The Ancient Triskele & The Rule of 3
Foundational concepts and principles shape our world. I'd like to share some musings on the Tripartite symbol as it relates to ancient cultures and to who we are today.
Triskele - A Widespread Symbol
Amongst the Irish or Celtic peoples, the Triskele has long been a sacred symbol. Used to adorn jewelry and other ornament, etched into stone or engraved onto the protective tools of martial combat such as helmets, shields, armguards, body armor or scabbards, the triskele held a mighty significance amongst many cultures. The ancient coins of Rome, India, Persia and elsewhere all demonstrated the triskele.
Found on nearly every continent, the image of the triple spiral, or something equivalent, gives hint at a view of the world once commonly shared amongst wide ranging populations often thought to exist entirely independent of each other with each having no knowledge of the other.
Creator, Sun, Earth & Sky, Man, Woman
Beginning at the center of each spiral, the movement happens in a counterclockwise fashion. More on that later, but this is distinctly different from how various peoples would move when conducting ceremonies or offering up prayers.
In Ireland, one moves deiseal, or clockwise, to reflect the movement of the sun across the sky when conducting certain rituals or walking along a path through a courtyard, graveyard, around a megalith or within a stone circle. This is to reflect the movement of the sun.
When entering a hogan, a traditional Navajo, or Diné, circular or 8-sided structure, one enters from the east and turns to the left to walk around the perimeter of the space until one finds their space within this womblike structure.
Here the role of Earth & Sky is acknowledged in multiple ways, in a similar way to the stone circle, perhaps. The home, the hogan, is recognized as a womb, the matriarchal principle. It’s central opening at the high point of the ceiling connects with the Sky above, Creator. As humans, we enter into this world via the womb, via the life-giving energy of our Father, the Sky, to live a life on the Earth. Each day this is acknowledged at sunrise as we are born again.
Traditional male hogans were made with 3 forked branches coming to touch in the center then brush and mud to cover creating a conical, almost beehive like structure, perhaps covered, from the ground up, in a spiraling motion. The circular forms represents the sun, a holy symbol of the Creator.
On Skellig Michael, an island off the southwest coast of Ireland at County Kerry, similar shaped stone structures (clocháns) from ancient monasteries can be found clustered near the top. Irr, son of Míl (forefather of the Milesians, the Gael, that is) is said to have drowned nearby on his way from the Iberian peninsula and was buried here. And as we all know, Luke Skywalker, sat out his later years sulking on Skellig Michael before the Last Jedi came and rousted him from his somber mood of discouragement.
The Ley Line of St. Michael is believed to begin on Skellig Michael and continue in a southeasterly fashion through several sites in Europe and over to Mount Carmel in Israel.
If the center point of the hogan, or a central stone in a stone circle, or even the hearth at the center of a simple cottage is considered to be stationary as the world rotates around it and the sun moves across overhead, a sort of interrupted spiraling motion is implied over time as the sun ascends and descends at its risings and settings along the horizon throughout the seasons.
Oftentimes, stone circles or dolmens are oriented towards the rising sun either on one of the solstices (winter or summer; thus, further south or north, respectively, for the northern hemisphere) or perhaps for the equinoxes.
In some of these places, spirals may be found as petroglyphs. Some of these rock engravings, when observed at particular times of the year at sunrise (eg. solstices) a line of shadow and light may be found to move across the spiral symbolizing a marriage between heaven and earth. See below where a solstice sunrise event sends a shadow (dualism in action) gliding across a spiral image at the American southwest location.
As Above, So Below
As above, so below is an Hermetic principle and is in line with Vitalist principles. The micro reveals the macro, and vice versa.
Perhaps this is why the spiral within the triskele moves opposite to the sun - as above, so below. The reflection of the heavens is mirrored upon the Earth.
This thought is not unlike what is demonstrated by the work of those who claim that ancient structures placed upon the Earth are reflections of the constellations in the heavens above (see Gary David’s The Orion Zone which discusses the upside down mirror image of Orion depicted upon the Earth by distant villages and ancient structures spread far across the Southwest landscape; eg. the 3 Hopi mesas as the belt stars of Orion).
Here is a variation on the triple spiral found at a Hohokam site in downtown Phoenix, Arizona at the Pueblo Museum. A 4-legged spiral motif pointing to the 4 directions or the 4 principle energies of creation. To me, it appears as if light or electricity is generating these spirals.
Divisions of 3
As a tripartite symbol, divisions of 3 are implied. In the cosmology of the ancient Irish, divisions were made between the Middle World (Bith), the Lower World (Tír Andomain) and the Otherworld (Magh Mor, “Great Plain”).
