The Bath Mystery's

2011-05-21T01:54:00.000-07:00

Re-Imagining

''The Awareness of subjects and principles is an ever flowing river , you have to but stop and drink from it on your journey to attain refreshment''

--

The Following talk is a great synopsis covering the seemingly un-connected topics of Alchemy , Plato and C.G Jung. The talk has been around a long time and many readers of the blog will already have seen it - however it encapsulates the title of this post and goes someway to explain some of the finer points surrounding my own poetic use of the term 're-imagining'.

''This video discusses the idea that Platonic metaphysics is an Intellectual Yoga, a spiritual tradition which is magnificent, structured, aggressive, descriptive and psychologically profound. Enjoy the Lost treasure of Plato.''

Platonism and Alchemy

As an after thought in light of the way in which I have been approaching this vast library of information please do bare in mind a very important fact about the Translation of Plato and his philosophical work - The so called Italian neo-Platonist and perhaps better titled Natural philosopher Marsilio Ficino who translated the first of Plato's works in the modern era Actually put Plato on hold !! He literally side marked it to comeback to after he finished working on the seminal Corpus Hermeticum loosely translated as '' The body of the Hermetic work ''.

This is one of the most intriguing footnotes in esoteric and Occult'ed history , Plato the Father of all western thought came a faraway second to the Hellenistic principles of Hermes. Hermes the Greek counterpart to the Egyptian Thoth....

Now unless we have turned two pages at the same time this would seem to go someway to showing that western civilisation was influenced far more by Egyptian Mystery school thought than the later epoch of Greek thinkers that we are told tirelessly were the Progenitors of all that is Good and pure in the modern world.

These thoughts included , the above talk becomes all the more powerfull based on the realisation that this lineage of magicians had far more on their minds than the Trivium of Greek thought and yet were the basis of it.

--

much much more to come .....

2009-06-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Pause for Contemplation

After an 8 month hiatus from blogging and displayed work of any kind the site will now be continuing :

So Hello if you are new to the site and welcome back if you are returning just like me.I hope to wrap up the site over the next few months and finish the introduction to the now long awaited book of the same name as the blog.

If you have sent me any pre-orders don't worry they are securely logged in a separate folder in my e-mail inbox and i have not forgotten you.

THE ALCHEMICAL DREAM - The Rebirth of the great work

The above video is a documentary released in 2008 - Narrated and written by Terrence Mckenna I enjoyed it immensley and hope you do to.

much love

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-11-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

''Understanding the ancient landscape, the heavens, the dawn of agriculture,the Golden Age, and the evolution of social disorder.''

-Stars and Stones Winter Forum-

--

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk - Sat 15th and Sun 16th November 2008

Tickets limited to 80 at £35 each. Single day £20. Booking enquiries 01359 270524. By post from The Estate Office, Rougham, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP30 9LZ. Cheques payable to Rougham Conferences. Please include a S.A.E, for timetable, directions, local accommodation and B&B’s, to be forwarded with your ticket. Camping facilities on site

Saturday:

Shaun Kirwan
(Geomancer, Dowser & Stone Circle Builder)
-Geomancy in our Sacred Landscape - How we can interact with the landscape for earth healing and creation of sacred space.

Dan Winter
(American Scientist and Specialist in DNA)
-How Waves Conjure up Fractality: The Implosive Secret of Life Force, Peak Perception and the Self Organization of The Human Genetic Field. Simple electric symmetry principles towards the end of addiction.

Robin Heath
(Britain’s Leading Independent Specialist in Archaeoastronomy)
-Evidence and proof of advanced observational astronomy in the ancient British Isles

Sam Semir Osmanagich
(Founder of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation)

-Presents the latest archaeological information on the incredible Bosnian pyramids and stone structures.

Dirk Campbell
(Composer and specialist in musical instruments dating back thousands of years)
-Presentation on the science of music plus demonstration of a number of ancient instruments

Sunday :

Peter Cedrowan Taylor
(Pioneering Environmental Scientist)
-Envisioning the future of ecology, community and spirit.

