Abred

Abred (Welsh) Inchoation; the cycle of inchoation. The lowest of the three cycles of existence in Druidism, including the human kingdom and probably the animal and vegetable: "the Cycle of Abred, in which are all embodied and dead existences" (Bard p. ?). Abred has four stages: Annwn, Obryn, Cydfil, and Dyndeb. Hawl yr ail (the second examination) reads:
Q. Whence didst thou proceed? and what is thy beginning? A. I came from the Great World, having my beginning in Annwn. Q. Where art thou now? and how camest thou to where thou art? A. I am in the Little World, whither I came, having traversed the circle of Abred, and now I am a man at its termination and extreme limits. Q. What wert thou before thou didst become a man in the circle of Abred? A. I was in Annwn the least possible that was capable of life, and the nearest possible to absolute death, and I came in every form, and through every form capable of a body and life, to the state of man along the circle of Abred, where my condition was severe and grievous during the age of ages, ever since I was parted in Annwn from the dead, . . . Q. Through how many forms didst thou come? . . . A. Through every form capable of life, in water, in earth, and in air. (Bard 227).