Disorder

Disorder

"The three oppressors of the wise are drunkeness, and adultery and
bad disposition."   ____ triad from "Laws of Hywel Dda"


   These aspects of disorder are thieves that break the sacred contracts upon which society is based. The misuse of intoxicants creates a muddled perception of reality, resulting in disorderly behavior. When we misuse sacred substances for mundane recreation, we poison ourselves and lose the pathway to bliss.

  Sexual desire has its own sacred contract, grounded in the consent of two hearts together. Adultery attempts to steal the affection of another person's partner and violates this sacred contract.

   Those who set their faces against the tide of the society in which they live are thieves of the common good. All societies are based upon the contract of good order. Those who exclude themselves from upholding the common good parasitically bleed the resources of their society.

   The contracts that we make within our society are what keep it orderly. When these are subverted, turned aside, or appropriated, we do not merely hurt other people around us; we also sever pathways of connection between ourselves and the spiritual allies who interface with our world.

"What contracts have been severed by disorder in your life? Ask help of your spiritual allies to reconnect what has been broken."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Mythic Present

The Mythic Present

"It is not literal past, the 'facts' of history,
that shape us, but images of the past embodied
in language..... We must never cease renewing
those images; because once we do, we fossilise."
    ___ Brian Freil, "Translations"

   For contemporary society, history has become factual and finite, man index of deeds done and words spoken. The literal past grips our imagination, disabling our vision from ranging wider and seeing the infinite variety of possibility, shape, and pattern that could be revealed.

   Finding the living context and eternal resonance of the past can deliver us from the bondage of history. This means allowing the silt of history to fall and the living metaphors and images to rise up buoyantly to the surface so that we can understand the mythic present. True myth is a living entity that clothes the present in wonderful ways. It comprises both the received awareness of popular consciousness and the archetypal metaphor of history, being a collection of symbols, images, and metaphors that abide beyond the context of history.

   The mythic present is continually reshaping events, whereas history alone merely chronicles the tides of time. History deprived of its mythic context becomes petrified into sound-bites of the timeline; but when myth inspirits history, we hear the voices of the past with our own ears, see the images with our own eyes.

"Remember an incident in your past in which you were actively involved. Now retell that incident as if it were a folk story or myth, putting it in the third person and allowing the parallel story to unfold
in its own way. Draw upon the metaphors, symbols, and images that the incident evokes for you. Note the differences between your myth and your history. What is changed by this process of narration? What is made clear, and what new insights do you have?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Healing at Hand

The Healing at Hand

"May healing be near to our hurt!"
     ____ Eoghan Ruadh Mac An Bhaird,
       in Osborn Bergin, Irish Bardic Poetry (trans. CM)


   At moments of crisis or action, there is no time for long-winded utterances or beautifully written invocations, only for a swift arrow of prayer to pierce the veil between the worlds and beseech assistance. The prayer "God between me and all harm!" and the observation "God is nearer than the door" are examples of the Celtic trust in the immediacy of help and spiritual assistance.

   The help or healing that is near to us may not always be obvio9us or seem available. But even if we do not know who our spiritual allies are, they know who we are and will find us soon enough. The important thying is to ask for help or healing, so that we create a pathway down which help can come.

  Many of us feel that we are personally and solely in control of our lives, that we should be able to manage without intervention, that we are capable humans beings who do not need help.

   The healing that lies near to our hurt needs our assistance to be manifested: we must be able to ask for it withou setting limits on its action. Rarely given in an instantaneous miracle, healing makes us whole over an organic period of time. But we must cooperate with and trust the healing, not pick off the band-aid every hour to see how the wound is doing! To trust the help or healing, we must learn to trust the spiritual allies who provide it.

"Make your own short invocation for help or healing. Meditate upon the help you need and upon your own receptivity to healing. Make an act of trust in your own spiritual allies and their ability to heal."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Conception

Conception

"It is in the agony and ecstasy of corporeal love,
it is under the ascendancy of this first-born of
all the senses that mortals draw most near to the
quivering secret of life."
     ___ Llewelyn Powys, "Earth Memories"


    In the Celtic tradition, it was believed that conception took place after a significant event: when the mother drank water from a certain well or sat under the moon, for example, or when she ate a magical salmon or when the shadow of a god fell upon her.