Daniel Tatman
(Independent Researcher)
-Evidence of the geomantic construction skills of the ancient surveyors, who mapped Britain and the World and their connections to the science of the Electric Universe.

John Gagnon
(Canadian Researcher and Author of Message from Our Ancestors)
-Review and DVD’s of the work of Paul LaViolette, Bernard Delair, Richard Firestone, Velikovsky and others on the global catastrophe at the end of the Ice Age. The messages left for us by our advanced and benevolent ancestors from within the Great Pyramid. Assisted by Edmund Marriage.

Edmund Marriage
(Independent Researcher)
-Sophistication and diffusion of ancient technology around the world by sea and land from the Kharsag/Garden of Eden site in Southern Lebanon.

Dean Carter
(Centre for Pure Sound)
-Introduction to the Sound Workshop on Monday
Two days of lectures, networking, socialising, music and forums, plus optional Shaun Kirwan Dowsing Instruction, Peter Taylor on the Science of Yoga, Dean and Lorna Carter’s Sound Workshop, plus local field visits on
(Fri. 14th and Mon. 17th, in a superb rural location.)

Holistic Channel – Inspirational broadband television - working with the Stars and Stones Forum,

www.starsandstonesforum.net - www.goldenageproject.org.uk - www.wessexresearchgroup.net - www.avalonrising.co.uk - www.theantiquariansociety.com - November and April Stars and Stones Video Lectures (Plus DVD’s) can be seen on www.holisticchannel.org.uk – All other

Enquires: And Pre booking...
Tickets may be limited

John Agnew : 01359 270796
- quicksilver@lawneys.freeserve.co.uk

or

Edmund Marriage : 01963 251772
- patrickfound@btinternet.com

Spring Forum on 18th - 19th April 2009

2008-09-24T04:59:00.000-07:00

Lud , Bladud , Lludd And LUGH

La morte d'arthur- Aubery Beardsley- 1872 1898
(click to view)

Having examined Geoffrey's Saxon Warrior King Lud and Bladud (the welsh B'laddud) known as the Earlier Welsh Lludd (or sometimes Nudd) we can see that far from being a completely sound historical scholar he was a gifted storyteller.

It is known that if it had not been for his ' Histo ry of t he kings of britain ' there would have been none of the famous work of Tennyson for while He turned to Thomas Malory rather than to Monmouth without Him there may have been no ' Morte d' Arthur ' or ' idylls of the king '.

Here i would like to show the work of Gustave Dor'e who's incredible artwork illuminates and expands on the imagery depicted by Malory re-told by Lord Alfred Tennyson and thus - some of the original scenes written about by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

(Camelot)
an illustration for
Idylls of the king - Gusatve Dor'e - 1832 1883

Idylls of the king - Dor'e

Gustave's work was so intricate and full of flair and detail that his work was highly coveted and respected not least by John Milton , he was one of the most sought after illustrators,engravers and sculptors in his contemporary artistic circle.

illustration for
(Milton's)
Paradise lost - Dor'e

--

The primary reason i bring Dor'e into the fold of the tale is that again it shows the point that Monmouth's early work was to go on through a large number of the other greats of the following literary and historical periods.

Indeed one little known fact is that the main body of the Myths and stories surrounding Merlin (the fabled Druid) actually came from the popularity of Monmouth's ' Prophecies of Merlin '. While the well known and standard image of Merlin comes directly from Geoffrey he took Merlin from the Welsh sources. In parts of Wales he was known as ' Myrddin Wyllt' or The mad man of the forest.

While the stories of Merlin apparently come from 400 to 600 ad - Is it not rather obvious that this was the EXACT point that the majority of the Saxon Christian priests were RE-WRITING the entirety of the indigenous folklore of the British isles..

