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The Journey of Thomas the Rhymer
In myths and legends of the ancient religions, in poetry and literature of the medieval era, and even in these modern times we see in stories such as Lord Of The Rings or the recent children's film The Dark Crystal, the recurring theme of a journey.
This journey is sometimes the search for a specific object (such as Jason and the Golden Fleece), or for a location (such as Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings), or for a state of illumination (such as Parsifal and the Quest of the Holy Grail).
In the process of the journey, the hero usually has to travel through strange and inhospitable lands, destroy monsters, tame wild animals, combat the temptation of beautiful beings, escape from enchanted places from which part of him does not want to leave, ascend into heavenly kingdoms or descend into the underworld. These journeys in general seem to be a test of the hero's fortitude, stamina, wisdom, loyalty, fortiitude, stamina, wisdom, loyalty, his compassion and his love form humanity.
As theosophists, we are generally aware that these stories are allegoris of the inner journey each man must undertake and if we take just one of these heroes, such as Jason or Hercules, we could spend a whole lifetime trying to understand the truth behind the symbols of that particular hero's journey.
The hero I am going to examine is Thomas the Rhymer. There are many heroes who are better known, but I have chosen Thomas for two reasons. Firstly, I have been strangely drawn to his story ever since I first heard of it, due partly to the fact that I have a deep interest in the fairies, and Thomas's story deals with the fairy kingdom, and partly because the description of the three roads in his journey intrigued me. The second reason for choosing Thomas is becuase there is one major feature about him which sets him apart from other heroes, but that point I will discuss more fully later.
I first came across the Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer in the form of a folk song which tells of Thomas being spirited away to elfland by the Queen of the Fairy. The earliest known manuscript which record the ballad came from the 15th century, but the ballad is belived to be of an earlier origin. Although I liked the song, I never gave much thought to the symbols of the story until one day I read a novel basedon the so-called confessions of a Scottish witch of the time of Henry VIII. She was not some grisly old hag who did anything horrific, but simply a young girl who claimed the Lucifer came to her as a handsome young man, made her his mistress and would take her off on adventure during the night. One of the places they often visited was fairyland, and she made the remark that it was through knowing the secret of Thomas the Rhymer that she was able to come and go from fairyland whenever she wished. I remeber very little about the book except for this statement, becuase it made me realise that Thomas was part of the Scottish folklore; he was not just a character in a ballad, but some sort of symbolic hero!
Not long after this, I attended one of the Sunday night lectures at Gloucester Place, the Headquarters of the Theosphical Society in London, and heard a talk on British Mysticism. A book recommended for further reading was The Mysteries of Britain by Lewis Spence, and when I purchased a copy of the book from the Theosophical Bookshop, I discovered much to my delight, that the book contained a section on Thomas, and so at last, I had some concrete information about him.
I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons for choosing Thomas, was because he was a little different from other classical heroes. Whereas some heroes are purely symbolic in nature, or else their historic identity has been lost in the mists of time, Thomas is a recorded, historic person. He was a Scotsman who lived between 1250-1290 AD. He was known as Thomas Learmont of Erceldoune (now known as Earlston in Berwickshire) in some documents, and as Thomas Rhymer de Ercildoune in others. He was an accredited poet and prophet, and such a noteworthy writer as Sir Walter Scott draws on Thomas's work for his information.
Some of his prophecies included the death of the Scottish Kind Alexander III, the desolation of the countryside by sheep farming and the building of the Caledonian canal which occured several centuries after this death.
It should also be noted that the 19th century Russian poet, Learmontov, claimed descendancy from Thomas, stating that his family had come from Scotland, migrating at first to Poland and thence to Russia.
Now that we have established the historical nature of Thomas, we shall have a look at the symbolic nature of his story, which is reflected in the following ballad.
True Thomas lay oer yon grassy bank
and he beheld a lady gay,
a lady that was brisk and bold,
came riding oer the fernie brae.
Her skirt was of the grass green silk,
her mantel of the velvet fine,
at ilka tett of her horse's mane.
hung fifty sliver bells and nine.
