Blake, Druidism, the Lost Tribes of Israel and the Greenwood
As originally posted in the IDS thread:
Some research I did this weekend puts a whole new light on the 6 of Arrows and, perhaps when we learn where the other ancient Judaic symbols are in the Greenwood, on the deck as a whole.
I continued to dig into some stuff about the earliest point in which the theory that the Tuatha de Danaan were actually the Lost Israelite Tribe of Dan emerged. The majority of arguments put forward are very imaginative and I suggest taking the evidence from them with a grain of salt.
Supposedly, the earliest the theory was raised by Gildas, a British Celtic historian in around 500CE. I used to have an English translation of Gildas from my medieval history classes in uni, but, I can't find it, or I'd confirm.
I have seen arguments put forth by Christian movements who interpret the tribes as 'lost' in more than one way. I have even seen the argument put forth by Zionists and 'Noahidists', translating 'tuatha de' into the Convenant. The Tribe of Dan, a seafaring tribe, is given responsibility for a huge number of northern European place names and is supposed to explain the 'Danaan' in Tuatha de Danaan. Some groups go so far to say nothing on the islands is not semitic in origin and use the Bible to support it.
But archaeology is not so quick to agree. The possible dates of migration do not coincide entirely with the earliest peoples of Ireland and the monuments we now know as pre-Celtic are much older than the events that split apart the tribes of Israel. DNA evidence also seems to suggest that any connection is unlikely. Further, the translation of place names ignores the local languages entirely, not to mention there is no linguistic connection. It may be coincidence that early christian texts referred to the Israelites as Tuatha Dé and it was not a reference to Ireland at all.
I went on further to investigate the one book that discusses the shamanic roots of Judaism (Gershon Winkler's Magic of the Ordinary). It is really interesting. The early documenting of the Jewish people opens a window into how shamanism and 'sorcery' were practiced. Because the religion kept records for so much longer than most, there is real documentation.
Practices described in the book were oppressed within Christian societies as well as Jewish, promoting from within both hierarchies a patriarchal system, further alienating the mystic roots of any of the peoples of Europe. Earliest Christianity itself suffered the same oppression at the hand of the Roman Church according to the Gnostics.
That patriarchal system is reflected in Blake's view of Druidism. The concept of the Jewish magician/shaman was very likely something these early revivalists had been aware of aware of through renewed interest in occultism.
Early Druidic revival (meso-Druidism?) was created in the early 18th century during Blake's lifetime (although discussed widely in the 17th c) and the original Order still exists, but, it is and was MALE only, much like freemasonry. Blake's direct involvement and even leadership is controversial. The movement did, however, put a lot of stock into the idea that the Celts of the islands were, in fact, one of the lost 10 tribes. But they also believed at that time that the megaliths and stone circles were built by the Druids.
There seems to be no solid outcome to these arguments and the reason I explored it at all was because of the Jewish symbols appearing in the Greenwood and the apparent relationships the Greenwood has to Blake. Winkler's book is much later than the Greenwood, but the theories themselves are not new. If Chesca was a Druid and had a Jewish background, the information I have found here could have provided the route to her conversion. It is just speculation and I am not sure why I care, but, in trying to understand the deck I have found the mystery intriguing.
As for the 6 of Arrows, the Tribe of Dan was a sea faring one. If the Isle of Apples is Britain and the star of David is on the ship's sail, then I think we have our answer to what Chesca may have indeed believed. A simple minor ancana card with so many layers...
I think it is very possible that Chesca did buy into the same theory as Blake and so her apparent Druidism may also source from there and her shamanism may have Jewish roots, or at least she believed that it does. Ultimately, her conversion could have followed by extension, those beliefs held by British Israelism. The Fall, the Void of Creation, the links are rather interesting coincidences...