(Merlin advising King Arthur) in Gustave Doré's illustration

This image was not congruous with the new christian ideals of the time and so Myrddin wyllt became 'Merlin' a new and almost christian idealised Druid . Gone were the original stories of the madness of Myr a man driven into the wilderness in disarray after seeing a battle claim the lives of all that he loved. These stories were scattered to the wind and the stories of Aurelius Ambrosius were then tied to this Druid , he then became the wizened , old and bearded man that we see up to the current day --

-- it is fair to say that we have a direct connection from Monmouth's Merlin straight to J.R.R Tolkiens 'Gandalf'.

As we have seen Monmouth was a writer who was very adept at taking important figures from disparate chronologies and mythologies of all that came before him. In alot of ways he was a modern writer- but not very much of a historian - .. on many levels.

The Stories of Bladud and their overlapping details with Lud and Lludd are so obvious that many people have picked up on certain connections between the three however for some strange reason no-one has taken this to it's completion ...

As we have noted the language and Mythology of wales which Geoffrey was writting about came from Ireland and when we add the Irish root to the equation we get a rather jaw dropping result. I say that -but the only reason it is surprising- is how simple and resonant it is of all later versions and also because it has never been noticed. The Irish Mythology however is much more in depth and carries more detail than all of the others - and as we focused on earlier this is a tell- tale fact which often shows the true oldest source or origin.

Ladies and gentlemen please may i introduce to you the solar hero of Irish Mythology and Leader of the Tuatha De Danaan -LUGH-.

As we said there is actually more information on Lugh than there is on Bladud which -(if we are to except that he was meant to of come from thousands of years later) is ridiculous.

This story however is just beginning....

(The last man - Clinton Mansell)

More to come ......soon.

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-07-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

ANNOUNCEMENT

Daniel Tatman is to appear at the stars and stones forum on the 15-16 November. The event is organised by John Agnew and Edmund Marriage...

There are many speakers over the two days including the brilliant and controversial Dan Winter-

15-16 November

Other enquiries:

John Agnew

01359270796

Details to be confirmed soon.

www.starsandstonesforum.net

Booking Office:
01359 270524

Edmund Marriage

01963 251772.

If you live in England (or Europe if you are dedicated) why not come and cop an earful of mind stretching material on a whole range of subjects which are being shown to be of up-most importance for us as a society over the coming years....

more associated links....

The Golden Age Project

Dan Winter

The stars and stones forum has been running for a few years now and for an idea about the quality of the presentation and information here is one of my favourite lectures of the past few years.

Gary Bitchcliffe

If you have not heard of Dan winter PLEASE WATCH the two featured videos, Dan's work is of fundamental importance to a new fractal holistic approach to architecture , agriculture and living a more healthy and considered life.

-Dan on Practical and Applied Sacred Geometry-

-Video (2)-

-Dan on Gravity And the Electric Universe-

Holistic Channel

--

And now we will continue with our feature presentation..

Thank You

2008-06-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Lludd of the silver hand

Having now brought Bladud and Lud to the table, in welsh mythology we find the much earlier warrior king Lludd who as we noted earlier etymologically and historically is the original welsh version of the catholic and Latin Lud.

The Magic spear

H.R.Millar - (1905)

The full title of this high king of Britain was 'Lludd Llaw Eraint' or in Latin English - 'Lud of the silver hand'. Anyone with even a slight knowledge of the Legends and Myths of Britain will notice straight away the silver hand motif, this is one of the strangest of the reoccurring themes that run literally throughout the entirety of the old stories of the Welsh and Gaelic peoples.

The Welsh legends known as the 'Mabinogi' are the original four tales split into what are known as the four branches - what we know as the welsh 'Mabinogion' is a later collection of stories surrounding these four main narratives. These are the branches or tales of -

-Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed-

~

-Branwen, daughter of Llŷr-

~

-Manawydan, son of Llŷr-

~

-Math, son of Mathonwy-

--

( Whilst Wikipedia is by no-means an authority -
It does serve as a nice intro and it is relatively easy on the eye.)

