The Spirits of Trees

The Spirits of Trees

"Working with the spirit of the tree can bring us renewed energy, powerful inspiration and deep communion."
____ Philip Carr-Gomm, "The Druid Tradition"


    The Celts saw trees as sacred powers, mediators between the worlds, with their roots penetrating the depths of the Underword and their branches straining at the ceiling of the apparent world. Druids congregated within nemetoms, or sacred groves that were open to the sky, so that they might be ringed by the protective wisdom of the trees. Certain very ancient trees were virtually accorded the status of tribal ancestors, standing as sacred protectors at the center of the tribal region and venerated by everyone in the district. The laws against laying blade against these trees were particularly severe.

   We may also be able to work with the powers of the trees, if we approach them cooperatively. Some people take their troubles to a particular tree and gain refreshment and solace from its company, others derive inspiration from sitting at its foot or in its branches; still others have discovered that trees are truly mediators between the worlds, living bridges between our apparent world and the unseen realms of the otherworld. When we approach a tree, we need to slow down our breathing, slow down our rapid pace, our mental busyness, in order to be attuned to the spirit of the tree itself. Without touching it, we slow down and then put our intentions, greeting the tree and then sitting down by it, or - with its permission - standing against its trunk. Then we sing or croon quietly to it, leaving speech alone. With our heart, we ask the tree to show us part of its nature. (It will take many visits to know its full nature.) We listen and give thanks. Even when we are just passing a tree, not visiting, we can still send out a greeting to it.

"Begin to make the acquaintance of a chosen tree near you."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Mattews]

The Soul-Protecting Shield

The Soul-Protecting Shield

"I seek a mantle that cannot be folded,
That neithter holly spike nor tree branch will catch upon;
That guards me as a brooch guards a cloak;
A powerful cloak of beetle-green."
   ___ "The Merry Dindshenchas, ed. Edward Gwynn (trans CM)


    The shield that is desired here is a lorica, or breastplate for the soul. The lorica, a spell or charm that invokes the different powers of the universe to keep the reciter free from harm, was used by ancient Celts and by their Christian descendants alike. The soul-protecting invocation calls out to the universe, to every place and shape that the soul has been in, to come and weave help around the reciter in time of need.

  The nature of the lorica depends very much upon the one who makes it. Traditional invocations have been passed down, but it is always better to create our own, for our own needs. Those whom we invoke may include the powers of nature with which we feel attuned, the beings and creatures who are our spiritual allies, and heroes and gods, and ancestors. The lorica protects the mantle of our soul, the soul's shrine of our body, from harm. Without intention, the words of the lorica have little effect. But when our heart is aligned with our words and our intention, our utterance can go forth; and with the help of the lorica, the connection and weaving together of the assisting powers can surround us in a sure mantle.

"Create your own lorica to help shield you against whatever you are fearful of. Weave into your litany of assistance all your soul-friends and spiritual allies, the powers of the natural world that are meaning fully protective to you."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Painted People

The Painted People

"They tattoo their bodies not only with likenesses of animals of all kinds, but with all sorts of drawings."
   ___  Herodian, "Commentaries"


   The use for body-painting of native plants such as woad, whose leaves yield a bright-blue dye, is attested by many writers. Isidore of Seville, writing in the sixth century, tells how the Picts - another name for the Caledonians of Scotland - 'have a name derived from the appearance of their bodies. These are played upon by a needle working with small pricks and by the squeezed out sap of a native plant, so that they bear the resultant marks according to the personal rank of the individual, their painted limbs being tattooed to show their high birth.'  One seventeenth-century Scots writer asserted that many a Pict took on 'the forms of beasts, birds and fishes on his his face; not on it only, but his whole body.'  These totemic shapes remain on the Pictish standing stones of eastern Scotland: the eagle, the salmon, bull, stag, seahorse, seal, and many others. Were these their tribal or personal totems?  We have no means of knowing, as they left no written documents. In fact, the Pictish language remains unknown, though historians know that they used ogham, the Celtic tree script employed only in inscriptions.

  In our own time, the tattoo, long seen as the fashion statement of green youths and hardened workmen, is fast becoming a mature statement of personal identity and belonging among a remarkable number of people - women as well as men. We seek the shapes that our soul has touched, as we quest for the circuits of birth and the meaning of our life's weaving, potent images and symbols arise. Although we may not wish to have them lastingly engraved upon our bodies, they are nevertheless etched upon our souls.

