Sovereignty

Sovereignty

"And Sovereignty said to Niall, 'And as you saw me ugly at first but at last beautiful, even so is royal rule. The land cannot be won without battles, but in the end everyone finds sovereignty is both beautiful and glorious."
    ____ Echtra Mac Echach Muigmedoin, early Irish text, (trans. CM)


    There are many Irish stories concerning the qualifications necessary for rulership - stories that reveal the true nature of sovereignty. In these similar tales, the candidates for kingship are sent out into a dangerous place to fend for themselves. In the dark of the night, they each seek for water; at the only ford or well, each encounters a fearsome hag who refuses access to water unless the seeker first kisses her. When the successful man embraces her, she turns into a beautiful woman who declares that she is the Sovereign Goddess of the Land. Only the spirit of the land can acclaim and accept the ruler who is humble enough to submit to her.
    Sovereignty is not something that can be claimed with pride or with though of self-aggrandizement or glory. Sovereignty exists only with the agreement of the and itself. Until, or unless, this is sought with understanding, territorial disputes will continue.
    In our own sphere of life, we each seek the sovereignty of our profession or of our soul's depths. If it sought for self-gain, or in order to disable another, sovereignty is never truly ours. If, however, we seek out the heart of our craft, or our soul - wherever we live our lives - the spirit of sovereignty will indeed come to us, and we will have a true contract of understanding based on mutual respect and exchange.

"What are the boundaries and duties of your soul's sovereignty? Consider how you serve, defend and maintain personal sovereignty in your life."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Harvest

Harvest

"All among barley,
Who would not be blithe,
While the ripe and bearded barley
Is smiling on the scythe."

______ anon., "The Ripe and Bearded Barley"


    Every year brings the miracle of harvest. The grain has ripened beneath the great golden summer, with the assistance of the sharp, lancing showers of spring, with the help of the germinating chill of winter's icy grasp under the seed hidden within the earth. It is only in autumn that we can begin to enjoy the fruits of the earth.
     The seasonal round is no longer part of our daily life, accustomed as we are to helping ourselves to the good things of the earth at any time of the year. Food preservation methods are now so sophisticated that we can enjoy cherries in December or hazelnuts in March.
    The mysteries of the grain were hallowed by our ancestors, because grain created two stable items of diet: bread and ale. The complex processes of flour refining and fermentation were discovered millennium ago, bringing their own special gladness to everyone's hearth.
    Though the celebration of harvest no longer brings us together in communities to rejoice that the cycle of life can continue into another year, we can still be blithe and and thankful that there is sufficient food for all to share. Every time we eat bread, every time we drink beverages brewed from grain, we also partake in the mysteries of harvest.

"What is your own life-harvest this year? Consider the riches of the year's experiences and ponder how they will fuel the year to come."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Soul of the Land

The Soul of the Land

"How has Ireland been apportioned? -- Knowledge in the west, battle in the north,
prosperity in the east, music in the south, kingship in the centre."
    ___ The Settling of the Manor of Tara, Caitlin
and John Matthew, The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom.


   Beneath the physical form of hills and valleys, beneath the rivers and mountains, there is another appearance. It is not only in the minerals, nor the folded rocks; it is not only in the soil, nor in the trees and plants. Yet somehow in and under and through all these things, the land has another nature: its living soul. Many people believe that there are no such things as souls in people or anywhere else, and yet we know that this cannot be so. As the soul of a person looks out of her eyes and makes her who she is, so too does the soul of the land shine out of its features and give it special qualities.
    However small or large our own country is, certain regions have their own distinct nature. They are
centers of administration, trade, learning, art, spiritual wisdom, and so on. All contribute to the land as a whole. Certain regions foster one quality more than another; they are like a garden in which certain skills flourish and grow strong.
   In the Celtic lands of yesteryear, each region has its sacred center or assembly, as did each country - a center that was not necessarily central in mathematical terms. The sacred center of any land has a greater spiritual pull than any other part, so it is here that the major assemblies of national importance are debated or decided. As Tara is to Ireland, so too is our own country's sacred center to the land itself: a hallowed place where the soul of the land shows through in all its splendor.

"Become closer acquainted with the different regions of your own country through travel, study, and meditation."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Moon

The Moon

"I give you praise, moon of guidance,
That I have seen you again,
That I have seen the New Moon,
The lovely leader of the way."
    ____ Scots Gaelic prayer to the moon (trans. CM)


   Few people today mark the moon's phases, unless they go out a lot at night or their work calls them to contemplate the mysteries of the moon. The tides and seasons of our own mood have their corresponde4nce with the moon's phases, which we can use  with benefit once we are aware of them.  It is easy to have only a daytime life, obedient only to the sun's diurnal rhythm.  The longer monthly pattern of the moon is less discernible to us, but much more profoundly connected with our unvoiced preoccupation, with the sub feelings, memories, and instincts that inform us with their subtle messages.
    To be aware, as the writer of this invocation was, of the moon as 'leader of the way' is a great gift. The inexorable daily rhythm of the sun can sometimes beat us upon the anvil of life as problems hassle us, and the sun's longer rhythm of the four seasons brings us through changes over a whole year. But the cycle of the moon sees our soul through the phases of birth, growth, achievement, and death in one month, giving us relief, change and encouragement. Whatever the problem, no matter how heavy the burden, we can look up and see that the moon has renewed itself yet again - as we also can.

"Go out and commune with the moon tonight, whether it is visible or not. Note your mood over a couple months and see how its changes correspond to the moon's phases."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Moon tonight is in the Gibbous phase - just before it becomes Full....

