"Brit-Am Now"-211
March 7, 2003
Contents:
1. Encouragement
2. Hebrew Script on 17th century castle
3. Remarks by "Yoseph" followed by Commentary by Brit-Am
4. Celtic Hebrew Religious Practices
1. Encouragement
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now" 210.
Dear Yair,
You are doing a wonderful work
by supplying the message of Brit-Am
to those who are intended to hear it..
In regard to Item # 3 in Brit-Am
Now-210, people being turned
off. The Scriptures teach us that HaShem will re-gather Israel and
Judah. So then it stands to reason that HaShem will cause those, which
He
intends to hear the message to receive it gladly. If a person rejects,
objects to, or ridicules the message you are providing, then the
conclusion should be that they are not intended to respond to the message
of Brit-Am.
Anti-semitic feelings are being
raised all over the world, and will
attack any message that HaShem brings forth. This is my effort to
encourage you at this time. Write the words as you are led to write
them
and don't concern yourself with the criticism. This is your work and
I
believe that HaShem has led you to do it for the good of all Israel,
whether they know who they are or not.
Keep up the good work, I enjoy
all you send.
Most Cordially,
George Elmer, Heggan
2. Hebrew Script on 17th century castle
From: jim &sheila
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-210
http://www.clanmuir.org.uk/rowallan_snip.htm
Look at this Hebrew script on the Muir castle called Rowallen.
This is all really cool.
3. Remarks by "Yoseph" followed by Commentary by Brit-Am
From: yoseph@sohu.com
Subject: Jeremiah 'Ollam' Fodhla:"Brit-Am Now"-210
(a) i have personally known literally hundreds of irish people in ireland
and not one of them is named Jeremy. where is the statistic of mothers
naming their sons Jeremy? Common irish names include "Padraig" "Sean"
"Timothy" and "Michael" [and Seamus/Yaqov], but Jeremy is not one of them
by a long shot.
(b) the correct spelling is 'Ollamh' and is pronounced with a 'v'
(c) this confusion of Ollamh [actual Ard Righ in ancient Eire] with
Yermiyahu HaNavi is a concoction of British Israelism, whose purpose was
to
legitimize the British Empire by attempting to locate the throne of Dovid
in London. (i think most of us are familiar with the "overturn, overturn,
overturn" hypothesis which nicely collapsed when London returned the
"Coronation Stone" reputed to be Yaqov's pillow to Scotland).
(d) Ollamh instituted the Feis. The father of Ollamh Fodhla according
to
the Annals of the Four Masters was Fiachi Fionn Scothach [aspirated as in
Ivrit]; Ollamh lived and reigned in Eire over the 5 provinces circa 1300
BCE.
(e) as for "Louch Crew," the tomb of the Ollamh is on Sliabh naCail: 'The
Hill of the Witch.' the design of the tomb reflects a relationship
with
the sun. there does not seem to be anything related to Torah there.
it
is, as is most of Eire, a testimony to idolatry and paganism, and a witness
to the Galut [REDEMPTION] and need for Teshuvah [REPENETANCE].
suggestion to fellow Celts of Yisrael in the Galut: do not be discouraged
by the whitewashings and fantasies and NON SEQUITUR [unbased assumptions]
of our kinsmen in Yosef; that is one of their bad habits.
b'shalom
Subject: Cymru, Leviy and Church of "God":"Brit-Am Now"-210
there always has been a lot of speculation about a "Celtic Church of God"
and most of it is easily cleared up through a little reading of reputable
historical material [as opposed to the nonsense manufactured by sabbatarian
churches].
(a) perhaps trivial: "God" is etymologically derived from "Baal Gud"
(b) one hypothesis concerning the Cymri is whether or not Yaqov in
Bereishiyt intends that the scattering and dividing in Yisrael would
manifest itself in what have come to be 'Celtic Ghettoes.' There is
an
extremely high percentage of Celts having 0 RH NEGATIVE BLOOD. this
may or
may not be indicative of the Shimeon/Leviy aspect. the question is,
would
Shimeon/Leviy be together in Galut, or separated? i would tend to opine
that they would not be found together, that it would be either one or the
other in a particular place.