True Thomas he took off his hat,
and bowed him low down till his knee:
'All hail, though mighty Queen of Heaven
for your peer on earth I never did see.'
'O no, O no, True Thomas,' she says,
that name does not belong to me;
I am but the Queen of fair Elfland,
and I'm come here for to visit thee.
'But ye maun go wi me now Thomas,
True Thomas, ye maun go wi me,
for ye maun serve me seven years,
Thro weel or wae as may chance to be.
She turned about her milk-white steed,
and took True Thomas up behind,
and aye whene'er her bridle rang,
the steed flew swifter than the wind.
For forty days and forty nights
he wade thro red blude to the knee,
and he saw neither sun nor moon,
but heard the roaring of the sea.
O they rade on, and furhter on,
until they came to garden green:
'Light down, light down ye ladie free,
some of that fruit let me pull for thee'
'O no, O no True Thomas,' She says,
That fruit maun not be touched by thee,
For a' the plagues that are in hell
light on the fruit of this countrie.'
But I have a loaf here in my lap,
likewise a bottle of claret wine,
and now ere we go further on,
we may rest a while, and ye may dine.'
When he had eaten and drunk his fill,
'Lay down your head upon my knee,'
The lady sayd, 'Ere we climb yon hill,
and I will show you fairlies thee,
O see not ye yon narrow road,
so thich beset wi thorns and briers?
that is the path of righteousness,
tho after it but few enquires.
And see not ye that braid, braid road,
which winds about the fernie brae,
that is the road to fair Elfland,
where you and I this night must gae.
But Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,
whatever you may hear or see,
for gin ae word you should chance to
speak, you will never get back to your
ain countrie.'
He has gotten a coat of even cloth,
and a pair of shoes of velvet green,
and till seven years were past and gone
True Thomas on earth was never seen.
SYMBOLIC MEANING
So what is the key to the symbolism of this ballad? Lewis Spence infers in his book that the nickname of True Thomas means Druid Thomas. Therefore I suggest that the ballad narrates an aspect of the initiatory rites of the Mysteries School of the Druids. The ballad certainly appears to describe a form of intiation, for it commences with the meeting of a man with a magical being, who demands that he leaves all that he has, and accompany her on a journey which ends with a period of seven years of service.
The horse they travel on is pure white, a symbol of innocence, and from the horse's neck hung fifty silver bells and nine. The sound of bells is said to be a symbol of creative powers, and in a hanging position they take on the mystic significance of all objects which are suspended between heaven and earth.
For forty days and forty nights he wade through red blude to the knee. A period of forty appears in other stories such as Jesus and his forty days in the wilderness which we now call Lent; this is the time when he faced the temptation of Satan. Moses and the tribes of Israel wandererd in the wilderness for forty years. It seems to be a time of testing and purification. In the romance they cross an empty burning desrt before reaching the rivers of blood, and the elf queen states that the rivers contain all the blood spilt in anger in the mortal world.
Then there is a part in the journey when he saw neither sun nor moon, but heard the roaring of the sea. It seems they journey through darkness, whether blindfolded or shrouded in mists, and travel across water. This suggests the Cetlic myth of the isle of Avalon, which is reached by boat after a journey through mists.
They come to a garden green, where Thomas offers to pick some of the fruit (in some versions the fruit are apples, and it should be noted that the word Avalon means apples). The queen however, warns him that the fruit is forbidden because it contains the plagues of hell - to eat it would mean that he would be trapped there forever.
She offers him instead a loaf of bread and a bottle of claret wine (reminiscent of Omar Khayyam). Bread, being made of wheat, is said to be the symbol of the Cycle of Life; wine can represent on one hand the blood and sacrifice, and on the other hand, youth and eternal life - the divine intoxication of the soul.
Thomas is the lulled into a state of rest before climbing the hill, beyond which lie the juction of three roads..
O see not ye yon narrow road, so thick beset wi thorns and briers? That is the path of righteousness, Tho after if but few enquires.
