5: Foundations: The Elements
Generally, I do not refer to the stuff that makes up the world as elements, for too often do people think that I am speaking of those most often found in Paganism — earth, air, fire, and water. Because this notion is so prevalent, our ritual structures often confuse others, and we hear questions like, “You have Fire, the Well for water, and the Tree for earth — but where is air?” or “You talk about the land, sky, and sea — but where is Fire?” I do not believe there is a way that the idea of duile can be mapped onto these four elements, nor should it. Instead, we have the idea that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm, that the whole of the world is reflected within us.
From Ymir’s flesh the earth was made
and from his sweat, the sea;
Mountains from his bones, trees from his hair,
and heaven from his skull.
And from his brows built the gentle gods
Midgard for the sons of men;
And from his brain shaped they all the clouds
Which were hard in mood.
– Grimnismal 40-41
This idea is found in cultures all over the Indo-European world, as examined in Bruce Lincoln’s Death, War, and Sacrifice, from which the above quote is taken. Most often, I refer to a series of nine duile — heaven, clouds, the sun, the moon, the sea, the wind, plants, soil, stones — though lightning, stars, and all manner of natural things may be considered duile.
These elements connect us to both the Earth Mother herself, as our body was made from hers and is like hers, but also to the first sacrifice, be it man or bull. The sacrifice made the world, the world is brought together to make Man. In the series of ongoing relationships that move the universe, this is but one.
Further reading:
The Elements of the Dúile – Searles O’Dubhain
The Duile and the Spirits – Ian Corrigan
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4: Foundations: The Three Realms – Cáer
Magic happens where the realms meet: on a shoreline, in the mists, in the high places that look over the land…
Liminality is a very important concept when considering the Three Realms. In our liturgy, when we speak of the realms, we say, “where these three meet is our Sacred Centre, the place of flowing together.” The very heart of magic exists around a sacred fire between all of the realms. It is like a place outside of a place, but it is not — it is every place. It is important for us to understand what makes up every place in its own right.
We can familiarise ourselves with our own ideas of Land, Sea, and Sky, based on our geographical region and what we are familiar with. We all know what they contain. So when we come to a place that is more than one — a high hill, or the edge of a lake — we can cross worlds, as we are in neither, but both. Waterbirds are among the imagery found in the artifacts of the Celts. Manannán rides on the sea with a chariot, fish are like cattle.
We cannot overlook those realms themselves, either. Many of us probably have the deepest connection to the Land, because immersion in the Land is most readily available. We would find the Sea or Sky an alien place, because it is not where we reside. The Sky is the realm of heavenly bodies that we observe from afar. The Sea is full of creatures that we have never seen. Immersion into the realms is also a place where we can find magic.
I find it difficult to talk about the realms themselves as removed from the rest of the cosmology. Everything interacts and has relationships with each other. In this way, the cosmology is dynamic. To parse it out seems strange to me, like it becomes less alive.
–
New, Everything is New
The end of 2011 was an interesting experience for Lugaid and I, having survived three very different family emergencies, and my sanity and time to deal with that took preference over this blog.
Now, at the beginning of 2012, I have a well-paying job in my field, there is a new and large interest in the Grove, projects are in the works, and my first Clergy Training Program course was submitted to ADF. In March, I’m off to another Grove to participate in a Brighid retreat with Chelly, and my brother gets to pursue his dream of blacksmithing.
Hail the Gods! May they share their blessings with you and yours, as well!
3: Foundations: Nature and Earth – Cáer
I am a child of the Earth Mother. My heart cannot contain all that I feel for Her.
* * * *
How can we bring honour to the Earth Mother?
Everything we have was Hers first.
We are like children, bringing sticky macaroni pictures
to our Goddess of a Mother –
fruits and grains gathered from Her own kitchen,
flowers picked from Her own gardens –
as we cry, “Look, Mama! I made this for you!”
But really, She made it for us
hours, days, weeks, months, years of labour
so we would have
clothes on our backs,
food in our tummies,
shelter over our heads,
love in our hearts.
So when we hold out a bouquet of flowers picked from Her hair
– the prettiest ones, of course –
and say, “Mama, these are for you!”
we remember that they aren’t just for Her, they are Her,
and our wonder and awe at Her beauty, Her diversity, Her sacrifices,
will always make us Her children, sticky fingers and all.