(c) the Leviym were disobedient and incurred an extreme Chilul HaShem
[Desecration of the Name of God] when they were in Ha'Aretz [The Land of
Israel]; there is no reason to believe that they were Torah observant in
Shibith/shbiy [captivity] and Galut [Exile]. i.e. being vomited out
of the
land and then becoming a "holy [celtic] sabbatarian church." although
there were quartodeciman CHRISTIANS, the idea of Torah observant Celts is
mostly myth and continues the whitewash.
(b) Celts were witnessed by both Carthaginians and Romans as practicing
immolation of children and paganism [as late as circa 375 CE by "Church
Fathers"]. Should i also mention that Celts also practiced cannibalism
in
these rituals? embarrassing?
(c) the very concept of "Church" -- the entire purpose of 'called-out-ones'
or 'ekklesia' -- is to DISPLACE YISRAEL. The notion of Church, if one
accepts it, means that one's Teshuvah [Repentance] in the Galut is of no
consequence. Church and Yisrael are incompatible: they are MUTUALLY
EXCLUSIVE. There is a direct contradiction between 'ekklesia' and 'Klal
Yisrael.' [Whole israelite Community] At least one must face up to this
contradiction; they are irreconcilable.
b'shalom
Comment on the above by Brit-Am:
1. concerning Jeremiah: I personally do not believe that Jeremiah went to
Ireland. On the other hand (as I remarked to Rabbi Feld recently) it does
not say anywhere in the Bible that Jeremiah is not buried in Ireland. The
legends in question as exemplified in our work, "Lost Israelite identity.
The Hebrew Origin of Celtic Races", often do contain genuine historical
facts proven by recent research.
2. Regarding Celtic Religion. Ancient Israelites and very often also
Judaeans worshipped idols and adopted Canaanite practices and those of
other nations. For this reason the Ten Tribes were exiled. The Celts were
pagans. The druids practised human sacrifice. Strabo and Jerome (and maybe
others) indicate that in part of Ireland cannibalism was practised.
At the same time, the Celtic peoples were not homogeneous in their
religious practices. Evidence of some Hebrew practices and beliefs in some
areas. Evidence of some identification with the Hebrews by early Celtic
Church and Mosaic practices derived partly
from identification with Old Testament lore and partly due to carry-over
from previous traditions. (see below)
3. Regarding Church, etc. Brit-Am is not a religion and does not engage in
religious debate. Whatever happens in the future it is worth considering
the view of the Jewish sage, Maimonides, who said that Christianity was
preparing the peoples for the Messianic era. He also said that since
Christians believe in the Divine origin of the Bible it is permissible to
discuss Scripture with them.
The Almighty rules the world and He has His own plans. Brit-Am is
consistent with Judaism and not antagonistic to other paths.
Before the principles of Brit-Am can be related to be Jewish authorities
and by other organizations the principles of Brit-Am must become more
widely accepted and affirmed. The results of research already undertaken
must be made known and additional studies undertaken.
4. Celtic Hebrew Religious Practices
Adapted from Lost Israelite Identity
Chapter Nineteen.
REMEMBRANCE:
PROOF FROM HEBRAIC LAW AND CUSTOM AS PRACTISED BY THE INSULAR CELTS.
Glastonbury "stood on the periphery of the old Celtic
area of Dumnonia, which roughly corresponds to modern Cornwall, Devon, and
Somerset".
"During the period of the Saxon invasions, many Britons
from the area migrated to Brittany*3 probably beginning in the early sixth
century".
"However place name evidence suggests that a large
percentage of the population in Somerset and possibly Devon remained
Celtic; Cornwall remained almost exclusively Celtic"4.
