Aontacht - Volume 7 Issue 3

yet they remain to communicate with uswhenever we take the time and find the placewhere we can attune to them. It’s not surprisingthat observatories and temples are located onmountain peaks; they have a similar purpose, aconversation with the sky. At the top of CadairIdris, a mountain in Wales is a seat, a great stoneIt’s not surprising that a mountain observatoryfilled with poetry and magic is the site of anArthurian adventure. Arthur’s presence is interwoveninto many of the sacred sites of theBritish Isles. On the slopes of this sacredmountain Arthur went on a hunt with the kingof the fair folk, and his pack ofhounds the (dogs of the underworld).The hunt continues and if you areswept up in it, you might find yourself in, the underworld, or perhaps taken up to(Corona Borealis).As in many cultures, Annwn, ‘the underworld,’refers to a place of otherness. It may be simultaneouslylocated on the inner plane, deep inthe earth, an alternate visionary dimension to afamiliar landscape such as Arthur’s hunt withhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Cadair_Idris_wide_view.jpgcouch where the giant, Idris, the firstastronomer/astrologer watched the night sky.Idris was skilled in poetry and philosophy as wellas star lore, and it is said that whoever spendsthe night in Cadair Idris, the giant’s chair, willmeet death, madness or poetic inspiration bymorning.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Aasgaardreien_peter_nicolai_arbo_mindre.jpgArianrhod She of The Silver Wheelhttps://inanna.virtualave.net/bouletgoddess.jpgGwyn ap Nudd and his hounds, or a locationin the sky. The celestial site for Annwn was animportant constellation to the British people,This is the Welsh name forCorona Borealis. The literal meaning for CaerArianrhod is ‘ the castle, or fortress, or hill ofArianrhod.’ This constellation, which looks likea coronet or a cauldron is where the MoonAontacht • 61