country, images that harked back thousands of years into the ancient past, images like the Tree of life (the oak tree), or the Salmon of Wisdom, and the Serpent of good health.
Ancient Irish and Greek and Roman civilisations all regarded the Oak Tree as the Tree of life, a belief that stems from the vein-like pattern on the back of every Oak Leaf. Ancient Celtic inaugurations were conducted with the new chieftain embracing the Oak Tree, whilst uttering sacred Druidic saying. Many places in Ireland are called after these inauguration oak trees; places like Derry, Derrymore, Adare, Magh Adhair, all commemorate the place where an inauguration Oak Tree once stood.
To inaugurate means simply to bore someone or plant someone into the very earth of the clan territory. Druidic priests, called Augurs, performed this ancient ceremony; today an Augur is a machine that bores down into the earth. The town of Augsburg in Germany has the very same origins, pointing to the strong Celto-German origins of the Irish People. And in common with the Irish many German Coats of Arms contain Oak trees and Serpents.
The Latin Robur Querus means “great oak”, and people with the name Robert are called after this. Pope Robert, who reigned in the middle ages, carried an Oak Tree on his papal coat-of-arms; which coincidently is the great symbol of Paganism. The word Pagan simply means “People of the land”.
The ancient Irish looked upon the SALMON as source of wisdom. All the clans had a special pool, where Druidic priests would ritually feed Salmon, to ensure the chieftains were endowed with wisdom. This tradition still features in O’Neill’s