Praises to God: Selections from the Welsh “Black Book of Carmarthen,” Part 1 of 2

The ancient Celtic religion revered nature, believing in “supernatural forces in every aspect of the natural world.” Sacred sites included rivers, springs, and lakes; even large oak trees were considered potential meeting places between our physical world and the Otherworld. By the 5th century, Celtic Christianity was embraced, which respected the Divine relationship with nature and God’s presence in all of Creation.

We are honored to present selections from “The Black Book of Carmarthen,” an early Welsh manuscript transcribed in a Celtic Monastic settlement in Carmarthen in the 13th century. A significant proportion of the text originates from much earlier. The book covers spiritual themes and Welsh historic legends and is one of the earliest references to King Arthur (vegetarian) and Merlin. Today, we will focus on Sections 6-9 from “The Black Book of Carmarthen,” translated into English in “The Four Ancient Books of Wales” by William F. Skene.

“Soul, since I was made in necessity blameless True it is, woe is me that thou should have come to my design, Neither for my own sake, nor for death, nor for end, nor for beginning. It was with seven faculties that I was thus blessed, With seven created beings I was placed for purification; I was gleaming fire when I was caused to exist; I was dust of the earth, and grief could not reach me; I was a high wind, […] I was a mist on a mountain […] I was blossoms of trees on the face of the Earth. If the Lord had blessed me, He would have placed me on matter. Soul, since I was made.”

“Let us not reproach one another, but rather mutually save ourselves. Certain is a meeting after separation, The appointment of a senate and a certain conference, And the rising from the grave after a long repose. The mighty God will keep in His power the man of correct life. […]”

“Let God be praised in the beginning and the end. Who supplicates Him, He will neither despise nor refuse. The only son of Mary, the great exemplar of kings, Mary, the mother of Christ, the praise of women. The Sun will come from the East to the North. Intercede, for thy great mercy’s sake, With Thy Son, the glorious object of our love, God above us, God before us, God possessing (all things). May the Father of Heaven grant us a portion of mercy […]”