Tir
God of writing, learning, eloquence and dreams; keeper of the book in which lives are recorded.
Scribe of Aramazd, Interpreter of Dreams
Tir writes. He records the deeds of mortals in the book of Aramazd, escorts the dead, and sends and explains dreams. His temple, Erazamoyn — 'the gathering of dreams' — stood outside Artashat, and there priests slept in the precinct to receive and interpret visions.
Greek writers matched him to Apollo and to Hermes, which tells you the shape of him: oracle, messenger, patron of the arts and of the scribal schools. The month Tre and the personal name Tiran carry him.
When Mesrop Mashtots invented the Armenian alphabet in 405, he was doing in a Christian key what Tir had always stood for — the fixing of speech in signs.
Sacred Associations
Associations
Կապեր- Writing, alphabets, translation, study
- Dreams, omens and their interpretation
- Eloquence and the arts
- The record of a life; the escort of the dead
Realms
Տիրոյթներ- The scriptorium and the library
- The dream at the edge of sleep
- The road, as messenger
- The threshold between the living and the dead
Sacred Offerings
Ընծաներ- Ink, a pen, a page of your own handwriting
- A book read to the end and dedicated
- Barley bread and clear water
- A recorded dream, written down before you speak to anyone
Taboos
Արգելքներ- Do not lie in writing under his sign; the falsified record is his particular offence.
- Do not sell an interpretation you were given free.
- Do not destroy the notebook kept for him; retire it, don't burn it.
Sacred Colours
Գոյներ- Ink black
- Parchment cream
- Bronze
Sacred Numbers
Թիւեր- Thirty-six — the letters Mashtots cut
- Two — question and answer
Establishing a Relationship
- 1
Keep a dream journal and write in it before you get out of bed. This alone is a full practice with Tir.
- 2
Learn something formally — a language, a script, a craft — and dedicate the study to him.
- 3
Write to him rather than speak. He answers in writing and in sleep.
Incubation at Erazamoyn
Before sleep, when you need an answer you cannot reason out
- 1Clear the space where you sleep. Put away screens; leave only a lamp and a notebook with a pen laid across it.
- 2Write your question at the top of a clean page — one sentence, no more, no alternatives.
- 3Read it aloud and say: 'Tir, scribe of Aramazd, keeper of Erazamoyn — I lay the question down. Send the answer as you send it.'
- 4Eat nothing more, drink only water, and put out the lamp.
- 5Sleep with the notebook within reach. Do not set an alarm if you can avoid it.
- 6On waking, before speaking to anyone, write everything you remember — images, fragments, nonsense included.
- 7Do not interpret for three days. Then read it back; the answer is usually in the detail you found least important.