HE ORIGINS OF CRIEC are unknown, although the name (pronounced cree-eck) itself is Kernic, so speakers of that tongue proudly claim it as their invention.  Criec means 'nine', and is assumed to derive from the nine different symbols, or Signs, on the dice (the blank face each die has is traditionally referred to as the 'Lost Sign', and there are many stories about how it was lost).  There are many stories also about the traditional sayings that are associated with each die (see below).

There are always four dice in a Criec set. Each has a name: unlike the name of the game itself, these vary from place to place, but the most common meanings are Stone, Sea, Breath and Blood.  Each die has a different combination of Signs, as detailed below, which must always be placed in the same relative positions.

Four Signs - the Hand, the Tree, the Hart and the Moon - each occur on three of the dice.  These are called the Life Signs, and are in different positions on each die.

The other four Signs only occur twice each, and are in the same position on both dice on which they appear. Two are known as the Death Signs - the Wheeled Cross, the Disc and Ring - and two are the Journey Signs - the Triskelion and the Spiral.

Criec dice can be used for gambling or for children's games; in either case, the rules are never the same from one village to the next. They can also be used for fortune telling.  Finding a single die is considered to bring ill luck, unless you can find the set to which it belongs, in which case the luck turns to good fortune.

 Set of Criec dice)
A set of Criec dice
(clockwise from centre, top: Breath, Stone, Sea, Blood)
 

Stone Sea Breath Blood
First Sign Blank Blank Blank Blank
Second Triskelion Spiral Triskelion Spiral
Third Wheeled Cross Disc and Ring Disc and Ring Wheeled Cross
Fourth Hand Tree Hart Moon
Fifth Moon Hart Tree Hand
Sixth Tree Moon Hand Hart


Stone    The Hand cuts the mark of the Moon on the Tree
Sea    The Tree hides the Hart as the Moon calls the wave
Breath    The Hart, under Tree branches bare, flees the Hand
Blood    Beneath the bright Moon, the Hand slays the Hart

Criec is copyright © 2005 James Doyle. All rights reserved