Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitionsBayley, Harold
History
Archaic England : $b an essay in deciphering prehistory from megalithic monuments, earthworks, customs, coins, place-names, and faerie superstitions
Bayley, Harold
Archaeology; England -- Antiquities
The word shamrock in Persian is _shamrakh_, and three to four thousand
years ago a Persian poet hymned: "We worship the pure, the Lord of
purity. We worship the universe of the true spirit, visible, invisible,
and all that sustains the welfare of the good creation. We praise all
good thoughts, all good words, all good deeds, which are and will be,
and keep pure all that is good. Thou true and happy Being! we strive to
think, to speak, to do only what, of all actions, may promote the two
lives, the body and the mind. We beseech the spirit of earth, by means
of these best works (agriculture) to grant us beautiful and fertile
fields, for believer and unbeliever, for rich and poor. We worship the
Wise One who formed and furthered the spirit of the earth. We worship
Him with our bodies and souls. We worship Him as being united with the
spirits of pure men and women. We worship the promotion of all good, all
that is very beautiful, shining, immortal, bright, everything that is
good."
The alleged author of this invocation to the God of Goodness and Beauty
lived certainly as early as 1200 B.C., some think 2000 B.C.: the hymn
itself was collected into its present canon during the fourth century of
this era, but, like the British Triads and all other Bardic lore, it is
supposed to have been long orally preserved. It is perfectly legitimate
to compare the literature of Ancient Persia with that of Britain, for
the religious systems of the two countries were admittedly almost
identical; and until recently Persia was the most generally accepted
cradle of the Aryans.
It is impossible to suppose that the earliest compilers and transcribers
of the British Triads had access to the MSS. of the hymn just quoted;
yet while Persian tradition records, "We worship the promotion of all
good, all that is very beautiful, shining, immortal, bright, everything
that is good," the British Bards seemingly worshipped the promotion of
all good, in fact the Three Ultimate Objects of Bardism are on record as
being "to reform morals and customs; to secure peace and _praise
everything that is good and excellent_".
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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