Tuatha Dé Danaan ...Celtic Elves

While this race of 'Elves'/people might not be considered, they are historical nonetheless, thus I have placed this piece of research among our case files.

Nalinlei of O.K.com wrote:

This is an extract from an article that i have been reading .
After the retreat of the ice, European man did not suddenly pass into the Neolithic Age. There were several thousand years (8000 to 2500 BC) of which nothing at all was known until quite recently, and to this day is the subject of disputed findings. This un-known period is termed the Mesolithic Age, and alternatively known as the Mythological Cycle or Pagan Cycle.


Tuatha Dé Danaan
(too-aha-dai-donnan)

The name Tuatha de Danann, means - People of the Goddess Dana - This is the race of people who reigned over ancient Erin after conquering the Firbolg's and the Fomhoire .
They were known as Gods, until Christian dictates caused a lessening of their divine status to a supernatural, or spirit race. The Celts call them the Daoine Sidhe (deenie-shee), Spirit race, or Feadh-Ree - the Fairy Race of Ireland.

The arrival of human inhabitants to ancient Erin(Ireland), firstly the People of Parthelon, and then the race of Nemed, date back to 6000 years BC The people of the Goddess Dana were not the first super-natural inhabitants of Erin. Before them were the Fomorian's and the Firbolgs's. No one knows when the Fomorian race arrived, so it is assumed that they were always there. The Firbolg race arrived somewhere about 4500 BC and the Tuatha de Danann around 4000 BC.

All the other races reached Erin by ships, landing on the east and south east coastline, but the Tuatha de Danann came in obscure clouds from the sky, landing on a mountain in the west of the country. They caused an eclipse of the sun for three days, and spread fog-sustaining clouds so that all inhabitants sought shelter for three days and three nights. They brought with them the Lia Facirc;il (Stone of Destiny) which uttered a human cry when touched by the rightful king; Nuada's sword, from whose stroke no one ever escaped or recovered; the Great Spear of Lugh which guaranteed victory to its wielder; and the cauldron of The Dagda, The Undry, from which no one ever departed unsatisfied or under-nourished.

They were a fair complexioned race, with fair hair; either golden-blond or reddish, many having freckled skin. They were community living people, freely sharing dwellings and responsibilities of parenting. It was common practice for a child to be raised by foster-parents who had the chosen qualities to provide the offspring of opportunies to master their inherent attributes. This freely shared parenthood has produced the confusion for readers of folklore and ancient recordings, where someone is described as the son of a particular person in one manuscript; and yet is said to be the son of another in a different document_

The Tuatha de Danann were accomplished masters of magic, and wizardry, very learned in the art of altering their forms, their appearance and size. They were skilled craftsmen, in a manner far advanced for those ancient times; extremely accomplished musicians, singers and poets. Many, both men and women, were outstanding seers and prophets. These people had superior comprehensive knowledge of the property of herbs which they used extensively for healing sickness, and curing fatal wounds, and for spells.

The magic they practiced was a form of shamanic Druidism that far surpasses the modern-day esoteric, occult and psychic sciences; they knew the secret of the power over death. Their equipment and apparel was most distinguished: extremely gifted in mind, intelligence, and temperament, as well as outstanding bravery that inspired the most admiration, horror, fear, and dread in all who came to Erin. They were people who were proficient in every art.

The post-Christian chroniclers - monks of the Roman Catholic Church - who undertook the task of recording the ancient history of Ireland, sought to reconcile Christian teachings with the ever vital pagan beliefs by changing the gods into ancient kings, and incorporating them into the annals of the country: and giving a highly fanciful account of them in a more mortal than god-like nature. They wrote a pseudo-history of battles in which kings were slain, and successfully implanting their existence into the realms of myths.

The Milesians, the first Celts, invaded the country somewhere between 1500 and 700 BC Their numbers and strength and weaponry was so great they overran the Tuatha de Danann, and sought to enslave them and utilise their magical skills. Through skillful trickery and magic the Tuatha evaded the dreaded foe. A pact was agreed on whereas the Tuatha de Danann would live in cairns in the hills and forests, below the ground; and the Milesiansns would have all land above the ground. Historians state that because of this enforced below-ground existence, the Tuatha race became extinct by the time of the Christian era.

Saint Patrick is said to have brought the Tuatha de Danann poet, Oisin to Laogaire the Second, King of Ireland, in the year 453, to attest to the truth of the pagan race having accepted Christianity; although no written record of this can now be found (see Oisin's Ride into Faerie - "Tales of the Sidhe"). Daring attempts by some chroniclers to change the Tuatha de Danann from pagan gods into Christian saints were made, with limited success. One of them alone was successful. Bridget, the goddess of fire, and poetry, is famous today as Saint Bridget, or Bride. The most popular of all the Irish saints, she is the daughter of The Dagda. Her Christian attributes connect her with fire, and attest her pagan origin as, Tuatha de Danann.

