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 Underworld and their branches straining at the ceiling of the apparent world.  Druids congregated within nemetons, 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 that 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 the 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 own 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 Matthews]

The Soul-Protecting Shield

The Soul-Protecting Shield

"I seek a mantle that cannot be folded,
That neither holly spike nor tree branch will catch upon;
That guards me as a brooch guards a cloak;
A powerful cloak of beetle-green."
     ____ The Metrical Dindshenchas, ed. Edward Geynn (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 the 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 powers of nature with which we feel attuned, the beings and creatures who are our spiritual allies and heroes, 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 word 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 meaningfully 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 named 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 face; and not on it only but on his whole body.'  These totemic shapes remain on the Pictish standing stones of eastern Scotland: the eagle, 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 historian 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. As 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.

"Meditate 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 our spirits, we begin 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.

"Which 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]

Treasures of Experience

Treasures of Experience

"And O! when from life's transient cup
Thy lips have drunk their nectar up,
And left it empty, frail as this,
May the last golden drops to bliss,
And like this gem beneath the wine,
Thy glorious deathless jewel thine."
    ____ John Sobieski Stuart, "With an Antique
  Crystal Cup and Ring

     Our cup of life is forever filling and emptying as the tides of life and ebb and flow. To appreciate the rewards of life as we are living it gives flavor to the draught that we drink as well shape and luster to the soul that accompanies us in all our existences. Like a jewel dropped into a glass, so does our soul adorn our body. The body, like the wine, will be consumed, but the soul like the jewel, will endure.
    The treasures of experience well lived and appreciated are brightly reflected in the facets of the soul, making our jewel yet more precious. The work of polishing the soul takes a lifetime, but at the end of this life there is a special urgency to 'make our soul' before we leave this incarnation. Those who have ignored their soul do not know what lies in the treasury of experience. Whatever is left in the cup of life looks to them like the lees of the wine, because the jewel is obscured to their vision. Sometimes we need days off to enter our own treasury and spend time reviewing our experience, both in the long and short term, paying attention to the patterns and spirals that have unfolded. Such times are never wasted, for they enable our soul's luster to brighten the wine of our life.

"What stories and experiences brighten your own soul's jewel?"
[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 MacMhuirich,
    "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 consciously 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 warm us with courage as we go toward the 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 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]