The collected volume now holds between 9- 20 stories depending on which compilation and compiler you are referring to. The most well known of whom was Lady Charlotte guest who was the first English translator to take on the task. The title 'Mabinogion' was taken from Lady Guest's miss spelling of a word at the end of the last branch of the 'Mabinogi' (the original four tales) , whilst we are not going into an analysis of the welsh legends themselves it does make the point that many 'translators' and authors over the Milena have re-written , re-edited and compiled the indigenous folklore of the old world and quite often blatantly in-accurately.

The tale in question within the text that speaks primarily of lludd is that of 'Lludd and Llefelys'. The story begins with the two noted characters Lllud and Llefelys - family members of a line of ruling kings who had recently taken back the crown after beating out the invaders with their recently deceased father Beli the great.

Here is another level of the connections between Lud and Lludd - Lud's fathers name was HELI and (as shown above) lludd's father was BELI. So you have lud and lludd , heli and beli.... I think the assumption that these two figures are one and the same is a very obvious one.

Other linguists , researchers , mythologists and authors have made the connection between Lludd and lud before and seeing as Geoffrey of Monmouth himself said that he translated his Historia from the welsh legends then it comes as no big surprise. However when we take a longer look at the parents of these two fabled kings a far stranger and more powerful underlay starts to peek out from underneath. In the welsh version Beli the great was the Husband of the welsh goddess Dôn. Don is the welsh mirror of the Irish goddess Dana or Danu, both of these goddess's are the supreme mother figure in both of their Pantheons.

Now at this point our study must bridge over to the Irish legends having identified Lludd's mother as Don we can see that the Gaelic culture had their own mirror of all of the welsh characters. To be more accurate it is best to say that the Welsh mirrors the Irish as all scholars of British culture know that the Welsh Language and mythology came trickling down from Ireland. This can be seen in any region of the world with specific groups dialect's and their ultimate origins - the oldest always has the most elemental and principle language (and often the most simple)while at the same time having the most intricate and detailed mythology.

This simple fact is the primer for the next post in which we will delve into our final mythological cross-over.. This leads us to our most startling discovery in the search for the identity of King Bladud and ultimately the possible origins of the Celtic settlement in the city now known as Bath.

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-06-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

THE GOOD KING Lud

As we scan Geoffrey's History we find a character who is of equally important mythological stature and gains more than a couple of paragraphs in the Text. This character is the 'so it seems' well loved good king Lud.

The below statue is supposedly of king Alfred 'the Great' one of the first Saxon kings to bring together the later Anglo-Saxons against the much later invasion from western Europe of their consolidated stolen lands.

-

(WILLIAM BLAKE)

(WILLIAM WORDSWORTH)

However the masterful poets Wordsworth and Blake both identified the statue as king Lud- this point would carry much weight even without the knowledge of Blake's interest in Druidry and his ultimate placement as high Druid of Britain later in life. The fascinations and connections that Wordsworth held with the 'craft' of many initiatory traditions also play into the overall image of something very important in the observation made by these two highly steeped men.

(Avebury)

Jerusalem : William Blake
1757-1827

King lud is talked about by Monmouth but if we now focus on place names and scan a map of Britain we find that there are no less than 68 places with 'lud' at their beginning. From Lud , Ludlow, Ludville, Ludhampton, Ludham , Luddington and all the way down to 8 Ludgates leading down in a sweeping line from northern wales to london - the diffusion of the name is wide and you find it right across England , Wales , Scotland and Ireland. There is a place called 'Lud' in the Shetland isles and then a Ludgvan in Cornwall - this king whoever he actually was did alot of travelling or, was thought of so highly that his name spread... like wildfire.