Leslie Hardinge (quoted by Deborah K.E. Crawford,
"St..Joseph In Britain: Reconsidering The Legends. Part 2", Folklore 105
(1994): 51 59.) says that the Celtic Christians of the British Isles placed
a "strong emphasis on the legal aspects of the Old Testament"5. An Irish
work ("Liber ex Lege Moisi") from ca.800 c.e. uses Old Testament Law as "a
prime directive, for the proper conduct of everyday life". It is claimed
that the Celtic Church was closer to Judaism than any other branch of
Christianity.
"The shared elements include the keeping of the Saturday
Sabbath, tithing, the definition of `first fruits' and offerings, the
establishment of walled precints for the priestly/monastic families,
inheritance of religious office, and fasting and dietary restrictions. It
also appears that the Celts kept Easter by older methods of reckoning, one
of which caused Easter to coincide with the Passover"6.
"Other scholarship suggests that Irish Churchmen of the
seventh and eighth centuries actually considered themselves to be priests
and Levites, as defined under Old Testament law"7.
Gildas implicitly believed the British Celts ("Britones") to be of
Israelite descent. He accused them of wanting to join the Jews.
"Theodore, Gildas, and Wilfred all associated the Celtic
practices with the Jews"9.
Celtic Christianity was a cultural continuation of Celtic
Druidism which emphasised Oral tradition and the learning by rote of
ancient law.
Julius Caesar (The Conquest of Gaul) wrote:
"The Druidic doctrine is believed to have been found
existing in Britain and thence imported into Gaul; even today those who
want to make a profound study of it generally go to Britain for the
purpose...It is said that these pupils have to memorise a great number of
verses so many, that some of them spend twenty years at their studies. The
Druids believe that their religion forbids them to commit their teachings
to writing, although for some other purposes, such as public and private
accounts, the Gauls use the Greek alphabet".
There existed a cultural continuity between Druidism and
Celtic Christianity which was especially apparent in relation to
Galastonbury10.
"The stories brought by the Irish monks, and the brief
references written on the margins of manuscripts, demonstrate the ongoing
existence and importance of traditional Celtic accounts"11.
Boswell adds to the above listed Jewish features of Celtic
religion:
"...the prominence of Hebrew features in Irish canon law
collections (including Biblical cities of Refuge and Jubilee Years)
together with Mosaic prohibitions on diet and injunctions on tithes...There
was also a Hebrew treatment of the sanctuary ...and finally there were many
Hebrew words occurring in cryptographic monastic Irish works such as
Hisperica Famina"12.
Mosaic parallelisms found amongst early Celtic Christians
include the prohibition of sex in the menstrual period and after birth,
also ritual animal slaughter was kept, and usury was prohibited13.
Old Testament Biblical injunctions were generally regarded
as binding.. Members of the Celtic Church were suspected by the Roman
Catholics of Judaising and its members in Scotland were accused of really
being Jews14.
"A total absence of any sculpture in the round and the
rarity of reliefs using human figures, suggests again the Semitic dislike
of personification of the god"15.
[Archaeolgists have found statuettes etc of Celtic deities but Caesar
says
they did not have any and Caesar was an eye-witness. We can therefore
surmise that statuettes were at the least not common.]
The Romans had persecuted the Druids many of whom fled to
Scandinavia according to Welsh tradition and this has been confirmed by
archaeological finds in Scandinavia. Those Druids who remained in west
Britain and Ireland founded colleges and communal settlements based at
least partly on clan relationships. With the acceptance of Christianity the
Druidical colleges and settlements were transformed into monasteries
which
at first accepted married members16. Saints and customs of the early Celtic
Church had been taken over from Druidical belief and practice. These may
have included customs later identified as Jewish since a similarity existed
in several matters between the Celtic Druidical practice and the Mosaic
injunctions. The Druids like the Hebrews practised social ostracism as a
means of coercion, they had an Oral Law which it was forbidden to write.
They gave tithes and firstfruits. Their sacrificial modes were similar to
Biblical ones. They practiced ritual purity in ways which are reminiscent
of the Hebrew lore. Traditions existed that the Celtic Irish at least
practised the Mosaic Law before the coming of Christianity.
