"Open the portal!"
"I will not open it."
"Wherefore not?"
"None may enter Arthur's hall but the son of a king of a privileged country or a craftsman bringing his craft."
____Culhwch and Olwen, from The Mabinogion
This dialogue is between the porter of King Arthur's hall and Culhwch (KIL'ook), a young kinsman of Arthur's who arrives after the feasting has begun. He seeks to enter the charmed circle of the feast to gain his uncle's help and has to persuade his way in past the resolute porter, who has been given orders that no one may gain admittance.
We each draw upon a network of people and things to fuel the power circuit of our lives: environment, habits and familiar things, relationships to people, our job, family and personal connections are all important factors in our lives. We base our power network on many things. Finding out where our power lines are truly strong and where they are based on dependency or appropriation is an important task. Claiming kinship with things with which we have no actual personal association, boasting and exaggerating our links with these things, can give us a find feeling of strength; but that feeling is illusory When our bluff is called and we attempt to call upon those strengths, they prove to be unsupportive and the whole facade tumbles down, leaving us exposed.
We earn the right to enter the charmed circle of acquaintance or association only when we show proper commitment, when we prepare ourselves and make the trial. Wanting to be in the exclusive club is a terrible hankering for some. Nothing can replace the sense of fellowship and belonging that results when she is truly welcomed as a kindred spirit.
"Which charmed circles, and associations am I attempting to enter? By what right?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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