-example-

'LUD' PLACENAMES

Whilst there are numerous places that begin with the name of our selected king it is by no means proof that they were indeed named after him- it is however proof that this name in some way held importance for the whole of Ancient Britain. Lud has no meaning in latin or welsh as a word of it's own - so we must then investigate the roots of this word. As mentioned earlier this word covers the whole of Britain, here is one intriguing example:

(Stone Lud)

Monmouth describes Lud as a Warrior King Who was fond of hosting lavish feasts and throwing parties - this was on account of him and his fathers re-conquering Britain and removing the presence of the latest invading force. He tells of the rest of the lineage both Pre and Post Lud however these links are some of the most tentative and have not stood the test of 'Historical' time. It is left to another later author (Owain Tanwen) to translate Bladud to B'lladdud in the welsh language and this would then in turn be 'the Ludud' or 'the Lud' in Latin. This gives us a very fresh new angle to look at bath's founding figure from and indeed the dates with which we have become accustomed do not fit the bill.

In tracking back it seems as though Bladud or B'lladdud WAS the -young- king Lud or in the powerful welsh mythology of the MABINOGION it denoted the boyhood of the legendary warrior king ''Lludd''. This character however is much older than the Lud and Bladud of Monmouths text and has much more importance in the history of ancient Britain. While The legends of wales are known to have been re-written in the periods between 400 and 900 ad - all scholars and Celtic mythologists understand that LLudd is a figure who comes from the murky ancient times of Albion perhaps THOUSANDS of years earlier.

The 400-800 years that separate Lud and Bladud fall away when we note Monmouth's skewing of all the details and chronology when laid up against the outline of the welsh legends - it shows to us that Bladud, Lud and Lludd are in fact the same people.

In looking at Geoffrey's text we have shown that less than a historian he was an artist- and as such he has kept certain themes and histories whilst fragmenting them throughout the narrative to add progressively to the tale in the style of a true epic . Whilst he was an artist we can also call him rightly a mythologist as he audaciously tried to carry on his Kings of Britain were the Iliad of homer ended ... with the destruction of troy. His contention was that Brutus (a roman name incidentally) an heir to the throne of troy- fled from the destruction and came to Britain and formed Trinovantum or New Troy. This has been shown by hundreds of historians , archaeologists and anthropologists to be false.

In the next post will shall examine the next king in our line of angled mirrors - the hugely influential and loved welsh warrior king - 'Lludd Llaw Eraint'.

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-06-05T06:38:00.000-07:00

THE EXILE

If we try to work our way back into the Celtic Mythology through the 'Historians' of the late Saxon and medieval periods- in order to find the original birth of bath we have to start with the colourful character of Geoffrey of Monmouth and his mythical King Bladud.

-Bladud in Exile-
Benjamin West (1807)

--

The picture that Monmouth paints is of a Young Welsh prince - who during his late education travels to Greece , to the fabled city of Athens and the site of the ancient and fallen troy to learn from the many teachers and philosophers that inhabit the region. During his studies he falls ill but is taken by four men to a path at the bottom of a low mountainside and is told to follow it to it's end. When he reaches the end of the path he drinks from a hidden fountain high in the the Athenian hills and is momentarily cured, he later travels back from Greece to Britain and returns to his kingdom in Wales.

After setting up a college of learning on his way back to wales in a place now named Stamford with four mysterious 'philosophers' that had returned with him he alone returns to wales to his throne. When he enters the court after riding for days he pulls back his hood to reveal a small red scar below his eye. The court physician diagnoses him with leprosy and he is banished from the kingdom and sent out as a wanderer in exile with only a group of pigs as company.

As we can see water was definitely a key motif in the story of bladud - whilst walking in the hills across the Mendips in the area now called somerset he turned a corner and saw a valley cut deep into the landscape, this valley was a sight to be seen- it was surrounded by pale sandstone cliffs and was FILLED with hot clouds of thick steam.

The clouds came from the natural thermal waters that were coming up from under the ground - a collection of natural springs bringing so much water that they flooded the valley floor and made it an area of rich marsh and bog. In the marsh smooth brown clays had formed and the pigs of bladud rolled in the mud and bathed in the murky green bubbling waters that came up from the heated limestone deep under the earth.

