Bran and the British Mysteries

Bran has a number of connections to the bardic tradition, reflecting Bran's association with inspiration, memory and prophesy. One of the most intriguing connections is that between Bran and the famous bard Taliesin. It has been argued that Taliesin thought of himself as the spiritual son of Bran [see note], and he is listed amongst Bran's companions in the Romance of Branwen. The Book of Taliesin contains a reference to his presence at the final battle:

"I was with Bran in Ireland;
I saw when the Pierced Thigh was wounded".

Taliesin's legend is told in the Mabinogion: Cerridwen, a wise woman, was brewing a cauldron of inspiration and knowledge for her son, and she asked little Gwion to stir the cauldron for her. Gwion accidentally tasted the brew and suddenly became all-knowing, to Cerridwen's annoyance. Gwion tried to escape from Cerridwen by changing his shape, but when he disguised himself as a grain of wheat, Cerridwen changed into a hen and ate him up. Nine months later she bore a baby boy - little Gwion, now reborn as the wondrous Taliesin.

Much of Taliesin's poetry is to do with the hidden roots of the world, reflecting the use of poetry as a form of memory, and inspiration as a way of accessing hidden knowledge. In Taliesin's world poetry was not just for entertainment or aethetic appeal, but was a way in to the mysteries, both for the poet and for those who listened to the poet. As Taliesin himself says:

"It were miserable for a person not to come and obtain
All the sciences of the world, collected together in my breast,
For I know what has been, what in future will occur."

In the following poem, Taliesin reproves Heinen's Bards with their lack of knowledge of the beginning of things:

"What was the first man,
Made by the God of heaven;
What the fairest flattering speech
That was prepared by Ieuav;
What meat, what drink,
What roof his shelter;
What the first impression
Of his primary thinking;
What became his clothing;
Who carried on a disguise,
Owing to the wilds of the country,
In the beginning?

Wherefore should a stone be hard;
Why should a thorn be sharp-pointed;
Who is hard like a flint;
Who is salt like brine;
Who sweet like honey;
Who rides on the gale?

Why ridged should be the nose;
Why should a wheel be round;
Why should the tongue be gifted with speech,
Rather than another member?

If thy bards, Heinen, be competent,
Let them reply to me, Taliesin."

Can you answer Taliesin?

There are other connections between Bran and the bardic tradition. There are even some indications that Bran was considered the patron of the bards, the entertainment of the wondrous head of Bran being perhaps a prototype of later bardic entertainment.

A further example of the connection is the way in which Bran is credited with the invention of writing on parchment:

"When were the sciences of the writing of Roll and [parchment] obtained? By Bran, son of Llyr the Blessed, it is said… certain is it that Bran the Blessed first brought them into the Isle of Britain from Rome, where he learned the art, and the mode of manufacturing [parchment] with the skins of lambs and calves and kids."

This association with the bardic tradition reflects deeper aspects of Bran: the related gifts of inspiration, memory and prophesy, all three of which were required of a bard. The relationship between memory and poetic inspiration is symbolised clearly in Greek mythology, where the muses of inspiration are the daughters of memory. Of course, before writing was commonly used, memory was an essential art for the poet.

If we observe the processes of memory and inspiration in ourselves, there are noticeable similarities - we have to make an effort, but then we have to wait and see if something comes up. But if what comes up is unfamiliar, is it inspiration, or is it a memory of a time before we were born, in a place we have never been?

The poets of tradition were not just wordsmiths, they were wise, and they were prophets, seeing what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future.