Awen is Welsh for poetic inspiration. A flowing essence, this spiritual illumination is known in Irish as the Imbas. Awen is the spark of life, creativity, wisdom, the living principle. Said to be the name by which the universe calls God inwardly. Awen is the breath of the God Dagda, who bestows this gift of power and knowledge to the Chief Bard of the Druids. Since the Barddas in the 19th century, Awen is symbolized as three rays, sometimes emanating from three small dots, symbolizing truth, the balance of life and existence. The Awen is said to represent the letters OIU, from which all others are obtained. Bards and poets greatly revere the mystical divine knowledge. According to the ancient Welsh tales of the Mabinogion, Bard Taliesin Radiant Brow receives Awen with gifts of knowledge, prophecy and poetry from Ceridwen's cauldron. In this painting, Celtic symbols and creatures represent the elements of nature and of creativity - salmon of wisdom, hounds of loyalty, solar horse of strength and intelligence, hare of fertility, serpent of rebirth and regneration, the boar of valor, the shaman crane, the Tree of Life, Sun, Moon, River, Mountain, above, below, between. The palm of the hand is inscribed with the mark of the Awen, the creative source.
Original Design & Text by Jen Delyth © 2008

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