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Chester: A Virtual Stroll Around the Walls
Melkin's Prophecy IV
by Steve Goodwin
On to Chapters 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Bibliography | Back to Chapter 1 | 2 | 3
he next line of the prophecy states that the site is; “decorated beyond all others by chanting spheres of prophecy”
For this element I made use of earlier texts, these were found in a book called ‘Roman Britain- A Sourcebook.’ This book is a collection of Roman text and inscriptions that make reference to Britain. Within the section dedicated to religious matters we find contributors such as, Julius Caesar, Pliny the Elder, Cicero and Pomponius. These 1st century accounts all relate that the ‘Druids’ of Britain were held in high esteem. Pliny says that they worshipped sacred oak tree and that the name comes from the Greek word for oak (drus). Furthermore, Siculus records that they are soothsayers who use prophecy to predict future events. They are said to have held great knowledge of natural philosophy…and claimed to know the size and shape of the world, the motion of the stars and heavens, and the will of the gods.”(Pomponus in S. Ireland; 1986; p.186) There are also other accounts that hold similar views to the Greek Pythagoras with regards to their use of mathematics, music, astronomy and the immortality of the soul. These accounts again illustrate how foreign writers portrayed the religious elite of Britain at a time when tradition states that Joseph of Arimathea arrived in these islands.
An earlier account dated to the 4th century BC found in Diodorus Siculus states that: “Opposite to the coast of Celtic Gaul there is an island in the ocean, not smaller than Sicily, lying to the north… tradition says that Latona was born there and for this reason, the inhabitants venerate Apollo more than any other god. They are, in a manor, his priests, for they daily celebrate him with continual song of and pay him abundant honours… In this island, there is a magnificent grove of Apollo, and a remarkable temple of the spherical form, adorned with many consecrated gifts.”
(Hecatius )
Hecatius is clearly describing pre-Christian Britain the birth place of the Mother goddess known as Latona the mother of Apollo. The account continues by describing how the priests of Apollo sing “continual songs of praise and pay abundant honours”, if this is compared with the lines regarding the 3 Perpetual Harmonies where the religious men continually sing in praise of God “ceaselessly and without rest forever”, the similarities are striking. Furthermore, references to the “temple of a spherical form” present a picture that mirrors that of the prophecy. So we find that Melkin, Hecatius and the Triads are all describing a very similar place - a place where holy men continually sang/chanted around or within a spherical place of worship. For obvious reasons, many have tried to link the spherical temple with Stonehenge. However, as Ashe (2002) argues, there is no connection between Stonehenge and Apollo. Also that, in Britain Apollo was known as Mabon/Maponus. Mabon can be found in the Mabinogion (a series of early Welsh tales), on ancient stone inscriptions and on the map. The legendary Mabon is presented as the divine son of the Mother goddess (Modron) who also equates to Latona. “Apollo Maponus”, as he called on stone inscriptions, can be found as a place-name of a town in N.E Wales. Blake & Lloyd (2000) point to the town and hill/mountain Ruabon which was originally known as Rhiw Vabon or Hill of Mabon. Ruabon is located in the hills to the west of Bangor-on-Dee and the hill top there is covered with the remains of many stone circles, standing stones and burial mounds. Again, Hecatius’ account fits into the landscape around the Dee valley.
Hecatius continues by asserting that there is also a “magnificent grove of Apollo” and that the temple is “adorned with many consecrated gifts”. These consecrated gifts may equate to what were known as the ‘13 Treasures of the Isle of Britain’ and I would argue that these symbolised the Druidic calendar year which was divided into a 13 month lunar cycle. On this Michael Dames states that these treasures were “said to be of immense antiquity, having ‘been in Britain from the beginning”. (Dames; 2002; p.162) Later in Hecatius’ account we told that Apollo/Mabon visits his temple once every 19 years. The 19 year cycle was the calendar calculation used by the Druids. This is confirmed when we consult what is called the ‘Calendar of Coligny’ which is a druidic calendar cast in bronze dated to the 1st century BC. It was discovered in France in 1897 and its sophisticated system of observation corresponds with much of what is written about druidic mathematics, astronomy and astrology. Gardner (1996) describes the Calendar of Coligny: “It gives a table of 62 consecutive months (about 5 solar years)…Also intercalated is the alternative lunar calendar of 13 months per solar year. The days of each month are related to each other, with inherent dark and light periods, and annotated as to auspicious and inauspicious days. Altogether, the Coligny Calendar indicates a significant competence in astronomical science, akin to that of the ancient Babylonians.”(Gardner; 1996; p.196)
For some, the transition from Pagan to Christian Britain was a seamless evolution from Druidic to Celtic Christian practices. The accepted view is that the Druids were wiped out by the Romans on Anglesey in 62 AD and Christianity entered Britain in the late 3rd /early 4th century and evolved alongside the Church of Rome. But when we return to the earliest existing British source, Gildas (c.540) the monk, he asserts that Christianity first reached Britain when Tiberius was Emperor around 37AD. Furthermore, two of the earliest and greatest church historians, Tertullian (c. 160-220 AD) and Eusebius (264-340 AD), both independently confirm an early date for the first Christian contact with Britain. Tertullian states that:
“For in whom else have the people of the world trusted, except in Christ who has already come?...How then the varieties of Getules and the many borders of the Moors, all the boundaries of the Spaniards, and the various nations of the Gauls, and the regions the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subdued by the true Christ.
