Taliesin's (Gwion's) cycles of inspiration, decoded

[David Dalton]

On my Salmon on the Thorns webpage I analyze patterns and
significant episodes in my mood cycles and compare them
to those of past figures.

The first such past figure I discovered, and the one I
have the most evidence for, is Taliesin (Gwion Bach),
who I define as the poet who wrote the quotes I give
below (since some work attributed to him may have been
written by others much later).

>From the beginning of 1993 to early September 1994 I
three times experienced a 5.5 lunar month (162 days,
6 Carrington solar rotations) separation between a
waxing gibbous moon trial onset and a waning crescent
inspiration/high onset. (I predicted the third such high.)

In the following I refer to the book Taliesin: Shamanism and
the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland by John Matthews
(with additional material by Caitlin Matthews). The Aquarian
Press/an imprint of Harper Collins, 1991 ISBN 1-85538-109-5.

On p.97 as part of the poem The Hostile Confederacy, several
lines read

"Seven score muses
There are in the inspiration of song;
Eight score in every score
In the great abyss of tranquility
In the great abyss of wrath..."

The seven score muses I think refers to the number of
lunar months (of 29.53 days) in an 11 year solar sunspot cycle.
As it turns out, there are 136 lunar months in 11 years
but 140 lunar months from the first waning crescent high
is equivalent to 7 years (which turns up in stories of
other celtic figures such as Amergin and Fionn) from
the time the low years begin.

The eight score, in days, corresponds to the above-mentioned
5.5 lunar month separation.

I think the great abyss of tranquility is depression,
and the great abyss of wrath is paranoia.

Taliesin also mentions "three times in the prison of
Arianrhod" (p.238) which I think refers to the
waxing gibbous moon trials (with release no later
than full moon), and "three times inspired by Ceridwen"
which I think refers to the waning crescent (old moon) highs.

The 5.5 lunar month separation is also related to the
following quote from Matthews' book, p.321,

"its inspiring brew ages over five cauldrons, (brewing)."

I discuss Taliesin (Gwion Bach) some more on my Salmon
on the Thorns web page, particularly on the subsubpage
http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/celtic.html .

Feel free to pass this information to any Welsh druids
or other scholars that you know who might be interested in
collaborating with me in this research.

--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com http://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"When the train, it left the station, with two lights on behind
Well, the blue light was my blues, and the red light was my mind" (R.J.)