Wisdom Teachers

Wisdom Teachers

"The three teachers who impart wisdom: suffering, thought, and a truthful heart."
     ___ Welsh triad, (trans. CM)


    It is often said that on the path to spiritual wisdom we must suffer in order to learn. Certainly whatever breaks us out of the path of ingrained habit leads us into a wider and deeper existence. Those who have endured great sufferings are indeed sometimes forged by their terrible experiences into wiser people; adrift from what is normal and familiar to them, perhaps even forced into the regions of pain and terror, they have experienced the full enormity of suffering and come out whole. There are also many people who feel that suffering is an over-rated teacher, however.
    It takes an active curiosity, in conjunction with the perseverance to research human motives and behavior, to reach new understandings about our experiential sufferings and how they can be altered or accepted. The exercise of thought can lead us, in turn, to the truthful heart within us - unless, of course, we remain bound in fetters of useless analysis and recrimination about our condition. A truthful heart has no room for blame or revenge. It maintains its own living watch on what life sends, transmuting the toxins of difficult experience into a regenerating draught, siphoning away whatever cannot be changed.
    The way of freedom is to draw upon the compassion plumbed by our suffering, upon the clarity of our thought, and upon the essential truth of our whole human existence.

"Select one difficult experience from your own life and - with compassion, clarity and truth - consider what wisdom has been revealed to you."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Unending Quest

The Unending Quest

"I watch the star to guide me home,
I found my soul and spirit's rest,
I travelled far across the foam,
There is no ending to my quest."
    _____ Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Book of the Dead


    Our spiritual quest leads us on many a long voyage, across unknown seas to distant and unguessed-at destinations. Like heroic voyagers of Irish tradition who took ship to the furthest shores of the Blessed Isles, looking for the Land of Women and the Land of Heart's Desire, we too strike out into unknown seas.
    To all spirit5ual quests there are two main features: the outward voyage, on which all is strange, new and frightening; and the homeward passage, on which there is time to consider all that we have experienced and to make sense of it. It is in that context that the epic of Troy makes sense when that other wily mariner, Odysseus, makes his own epic journey home. The manner in which we make our own spiritual homecoming is very important, since the return is a critical stage of our progress. Whatever beckons us from home will surely lead us, as we return with our new spiritual luggage. Once home, we must unpack everything, retaining what is useful to us and freely giving away what does not serve.
   The spiritual quest is unending. It may lead us to revisit old destinations, but we will disembark as different people at each stop as we progress on our meandering and fruitful voyage.

"Chart the major island landfalls of your spiritual quest to date. Note any recurring patterns and check the usefulness of the spiritual baggage you have acquired on the way."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Gwyl Awst - Lughnasadh

Gwyl Awst - Lughnasadh

Solar Observance - August 1st
Lunar Observance - First Full Moon when the Sun is in Leo


   I am going to post about the Avalon tradition view of Lughnasadh today instead of an essay from Matthews' The Celtic Spirit...  I have studied and followed the Avalon tradition for many years tho for the past few years I have not participated in all things Avalon
based. 

    The festival of Gwyl Awst or Lughnasadh, which is pronounced LOO-nah-sah, was celebrated as the beginning of the harvest. It is a time of thanksgiving for the bounty of the Earth and for the performance of sacrifices to ensure continued bounty for the rest of the year. The crops were welcomed and large communal meals were of great ritual importance. Weather divination was practiced and harvest workers were hired for the season.
    Gwyl Awst was a festival known for its large, communal sporting events, especially horse racing, which served to reinforce the bonds between tribe members.
Young men and women took this opportunity to prove themselves to the opposite sex, taking advantage of this rare occasion when a large quantity of prospective mates are available. Gwyl Awst was when marriages were arranged, either for love or for economic/political purposes; the couple pledged to be married for a year and a day, and could part after the time should they find that they were  not compatible. Along with marriage, the Celts entered into alliances of friendship and contracts at this time. This vibrant feast, said to commemorate the Funeral Games of the Mother of the Sun God Lugh or Llew - else to memorialize his own death at this, the high priest of summer - was followed by several months of hard work until the last fruits were harvested, and Calan Gaeaf (Samhain) came around again.
    Although not everyone from a settlement was always able to attend any given festival, it was important for each homestead to be represented - for both sacral and secular reasons. While individual farmers performed religious rites on their own land to ensure the fertility of their fields and to win the favor of the local nature spirits and devas, attendance at the greater communal rituals guaranteed the protection and blessings of the Gods as well. However well these strategies may have worked, these agriculturalists used the amassed populace present at these gatherings as an opportunity to insure economic stability through trade, the buying and selling of goods, and products not locally available, and fresh bloodlines to strengthen their herds and flocks.
    The duality of communal participation and cyclic work of each individual homestead underscore the ways in which we are called to participate in the Cosmic Dance. There is the call to work, tending the fields of the soul - and there is the call to move without - bringing the bounty of our harvest with us to share and exchange with others. The whole is nourished and strengthened by our personal contributions, and we in turn benefit from the bounty of the product forged at the hearths of others.
   Although the Avalon Tradition is a path that leads within, it is equally important to manifest our reclaimed wisdoms without. The beauty of the Tradition is that each woman's contribution is an important function of the whole - manifesting as a self - sufficient community aiming to open and empower the soul of each individual. We cycle within and we cycle without.
[From: Avalon Within by Jhenah Telynoru]