(Tertullian; c. 200)
A century later Eusebius makes a similar point and describes how the ‘envoys of Christ’ dispersed across the known world. He states that; “some have crossed the ocean and reached the Isle of Britain”. (Crawford; 1994; p. 57)
The evidence suggests that an early date for ‘first contact’ is more likely, which corresponds to the claims that Gildas and others make regarding the native British Church. They are accused of following the tradition of the Jews. As the first ‘Christians’ were Jewish it is not surprising they followed the religious practices of the Jews. Even when the Gentile converts outnumbered the Jewish element, later in the 1st century, the Christians still observed the Saturday Sabbath and other Jewish festivals. Similarly, the Christian liturgy also followed the Jewish form by reading from the Holy Scriptures and chanting of the Psalms. If a 1st century Christian-Jew arrived in Britain his or her religious rituals would appear Jewish in manor and this is how Gildas describes the British Church 500 years later. What is surprising is that the British Church retained practices and traditions that had been denounced as un-orthodox after the first church synod in 325 AD. Consequently, due to the fact that Britons retained these practices, the Roman Church condemned the British for their heretical practices for many centuries to come. Research into these practices by modern scholars (Hardinge; 1972. Crawford; 1990) suggests that the British form of Christianity was a far closer variant of the original than any other surviving branch of Christianity. Crawford states that the practices that were Jewish in nature include the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath, tithing, first fruit and offerings and the establishment of the Clas or walled/enclosed precincts for the monastic families with inherited religious offices. The native church also kept Easter to coincide with the Jewish Passover inline with the teachings of St. John (see Bede on synod of Whitby).
The differences between Roman Catholic and British church, and the similarities between the eastern forms of Christianity, goes some way in supporting the assertion that some form of Christianity reached Britain some time in the 1st century AD. Furthermore, this early contact was probably facilitated by the ancient trade routes described Diodorus Siculus during the reign of Emperor Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD).
The prophecy’s next line is: “And for all time to come adorned shall it be by them that praise the Most High.”
The first part of the passage echoes the perpetual/forever elements of the Triads and Procopious. But the final part; “by them that praise the Most High” can be interpreted in different ways. The obvious conclusion is that the Most High element is equivalent to that found in the Old Testament and is used to represent the Most High God or Yahweh. For another possible explanation I will use research carried out by Professor Thom and interesting work by Tony Rees.
Thom was Emeritus Professor of Engineering at Oxford University. He specialised in the study of ancient monuments and their construction. After completing many years studying and surveying ancient sites across Britain he concluded that these sites were laid out to an accuracy comparable with modern surveying techniques. He also observed the sites were laid out on geometric and mathematical principles similar to those of Pythagoras. But the astonishing thing is that these ancient sites were constructed 2000 years before Pythagoras flourished, by the people who lived in Britain before the Celts/Druids. Thom observed that these sites were either aligned with heavenly bodies or prominent mountain peaks.
The dominant peak in the area (N.E Wales) is Moel Fammau or Mother’s Mountain in the Clwydian range. Tradition states that the Mother in question was Madron, the divine mother of Apollo Maponus/Mabon, and as the mother of Apollo she equates with Latona, as described by Hecatius.
At this point I would like to introduce the little known research by Tony Rees. In his ‘Avalon Project: Part 1’, Rees observes the extraordinary relationship between the monastic sites (Afallach, Bangor & Caradawg) and Moel Fammau. Rees argues that the monastic site of Bangor sits on latitude 53 degrees north on the O.S map. From this point if a line is draw north 53 degees west it projects to the summit of Moel Fammau. Then from Caer Caradawg if a line is drawn north 53 degrees east the line projects from the Caer through the summit of Moel Fammau and on to a spot on the slopes below Afallach called Mynachlog or Monastery (see map.4). As the prophecy says “adorned shall it be by those that praise the Most High”. Rees suggests that the “three 53 degree alignments indicates that the entire layout of the Perpetual Harmonies wasn’t haphazard, and that it was the result of some very careful land surveying and cartography. It also indicates that the value of fifty-three was of the utmost importance in the siting of the three harmonies.”(T. Rees; 2003; p.18). This research poses more questions about the ‘pre-history’ of the monastic sites than I have time to cover in this paper. An O.S map and a protractor confirms Rees’ theory on the sites layout, however, by visiting each site it become clear that there is no direct line of sight to the Mother’s Mountain/Moel Fammau.
Nevertheless, Professor Thom and Tony Rees suggest these sites were laid out in sophisticated patterns and, with the use of 3 surveyors ranging rods, the lines can easily be projected forward to a clear view of the ‘Mother’. A copy of Rees’ work is available in the Arthurian Collection of Flintshire reference Library.
Recap of the prophecy so far: ‘The Isle of Avalon, with avidity claims the death of pagans more than all the world beside, for the entombment of then all, decorated beyond all others by the chanting spheres of prophecy. And for all time to come adorned shall it be by them that praise the Most High.”On to part V
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