"There was a square stone....with a man's foot cut thereon, upon which he stood, denoting that he should walk in the footsteps and uprightness of his predecessors."
____ Hugh MacDonald of Sleat, "On the inauguration of Kings," quoted in Caitlin Matthews, "Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain"
The ancient inauguration ceremonies of Gaelic rulers were far from the coronation rituals of modern monarchy. Instead of receiving a diadem or crown to mark the beginning of a reign, Celtic kings stood or were ceremonially ensconced upon a stone that conferred the rights of kingship. Many such ancient stones remain, including the famous stone at Dunadd in western Scotland; it has the impression of a footprint upon it in which rulers would stand - literally standing in the footsteps of their ancestors - to be acclaimed king.
From the swearing in of a new president or the chairing of a judge or the election of candidates to office, to the first day at a new job or the acceptance of great responsibility or the first moments as a parent or householder, we all need rites of inauguration to mark the special moment, making it a day to remember. Our ability to accept responsibility and maintain our obligations is invested in where and how we stand. For we make deep footprints upon the earth itself - footprints in which only those willing to share a like commitment will ever want to stand.
"In whose footprints do you aim to stand in a responsible and committed way? What kind of footprints will you leave? What are the oaths and promises that you have made to stand where you do?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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