the Path through the Forest by Julie White & Graeme K Talboys

Author:Julie White & Graeme K Talboys [White, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grey House in the Woods
Published: 2013-12-15T05:00:00+00:00

AWEN

The Lord God will give me the sweet Awen,

as from the cauldron of Cerridwen.

Llywarch ap Llywelyn (12th century poet)

In the next section of this book, there is a chapter on circle casting, where it is suggested that the ‘awen’ is chanted or intoned three times. You are unlikely to have heard this word before now if you are new to the Druid Way. It is one of those mystical words that means as many things to as many Druids as you care to ask. For many people, the first time they hear it intoned is at a public Druid Gorsedd where, depending on the amount of Druids in the circle, it can cause quite a vibration. It is usually intoned three times, but some groups chant it in multiples of three. It is pronounced ‘ah-oo-en’.

The awen has a very long history and dates back beyond the Druid revival of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In fact, the earliest extant mention of it is in a Latin text from AD796 by Nennius. This work, Historia Brittonum, was itself based on an earlier text by a Welsh monk called Gildas. The mention is in reference to King Ida of Northumberland and although no meaning of the word is given, it does prove that the word was in existence before Britain became completely Christianized.

There are later and very interesting references by Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) who wrote in his Description of Wales c1188:

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