Bladud's pigs while in the company of the banished prince had been his only companions and as such he had tended to them , and so it followed that during their travels the pigs also contracted the illness of the doomed prince. The day after bathing in the waters bladud went to round up his animals and saw that they had been cured of their affliction !! . He then went back to the springs and rolled in the mud and bathed in the warm waters and steam for (according to Monmouth) a few days.

After this it is said that he returned to his kingdom in wales and became king - then in a token of thanks and memory he built the first Celtic settlement in bath or as it was then known in the welsh period of bladud-

- '' Ca'er Badd'on '' -

The Meadows of Bathing...

Map of Ca'er Badd'on

--

This was - and is still now to some extent the accepted story of the founding of bath and this is the story that is plastered all over the city. Especially the museums and the Baths themselves.. (as shown below) But what if there is another side to this story that has (up until now) not been told?. A story that includes the 'Fair folk' , The high Irish kings and their Welsh counterparts. Why on earth would a 'Roman catholic' benedictine prior leave the original British kings out of the story?..

(Bladud - At the roman bath's in Bath)

It is a obvious fact that can be proven time and time again - the early christian historians of the (600 ad to 1600 ad ) period completely re-wrote the western European lineage of kings (and) the stories of old after obtaining the original documents and manuscripts - from the earlier roman 'military' campaigns. They wiped out the presence of powerful women in the tales and tarnished the reputations and images of all of the kings and greats of the isle that the bards sang of. This particular history of '' Ca'er badd'on '' is a much later version of an earlier narrative which included many of the greatest characters in British mythology.

Whilst the above story is attributed to Monmouth - This is just one of the many fallacies that surround Bath's earliest history, This account does not come from Monmouth but is in fact a slowly built up narrative taken from at least Twelve authors . The original was written in Latin as has four majorly different translations to boot- So if this is the accepted history of the founding of the city then we must throw out this idea as a concrete truth that is laid in stone and start to synthesize other earlier authors and OTHER FIGURES in Geoffrey's own text.

In the next post we shall look at another king mentioned by early 'writers' who strangely has alot in common with the man known as bladud...

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-05-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

THE BARDIC TALES

When we try to look back to the late days of Celtic Britain we find that we hit a wall, or to be more precise a roman wall that is so vast that it encompasses the History , Spirituality, Land , hearts , minds and lives of the Celtic people -- this rolling red wall was

the roman conquest of the west.

The fog is clearing and the wall has fallen but we are left with bare remnants compared with what was lost. What becomes plain is that there was something in particular that the Romans did not like about these mysterious lands and their free minded occupants. And they felt ...... that THEY should have it --Britain-- that is.

The main ideas that have been shown to have been prevalent about the Celts amongst the Romans , and in particular the generals and emperors alike - were that the land at the end of the western regions was fit for roman conquest, (which by roman standards was the greatest compliment that could be given to a foreign land) that the Druids must be wiped out and that the peoples themselves should be enslaved and put to work.

Because of this almost unanimous perception of the Sages of the west the Roman army was tasked with wiping them off the map in every corner of what we know now as Europe. From Germany to Scandinavia , France to Spain and Ireland all the way to Italy - Celtica's trade networks and communication systems were second to none , the entire civilisation was based upon individualisim and as such each area gave it's particular horde of goods, skills and resources.

With their fertile lands , many natural springs and rivers and with the thousands of mines both open cast and tunnel built - the Celts , Gauls , Germanic , Nordic and Slavic tribes were wealthy in many goods and for the most part lived in abundance. With the ships and the freedom to travel the Celt's were trading with people as far south as Africa and Egypt and as far east as China , the variety of goods that have since been discovered is incredible. In every way the roman trading that came forward in it's place was of less variety and lower quality - Slavery tends to do that to production...

