Chess in Any Language

Here are some fasinating posts that were posted at the Delphi forum "Chess the Goddess and Everything". I am sure you will enjoy reading them. Isis This is Sunwolf: 169.1 Hi All: I went an took these simple chess words and translated them, to let them speak for themselves: chess, king, queen, pawn, rook, knight, castle, bishop, chessboard French: échecs, roi, reine, pion, tour, chevalier, château fort, évêque, échiquier Portuguese: xadrez, monarca, rainha, penhor, [rook], fidalgo, castelo, bispo, [chessboard] Danish: skak, konge, dronning, [pawn], [rook], [knight], slot, biskop, skakbræt Spanish: ajedrez, rey, reina, peón, grajo, caballero, castillo, obispo, tablero Welsh: gwyddbwyll, brenin, banon, gwystla, brân, farchog, castella, esgob, dawlbwrdd I find it fascinating that each laguage has a unique word for "Chess" and also the Welsh word "gwyddbwyll" is important because I think there is a myth associated with it. Anyone familar with it? Response: Hi Isis:I found that reference to "Gwyddbwyll", the Welsh word for "Chess" in the Goddess Weave. It was from a post by Philip Mistlberger on our old Art Bell home: " Philip Mistlberger - 05:13am Feb 8, 1999 MST (#194 of 673) Mark, what does your number magic say about the following, Peredur, Perceval, Grail, GWYDDBWYLL (correct spelling), black maiden, Empress. In terms of the Mabinogion connection, which pretty much confirms the chess-Goddess tradition link, the above terms are obviously important. I've long been interested in Perceval in the context of the Grail search, and feel he is a key to many things. The symbolism re the relationship between the Empress-Goddess, black maiden, chess, and Peredur is striking and relatively straightforward. A key to Celtic history is Druidry. I'm going to look that way. Jan, it'll be interesting to see if this Celtic link can in turn be bridged to the Chinese links you've uncovered. One other thing: The Druids are linked to Stonehenge, which has direct mathematical commonalities with the Great Pyramid. More later when I have time. Getting interesting." "Mark Borcherding - 09:37am Feb 8, 1999 MST (#195 of 673)dare to dream upon your own star Ref 194 Philip here is what I came up with: 9 numerology 26 numerology Reduction Peredur 42 67 6 Perceval 37 82 1 Grail 29 47 2 GWYDDBWYLL 47 137 2 black maiden 39 75 3 Empress 32 95 5 Black Madonna 37 91 1 Celtic 25 52 7 Holy Grail 53 107 8 Notice "Holy Grail" creates Jan's number "8" the chess board 8x8 squares. Grail also refers to bloodline and perhaps refers to DNA that has 8x8=64 codons. Perceval = 37 = Black Madonna , most of the paintings in the Templar churches have a "Black Madonna". Notice "Celtic" reflects itself with 25 mirror of 52. Empress = 32 = 32 white squares or 32 black squares. 1/2 of the DNA Codon. Perhaps each person carries both Male and Female DNA and can activate it in unity :) Thus ALL of us are the Holy Grail. Philip Mistlberger - 12:15pm Feb 8, 1999 MST (#196 of 673) Thanks Mark, maybe we should rent a mainframe before 2000 to get this solved... The plot thickens... In Egyptian mythology, the floor of the Great Hall of Judgment is a pattern of BLACK AND WHITE SQUARES. In order for the soul to progress on its journey into the afterlife, there must be an equal number of either coloured squares. More of black, or more of white, symbolizes that there is an imbalance in the soul that has to be corrected. Concerning the "Gwyddbwyll" game. In the Mabinogion the word is translated by Guest as "chess". Other sources say it is a board game that derives from an older Irish board game that is almost identical to chess but slightly different. John and Caitlan Matthews, well known Celtic scholars, describe it as synonomous with chess. In some versions the squares are not black and white, but red and white. Red and white is a pairing that shows up throughout the Hermetic and alchemical texts. The Menkaure pyramid of Giza (linked with Horus by some) was originally red and white. Queen Elizabeth I's astrologer, John Dee, found red and white alchemical powders in the Abbey Grounds of the Isle of Avalon. The Sanskrit nectar "Amrita" is a red/white elixer that streams out from the "moon" center in the head. And so the pieces seem to be coming together (pun intended). The original game appears to have been an alchemical code or cipher of some sort, containing keys for initiation and consciousness growth. Very similar to Tarot, with the modern version being a poor, trivial derivative. I suspect that the origins are Nile valley and/or Mesopotamian (as with most eveything, and before that probably something antidiluvian, like Atlantis). With the decline of those cultures it probably spread East through Persia, the Indus valley and India, Silk Road, and China. It also went northwest through Asia Minor and Europe, carried by Celtic tribes and hidden in the legends (such as the Mabinogion). Those are very preliminary speculations, of course. There is so much more here, such as the mathematics of Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid, the geometry of the Shiva temples, and the historical interfacing of the Goddess traditions and Druidism. There is also a stack of info around Sacred Geometry vis a vis the Avalon myths, Freemasonry, and their Egyptian roots. Bridge anyone? :-)" " Philip Mistlberger - 10:57pm Mar 4, 1999 MST (#296 of 321) Jan, in the info that I posted last month about the Celtic chess connection through the Mabinogion (Welsh bardic tales), they mentioned that the Celtic board game "Gwyddbwyll" was derived from an older Irish game that was very similar to chess but slightly different. As the Mabinogion dated from about 1100 CE, "older" would seem to fit with the "pre-500 CE" era you mention. In the Mabinogion the connection between chess and the Goddess is spelled out in a strikingly explicit manner. It is referred to as the "game of the Empress and the black maiden".