A careful examination of Irish literature which deals with the lives and legends of the saints (hagiology), results in the discovery of many other saints whose names and attributes render them as Tuatha de Danann pagan gods. Learned monks worked hard to construct a history of Ireland from the great flood downwards. They elaborated various pedigrees and inserted into the ancient manuscripts an amazing genealogy, which shows how, not merely the Tuatha de Danann, but also the Firbolgs, the Fomorians, the Milesians, and the races of Partholon and Nemed were all descended from Noah.

Christian idealology could not reconcile the concept of a Divine personage taking the life of any other, as this is considered a disasterous sin. The commandment "Thou shalt not kill", was embraced in concrete terms, and is nominally binding equally to the philosopher, the soldier, and the merchant; and also to the Hierarchy of the Divinity - a somewhat illogical position, from where right and wrong, is judged from a totally impractical viewpoint.

The teachings of the Old Faith, while following the doctrines of harmlessness, also strictly obeyed the ordinance of chivalry. These teachings did not attempt to enforce the literal definition of harmlessness in a blanket effect upon all circumstances. The knight or warrior who shrank, in time of need, from slaying men or animals would not be praiseworthy as a humanitarian, but blameworthy as one who neglected to follow his own-morality. All were bound by the code of chivalry, by the knightly duty, and the promise to protect all others. In its true essence, the doctrines of the Old Faith did not oppose the Christian commandment.

Having once worked the gods as grandiose, but mere mortals, first into universal history, and then into the history of Ireland, it was an easy matter to supply them with dates of birth and death, and places of burial. Early chronicles accredited many to the status of kings, and the succession of rulers were recorded with precision exactly how long each king reigned, and how he was supposed to have died.

The later writers often confused the Tuatha de Danann with the Fomorians and the Firbolgs, and in post-mediaeval literature they are represented as having both favorable and divine, and demonic groups among them; and as such, were associated with the dead and spirits of the dead. This made them suitable for a variety of literary narratives, as well as being the vestige of a divine race. And so, they became the integral stock of ordinary folklore.

They were the first practicing Occultists of the world, living their daily lives within, and governed by the realms of magic.
The word magic comes through Latin and Greek, from the Persian word meaning the work of wise men or priests. Such activity was, and is done for the benefit of mankind on the whole. But the word has altered in its significance and is usually applied to acts of selfish or even harmful kind; and as such is distinguished by the term black magic which conjures terminology's such as - witchcraft; paganism; sorcery and occult.

Magic consists of primitive science. Astrology was primitive astronomy. Alchemy was primitive chemistry, and so on with the other occult sciences. These eventually threw off their superstitious features and became subject to the rules of inductive science laid down by Francis Bacon.

The occult aspects of the primitive sciences were thrown off by modern science, and that they are mere superstitions is a minority opinion - although widely spread among the people of the western world who have not had the acquaintance with other cultures...especially those of the past. Magic also makes use of imaginary, or real phenomena, such as clairvoyance and telepathy; the nature of which has become the subject of psychic research in recent years. In many instances magic can also be brought into connection with so-called hypnotic phenomena, or the similarity of the effects of suggestion; producing the terminology, casting of spells. This was the prime method of the magic of the Tuatha de Danann race. .

It is clear and indisputable that legends of the Tuatha de Danann were the inspiration for the romantic tales of heroic Fairy Princes and Princesses, the Athurian legends, of Camelot, Merlin, Avalon, Morgan Le Fay, and the airy, tenuous, diminutive Fairies portrayed in stories primarily for children.

I decided to dig up some more information on the Tuatha Dé Danann. Here are some extra links for those of you who might like to do some extra "Digging" of your own. It was by complete accident I decided to work on this and yet at the same time I know I was on to something when I started.

References:
Timeless Myths.com
Pantheon.org (Yeah I was surprised they had something honestly)
Baharna.com
Boudicca.de
Gods, Heros & Myths.com
Shee-eire.com

you are amazing at even the worst of times, you know that!

TwilightInsanity wrote:

you are amazing at even the worst of times, you know that!

lol Define worst of times. lol But I couldn't believe I found some rather good sources on the net. I was impressed to say the least.

i don't feel like defining it. ^_^ let's just say this cheered me up.

That's good to know. That will suffice all the same.

^_^