In Irish mythology we are told that the Triad similarly “infected everything,” hence Trinities such as Oendia (the one god), Caindea (the gentle god), and Trendia (the mighty god): other accounts specify the three children of the Boyne goddess, as Tear Bringer, Smile Bringer, and Sleep Bringer: the word sleep is in all probability a corruption of sil Eep.
Among the Trojan “spindle whorls” some are decorated with four awens, corresponding seemingly to the Four Kings of the Wheel of Fortune; others with three groups constituting a total of nine strokes. As each ray represented a form of Truth, the number nine—which as already noted is invariably true to itself—was essentially the symbol of Truth, and that this idea was absorbed by Christianity is obvious from representations such as Figs. 326 and 327.
Fig. 328.—“Cross” at Sancreed (Cornwall). From The Cornish Riviera (Stone, J. Harris).
[To face page 538.
Fig. 329.—Caerbrân Castle in Sancred. From Antiquities of Cornwall (Borlase).