THE SCOTTISH-ISRAELITE
FOOD TABOOS:*20
Donald A. MacKenzie (1935)*21 examined the existence of
food prohibitions amongst the Scottish. His findings were that:
In northeast England (bordering Scotland),
"fishermen dislike reference being made to the pig in
connection with their work".
In Scotland an aversion to the pig is deep rooted even now
and was much stronger in the past. This aversion exists amongst both
Highlanders and Lowlanders.
"There are still thousands of Highlanders and groups of
Lowlanders who refuse to keep pigs or to partake of their flesh".
MacKenzie quotes from Sir Walter Scott ("The Fortunes of Nigel"):
"Sir Munko cannot abide pork, no more than the King's most
sacred majesty, nor my Lord Duke Lennox, nor Lord Dalgarno...But the Scots
never eat pork strange that! Some folk think they are a sort of Jews."
"The Scots [i.e. Lowlanders] till within the last
generation disliked swine's flesh as an article of food as much as
the
Highlanders do at present".
Also from Sir Walter ("The Two Drovers") we have an
account of execration in Gaelic of a Highlander cursing some Englishmen who
had been ridiculing him:
"A hundred curses on the swine eaters, who know neither
decency nor civility!"
James-vi of Scotland (who became James-i of Great Britain)
"hated pork in all its varieties"22.
In the English Civil War, a song against Scottish
partisans of the Rump Parliament (1639-1661) went:
"The Jewish Scots that scorns to eat
The Flesh of Swine, and brewers beat,
'twas the sight of this Hogs head made 'em retreat,
Which nobody can deny."
J.G.Dalyell (1691):
"Why do Scotchmen hate swine's flesh?"....
"They might borrow it of the Jews"...
"The same prejudice, though infinitely abated, still
subsists. Yet it is not known that swine have been regarded as mystical
animals in Scotland. Early in the seventeenth century the aversion to them
by the lower ranks, especially in the north, was so great, and elsewhere,
and the flesh was so much undervalued, that, except for those reared at
mills, the breed would have been extirpated".
A certain Captain Burt on duty in Scotland in 1730 wrote:
"Pork is not very common with us, but what we have is
good. I have often heard that the Scots will not eat it..........It is here
a general notion that where the chief declares against pork, his followers
affect to show the same dislike..."
Mackenzie says that, "Burt also refers to the Scottish prejudice against
eating eels and pike"23.
Dr.Johnson (1773):
"The vulgar inhabitants of Skye, I know not whether of the
other islands, have not only eels but pork and bacon in abhorrence; and
accordingly I never saw a hog in the Hebrides, except one at Dunvegan".
Rev.L.Grant (1793):
"the deep rooted prejudice against swine's flesh is now
removed..."
Dean Ramsay (1793-1872):
"The old aversion to the `unclean animal' still lingers in
the Highlands....I recollect an old Scottish gentleman who shared this
horror, asking very gravely, `Were not swine forbidden under the law
and
cursed under the gospel?'".
John Toland (1714):
"You know how considerable a part of the British
inhabitants are the undoubted offspring of the Jews and how many worthy
prelates of this same stock, not to speak of Lords and commoners, may at
this time make an illustrious figure among us....A great number of 'em fled
to Scotland which is the reason so many in that part of the Island have a
remarkable aversion to pork and black puddings to this day, not to insist
on some other resemblances easily observable'24.."
D.A.MacKenzie continued to discuss the swine taboo in
chapter ii of his work. He claimed that the taboo preceded Christianity and
that the coming of Christian missionaries to Scotland actually weakened the
prohibition. Mackenzie stated that after examination it appeared to him
that in ancient Scotland there were two different cults or attitudes, one
of which regarded the pig with abhorrence while the other revered it. The
Picts in northern Scotland had two clans, one called the Clan of Bears
(Orcs) and the other The Clan of Cats. Ancient pictures of wild boars have
been found engraved on rocks. A first century b.c.e. grave in Scotland
contained what appears to have been a pig offering and other finds indicate
the consumption of swine..
