R, ruis, the dwarf elder in Ogham. The rochat, or ... - Rodney Mackay

eincarnation. It is no accident that the Celtic holy wells
were built with circular stone walls in imitation of the
shape of the original “Cauldron of Life and Rebirth.” It was
generally supposed that this life-source was purloined by
the Tuathan “gods” from the sea-kingdom when they
followed the giants there after their defeat in Ireland. This
“Kettle of the Deep,” was eventually buried at the
geographic centre of Gaeldom where it became the astralgenius
of Ireland. Cup-and-ring markings are frequently
seen on megalithic monuments such as the cromlechs of
Ireland and Scotland. These are essentially cup-shaped
hollows gouged out of the stone, frequently seen surrounded
by engraved concentric circles. From the internal cup, a
single radial line is often seen drawn to a point outside the
circumference of the outermost circle. Occasionally a
system of cup are seen joined by a number of these lines,
but most often they simply end beyond the outside ring.
These enigmatic designs, “upon which no light has been
thrown,” are found on vertical and horizontal surfaces in
Great Britain, Brittany, and as far east as India, where they
are termed mahadeos, “great gods.” The fact that they are
engraved upon stones which the Irish call Cromm-leace
corroborates this idea, Cromm, being the dark-god,
corresponding with the creator-god Don. A leac is a
flagstone, the word being similar to our English “plank.” T.
W. Rolleston has noted European examples which are “richly
decorated and accurately drawn,” and he thinks they may
represent “diagrams or plans of megalithic structures.” He
observes the fact that the central hollows may represent
burial chambers and the circles, surrounding standing
stones, fosses or ramparts of earth. The penetrating
avenues would then represent doorways by which priests
moved to and from some interior holy spot or shrine. More
symbolically, we think the interior represents a place of
rebirth as well as that of death.
In cross-section, these rings have the look of the
human male and female reproductive organs in action, and
the standing-stones upon which they are engraved are more
generally taken to be phallic symbols. Something of pagan