by Searles O'Dubhain
Imbas Forosnai — "illumination on the palms of the hands" — was the Irish poet's technique for receiving prophetic vision: withdrawal into darkness, incantation upon the hands, and an opening to inspired sight. The Gnostic text Zostrianos describes a strikingly similar threefold path to enlightenment. In this brief but pointed July 2005 post to alt.religion.druid, Searles O'Dubhain sets the two traditions beside each other and asks whether the structural similarity is coincidence, cultural contact, or something deeper — a common grammar of illumination that crossed traditions. The question he raises about Simon Magus and Mug Roith — Celtic-Gnostic cross-pollination — remains an active area of esoteric inquiry.
A Gnostic text called Zostrianos tells how a spiritual master finds enlightenment:
- Removal from physical desires.
- Calming the mind.
- A vision of the perfect child.
Following these three steps one wandered in the desert until the "Messenger of Knowledge of the Eternal Light" provides one with a vision.
(From the Way of the Desert by Timothy Freke)
In Imbas, Cormac tells us that Draoithe/Filidh:
- Goes to a darkened room.
- Performs incantations upon the hands.
- Receives prophetic visions.
One wonders if the Desert Fathers and the Druids had more things in common (such as Simon Magus and Mug Roith). Would the "Messenger of Knowledge of the Eternal Light" equate to the "Light of Knowledge" which is Imbas Forosnai?
Colophon
Written by Searles O'Dubhain and posted to alt.religion.druid in July 2005. The Gnostic source is Zostrianos (NHC VIII,1), cited via Timothy Freke's The Way of the Desert (Thorsons, 1999). The Irish source is Cormac's Glossary (Sanas Cormaic), which preserves the description of Imbas Forosnai as practiced by the filid (poet-seers). Mug Roith is a legendary Irish druid of disputed origin; the connection with Simon Magus appears in later medieval traditions.
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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