I believe that the Celtic cross is a 2-dimensional representation of this - My previous post, Living Resurrection, covers this as well; but consider all four arms of the cross to be of equal length (instead of the lowest arm extended). If one were to lay this cross horizontally and stretch the shape upwards and downwards with curvilinear lines forming between each layer we would see the layout and movements between this tripartite world view in 3D (see depiction below).
The Ogham, an ancient form of writing as well as cosmological symbols for the flow of energy around us, can be depicted, numerically, at each plain, or world, and along the 4 paths that connect each plain (for a total of 20).
Within this projected 3D model of the Celtic cross, with a square platform at the lower level and upper level, we see the beginnings of the Tree of Life, approaching a toroidal structure (again, see link above).
I could say that here there is the 3 within the 5, or the 4 within the 3, or the 3 within the 1 (with the dual worlds of upper and lower reflected in the neutral middle world).
Thus, we have the 5 classic divisions, or invasions, of Ireland. All of these but the first invasion, it should be noted, came after the Great Flood.
On the third invasion, the Nemed (“sacred beings“) divided the land into 3. They added a central vertical axis and created an above and below. Creating depth within their reality, the people now knew spirituality on their plain of existence - “as above, so below”.
Sequentially, this came after an initial state of no division, no shaping of the land - perhaps our primordial form, a “Garden of Eden”, or the latent “potential” of humans yet fully expressed. Upon the second invasion (of Partholon) four divisions were made thus introducing the 4 directions, differentiating the flat plane of existence.
It was, interestingly, upon the Milesian invasion (if you’ll remember Míl and his son, Irr, from above) who (Eber and Eremon) divided the land in two, a south and north. Ireland’s inhabitants today are said to be descendants of this invasion and this division is largely observed to this day, arguably, thousands of years later.
One of the most important aspects of traditional Irish culture was the code set forth for how one is to conduct oneself, with honor and integrity. What was of high importance was one’s conduct in relation to one’s neighbors and their honor, including family status and material (as well as intellectual) property.
These laws are called the Brehon laws, or an Féineachas. The laws governed one’s behavior against another and/or his or her property in relation to his status or standing (as well as that of the offended) in society, and one would pay, accordingly, should one be found in violation of one of these laws.
These are primarily the law of the land as it pertains to how humans interact and relate to each other in terms of moral and ethical norms as well as commerce.
The law of the air would refer to natural law, or God’s law. This also refers to trust law as it is believed to be given to us by the Creator. These are infused into the law of the land by way of the conduct expected of a Trustee (fiduciary responsibilities), but would be the foundation for the forming of the laws of the land.
The law of the sea, or water, would be the law of commerce, as developed, presumably, by the British (if not the Phoenicians before them). This is the code under which most of our lives are currently governed despite the fact that we primarily reside upon the land - at least we think we do, but that’s a whole other matter.
Thus, we have Land, Air, Water - LAW
These are the 3 basic elements of our world: Land (Tír), Air (Aer), Water (Uisce) - TAU
These elements make up the entirety of our world. Every living thing is comprised of these basic elements and these are the basic elements that we witness and engage with in our surroundings throughout our daily life. Further, we utilize what Nature affords us to create everything we can make from these three basic elements.
To elucidate a bit further on law, or common law, there are 3 basic rules to follow:
Don’t hurt people
Don’t destroy or take other people’s property
Don’t lie or deceive people
3 Legs
It was my Thai massage teacher, Pichest Boonthomme, who said many years ago, that one needs 3 stones in order to cook. Assuming one is cooking over a fire, which was once commonplace around the world not too long ago, it is essential to have one’s cook pot balanced upon 3 stones, or held up by 3 legs in order to become stable.
He used this metaphor to teach us how to think about moving around the body and keep ourselves stable while using our hands, forearms, elbows, knees, feet, and so forth. In order to keep our balance, we needed to maintain 3 points of contact with the Earth.
But most importantly, Pichest was always imploring his students to feel and to relieve themselves of their dominating intellect. It was the solid yet fluid foundation of 3 that put us in the position to connect to the patient and feel into their energy body.
As I just read the linked article above, I can see just how important Pichest’s teaching style has been on me and my work. I am forever grateful to him for all that he imparted upon me in his wisdom, creativity and utterly unique and authentic teaching style.
I finish this post with a sad and heavy heart as my search for that article brought up the news that Pichest passed on August 21, 2023.
I had envisioned returning to Pichest’s home to thank him once again, this time with my family, just to see Pichest’s smile once more and hear his laugh amidst chastising the over-thinking farangs (Westerners).
In the spirit of Pichest… Step by step, little by little, no rush, Do
You're thinking instead of feeling this. Intellectualising if that's a word. Maybe to explain to others.
To build your own stone circle..... I'll not share the technical but from that are generated certain things, you build your cairn, more technical considerations here, and that's where you experience healing. There being no 'where'. 🙏