Pheryllt: A Modern Guide to the First Systematizers of the Ancient Celts & The Pre-Druidic Religion

by Joshua Free, Llywelyn Sion, Iolo Morganwg

[This Mardukite edition is now out-of-print in lieu of the forthcoming "Book of Pheryllt" anthology, collecting this three volume series in one book. see SEPARATE LISTING]“The Druids believed in books more ancient than the flood. They styled them the 'Books of Pheryllt' and the writings of Hu.”– Ignatius Donnelly, AtlantisWhere the Druids are concerned, hundreds of years of diverse academic and philosophical debate await the Seeker on their look back. It is now even more controversial to speak of the Pheryllt in neodruid circles – supposed rings of open minds that remain closed in reality.For two decades a modern movement of neodruids influenced by modern Pheryllt Druidism have become bystanders amidst the unbreakable schism. Alleged authorities on Druidry raise one hand screaming how these documents supporting an ancient Welsh Bardic Druid (and Pheryllt) tradition are a hoax, but with the other hand they borrow from these same sources for their own purposes. Many antiquated scholarly references to Books of Pheryllt and the Pheryllt themselves may be found by a diligent seeker – some of which are included or paraphrased within this very book. The authentic premise guiding the modern Pheryllt Druid tradition is the remaining works that do exist from the Welsh MS. Society and the continuing efforts of the National Welsh Eisteddfodd in preserving the Bardic tradition.In ancient Keltia, the Druid Order consisted of learned men, those educated in Bardic cosmology, native history, legendary history of heroes and spirituality, penal laws and punishments, geography, healing, botanical medicine, astronomy, astrology and magic. It is no wonder the Bard is viewed as transmitter or catalyst of awen, the essence, divine spark or spirit of inspiration that the Greeks termed gnosis. It is to the 'ebb and flow' of the 'awen field' that the poetic genius of Bards is attributed.“--So Ceridwen took to the crafts of the Book of Pheryllt to boil a cauldron of Awen.”– from the 'Hanes Taliesen', Peniarth MSWe have been given little in classical literature or even antiquarian druidism to satisfy hunger for Pheryllt (pronounced FAIR-ee-llt or VAIR-ult) research, and even less to support an indepth critique of their founder, a figure named Pharaon - translated by some scholars to mean 'higher powers'. Perhaps it is 'Druid Craft' to call down 'higher powers' to conjure inspiration and magic – perhaps that is what Ceridwen is doing in the famous reference above. In either case, it has spawned an entire branch of modern druid methodology and a natural universalist philosophy even if only in spirit.

254 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2014

About the author

Joshua Free began participating in his planetary mission by receiving ‘unofficial’ personal apprenticeships from individual mentors who were, themselves, members (active or preexisting) of the Illuminati, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, Catholic Mystics, Christian Gnostics, Buddhist Monks, Freezoners (Scientology), the Dragon Court / Dragon Society, Theosophical Society, the GD (Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), the O.T.O. (Ordo Templi Orientis) and/or the A.A. (Argentium Astrum) among others.

At the age of 12, Joshua Free was officially initiated into the Pheryllt Druid tradition (based on the work of Douglas Monroe) and then began leading his own Gnostic Druid organization at 13. A year later he was installed to the ‘third degree’ of Celtic Wicca. In the mid-1990′s, he was heralded the youngest initiate to join the “Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids” (OBOD), a large international organization based in England that New Age (Druidic) authors frequently cite.

While in high school during the late-1990′s, Joshua Free maintained leadership (under the name “Merlyn Stone“) of a small esoteric mystical-magical experimental research group, the “Elven Fellowship Circle of Magick” (EFCOM), which met both in private and publicly in Washington Park (Denver, Colorado) from 1998 through 2000. Considered a prodigious youth among growing Rocky Mountain New Age Scene, he wrote many underground manifestos on various ‘New Age’ topics using the pseudonym “Merlyn Stone” while still a teenager — one of the first and most famous being the “Sorcerer’s Handbook” that has reached thousands of readers and is currently celebrating its 15th Anniversary in 2013! [The complete works of "Merlyn Stone" are now available in the NEW commemorative edition -- "Wizardry".]

Joshua Free quickly became a controversial underground occult figure (as author Merlyn Stone) that advocated radically diverse approaches to Druidic Philosophy & Metaphysics — including active participation with the New Forest “Pheryllt” group of his primary Druidic mentor, Douglas Monroe, for which he was unseated from all positions (particularly OBOD) and disappeared from public view while still a teenager.

Although now best known for his work on Sumerians, the Anunnaki and Babylonian Tradition for the “Mardukites“, his work on the Secret Dragon (Elven) Legacy and modern Pheryllt Druid Tradition is also paramount. In addition to his own collected works anthology, “The Druid Compleat“, his writing has even been used for the third volume completing the classic bestselling ‘Merlyn’ trilogy by Douglas Monroe, “The Deepteachings of Merlyn“ in 2011.

Before returning to mainstream view in 2008 (nearly a decade later) via the internet, Joshua Free had already spent fifteen years intensely exploring esoteric sects of society, underground counter-culture and contemporary academia. Following an individualized path, preferring personal apprenticeships over direct membership in certain groups and organizations, his all-encompassing ‘Universalist’ pursuit is to unify the knowledge and potential of the ‘human condition’ experiencing life in the “metaphysical universe”. [The literary cornerstone of this effort, consolidated and released in 2008 as "Arcanum", not only earned him an honorary position in the "Ordo Lapsit Exillis" from Tracy R. Twyman and then as a companionate to the "Dragon Court" of (the now 'late') Nicholas de Vere, but also contributed to the rise of his own revolutionary 'Next Generation' (NexGen) underground movement...]

On the Summer Solstice of 2008, Joshua Free founded the inception of the modern “Mardukite“ movement — currently in its fifth active year of operation, with extensive literary materials now in print. In Spring of 2011, he co-founded the “Systemology” division (Systemological Society) of the “Mardukite Research Organization”. Drawn from the truth of the most ancient spiritual technologies on the planet!