This is a straightforward description of the 'razor edged path' which leads to the state of enlightenment. It is there, but how many of us even enquire of it, let alone attempt to step upon it?
And see not ye that braid braid road, that lies across yon lillie leven? that is the path of wickedness, tho some call it the path to heaven.
This is the path of illusion - the 'road to Jerusalem paved with gold. Heaven is often described especially by the Christian Chrush as a place where earthly desire can be fulfilled if we follow the dogmas of the faith, for heaven is to them, a grander form of earth. But a place for the fulfilment of earthly desires is a place of wickedness. And so we come to the third path..... And see e not that bonny road, which winds about the fernie brae? That is the road to fair Elfland where you and I this night must gae.
When most teachings tell us that there are two paths, I wondered why there were three in this story. The answer I offer to this question is that it is the Path of Preparation. Thomas stays there for seven years. He must hold his tongue, so it is a period of silence. He is given the coat and shoes of the elfin folk to wear, so he would thus appear as one of the brethern of elfland.
In the romance it states that at the end of seven years Satan was due to collect his tythe from elfland, and fearing that Thomas would be the tythe, the queen sends hum back to his world. But before he left, she bestowed upon him two gifts...1)the gift of prophect 2)a tongue that would not lie So, after seven years of service, Thomas had completed the path of preparation. He had developed his psychic powers and he was a man Man of Truth. He came back to the mortal world to serve his fellow man, but at the same time was equipped to start on that Narrow Road.
ONCE AND FUTURE
Here the romance ends, but tradition relates that Thomas lived for many years at Ercildoune, till one night when a hind and doe came out of the forest; Thomas left his castle and went to greet them, followed them back into the forest, and never returned to live in the mortal world.
He is said to still live in elfland, and acts as a counsellor to the fairies, as attested to in various tales people who claim to have visited the land of the fairy.
It is also said of him that he appears at markets to buy horses. He is gathering these horses. He is gathering these horses for the Sleeping Scottish Warriors, who are waiting the summons to rise and come to help of Scotland in some future battle. In some traditions these are the sleeping knights of Arthur, who are awaiting the return of the Once and Future King.
DRUIDIC CONNECTIONS
We can see the traditions of Thomas are woven around the symbols of initiation and ritual, but what of its Druidic connections? The mystery school of the Druids is said to have flourished in pre-Roman Britain and in some areas of the Continent, but with the coming of the Romans and the later persecutions of Christianity, it disappeared. Yet there is evidence that Druidism survived in small remnants throughout the British Isles, especially in Wales and Scotland. Hywell, Prince of Wales, is said to have been intiated into the Lower Mysteries of Keridwen in 1171 AD. The Arthurian stories of the Middle Ages refer to Merlin as a Druid of great powers - he was the magical power behind Arthur and his adventure, and so the power of the Druids was still recognised by the Arturian writers.
The chief goddess of the Druids was Keridwen. She was the Great Mother, and her symbols were the moon and the sow; she governed fertility and thus the crops, and the cycle of life, from birth to death. She appeared in many forms, from a beautiful young woman to an old witch, these different ages representing the phases of the moon. In his book The White Goddess, Robert Graves refers to Thomas's fairy queen as a representative in the thirteenth century of the white goddess of the Celts, that is, Keridwen.
Another series of poems which relate to Druidic initiation is the Tale of Taliesin. This story centres around a sixth century Welsh bard who until this century was considered a mythical character. The so-called Book of Taliesin, which dates back to the sixth century (though the oldest translation we now have comes from the ninth century), is a collection of poems of historical, mythological and mystical nature.
