Lughnasa

Lughnasa

"About the Calends of August Taltiu died on a Monday, on the feast of Lughnasad of Lug; around her grave from that Monday forth is held the chief fair of noble Erin."
    ____ The Metrical Dindshenchas, ed. Edward Gwynn (trans. CM)


     This feast is often understood to be a celebration of the Irish god Lugh (LOO'kh), but this is not the case. The festival is celebrated primarily in honor of Lugh's foster mother, Taltiu (TAWL'too), who single-handedly cleared the plains of Ireland of trees in order that agriculture and the grazing of cattle might take place. The necessary work is remembered and honored in the myth of Taltiu. The word Lughnasa (LOO'nas-ah) comes from the old Irish Lugh nasad, or 'the binding promise or duty of Lugh.'  On the death of his foster-mother, Lugh caused funeral games to be held in her honor. Over time, these games devolved into a fair, held annually at Telltown in County Meath. On this eve, the sacred time of harvest is celebrated - a time for harvest suppers and for enjoying all the varieties of food that have been in short supply.
    At another level, Lugh's honoring of Taltiu acknowledges the bounty of harvest and the contract that exists between all living beings and the earth. It is in that acknowledgment that the last sheaf of grain is harvested and honored to be bound about the churn-dash in the form of a woman of sprouting hair and spreading stalks, or to be woven into complex shapes as a corn dolly.

"Make your own promise to the land this evening, as the sun strikes the harvesting earth with the last rays. Meditate upon how you can keep this time sacred to your spiritual practice."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Farewell to the Season of Beltane

(to be said at the back door/window of the house on the last morning of Beltane, July 31st)

Go with thanks and go with blessing,

Season of vitality.

Souls with life are deeply freighted

Hearts are full of energy.

Under bud and blossom traveling,

You have come to Summer's growth.

Soul-Smith, who has forged this brightness,

Flower-Maid, whose lips have kissed,

Touch the hidden fruit within us,

Bring us into Autumn's bliss.

[From: Celtic Devotional by Caitlin Matthews]



Holy Day or Holiday?

Holy Day or Holiday

"The sharp division of work from play and the natural from the supernatural has turned holy days into holidays."
    ____ Jacquetta Hawkes, A Land


    For most people, holy days are now just holidays, periods when they do not work, perhaps enjoying themselves in a recreative way. There is little or no sacred element left in holidays anymore; they have become one-way streets, days to be spent solely in gratifying our own needs. In centuries past, holy days were two-way streets; time was spent not only in recreation but also in honoring the Holy Ones to whom the day was dedicated, with some part of the time set aside for spiritual communion, remembrance and veneration.
     Holy days are days outside mundane time and business, days when we give ourselves time to be present, soul to spirit, with our spiritual helpers. It is important that we celebrate the days that are holy to us, whether they be religious festivals, personal remembrances, memorials for friends and family no longer alive, the two equinoxes and two solstices, the four Celtic festivals or days dedicated to inspirers and teachers who have changed our lives.
     When spiritual and recreative observances each inform and delight the other, holy days and holidays take their rightful balance in our lives.

"Which holy days do you celebrate? If you could create a special holy day in the calendar, what would it be in aid of, what activities and celebrations would honor it, and on which day would you hold it?"
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Mound of Wonders

The Mound of Wonders

"Whoever sits upon this mound cannot go hence without either receiving blows or else seeing a great wonder."
     _____ Pwyll, Princde of Dyfed, from The Mabinogion



     Ascending to mounds and high place in order to look out over the land in a divinatory way was a common practice among the Celts. It was especially customary in the days leading up to Lughnasa, when the harvest was in its last week of ripening. It was a method of auguring what the year would bring, as well as an honoring of the land.
     The Mound of Wonders is a place where the veil between the worlds is thin. Prince Pwyll decides to ascend this sacred seat of wonder in order to take an augury of this reign, and while there he sees a great wonder indeed: a woman in a golden dress riding upon a horse. He learns that she is Rhiannon, a woman from the Underworld, and that she has come thither in order to marry him. Pwyll believes himself to be in receipt of the wonders promised by the Mound, but his subsequent story has enough heavy blows in it to render his prophetic expectations low.
    Pwyll's experience on the Mound of Wonders demonstrates the double nature of seership and prophecy: the thing that is shown often bears an unsuspected barb in its tail. Our expectations of divinatory methods lead us to accept the best and to reject the worst findings of our augury, to embrace the prophesied end but to ignore the rather irksome human means to its achievement. But once we have called out in question to the otherworld, we have to bear the burden of the answer.

"Go out into the countryside and climb to a high place where you can look out over the land. Ask for an augury of the land for the coming season."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Off Days

Off Days

"Many a time I wish I were other than I am. I'm weary of the
solemn tide; of the little fields; of the brooding isle."
     ____ Alistair MacLean, Hebridean Altars


      Some days the very thought of having to go to work, having to go about our accustomed duties, having to process our tasks and meet our commitments conscientiously just makes us want to scream. It is especially hard to continue working when everyone around us is enjoying vacation. The sense of dissatisfaction can become almost intolerable. Sometimes we just wish we could be somewhere else, far enough away that we would not even glimpse the furniture anymore. When things get this bad, it is time to have a free day or two, time to do something uncharacteristic and spontaneous.
    But sometimes these feelings of dissatisfaction are a symptom of something more important than the need for a temporary break or holiday. When divine discontent strikes, this feeling often will not go away until we have taken radical action. When we ignore our spiritual mainspring, when our power is neglected, minor illnesses and depressions serve as the body's escape route.
    Being in an intolerable position - whether in our job or in a relationship - can also drain our power. Depression, involving an involuntary loss of vitality and appetite for life, is often a strong symptom of power loss. When power is waning or absent, it is essential to discover what is draining the battery and deal with it quickly before our vital energy is gone. Continual powerlessness leads to low self-esteem, which in turn leads to diminished physical and nurture.

