Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

286 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[334]doctrine on a document of the sixteenth century, it does not seemwise to scout altogether the possibility that some fragments ofantique lore may have lingered even so late as that in bardictradition.At any rate, “Barddas” is a work of considerable philosophicinterest, and even if it represents nothing but a certain currentof Cymric thought in the sixteenth century it is not unworthyof attention by the student of things Celtic. Purely Druidicit does not even profess to be, for Christian personages andepisodes from Christian history figure largely in it. But we comeoccasionally upon a strain of thought which, whatever else itmay be, is certainly not Christian, and speaks of an independentphilosophic system.In this system two primary existences are contemplated, Godand Cythrawl, who stand respectively for the principle of energytending towards life, and the principle of destruction tendingtowards nothingness. Cythrawl is realised in Annwn, 206 whichmay be rendered, the Abyss, or Chaos. In the beginning therewas nothing but God and Annwn. Organised life began by theWord—God pronounced His ineffable Name and the “Manred”was formed. The Manred was the primal substance of theuniverse. It was conceived as a multitude of minute indivisibleparticles—atoms, in fact—each being a microcosm, for God iscomplete in each of them, while at the same time each is a partof God, the Whole. The totality of being as it now exists isrepresented by three concentric circles. The innermost of them,where life sprang from Annwn, is called “Abred,” and is the stageof struggle and evolution—the contest of life with Cythrawl. Thenext is the circle of “Gwynfyd,” or Purity, in which life ismanifested as a pure, rejoicing force, having attained its triumphover evil. The last and outermost circle is called “Ceugant,” orInfinity. Here all predicates fail us, and this circle, represented206Pronounced “Annoon.” It was the word used in the early literature forHades or Fairyland.