A Druid's Handbook to the Spiritual Power of Plants: Spagyrics in Magical and Sexual Rituals - Jon G. Hughes 2014

The Use of Welsh Language

Much of what is contained in these pages has been handed down through an oral tradition and little, if any, of it has appeared in print before. In fact, the whole of the body of Druidic lore has been maintained solely by an oral tradition. Although this creates an atmosphere of secrecy and mystery, the most profound blanket of secrecy has been laid upon the craft of the Druid not by the selective system of “recruiting” initiate Druidic priests or priestesses or the personal “one-on-one” training methodology but by the fact that this oral tradition is maintained exclusively through the use of the Welsh language.

The vast majority of people who read this book will have little, if any, working knowledge of either the modern or the ancient version of Welsh, and while some practitioners like to include elements of arcane or unknown languages in their rituals to create atmosphere and mystique, I believe that understanding takes precedence.

In the process of researching the alchemical aspects of this book, I was confounded on many occasions by the use of ancient languages long since fallen from popular use. Fortunately for me, many of the commentators on these ancient texts have provided translations for most of this strange and unfamiliar language. As the history of alchemy spans such a great period and covers such a wide geographical area, it is inevitable that it has been recorded in a vast range of ancient and modern languages.

I have, therefore, deliberately refrained from using the modern or ancient forms of Welsh in the main text of this book. You will find occasional Welsh words, along with some Irish words, where there are no English equivalents, or where it is necessary to give alternative meanings, as in the names of flowers and trees, for example. I have also included a number of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew words when it may assist the reader to find similar references in other publications.

While it is true that the Welsh language in particular has an enchanting musical sound and that its individual words and phrases have a very powerful and deep meaning, I also believe that these may be translated into English without any serious loss of subtlety—certainly with no more loss of meaning than the ancient form being translated into modern, vernacular Welsh.

One of the greatest dangers I have found among my pupils is that when they come up against words that are not part of their everyday vocabulary, and they are unsure of their true meaning, they attempt to build a concept around the word, when the true purpose of the original word was to explain a concept that may have escaped them.

It is imperative that all the members of your Gathering understand completely what is being said and done during your rituals and also throughout their training. The explanation and understanding of the complicated philosophies and methodologies involved is difficult enough without confusing them with unnecessarily obscure language.