What is a geas?
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 2:36 pm
WHAT IS A GEAS?
A Geas (pronounced "GESCH") is a kind of magical obligation, prohibition, or taboo that a person may possess. Some modern Druids use the Geas as a kind of curse, a magical "binding" or "blockage of energy" (to prevent someone from doing something). But the Geas that the characters of Celtic mythology possess is much different from that. It is usually imposed on magical people such as sacred kings, Druids, and great heroes. As it is the sacred king's duty to maintain the peace and prosperity of society, and as he is married to the local land Goddess, his life is surrounded and infused with magic. The geas upon him are there to help him avoid unbalancing that magic. Great heroes could also be bound by geasa, and so long as the hero observes his geasa he will be successful and victorious.
There are several ways to receive a Geas. A parent can grant one to her children at birth, a king or Druid can impose one upon a criminal as a punishment, or a Druid can determine by oracular means what Geasa a person already has. In heroic mythology there is a trend in which male heroes receive their Geas from women, as in the cases of Cu Chullain and Diarmaid ua Duibhne. A hero may lose a gamble of cards or a chess game to a hag, and she imposes a geas upon him as her reward for winning. Typically a geas of that kind is a requirement to go on a quest or to perform some impossible task.
The risk of breaking Geas is great. For some, to break a Geas would result in the loss of one¹s honour and social esteem. (Thus it is impossible to use a Geas to "curse" or "bind" someone who already has no honour.) For others, especially magical people like Druids or kings, to break a geas is to act contrary to the forces of nature, and the result is the death of the person, or some other great social catastrophe. Knowing this, many heroes met their end when their enemies discovered the heroes' geas and plotted a situation in which it was impossible to avoid breaking them. For example, Cu Chullain was under a geas not to eat the meat of dogs, and also to always sample food being prepared at a roadside. On the day he was killed in battle, he stopped to sample some food according to his geas but it was dog meat, and so he could not avoid breaking one or the other geasa.
Each geasa is unique and appropriate to its possessor. Cu Chullain's prohibition against eating dog meat is related to his name, "the Hound of Cullain", so it would seem that for him to eat dog meat would be a kind of cannibalism. This personal and intimate aspect is why the geas is so serious to those who possess them, and why they are usually kept secret.
{from Druidism Guide Website}
A Geas (pronounced "GESCH") is a kind of magical obligation, prohibition, or taboo that a person may possess. Some modern Druids use the Geas as a kind of curse, a magical "binding" or "blockage of energy" (to prevent someone from doing something). But the Geas that the characters of Celtic mythology possess is much different from that. It is usually imposed on magical people such as sacred kings, Druids, and great heroes. As it is the sacred king's duty to maintain the peace and prosperity of society, and as he is married to the local land Goddess, his life is surrounded and infused with magic. The geas upon him are there to help him avoid unbalancing that magic. Great heroes could also be bound by geasa, and so long as the hero observes his geasa he will be successful and victorious.
There are several ways to receive a Geas. A parent can grant one to her children at birth, a king or Druid can impose one upon a criminal as a punishment, or a Druid can determine by oracular means what Geasa a person already has. In heroic mythology there is a trend in which male heroes receive their Geas from women, as in the cases of Cu Chullain and Diarmaid ua Duibhne. A hero may lose a gamble of cards or a chess game to a hag, and she imposes a geas upon him as her reward for winning. Typically a geas of that kind is a requirement to go on a quest or to perform some impossible task.
The risk of breaking Geas is great. For some, to break a Geas would result in the loss of one¹s honour and social esteem. (Thus it is impossible to use a Geas to "curse" or "bind" someone who already has no honour.) For others, especially magical people like Druids or kings, to break a geas is to act contrary to the forces of nature, and the result is the death of the person, or some other great social catastrophe. Knowing this, many heroes met their end when their enemies discovered the heroes' geas and plotted a situation in which it was impossible to avoid breaking them. For example, Cu Chullain was under a geas not to eat the meat of dogs, and also to always sample food being prepared at a roadside. On the day he was killed in battle, he stopped to sample some food according to his geas but it was dog meat, and so he could not avoid breaking one or the other geasa.
Each geasa is unique and appropriate to its possessor. Cu Chullain's prohibition against eating dog meat is related to his name, "the Hound of Cullain", so it would seem that for him to eat dog meat would be a kind of cannibalism. This personal and intimate aspect is why the geas is so serious to those who possess them, and why they are usually kept secret.
{from Druidism Guide Website}