In one of these poems Taliesin describes his former incarnations. In another he describes the Celtic equivalent of the Holy Grail. In this story it is Arthur who descends into the Otherworld called Annwn, where he takes possession of the Cauldron of Keridwen; the Cauldron supplies endless food, but will not boil the food of a coward, and it has three properties - inexhaustibility, inspiration and regeneration. In another poem we have again the Cauldron in which Keridwen is making a brew which has to be boiled for one year to produce three drops of divine fluid which contains all knowledge. A servant named Gwion (or Gwydion), tends the boiling cauldron, and at the end of the year the three drops fly out, whereupon Gwion catches them on his finger. The drops burn, and so he puts his finger to his mouth and thsu swallows the drops, and becomes insantly inspired. Keridwen then pursues him, and so he changes form - first into a hare and she into a greyhound; he leaps into a stream to become a fish and she then becomes an otter; he then flies into the air as a sparrow, and she becomes a hawk; he then falls to the floor of a mill as a grain of wheat, and she becomes a hen and swallows him. She then regains her human form only to find that the grain of wheat has impregnated her, and nine months later, she gives birth to a son whom she names Taliesin (the radiant brow). She cannot kill him, so places him in a covered coracle on a weir whre he floats for many a day. He is found by the son of a local king and on being presented to the king, the babe utters such wisdom as to confound all the bards present in the court, and concludes with these words: Thrice have I been born. I know how to meditate. It is pitiful that men will not come to seek all the sciences of the world which are treasured in my bosom, for I know all that has been, and all that will be hereafter.
Here again we have a story of druidic initiation, the symbols used are different to that of Thomas, but we have as the main theme the man dealing with the magical woman - Taliesin deals with Keridwen, a nature goddess and ruler of the Otherworld called Annwn, whereas Thomas deals with the fairy queen who takes him beyond the physical plane to the Isle of Avalon. At the end of the cycle, both Taliesin and Thomas have reached a higher degree of spiritual development.
ARTHUR AND MERLIN
The two mystical names which come into these allegories are Arthur and Merlin, so apart from Athur having descended into Annwn and gained possession of the Cauldron, what other connections are there between these symbolic heroes?
Firstly, in some Arthurian stories Taliesin appears as a bard at Arthur's Court. There are also allusions by some writers to the idea that Taliesin and Merlin are the one and the same person. Taliesin is said to have also had the name Myrddn, which Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain changed to Merlin, basing the wizard of his Arthurtian story on the legends surrounding Taliesin.
Merlin and Thomas have similarities too, as like Thomas, Merlin was enchanted by the fairy queen, Vivian(or Nimue). In the Breton version, Vivian takes Merlin to the Joyous Garden which he manages to leave, just as Thomas returned from Elfland. But Vivian learns a new enchantment which binds Merlin to her, and he returns to the Joyous Garden for ever, just as Thomas eventually returned to Elfland where he remains to this day.
There is also a fourteenth century tale about a Scotsman named Canobie Dick who was a horse trader. One night he was approached by a stranger who bought some of his horses with pieces of old gold coins. Over several nights the same transaction took place, and Dick being curious of this stranger, suggested they share a drink. The stranger took him to his home which was entered though a cave in the Eidon Hills. Along the walls of a large room was a row of black horses, and lying next to each horse was a knight clad in black armour. At the end of the room there was a table on which lay a horn and a sword. The stranger took him to his home which was entered through a cave in the Eidon Hills. Along the walls of a large room was a row of black horses, and lying next to each horse was a knight clad in black armour. At the end of the room there was a table on which lay a horn and a sword. The stranger then declared himself to be Thomas, and he made the following statement: He that shall sound that horn and draw that sword shall, if his heart fail him not, be king over all Britain: so speaks the tongue that will not lie. But all depends on courage and much on your taking the sword or the horn first.
Dick thinks to take the sword, but hesitates and instead takes the horn on which, in a state of trembling, he feebly blows a note. Thunder rolls down the hall, bringing the knights and horses to life. Terror grips Dick as the knights wildly rush towards him, but as he tried to pick up the sword a voice said: Woe to the coward, the even he was born, who did not draw the sword before he blew the horn.
Whereupon a whirlwind sprang up and carried Dick out of the cavern, dumping him on a bank of stones. Shepherds found him the following morning, and he told him his tale before exprining!
