"Each day and night
That I recite the genealogy of Brighid
I shall not be killed nor despoiled,
I shall not be imprisoned nor wounded."
____ Scot's Gaelic blessing (trans CM)
There is a strong tradition throughout the Celtic realms of special protectors who stand between our world and the otherworld. These are the 'greater dead,' the ancestors who do not pass into the next phase of their tuirgin but stand ready to intercede, facilitate, and assist us. In early times, these figures behaved as protectors against attach and invasion. One such protector is Eoghan Bel, a sixth-century Irish king of Connacht, who insisted on being interred standing, with a spear in his hand. Similarly King Arthur did not die but is held to be ready to come again from Avalon to Britain's defense.
These early traditions were not overthrown but were supplemented by other strong protectors. The saints who had power to stand between mortals and the dangers of the natural world, for example, would also intercede to the Divine on behalf of beseechers. This guardianship could be invoked by pilgrimage, visiting the tomb of St. David in Pembrokeshire, Wales, was said to ensure that you would not go to hell, as was the annual barefoot climbing of Croagh Patrick Mountain in County Mayo, Ireland. The recitation of Brigit's genealogy not only protected the speaker but made him part of the saint's family in a special way. The strong protectors are not superbeings, gods or spirits in their initial appearance; they are mortals who become endowed with supernatural power after their death, vehicles of special grace. They form an ancestral hotline that stretches directly between ourselves and the sacred, unseen world, every ready to assist us.
"What are the strong ancestral protectors to whom you appeal?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit Caitlin Matthews]
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