There were however two things the Romans had alot of and shipped everywhere - Wine and Oil - now if the Romans had stayed as the Etruscan's and been the worlds best oil and wine distributors everything may have turned out well for the free men of europe but as we know the romans had a very different objective than that of merchants and traders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization

The Romans saw the threat posed by these philosophers and leaders on every level and so designed to not only decimate the lands and populations but also the holy sites , the sacred springs and groves , the Druidic colleges and most importantly the complete remnant of the spiritual body and overall cultural identity of the whole civilisation of Celtica within a couple of generations.

With their wealth of gold the debts of war could be paid by Caesar and he could return to Rome as dictator. The obvious threat that the Indigenous teachers and healers represented was such that they had to be destroyed inevitably , and so just like any game of chess the Emperor made the sufficient moves and set by great provision for the huge amounts of gold , silver and other metals that circulated the Celtic trade routes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Shield

(The battersea shield)

When we look at this period we must not be fooled into thinking that the historical accounts that we are faced with on television hold any truth in the least- the accounts that are given to us are that of the Romans themselves and for anyone with a speck of intelligence it is easy to see that this would be very much like asking a televised American politician about the Iraq war - Not exactly the most impartial voice in the crowd.

To find some pearls of truth in this pile of empty oyster shells we must then turn to the Storytellers , the Bards , the Ovates and the Druids of the British isles - the indigenous men of wisdom that had guided the island for thousands of years. These stories take Bath's founding back much further in time than 863 bc and do not begin within a man called Bladud.. Or do they ?

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-05-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

ORIGINS AND FALSE - HOODS

Having now introduced you to the centre piece of John woods 'Georgian' Bath we will now go back a very long time indeed to the period when the original Celtic settlement was founded.

(Geoffrey of Monmouth)

This is a tangled tale that weaves through many countries and their individual specific legends and mythologies. With such a rich history it is a challenge to know where to begin - so we will pick up the narrative with the Breton-(Brittany) born 'Historian' and part time novelist Geoffrey of Monmoth who not surprisingly lived ... in monmouth on the border between england and wales.

I begin with Geoffrey because quite frankly he is the worst source of all the various pools of knowledge on the subject of the founding and ancient history of bath when compared with his Celtic and even roman contemporaies. His story starts in-between the years of 863 BC and perhaps 500 BC. ( The accounts are sketchy to say the least. ) Monmouth (circa 1100 to 1155) was a benedictine Prior who wrote about baths mythological founder king 'Bladud' in his 'Historia Regum Britanniae' ( The History of t he Kings of Britain). Written in 1136 this history was wildly in-accurate by today's historical standards as many of the figures mentioned cannot be found elsewhere in the field and the chronology is somewhat lacking uniformity (and that's being kind). He wrote that he had learnt of this genealogy from manuscripts of the 'old tongue' that he had obtained from his friend the Archdeacon of Oxford - many people dispute this and did at the time . But in spite of it's faults his work is still considered to be a central part of the 'Matter of Britain'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_of_Britain

Unfortunately there are not that many other english historians or storytellers that speak of Bladud at length and so apart from Monmouth the references to him are very few and are usually strongly connected to his work anyway. A victorian example 700 years later..

''Bladud built the city of Bath, and dedicated the medicinal waters to Minerva. He was a man of great invention, and practised the arts of magic, till, having made him wings to fly, he fell down upon the temple of Apollo, in Trinovant, and so died, after twenty years’ reign.''

(T.Bulfinch) 1853

-Bulfinch Mythology-
The Age of Chivalry,
And the Legends of King Arthur

by Thomas Bulfinch
(1796-1867)

This rather short and abrupt account shows the kind of detail that has been gone into surrounding 'Bladud' - post Geoffrey of Monmouth, for whilst he changed vast swathes of the narratives of the original tales and made-up other sections that he needed for his own work , there now lies a rather thin veil through which we can see a bristling Celtic mythology aching to be revealed and re-told.