    The moment of the soul's entry cannot be heralded or decreed. Women who yearn to conceive often do so when they cease worrying about their goal. It is in the secret, unregarded moments that a soul incarnates.

   In the conception of a child or of an idea, there has to be a passionate connection wherein the seed of making can pass from one to another,  whereby life can be kindled and its flame grow secretly in the dark. Conception is not a solitary or daytime affair. Our passion must be stimulated, recognized and shared by another being: in the conception of a child, by our physical partner; in the conception of an idea, by a nonphysical partner - a spiritual ally who can penetrate the veil between the worlds to help convey the soul of a thought into manifestation. The actual conception takes place in darkness, beyond the compass of our conscious thought or participation.

   Wrapped in a passionate embrace, in which differences of gender or form are reconciled in the bliss of union, the ecstatic wellspring of life springs up.

"Meditate upon some project close to your heart before you go to sleep, praying that it might come into being. Pass into sleep and let your dreams reveal their secret magic."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

A Ruler's Rules

A Ruler's Rules

"Do not be too wise; nor too foolish,
do not be too conceited, nor too retiring,
do not be too haughty, nor too humble,
do not be too talkative, nor too silent,
do not be too hard, nor too weak. "
     ___ "The Instructions of King Cormac mac Art (trans CM)


   The Irish King Cormac's instructions can be applied to anyone with benefit. If we give the impression of being wise, much is expected of us; if we give the impression of being naive, we are taken advantage of. If we are full of ourselves, we annoy people; if we hide our achievements under a bushel, no one notices us. The overloquacious soon lose their audience; the silent are never asked their opinion. Those who act harshly are broken on the rock of their of their own flinty hearts; those who act like victims are crushed.

  Avoiding the extremes of exaggeration or underemphasis, we allow the true self to be expressed. Finding our own proper balance is the work of years of practice, however. Since we reflect and respond to each person in an individual way, we are occasionally thrown off course or present ourselves awkardly.

  It is not the duty of any human being to appease or permit inappropriate behavior out of misplaced politeness. It is possible to stand firm in our innate integrity and not be swayed by persuasive and manipulative people. We can achieve this stance by holding to the core of our own being and discovering the power of our soul.

"Check your demeanor with people today. Did you come on too strong to some? Did you feel ignored or manipulated? Mediate upon how you can be more adaptable, especially with those people and in those situations that cause you to feel out of balance."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Light in Darkness

Light in Darkness

"There are three candles that illuminate every darkness: truth, nature, and knowledge."
    _____ ancient Irish triad


    Truth has been the mirror and shield of all seekers since life began. The primal integrity of all beings shines out like the light of a diamond sharp and clear; but when truth is hidden, we are aware only of a dimness and obscurity that cloaks our perception. Our unique sensitivity of soul to truth is inbred. It tells us what is good, well-aligned, and perfect. If we return to recognizing truth in ourselves, our actions, our speech, and our thoughts, we relate to ourselves and to the universe with better respect.

   Nature is the shining garment in which all life is clothed. The vigor, strength and power of life are nature's gifts. We experience nature through our physical senses, and this experience is often ecstatic. We tend these days to rhapodize nature, after a long era of neglect and abuse. We are each part of nature; if we abuse it, we abuse ourselves and those we love. If we observe and learn from nature's beautiful and balancing continuum, we live lives of harmony and justice.

  Knowledge is the glory that arises when truth and nature are properly welcomed and respected. It cannot be given to another, it can only arise when Mother Nature and Father Truth conjoin union. Knowledge is the glorious child stored in every cell of the universe. If we search for glory in our thoughts, motivations, and experiences, we align ourselves with knowloedge. But neither truth, nature, nor knowledge can be owned: this is why they are the eternal candles. Let us always be on guard, therefore, for anyone who attempts to trade these three, for such action heralds the approach of absolute darkness. But with the three candles of truth, nature, and knowledge to light our way, we need never be in darkness.