In this tale Thomas takes on the role of Merlin as the keeper of the sword, which is meant only for him who has the quality of a king. It should also be noted that the Eidon Hills are one of the five places in Britain that lay claim to the resting place of Arhtur.
The poems and prophecies of Thomas contain much of the Arthurian symbolism and Merlin appears often in his works. Thomas is claimed by some scholars (include Walter Scott) as the original author of the Tristan and Isolde story, though others attribute the story to an English poet named Thomas of the Twelth century. Even if he didn't write the original, it seems he wrote a verison of it.
TANNHAUSER
He also write one of the original versions of Tannhauser. This tale realtes the meeting of a knight with the goddess Sibyl who lives in a mountain cave. The knight stays with her for three hundred and thirty days, but then repents that he has left the outer world of God, and so returns to seek the pardon of the Pope. After many pleas the Pope still refuses to absolve his sins, so eventually the Knight returns to Sybil. Although this tale is an ancient one, the knight seems to have acquired the name Tannhauser in the Middle Ages. Tannhauser was a German Knight and crusader who is said ti have waited on Pope Urban IV before retiring permanently to his magic mountain. He lived between 1205-1270 AD, which makes him a contemporary of Thomas.
TAM LIN
Another tale I would like to mentionis that of Tam Lin. This is another Scottish myth which has many verisons, though there is no specific person in history it relates to. The main theme of the sory is about Tam Lin, who while out riding one day, disappears without trace. Many months later, his bride-to-be Janet, who is still distraught at his disappearance, wanders into Carterhaugh Wood, which was a place of supernatural happenings. Suddenly the spectre of Tam Lin appears before her and reveals that he is trapped in Elfland where he has become enamoured by the elf queen. Every seven years the elves pay a tribute to their gods of their favourite warrior who currently is Tam Lin. Janet agrees to help him escape, and the next night , which is Halloween, she lays wait at the crossroads. Tam rides past with the queen and all the elves, and Janet jumps up and seizes Tam Lin, holding him fast. The elves work their magic, and Tam Lin's form changes first into freezing ice, then to blazing fire, then a hissing snake, next a dove that almost flies away. Finally he becomes a blazing sword, which Janet clutches to her breast as she struggles to a nearby holy well. She flings the sword into the well, and thus the spell is broken and Tam Lin regains his true form as the elves retreat sorrowfully inott he dadrkness. It thus seems that part of the Druidic lore concerns the fairy queen, jounrneys to the Otherworld, tythes to the gods and shape-changing. You may remember that in the tales surrounding the early life of Arthur, Merlin teaches him many lessons by turning Arthur into other creatures such as a bird or fish.
We can now see a pattern emerging out of all these tales which relate the journey of Thomas the Rhymer to initiation, Druidism and the Arthurian cycle. There is also another aspect to Thoams, and this concerns the period of history in which he lived.
MYSTICAL SCHOOLS
The late medieval times saw in Europe the flowering of many mystical schools in which ritual was a prominent feature. The history of modern Freemasonry can be traced back to the knights of the crusades, who brought back these ancient teachings form the East. Masonic rituals have their roots in Egypt but have been coloured by the various civilisations thruugh which they passed. The main body of the knights who borught these teachings to Europe were the Knights Templar, who were centred in France, but at the height of their power they controlled most of Europe. In the twelfth century the Templars were destroyed by King Philip of France and Pope Clement V, and their torture and death marked the beginnings of the horrors of the Inquisition. Some of the knights who escaped made their way to Scotland.
Another school which existed in Britain was the Culdees. Very little is known about this movement, as it appears they had an oral tradition only, so there is very little evidence about them. Some scholars claim thath the word Culdee is a derivative of Chaldean, and many stories surrounding them state that during the first century after Jesus strangers came from the Eastern Mediterranean to Britain, bringing with them the mystery teachings of Jesus. These teaachings were not only in sympathy with those of Druids, but also fulfilled a Druidic prophecy of a coming teacher. The blending of these Christian teachings with those of the Druids ths formed the Culdees. According to C.W. Leadbeater in his book Glimpses of Masonic History, the Culdees were connected with the Essene Sect.
