The Fountain of Knowledge
The Fountain of Knowledge.
When dawn awakens the forest bright,
The Goddess smiles in the morning light.
Within her hands the Triquetra gleams,
While living water flows in silver streams.
From the sacred pool the clear brook flows,
Giving life wherever it gently goes.
It feeds the fern and the ancient tree,
A timeless song of harmony.
Beneath the hazel's leafy shade,
A golden hazelnut slowly swayed.
A silver salmon leapt on high,
To seize its wisdom from the sky.
The Awen falls like a gentle breeze,
To bless the bard beneath the trees.
The forest remembers the ancient way,
And the soul is reborn with the newborn day.
Triad of Water
Three gifts are given by Water: Life, Purity, and Peace.
Triad of the Hazel
Three treasures grow upon the Hazel: Knowledge, Memory, and Inspiration.
Triad of the Salmon
Three paths are known by the Salmon: Wisdom, Patience, and the Return to the Source.
Druid Hoc'hGouez-Nerzhus
The Fountain of the Three. Mysteries
Welsh bardic version
Before the Blackbird greets the Sun,
Before the Mist departs the oaks,
The Lady of Stone raises the Circle,
And the Water is born from Silence.
None knows the name of that Water.
It comes neither from rain,
Nor from rivers,
But from the First Word.
It flows without haste,
Seeking the roots that still remember.
The moss listens.
The stones answer.
The wind falls silent.
Where the Hazel bends its boughs,
Nine nuts ripen unseen.
Only one falls.
Only one is called.
Then the Ancient One of the Deep
Breaks the mirror of the waters.
Without a sound, he receives the fruit,
And the current becomes memory.
Who sees has not understood.
Who understands does not speak.
Who drinks from the Source
Hears the Awen before the song.
For the Circle endures,
The Water endures,
The Salmon endures.
And the one who returns to the Origin
Never comes back wholly unchanged.
Triad of Water
Three faces are borne by the Water:
it is born without beginning,
it nourishes without asking,
and it always returns to the Unseen.
Triad of the Hazel
Three silences are kept by the Hazel:
the silence of the Seed,
the silence of Memory,
and the silence of the Word not yet born.
Triad of the Salmon
Three paths are known to the Salmon:
the path that descends,
the path that abides,
and the path that returns to the Source where all wisdom awaits.
Druid Hoc'hGouez-Nerzhus