—
Samhain
We gathered at the campsite, bearing the last remnant of our hearthfire, ritually lit. The darkness encroached upon it, extinguishing it, and we stood in darkness and longed for the bright fire that is the centre of our worship. The women stepped forth, sparks from their hands relit the fire of the tribe, their breath blowing upon it as the flames jumped into the frigid air. Words of power spoken over the fire, the sacred woods lending their magic to the hearthfire, and the flames licked what remained of summer, consuming it. We thrust our own candles into the flames, drawing the magic back to our own hearths, to keep us warm in the winter. We stayed with that fire for hours, thinking of the gods and ancestors, before smooring the fire and retiring to our tents.
I arose in the morning before the others and knelt at our hearth, carefully uncovering the precious embers. Whispering a prayer over the hearth, the fire was kindled with the blessings of Brighid and the folk began to gather around its glow. Warm drinks and breakfast were made, and we watched the clouds for signs of impending weather. Walking with my brother, we found an Otherworld entrance in the forest and we did not venture too far in.
Returning to the hearth, we raised the altar to the dead and prepared the feasting tables. My brother and Lugaid ventured back to the Otherworld to ask a boon of the spirits for that night’s ritual. An Morrigan took her place on the altar and an image of An Cailleach, carefully crafted, was raised. Her cold eyes surveyed the campsite and our sacred fire, Her cloak waving in the chill breeze.
Slowly, our guests began to arrive and the altar was full of the faces of those missed. Reaching out to the Ancestors, we made images of those that we do not know, but wish to know. Turnip lanterns were carved with secret tools forged for this purpose, apples and donuts were eaten from hanging strings, and the folk joined together in fellowship over a large feast of stews and fruits.
Darkness came, and we gathered around our sacred fire to welcome the spirits. We praised the Earth Mother, I sang of winter, and a tribeswoman spoke from the heart of this season. Finding the Sacred Centre, we opened the Gates to the lands of the spirits and welcomed in our beloved Kindreds, the Nature Spirits, Ancestors, and Gods in communion at our hearth fire. Praise was given, a dedication was made, an oath was challenged and accepted, my declaration was made.
With this convocation of spirits in attendance, led by Donn, An Cailleach, and An Morrigan, the spirits received the highest praise from the folk, with offerings poured out in abundance and stories shared of our Ancestors and Beloved Dead. Tears and blood were shed, and Lugaid spoke of the Otherworld. The folk took up their turnip lanterns and ventured out to the darkness, to see the glimpse of the forgotten ancestors they were promised. Stepping into Tech nDuinn the faces of forgotten ancestors surrounded us, some received messages from the Ancestors and others sought out faces that they may know.
Returning back to the hearth, a Seer spoke with an omen from the gods, of strength through perseverance and trusting oneself. We shared hot cider imbued with this blessing, sought our future in the bairín breac, and drew lots to see who from our tribe would house An Cailleach for the winter.
The fire burned past the witching hour, and again we smoored it and retired to our tents. Arising in the morning, a blanket of white frost covered all, the harbinger of winter, and there An Cailleach stood, Her cloak just slightly waving in the breeze.
2: Foundations: Cosmology – Cáer
The fire is kindled in wisdom, love, and power…
In the depths flow the waters of wisdom…
The world tree stands at the centre of our worship…
In our rituals, these lines call to us to recognise the inherent power in Fire, Well, and Tree, and their connections to those primal forces at the beginning of the world. Through this Sacred Centre is where we can come together and move to other realms; from the physical Grove to the inner Grove, and from there, into realms unknown to us.
All things move together in relationships, and the cosmos is no different. The Well reaches down to the primal waters of Chaos, where the Tree’s roots are nourished. Pulling the primal Waters up the Tree, the Tree uses that energy to reach its pathways up towards the Gods in the heavens and the spirits in other realms, ordered as it may be. Near the Tree burns the Sacred Fire, which carries our offerings towards those we honour.
Because we move in relationships, these are not static forms. Rather, they are Gates through which we can communicate, either with beings or with different places. Isaac Bonewits, the founder of ADF, further examined Mircea Eliade’s concept of the Centre in Real Magic, and how this centre may be used for magic (44).
We also understand a division of the realms in a broad sense of Heavens, Midworld, Underworld. The Gates of Fire, Well, and Tree, reach all of these worlds as they do best — Fire reaches up to the Heavens, where many of the Shining Ones reside, and it is through this form that we would offer to them; the Well is a shaft to the Underworld and the land of the Ancestors and chthonic gods; and the Tree, with much of it residing in the Midworld, and the place from which we start adventuring on it, reaches out from here to all of the otherworlds.