The Culdees seem to have existed right down to the seventeenth century but the Roman Church considered their mystical ways heretic, and over the centuries their abbeys were gradually taken over or abolished. One of the main centres of the culdees was on the island of Iona, off the Scottish coast, but there is no historic mention of the Culdees in Scotland after 1382.
One of the main forms of modern masonry is The Scottish Rite, and we can see that in Scotland between 12th and 14th centuries there seemed to be a melting pot (or should I say cauldron?) into which flowed the rites of ancient druidism, the mystical Christianity of the Culdees and the philosophies and rituals of the East via the Knights Templar, the lower mysteries of this emerging school can still be seen in the Scottish Rite Freemasonry.
Out of this school two different initiates can be discerned. One is the subject, Thomas the Rhymer, who is a poet and a prophet. The other is a man called Micheal Scot the wizard.
Scot was born in 1175 AD at Melrose, (which lies near the Eildon Hills) and although he dies in Sicily while serving the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, his body is buried in the grounds of Melrose Abbey. Scot was known as a wizard because he was a practitioner of the natural sciences - he was an alchemist, mathematician adn physican; he wrote books on astrology and was known as a great magician.
One story about him relates that a withc of the village of Falsehope turned him into a gare but eventually he regained his human shape. The tale gives no further detailis than this, but if we think back to the tale of Taliesin, we see that he turned himself into a hare when being chased by Keridwen, who is referred to in some tales as a witch.
Even though there is about seventy-five years between the birth of Scott and Thomas, their stories suggest that a school existed in Melrose - a school that was capable of producing a man of science and mystical power.
The fourth stop on this pilgrimage is at the Eildon Tree Stone in the Eildon Hills, and this site marks the legendary meeting place of Thomas and the fairy queen, and there the ballad is read and enacted. After visiting places such as the home of Sir Walter Scott, the pilgrimage ends at Melrose Abbey.
At mid winter, there is another festival called the Masons Walk. In this festival the masons, again in full regalia, walk through the town to the abbey ruins whre a ceremony expounding the virtues of freemasonry is held in the light of fire torches. The comments of one observer likened the whole scene toa saturnalia of some monkish tow of the Middle Ages. This festival is about two hundred and fifty years old.
What do we have emerging out of all these facts and fancies? We have a historical man named Thomas of Erlcidoune. He carried the title of Sir Thomas, and wasone of the landed gentry. Not only could he read and write (a feat unusual in those days, even among the gentry), but he is an accredited poet. His work reflects the characters of Arthurian romance, which makes him a Scottish equivalent of the Troubadours of Europe. He lived during a time when the area in which he lived had become a centre for mysticism and a vortex where different arcane shcools were blending together to form a new rite. It is said of him that he "has a tongue that would not lie," so he was a man though of highly by his contemporaries and by those who followed in his wake. He is a mystic and prophet, with some of his visions taking many centuries to be fulfilled.
Within one hundred years of his death he was remembered not only as a gifted man, but had evolved into a mythical hero, taking on the characteristics of the heroes of his own poetry. He become part of the Arthurian cycle, and a central figure in Scottish folklore. He even became the subject of artists and Sir Joseph Noel Paton painted his meeting with the fairy queen.
The journey of Thomas the Rhymer is a key not only to the door that leads to the mystery school of initiation and illumination, but to the history of man's continual search for the Otherworld beyond the physical place, the world form which we came an to which one day we will return.
We now come to the present day - to you and me, for we are all on that Journey of Life so colourfully described in all these hero myths. There is an old saying...The hero has a thousand faces - one of them is you!
Most of mankind is probably still walking along that braid, braid road, looking for the fulfillment of their desires in a earthly vision of heaven. We see in some people such as H.P. Blavatsky tghose who have taken the narrow road, so thick beset with thorns and briers, and we may wish we had the courage and strength to follow them. Some of us may have started to turn towards the road to fair elfland. We may realise that the broad way is not what we really want, but are as yet unprepare