Now, when we overlay the myths of Ireland, Scotland and Wales with Geoffrey's stories a rather intriguing and alluring pattern starts to take shape. These kings of the Britons that he wrote of were all CELTS and their true identities can be found - this can be done by pulling together the various myths and legends of the original Celtic peoples.

We will start on this task in the next post..

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-05-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

The Kings Circus

-INTRODUCTION-

One of the most enigmatic and baffling of all the architectural features of Bath is 'The circus' - begun in 1754 and finished in 1768 by the infamous bathonian architect John Wood 'the elder' the Latin named 'oval or circle' is one of the modern worlds most respected structural achievements. (The above image was taken with a spherical lens whilst lying down in the middle of the circus)

John Wood (The Elder)

The following six pictures are of the incredible carvings (or more accurately emblems) around the inner perimeter of the complex facing toward the center. All in all - there are 525 actual emblems , however there is some repetition/mirroring and the number of different emblems used in total is 260. The images are highly alchemical and esoteric in nature and range from the typical symbols of the hermetic schools of the middle age, enlightenment and renaissance periods to the individual coats of arms of the houses owners.

Some say that these symbols are wholly freemasonic in nature however when we take into account that apart from some of the obvious square and compass and plumb and rule motifs that are used we can see that there is actually much more a-foot in this frieze than mere masonry.

When i looked into this by reading wood's book 'The Origins of Building' i realised that most of the inspiration for - and the majority of direct symbolic motifs which wood incorporated into this 'frieze' were taken from a particular book which was always open on his desk. This book was the (1635) Book of mystical poetry ' A Collection of Embelems , Ancient and moderne' by George Wither. This book along with being a favourite of many of his fellow contemporaries was a gift from wither to the then Royals of England King Charles and Queen Mary.

(Cover)

(Frontspiece)

(below is his dedication to the monarch- and illustrates the point that this individual ~''Wither'' was thought of -quite- highly in his field)

(Dedication)

When you pull all of the many threads together a very interesting picture starts to emerge of Baths quintessential Georgian (or again more accurately palladian) architect John Wood - this part of the puzzle relates to his use of symbols and the origin of his palette so to speak -- however this is only one aspect of one part of one structure.... and... this is a mere preface to the work as a whole - there is much more to come.

Daniel J.Tatman

2008-05-23T01:34:00.000-07:00

The Portal...

The Janus Gateway
(To the Queens Bath)

Welcome to my blog. My goal with this site is to grab your imagination and give a vivid impression of the passing of time within in a city with so much going on behind the scenes that it becomes hard not to look around your own environment for similar evidence..

Having grown-up in bath and also having spent the last 8 years living in the 'Jewel of the west'- I have undergone an in-depth study into the City. This includes it's Mythology , Founding and founders , Fraternal and chivalric orders , Architecture , Lay-out , local celebrities and their history. I hope you will join me in reading between the lines and delving into some of the more obscure and interesting details surrounding this most ancient of somerset cities....

-For those of you who are thinking where is this city bath?-

Bath is a small city in the United Kingdom designated as such by the grand Cathedral in it's centre. The city is within the borders of the county of Bath and North east somerset which is in the South west of England just above the long stretching arm-like peninsula of Cornwall. I hope that if you have never heard of this place before that i can make it as interesting and intriguing as possible. Whilst many feel the subject is well understood - i would like to start this blog with a large and open ended question.

What exactly is a city and... WHAT DOES IT DO TO US ? ()

(Carvings in 'The Circus' - Bath)

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Here is a brief glimpse into the History of Bath - It is presented by the English Private school educated main stream historian that is Simon Schama . Although the imagery is fantastic, bear in mind this is the 'establishment' speaking here - this is exactly what you find in the school History books. Unfortunately we know that the facts that are within the books are not even close to the truth the majority of the time, the most truthful part of most school history books is usually the cover.

Yours sincerely

Daniel J.Tatman