TWMBLA
There is a mountain in Wales which the Welsh call a hill, the way it do. It is tall enough to be seen above the city from many leagues around. On top of the mountain is a man-made hill which also can be seen standing proud like a pimple from many leagues around. The tribes who built it were known to the Romans whose capitol city in Briton, Caerleon, fort of the legion, is in the shadow of the mountain.
The hill on top of the mountain is a 'twmp', Welsh for 'little hill' but more directly relating to the English word 'tomb' given that tumps are man-made, artificial mounds, Barrows like the ones in Skyrim, a burial chamber predating the Bronze Age. I have been up there, of course. The ancestors would put the bodies of the dead as high in the sky as they could, unlike we postmodern people who typically burn them. The mountain is called Twmbarlwm, ‘an ancient Welsh word’, quite unlike most modern Welsh words which the elder Welsh called ‘English’. Modern Welsh is like English, a creole language. Some of its roots go deep enough to remain and retain their poetry.
A standing stone in sight and in alignment with Twmbarlwm is called Langston which means in the ancient language ‘ancient stone’. The word ‘lang’ means ancient, that is what it meant to the people who we consider to be the ancients. That’s how old these places are. That’s how old the language is. A gauge is a measurement, in this case of time.
Before anybody invented written languages we had spoken form which phonetically mutate into regional dialects. By tracing a combination of ‘the same word’ associated with ‘the same or strongly related meaning’ we can trace cultural roots. It is important to be aware how ‘culture’ and ‘bloodline’ are two different elements.
When you ‘see and can not un-see’ it, you begin to understand how we are all talking the same language. In traditional British mythology, ‘see’ and ‘un-see’ are concepts associated with the Faerie courts, the Seeley and un-Seeley are the light and shadow courts; ‘those who accept, those who live in delusion and fantasy who are not ready or not willing to accept’.
There is another historic group which associates the word Twmbarlwm with the spirits of the ancestors. It is not Welsh. Its roots are West African.
Dambala the Sky Father is one of the most important of all loa, who are spirits in West African diaspora religious traditions. Traditionally he is a great white or black serpent, sometimes a rainbow. Dambala originated in Benin, from the city of Ouidah (Wedo). 1
It is said about Damballa “he represents a continuum which is at once the ancient past and the assurance of the future.” Damballah is a Rada, guardians of order, morals and principles. In this sense it relates to Dharma the concept of 'everything in its right place' (compare 'karma' things seeking their right place), ruler Damusz of the city of Damascus. A phonetic and conceptual link to Dahomey.
Damballah ‘whistles and hisses like a snake’ instead of speaking, 2
A description which practising spiritist’s associate with ‘tinnitus-like tones’ revealing the presence of a communicable entity. Therefore It is associated with a ‘gate’ or ‘opening’ when communicating with spirits (alternately translated as ‘worshipping ancestors’).
Timbale, a specific, recognisable drum rhythm used to ‘open the gate’ to communicate ceremoniously with spirits. Differs from the ‘closing the gate’ drum rhythm, and several others for various ritual stages and purposes.
A shallow double-headed drum called timbal may be used when the dance kongo is performed. 3
“A Latin American / Cuban dance of African origin with a repeated pattern of three steps followed by a kick, to each bar: the dancers typically form a single file winding line, following a leader.” 4
Konga is a different rhythm to the Tumbala, it is included here for associative purposes.
The Boula is the smallest of the three drums that form the Rada battery used in Vodou ceremonies. Painted white with red and green bands near the bottom. 5
White, Red Green. Also seen in the national flag of Wales and of Mexico where the modern Santeriá form of African diaspora religion officially has millions of practitioners.
“Enslaved Africans brought the batá tradition to Cuba during the mass migration of the transatlantic slave trade. Añá is believed to communicate with these deities when the consecrated batá are played, their musical sounds transformed into aché—spiritual energy or life force. Añá facilitates divine communication and helps to “bring down,” in the form of spiritual possession, other orichas (deities in human form) during ritual ceremonies or tambores. Aside from these spiritual attributes, a musical ritual using fundamento can bring social prestige to the host of a tambor and purpose and unity to the religious community as a whole.” 6
The Cuban Santeriá ceremony derived from Yoruba is called Tamboure.
Tambourine is a hand-held shaker related to the Egyptian Temple sistrum (rattle).
“A sistrum is an ancient Egyptian percussion instrument that was shaken during religious ceremonies and when coming into the presence of a deity.” 7
“U-shaped sistrums existed by 2500 bc in Sumer and have been excavated near Tbilisi, Georgia.” 8
Sumer links the practise-and-purpose to Damascus.
Phonetic 'Tbl' (say it out loud).
The suffix -ina means ‘eve’ the same as ‘All Hallows Eve’ is called also ‘Halloween’.
Eve is a variant of Ewe.
Tumbalá is a town in Southern Mexico, the Chiapas region. 9
Ba is Sanskrit / Egyptian Hieratic for a "spiritual entity seen as a human-headed bird hovering over the deceased or exiting the tomb in the hieroglyphics, and was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds of the living and the dead." 10
This description is an indicator, with admiration of the symbolism and association. The italic is my own emphasis.
SOURCES
Although for practicality I have referenced internet sources to compose this article,
branches I work with are not mentioned here with respect for their not openly existing
in accordance with the lineages’ tradition.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damballa
2 https://steemit.com/vodou/@arrrados/haitian-vodou-damballah-the-primordial-serpent
4 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/conga
5 https://music.si.edu/object-day/rada-drum-boula-vodou-ceremonies
6 https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/gender-taboos-cuban-bata-drumming
7 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/553814
8 https://www.britannica.com/art/sistrum
9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbalá
10 http://myweb.usf.edu/~liottan/theegyptiansoul.html
FURTHER ACTION
I should send this blog to these people, really.
"Have you got a pet theory on the origins of Twmbarlwm – real, fantasy or humorous. Then write it down and we’ll publish the best stories in the next Newsletter and put them online too."
https://www.twmbarlwm.co.uk/what-is-the-twmp-on-twmbarlwm/
Why did it take so long?
Because I had to verify it as true before telling people about it,
which took a lot of specialist training which I dedicated my life to.
And now the work is done.
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