"Mediate upon the totemic symbols and images that typify your life's journey."
[From:  "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Color

Color

"What is it? --
Near and far, its shape I see
Twelve miles from me over the sea:
The man of the little green boat
And his shirt sewn with red thread."
[A rainbow]
   ___ Scots Gaelic riddle (trans CM)

   In the rainbow we see the beam from the eye of the sun, the spectrum of colors that pervade our world from end to end. Those who learn their own codes of color and its meaning discover ways of regulating their mood and appearance. For different people and cultures, these meanings and gifts can vary considerably. The whole rainbow spectrum of colors can be derived from ingredients in the natural world to create dyes: from the bold statement of red that grants courage, through the protective hue of orange, to the brightness of yellow that gives energy, the calming or harmonious shades of green, the joyful and sorrowful blues, the dutiful and responsible service of indigo, and the rare holiness of purple.

  Color is an essential nourishment to our senses. If we are starved of color for any length of time, or our surroundings have tints that depress spirits, we being to feel very strange indeed. Color is an unappreciated joy that offers itself freely to all sighted people. The rainbow bids us to remember and reacquaint ourselves with the beauty and gifts of its rich spectrum.

"What are your favorite colors? Which ones do you not care for? What kinds of feelings and qualities do you associate with the rainbow's spectrum of color?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Shield and Sword of Music

The Shield and Sword of Music

"Be valiant, princely,
Be active, exceedingly bold,
Be ready, fresh and comely!"
    __ Lachlann Mor MacMnuirich,
          "Battle Exhortation to Clan Donald"


   Before armies set forth on expeditions, and on the eve of battle, bardic poets sang to encourage warriors and to give heart to the fearful. Armies also went into battle with their musicians to encourage them. Music is still very much a shield and sword in our own age. Though few of us go into conflict with sharp-edged weapons, we still go into danger with better heart when music accompanies us. The songs that come unconsciously to our lips when we are in need of comfort, courage or new heart are always very significant. Their words and themes are often either akin to our own situation in that very moment or able to shield us from the danger ahead.

   Recognizing and seeking out the songs and music that support us in such times is a wonderful way of being prepared. We can gather our own repertoire of music, ready to serve us in need: the battle songs that arm us with courage as we go toward challenge, the soothing songs that restrain our fears, the shielding songs that speak of our deep resourcefulness and that set danger at naught, the songs of spiritual exhortation that urge our sacred allies to accompany us. All these songs can go with us wherever we are. The music that is our own sword and shield derives from strong sources of inspiration - from the deep core of meaning that moves us to joy and new heart.

"Begin to recognize and gather your own repertoire of soul-strengthening music. Which songs do you use for different occasions?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

The Strong Protectors

The Strong Protectors

"Each day and night
That I recite the genealogy of Brighid
I shall not be killed nor despoiled,
I shall be not imprisoned nor wounded."
  ___ Scots 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 attack 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, 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 Pembrokshire, 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 superbeing, 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 would, every ready to assist us.

"Who are the strong ancestral protectors to whom you appeal?"
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]

Past Experiences

Past Experiences

"I've been in many shapes
Before I assumed a constant form."
    ___ Taliesin, "Cad Goodeu" (trans J. Matthews)


    The Welsh poet Taliesin (Tal-ee-ESS'in) remembers all his past existences on the circuit of births after he has achieved the gift of knowledge. His existence include being a drop in the air, a star, a bridge, an eagle, a sword in battle, a string in a harp, and a tree in a grove. He concludes that 'there is nothing of which I have not been a part.' Few of us alive today can speak with any kind of accuracy about the past existences that we have experienced. Human beings do not usually remember their incarnations. It is perhaps fortunate that this is so: if we had memory of everything and everyone that we have been, the burden would be intolerable. It is given to few people to know their full past, because there are indeed few with the maturity of soul to understand and bear the burden with neutrality, without anguish.

  Unfortunately inquiry into past lives is now a common pursuit, taught at weekend seminars. Within the bardic initiation, such knowledge was taught to the beginner, nor to the curious, nor to those who wish to discount the faults of their present life by casting responsibility onto another era, place or person; it was taught only to those with the maturity not to misuse the knowledge. The poet's fusion with the myriad life forms of nature is thereafter never just a memory, but a potent, living  understanding of life as it is lived in the present moment. Let us be grateful for the often salutary glimpses that we are given of our own turigin and learn all we can from them.

"Review the disharmonious recurrent patterns in your present life if you want to learn more of past lives. These patterns reveal things you need to deal with or assimilate."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]