staked nearby. Three times did Cairpre divide the fish, giving nothing to the head, which said :

'A speckled white-bellied salmon burst forth from spawn under the sea. You have divided a share at the second division. A better division would have been made by a drunken servant. I would like a piece of the stomach. The Fianna will hate Luighne for this!'

At this, Cairpre bade his men throw the head away, but it said:

'The stake relates that a champion was running with his battle-spear at their first coupling. Ye will be like many pieces of several fragments. Fionn will light the Luighne with much fire.'

Fionn then approached and killed Cairpre, as Lomna prophesied.

The Illumination of Rhymes here demonstrates the dead man's name spontaneously springing to Fionn's lips. It is possible that this method of divination followed a set form, unlike the Díchetal do Chennaib, which seems to have a more analeptic skill. The obscurity of the ogham is no trouble to Fionn who successfully determines that the alder stake in a palisade of silver denotes his own wife in her court; a sprig of hellebore in a bunch of cress means that her intentions are unwholesome; that the woman is his own wife and the place of her lover's assignation are conveyed by Lomna's message. Lomna also seems to employ a kind of Teinm laeghda, his oracular head performing much the same function as Bran the Blessed's.

Díchetal do Chennaib or 'Composing on One's Finger-End's' is the least documented method of divinatory inspiration. It has been suggested that the hand was used as a mnemonic, each joint pertaining to an ogham letter. However Díchetal do Chennaib seems to have more to do with psychometry. Some texts speak of a poet's ability to touch someone with his staff or to pick up an object and by means of ritual invocation, discover the history of that person or object.

An instance of this is found in The Exile of the Sons of Uisnech where the hosts of Ulster are being served by the wife of Fedlimid. She is pregnant and as she passes through the hall, the child cries out in her womb. At this shriek the company arises in fright, but the woman asks the druid Cathbadh to give her an augury about this cry. Laying a hand on her belly, Cathbadh pronounces:

It is a woman who hath given that shriek,
Golden haired, with long tresses, and tall,
For who's love chieftains shall strive....
O Deirdruí! thou art a great cause of ruin;
Though famous, and fair and pale:
Before Fedlimid's daughter shall part from life,
All Ulster shall wail her deeds.

Each of the techniques is obscure and barely understood by the clerics who wrote the stories down. They have a tendency to lump all three together in an arbitrary way. Their true purpose was allied to the poet's magical abilities. Rigorous training taught the poet to identify the essence of a person, thing or situation in ways that seem miraculous, but which, like all divination, were based on close observation.

"The three most beautiful things in the world : a full-rigged ship, a woman with child and the full moon"
Celtic Proverb

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