MacKenzie connects the pig taboo with the Galatians in
Galatian Anatolia. These were a small group of Galatians (also called
"Galli") who had gravitated to Anatolia (modern Turkey), conquered Phrygia
and formed their own kingdom called Galatia in which they ruled over the
natives. Lucian ("De Dea Syria") wrote concerning the Galli of Galatia:
"They sacrifice bulls and cows alike and goats and sheep;
pigs alone which they abominate, are neither sacrificed nor eaten. Others
look on swine without disgust, but as holy animals".
Pausanius drawing upon a source from the 300s b.c.e. said
that the Galatae in Anatolia ceased to eat pork because Attis the god of
the region had been slain by a boar. Attis is connected with the cult of
the Great Mother and MacKenzie supposes that the Galatae adopted this cult.
Later, he suggests, mercenaries from the Celtic west who came into contact
with the Galatians of Galatia also received the pig taboo and somehow
through them it reached Scotland25. At all events, the ultimate source of
this pig taboo came from the Middle East.
Mackenzie brings numerous sources showing that in Gaul, in
Ireland, in other parts of Britain, pigs were both plentiful and respected.
The boar was a favourite symbol. Pigs were reared for meat all over the
Celtic area and the Continental Celts even had a developed industry curing
swine meat which they sold to the Romans and were famous for.
Archaeological findings often reveal preserved swine flesh in various
receptacles. [Later the Scots-Irish in Ulster and in the USA in the
South
appear to have put quite an emphasis on pig-raising and to have preferred
it in many cases to other occupations]. All of these areas had frequent
contact with the region of Scotland and their influence is enough to
explain all evidence (which in fact is not so plentiful) of pig meat in
ancient Scotland. On the other hand, the suggestion of influence on
Scotland from the Galatian area in distant Anatolia is unconvincing.
Despite Pausanius we cannot be really sure that the Galatians did not bring
their pig taboo with them to Anatolia instead of adopting it there. At all
events, why should only far-away Scotland have been influenced by the
Galatians of the east?
Another point is that a good portion of the population of
Scotland only arrived there well after ca.200 b.c.e. They came to Scotland
via Ireland or via Spain or via Scythia and the north. Different groups
settled in different areas yet the pig taboo was accepted all over Scotland
by a good proportion of the populace and the prohibition was deeply
entrenched in popular consciousness. Eels, and hare, are also forbidden by
the Mosaic code and the Scotts had prejudices against all of these and
refused to eat them though they are popular foods amongst the neighbouring
English. The obvious place to look for the source of these prohibitions is
in a past exposure to and acceptance of the Mosaic Law and this was the
source to which observers in the past usually traced them. It is
interesting to note that from time to time certain fish and fowl which the
Mosaic Code (of Ancient Israel) does permit came under a ban but only in
the case of those expressly prohibited by the Law of Moses did the taboo
last or become widely accepted.
"Julius Casar found that the ancient Britons tabooed the
hare, the domestic fowl and the goose. The hare is still taboo to many
Scots"26.
In western Brittany the hare was also tabooed27.
It should be noted that abstaining from foods prohibited
by the Mosaic Law may have physiological advantages conducive to long-term
physical and emotional stability.
Our examination of the religious practices of the early
Christian Celts revealed that not only food taboos but also a large number
of other practices were taken directly from the Mosaic Law and also that
there existed a conscious identification with the Jews and ancient Levis.
Some of these practices had proven parallels in ancient Druidical
pre-Christian custom which taken together with other facts proves that at
least a portion of these people were of Israelite descent.
In general a few pertinent subsidiary points should be
made: What applies to the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland reflects
upon their kin and descendants elsewhere in the British Isles and overseas.
These peoples were divided into different Tribal groups at different
cultural levels and maybe of differing origin as Irish sources themselves
are sometimes at pains to emphasise. Some contemporary reports (such as
those of Diodorus 5;32;3, st.Jerome, cf. Strabo 201*28) claimed that there
were primitive peoples in Ireland who practised cannibalism. Other evidence
suggests that different peoples in Ireland maintained different standards
and there were those whose cultural developments were of a very high
standard maybe in some respects the highest in the world at that time.
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