The Forger of the Elements

The Forger of the Elements

"A shoemaker makes shoes without leather,
With all the four elements together,
Fire, Water, Earth, Air
And every customer takes two pair."
   ____ancient British riddle

   This riddle refers to the work of the blacksmith, who heats the fire for the furnace by means of the bellows, who hammers the softened metal into shape with his hammer, and then plunges it into the water to cool and fix its shape. The blacksmith customers are of course horses, who clop off with their two pair of shoes. The smith is a revered, almost magical figure among many traditional peoples worldwide because of the alchemy of his trade, which forges with the help of the elements. Those among the gods who are smiths play a pominent role in the defense of the land and the mysteries of the afterlife: the Welsh Gofannon and the Irish  Goibniu (Go-VANN'on and GUB'noo), for example, both make weapons of extraordinary power. The power to curtail life or to prolong it is part of the smith-gods skill. Goibniu - when he was not smithing - presided over the otherworldly feasting of heroes, supplying the food and drinkthat preserved the lives of all who partook of them.
    Whoever forges with the help of the elements is seen as a worthy guardian, one whose luck will embrace all in his household. The Celtic smith-god is one who stands between the worlds as a teacher and mediator of otherworldly skills and healing, and as one who can lead the dead from this world to the other. As we draw nearer to the festival of Samhain and toward the dark half of the year, we approach the time of introspection when the elements of our own life's forging can be refined and appreciated. When they no longer hold the life within our body, when our soul goes free of this life, they will become available for the smith to reforge another.

"How are the elements part of your own life's forging?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]