"Are you just needing a break, or are your feelings of dissatisfaction symptomatic of a more profound need for change?  Reconnect with the things, places, and people that give you energy and rekindle your appetite for life."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

The Elements

The Elements

"If I break faith, may the skies fall upon me, may the seas
drown me, may the earth rise up and swallow me,"
    ____ ancient Gaulish oath of the elements


    This mighty oath binds the swearer's existence to the dust of the ancient Celtic elements themselves. We take the elements' gifts for granted, we do not think for even a minute about the air we breathe, the water we wash with, or the earth that sustains our every step.
    But this ancient oath has more ominous and immediate connotations in our age. We have taken the elements so much for granted, dis-respected their gifts so absolutely, that we have made it more than possible for the skies to fall on us, for the earth to swallow us, for seas to overwhelm us. As heavy industry pollutes the air, the air quality grows poorer; as the earth heats up from the greenhouse effect, the ice caps begin to melt and the seas rise; as we fill the earth with our unrecyclable waste, the soil itself becomes poisonous and infertile. We forgot the meaning of this oath long ago, and now we are reminded.
   The broad and beautiful gifts of the elements are so willing, able, and bounteous. They clothe, nurture, and irrigate the planet and all its inhabitants freely and blessedly. To keep faith with the elements, we need to make an intentioned effort to sustain the life-flow of our planet by putting our minds and hearts and actions to the uplifting of life. These precious elements of air, water, and earth are the triad of powers that maintain the life of the world. Preserved by the warmth of the sun and these three mighty powers. our earth has heat, light and life. Without them it is cold, dark, dry and barren

"Consider each of the elements as you use them. When washing your hands, lighting a fire or stove, taking your first breath of fresh air, walking to work, stop and be thankful for their gifts. Bless them, and pray that they be preserved in peace, so that human hubris may not invoke the ancient oath upon our dear planet."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Journey to the Heart of the Labyrinth

Journey to the Heart of the Labyrinth

"Spiralling towards the center,
We know that we have come to the center of who we are."
     ______ Philip Carr, The Druid Traditions

      The old Cornish midwives of the southwest tip of Britain used to have a flat stone into whose depths a spiral labyrinth was carved. Expectant mothers, about to give birth, would be encouraged to trace this spiral pathway in order to help the birth. By tracing it over and over with their fingers and reciting certain secret prayers, they could help the long gestation of the child draw to its close. It was belived that this practice would clear any obstacles standing in the way of of an easy birth and bring the child forth from its long month in the dark.
     The correlations between the birth process.and our own spiral circuit with the labyrinth become clearest when we trace the route of our life to date. In order to begin our spiritual journey. we must first be born from the heart of the labyrinth: the mysterious womb. As children we know our origins; as adults we begin to forget so we have to painfully take the path home in unknowing coil by coil. For many of us. the heart of the labyrinth, the goal of the spiritual journey, is anticipated as a place of horror, a stalking place for Minotaurs and other beasts. But though we may expect to find all kinds of alien and external influences lurking there, we find, on arrival, nothing more than ourselves.
    Only by treading the turning, spiraling coils of the labyrinth of our lives can we come to perfect understanding of what lies at the center. It is as familiar to us, as clear and memorable, as the road that leads homeward.

"Meditate upon the different phase of your life in roughly seven-year intervals. Write down the qualities, discoveries, and themes of each phase. Arrange each of these phases around the paths of a labyrinth, noticing which paths and themes come close to each other."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]

Mother-Right

Mother-Right

"They bound themselves by the sun and moon that the possession
of [Pictish kingdom  ......  should be held by right of the female
rather than that of male progeny to the end of the world."
    ____ Geoffrey Keating, Fonus Feasa ar Eirinn


     In our times, a reconsideration of the role and status of women has brought us into new relationship with mother-right, with a proper acknowledgment, of the gifts of the feminine. For men and women this has been a rediscovery of a secret inheritance, for our connection with the mother-country of the soul has been fractured. Our society has been (and for the most part still is) patriarchal: things are ordered from the masculine point of view, generally for the benefit and enhancement of masculine privileges. That which partakes of the feminine has been marginalized and neglected - including not only the lives of women but also feminine side of male nature.
    A whole new way of living and valuing things comes into focus when we consider the mother-right. The hidden side of our nature, then side that intuits rather than reasons, the part that views things from the inside out rather than from the outside in, can come into play when mother-right is allowed to function normally. This does not mean switching a patriarchy for a matriarchy, for each of these extremes is as unbalanced as the other.  Rather, it means allowing the side of our society and individuality that has been recessive to take its rightful place. The recognition of the feminine quietly acknowledges the intrinsically royal nature of mother-right, which speaks as sovereign from the depths of the mother-country - a land that still wants to be fully rediscovered and restored.

"Meditate upon the feminine within your life. Revisit the mother-country of the soul where the feminine's holy and regal nature is recognized."
[From: The Celtic Spirit by Caitlin Matthews]