The Irish standard., 1911-03-04
ism. We know that caesar attributes

scale to the Gaelic Drsldical .ule; but
we should receive his testimony on this
point with much reserve, as he pro-
ceeds at once to state that: "It is
the God Mercury they chiefly worship;
for of him there are most images"
In the account OF the destruction Of
B:'udin Da Derga, the greatest of the
six great centers of hospitality in an
cient Ireland, which was near Tai
laght, County Dublin, it is related that
when Conairc Nor, the King of Erin,
hurried from Tara to Da De"ga, enc
mics were supposed tn he at the door
Of Brudin. Fer Caillt WAS ordered to
Slay his pig and divine whether it was
friends O: enemies VINO We're spying
at the door The p,~ was slain and
the divination made which discovered
the enemies of the king to be at hand.
Now this incident is valuable, inaslnuch
as it shows us the animal sacrificed
for purposes OF divination, especially
as the bones Of the pig are frequently
found with incinerated human remains
in many of our pagan cemeteries One
such cemetery containing these por-
cine mixed With human remains is In
close proximity to that district which
plays so prominent a part in all Irish
Druidical lore, and which we shall now
proceed to consider in detail.
Magh Slecht, the Plain of Genuhec-
lions, the great center OF Pagan wo--
ship in Ireland from prehistoric times
and the site OF Grown Cruach, the
chief Idol of Erin, who, according to
Dindscfancl1us, was the god Of every
race who colonized Ireland. The his
tory of this Plain of Alteration and it's
great idol is told clearly and circum-
stantially in our annals. II possessed
a religious character which was unique
and a renown all it's own. While Tara,
Tailtenn, Usncach and Tlactag, the
great centers Of social and politic;n
activity, We're resplenGcnt With all the
pomp and magnificenco which royalty
could confer, this old idol, hidden in
the mists in the lone heart of the for
est of Magh Slecht, loened impressive
-ly OH the national i!itstd aid we see
kings and warriors in fear compelled
reverence at his feet
,,1i
ancient shrine-the Delphos of our
Gadelian ancestors, as O'Curry calls
it's given in the Annals of the -Four
Masters undec the year 1906. when
Tighernmas was High King in Erin
Perhaps profounder researches will ons
day discover that The ancient world
to large extent suffers undcse"vedly
the common reproach OF human Sacri-
flee. The circumstances surrounding
the two great classic incidents of hu-
man sacciice-that of the daughter OF
Jephte in sacred his ory, and its semi
mythical counterpart in prnfnnc his
tory-that of Iphigcnia-show us with
what general disfnvor the practice was
regarded and would 20 to demonstrate
that at least amongst civilized -aces
it did not by any means hold the place
that ancient and modern writers as.
sumo it did
In the same way arguing against
those who contend that the ancient IT.
ish never reached the civilization point
of idol conception properly sO-called.
1t is maintained that this idol Crom
C:uach must have been a representa-.
tion OF the human figure, or some.
thing approximatillg to it. But we
can easily conceive how a spiritual
would feel conscious that no material
form could adequately represent their
conceptions Of the great elemental
forces Of nature which they wOrshiped; ;
the brightness of the sun; the brill
liancy of the moon: the speed Of light;
the soidity of th" rock; the splendor
VI IRE, THESE ana l!lc 11lSncf power
which they must have suspected wer,
behind them all, could not be bounded
or expressed, and their aspirations
would be more satisfied by the unfash.
ioned beauty of Crom Cruach than by
the most elaborate works of plastic
art: side by side with such conception
of the Divine, the religious belief of
the masses of such supercivilized peo,
pies as the Greeks and Romans were
mere crudities and Ibsurdities If we
can accept what is handed down to us
as their religious thoughts and wor-
ship.
1t may be added as an argument in
favor of the Amorphous nature OF
their idol of stone that the D"uids be-
lieved in the eternal existence and du-
ration OF matter, a philosophic error
existing widespread in all ages of the