by Rev. Jean “Drum” Pagano
Nechtan is a God who owns a sacred well. This sacred well is the well of wisdom. Around this well sat nine hazel trees, from which the hazelnuts of knowledge fall into the water. Within the well lives the Salmon of Knowledge who eats the hazelnuts as they fall into the water. The knowledge that is found within the hazelnuts is then retained in the salmon. This is an early Irish example of you are what you eat.
This story brings up several important points, namely a) the ongoing process of knowledge; b) the acquisition of knowledge; and c) the commutative property of knowledge.
The ongoing process of knowledge is such that knowledge is not static nor does it end. There is always something new to be learned, either by experience, intuition, or proof (as in mathematics). That the hazelnuts continue to grow upon the tree is symbolic of this never-ending process of unfolding, revelation and discovery. Since the fish are in the well or pool, one may assume that they are fed. Since they are fed and the only obvious source is the hazelnuts, one must assume that the nuts are plentiful and available regularly.
One may assume that the fish are eating, as postulated above. Since the food that is available are the hazelnuts of wisdom, then another assumption is that the acquisition of knowledge continues because knowledge is to be found in the fruit of the hazelnut. Therefore, the more that the salmon eat, they wiser they become.
Finally, one comes to the commutative property of knowledge, which, like the commutative property of addition or subtraction, implies that the movement of one of the items in an equation does not alter the final outcome of the calculation or equation. Therefore, there is knowledge in the hazelnuts. The hazelnuts fall from the tree into the water, still retaining their knowledge, that is, even though their location has changed, their basic property (knowledge) has not. Once the hazelnuts hit the water, they are eaten by the Salmon of Wisdom, and the knowledge is then transferred, from tree to hazelnut to fish. The fact that there is knowledge has not changed; only where it resides.