"How do these three candles illuminate your own darkness?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Brghid, Mother of Memory

Brighid, Mother of Memory

"Brighid of the mantle, encompass us;
Lady of the Lambs, protect us;
Keeper of the hearth, kindle us;
Beneath your mantle gather us,
And restore us to memory."
    __ Caitlin Matthews, "A Blessing for Hearth
            Keepers"


   The festival of Imbolc is under the protection of Brighid. The ancient goddess, daughter of the Dagda - or Good God of the Gaelic gods, the Tuatha de Danaan (TOO'a-ha day DAH'nan) - is the matron of poetry, healing and smithcraft. In the fifth century, her namesake St. Brigit of Kildare took over many of the goddess's qualitiesand aspects.

   The extraordinary fusion of the goddess and saint demonstrates how important Brighid is to the Celtic people. So great was her power that even the coming of Christianity could not diminish her influence. Brighid was immeditately promoted within Irish Christianity to the role of nthe Virgin's midwife and Christ's foster-mother, and remains the secondary patron of Ireland to this day.

   The mantle of Brighid is continually invoked in Celtic prayer, to powerfully encompass all and protect from harm. As the keeper of the hearth, Brighid and her power are present in the hearth-fire that radiates its welcoming glow throughout the household.  Poets and craftspeople look to her as their inspirer, householders beseech her to encompass their homes and flocks, and the sick prayto her to cast her mantle over them and bring them again to health.

  Brighid is the mother of memory, the one who reminds us of the original, divine, protective motherhood that promotes the individuality of our power and fans its flame to quickeing life.

"Make your own invocation to Brighid to ask for the encompassment and protection of your household, including all that is dear to you."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]


February

Month of February - scarce are the dainties;
Wakeful the adder to generate its poison;
Habitual is reproach from frequent acknowledgment
   ___ anon. Welsh poem

February sees the beginning of the season of spring, the festival of Imbolc. The themes this month include beginnings, illumination, recognising our song, myth and story, disorder and pattern, clear discernment and memory, help and advice, service and sacrifice, the three theads of the soul and their ninefold expression, wasteland, and healing.

Imbolc

The spring quarter of Imbolc brings the gift of insight and inspiration and is  time of beginnings and of essential truthfulness. Begun in the dark nand often icy days of early Spring, it is traditionally the time to appreciate innocence, truth and justice, to make resolutions and plans, and to prepare for the enfolding year. In the human growth cycle, Imbolc corresponds to the period of childhood when all things are questioned or enjoyed for their own sake. Imbolc is a good time to celebrate the lives of all 'soul-midwives' who have taught and prepared us, all who have been upholders of justice and truth, all holy ones who have gone to the heart of the matter with great clarity and insight.

Activities for the Spring Months

Practice your craft/art/skill with

dedication, drawing on the inspiration

of your heart.

*

Clkarify your life by spring-cleaning

surroundings and lifestyle. Check and

reassess your aims and objectives in life.

Bring into focus your plans for the

unfolding year.

*

Remember all young life-forms

and their parents.

* 

In this burgeoning season of life,

meet up with your spiritual kindred and

soul-friends whenever  possible for mutual

encouragement and fun.

*

Be awre of the inspirers, the

door-openers of the spiritual

tradition to which you are drawn.

*

Create a shrine to focus your

spiritualn intention.

*

Plant flowers and vegetables for

Summer and Autumn.

*

Walk and meditate outdoors for at least

fifteen minutes daily.

*

Indentify five plants or

trees growing near you.

*

Be active, with like-minded others,

in defending human rights, world ecology

or local issues where injustice

currently prevails.

*

As you travel through the land of Spring,

relate your spiritual journey to the unfolding

beauty of this season.

[From: "Celtic Devotional" by Caitlin Matthews]