Grant, O God, Thy protection; And in Thy protection, strength, And in strength, understanding; And in understanding, knowledge, And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice; And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it, And in that love, the love of all existences; And in that love of all existences, the love of God. God and all goodness. Some have supposed that Druidism learned its secrets from the Persian Magi, others that the Magi learnt from Druidism. Pliny, speaking of the vanities of _Magiism_ or _Magic_, recorded that "Britain celebrates them to-day with such ceremonies it might seem possible that she taught Magic to the Persians". In Persian philosophy the trinity of Goodness was Good Thought, Good Deed, and Good Word, and in Britain these Three Graces were symbolised by the three Golden Berries of the Mistletoe or Golden Bough. They figure alternatively as Three Golden Balls or Apples growing on a crystal tree. The Mistletoe--sacred alike in Persia and in Britain--was worshipped as the All-Heal, and it was termed the Ethereal Plant, because alone among the vegetable creation it springs etherially in mid-air, and not from earth. Among the adventures of Prince Conneda of Connaught--the young and lovely son of Great and Good King Conn and Queen Eda--was a certain quest involving the most strenuous seeking. Aided by a Druid, the youthful Conneda carried with him a small bottle of extracted All-Heal, and was led forward by a magic ball, which rolled ever in advance. The story (or rather allegory, for it is obviously such) tells us that the Three Golden Apples were plucked from the Crystal Tree in the midst of the pleasure garden, and deposited by Conneda in his bosom. On returning home Conneda planted the Three Golden Apples in his garden, and instantly a great tree bearing similar fruit sprang up. This tree caused all the district to produce an exuberance of crops and fruits, so that the neighbourhood became as fertile and plentiful as the dominion of the Firbolgs, in consequence of the extraordinary powers possessed by the Golden Fruit.[190] The trefoil or shamrock (figured constantly in Crete) was another symbol of the Three in One, and I have little doubt that at Tara there once existed a picture of St. Patrick holding this almost world-wide emblem. Tara is the same word as _tri_ or _three_ and in Faërie this number is similarly sacred. The Irish used to march in battle in threes, the Celtic _mairae_ or fairy mothers were generally figured in groups of three, and the gown of the Fairy Queen is said to have been-- Of pansy, pink, and primrose leaves, Most curiously laid on in _threaves_.[191]