"Dark is yonder town
Dark are those within
You are the brown swan
Going within fearlessly."
____ Scots Gaelic blessing for
a child leaving home
The momebt comes in every parent's life when his child is launched on the world for the very first time: a moment fraught with hope, fear and expectation for both child and parents. The invocation given above offers clues to the kind of preparations that can pave the way for the one who is leaving. Chief among these is a self-esteem that comes from the recognition - by others and self - of one's innate qualities, those strengths that every young person has. Second comes the appeal to and recognition of the role models that inspire the one leaving, that enourage and sustain her in times of adversity. Third is the blessing that comes from the heart of the parent to rest upon the child.
In Celtic folklore, the child about to leave home asks the parent for a blessing. The formulaic reply to this request is, "You can have a mother's blessing and half a bannock (loaf) or a mother's curse and a whole bannock." The child who asks for the latter usually does not fare well, but the child who asks for half the bannock is truly blessed. So it is in our own times, when so many children feel driven out by their parents: their leaving is not experienced as a cooperative venture involving both parties, and they feel the blight of the parental curse. Those for whom leaving home is an anticipatory enterprise want to have the parental blessing: they are willing to carry half a bannock with them on their journey as prophecy of their own ability to earn a living, thankfully taking the half that is offered as a token of their parents' continuing support and as recognition of their own new-found independence.
"Make your own prayer for those leaving home."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit"]
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