The Three Realms

Sky, land, and sea,

Three-in-one, one-in-three.

~Celtic prayer

In many cultures where shamanism is practiced spiritual movement takes place in three planes, worlds, or realms.  The three realms are the world above (the sky, heaven, land of the gods), the world around (the land, middle-earth, place of the elemental gates, land of the nature spirits), and the world below (the sea, the underworld, land of the dead).

In Celtic lore these realms are named Ceugent (ky-jent), Gwyned, and Abred.

Shamans use certain techniques of trance to access these realms. In many cultures a tree or pole is visualized as standing at the center of all things, reaching up into the sky and down into the underworld.  Shamans use this pole to climb or descend to other realms.  In our tradition we use the image of the Spiral Castle, Caer Sidhe, spinning around to open its gate to the different points of the wheel of the year.  Its spire reaches up to the North Star, and its caverns are home to the great forge and the cauldron.  The pole is symbolized literally in our circles by the raising of the stang. By its virtue we can "ride" the stang to any place in the realms, though we may also use our own personal riding-pole, or gandreigh, to do so.

Here are some associations for each of the three realms.

First Realm
Ceugent
Upperworld, Upper Realm
Realm of Sky, Wind, Otherworld
Struggle and enlightenment
Preservation: the undying realm, absence of decay
Birth, beginnings
The mind
Breath
Expansion/expansiveness
Perspective
Movement, setting in motion (beginning)
First arm of the Triskle
Spire of the Spiral Castle
Entry through flight or climbing
Metacognition
Black Knife/Athame

Second Realm
Gwyned
Earth world, Center world, Realm of Land, Middle Earth
Day-to-day struggles and concerns
Consensus reality, the here and now
Physicality
Living bones and flesh
Harsh realities
Progress, action, doing
Going through something
Middles
Limits and limitations (perceived and real)
Second arm of Triskle
Place of the Doorway of the Spiral Castle (and the Tor on which the Castle sits)
No entry needed (already in this realm)
Manipulation of perception/changing one's reality/glamory
Consciousness
White Knife/Kerfane-Bolline

Third Realm
Abred
Underworld, Realm of the Sea
Barrows, carins, caves
Initiation/Dragon chamber beneath the Tor of the Castle
Deep mystery
Truth beyond substance or thought
Emotion
Healing the soul
Rest
Death and preparation
Empathy
Blood, birth fluids, menses, semen, sweat
Oceans, lakes, ponds, pools
Inner self
Subliminal, Unconscious, Subconcious
Entry through caves, wells, etc.
Springs and wells bring energy/life from the third realm to the second
Third leg of Triskle
Red Knife/Shelg