Though the central kernel of my cosmology is this Fire/Well/Tree centre, I also adore strongly the Indo-European concept of the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm. That we are beings created from the Earth, and will return to the Earth, in a mosaic of elements that are brought together in reflection of each other. I’ll talk about this more in Foundations: The Elements.
—
Bonewits, Isaac. Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Magic. 2nd ed. York Beach, Maine: 1989.
—
Messy Autumn Altar
1: Why Druidry? – Cáer
Why Druidry? I have been asked this question countless times by friends and family, and now by an internet meme. I usually tell the story of how I left Presbyterianism with unanswered questions, wandered through Wicca with more unanswered questions (or questions that were answered with falsehoods) and ended up here, in druidry and ADF because of a university professor and an acquaintance.
But why have I chosen to stay? What is different here, that doesn’t leave me with unsettled questions?
My primary problem with the neo-Wicca that I was involved with was the lack of interaction with deity. When all gods and goddesses are treated as but one aspect of the divine, able to be “used” in a ritual for certain purposes, the lack of relationship makes it meaningless. Who were these beings we called out to, and why would they answer us? There was no answer when I asked this.
Perhaps that was because the group leader’s understanding of the divine was of archetypes and the Fortunian axiom that all gods are one god, et cetera. To me, the stories and the images were of real beings, real separate beings with their own personalities and needs. My best experiences came when I researched them and provided them with what they desired within their own cultural tradition.
In return, Oya with Her magnificence cut away the dead wood with Her machete. I felt and heard the gods in my dreams. Under the moonlight with a Yoruban Orisha, I began to find my way to druidry.
Here, I feel the love of the Earth Mother as I seek to understand her. I find the dwelling places of the gods in this land. I have felt Brighid’s mantle on my shoulders, been challenged by the Dark Lady, and shared meals with the Ancestors. I do all of this with a community that honours the Old Ways.
It is hard to explain why, because it is a feeling. I can talk at length about what I didn’t like and how I got here, to my appreciation for ADF’s Guilds and Kins, and my love of research and ritual. All of that is cerebral.
With druidry, I can reach out my hands and touch the vibrancy of the world. That is why.
—
Finding the Divine Twins Among the Healers of the Tuatha Dé Danann
The following was inspired by a discussion that came up on the ADF mailing lists. It is a reworking of my original response to the discussion thread, proposing Miach and Ormiach as divine twins, reworked for easier reading and to better fit the format of the blog. The version of Children of Tuirenn that I reference from is Cross and Slover’s “Ancient Irish Tales”.
For a long time I have been interested in the concept of twin deities (or dioscurism as it is sometimes referred to) in both Indo-European and non Indo-European mythology. As someone who practices with a Celtic (specifically Irish) hearth culture, it was this pantheon that was of particular interest to me, and the healer gods that I was particularly interested in exploring as it was they whom I work with.
A few years back at university I did a study of the mythologies, hagiographical texts, and legal texts in order to examine healing and medicine in early medieval Ireland. The Fate of the Children of Tuirenn was one of the texts that I examined. Unlike the other manuscripts and texts I dealt with there wasn’t a whole lot of information available about the text. I was able to find that it was mentioned in the 9th century Cormac’s Glossary, and can be found in various Irish and Scottish MSS, including the Book of Lecan. The most commonly available version of the tale is the one done by Cross and Slover, but there are also a couple other translation and discussions on the text, including one that was done by Eugene O’Curry in The Atlantis 4. More information on specific sources for this text, including links to some online digital versions, can be found here.
I have always found it curious that this is the only tale that Ormiach appears in. In the tale, Miach also takes on a role more akin to what we would expect from Airmed (being in charge of gathering the herbs) while Ormiach is the one to step in to Miach’s domain. I have always hesitated to take Children of Tuirenn ‘as is’ when it comes to Ormiach (and Miach for that matter). Its origins are early, no doubt, but it differs drastically from the other origin myth texts. This certainly is an area of the mythology that begs for more study. Interestingly, it is never explicitly stated within the text that Miach and Ormiach are brothers, though this is a reasonable assumption to make.
I have some theories in regards to how things evolved with regards to the mythology, but right now it’s just that…theories. In my thoughts, even though its traditionally a male/male pair that makes up a divine twin set, I am of the opinion that Miach and Airmed are divine healer twins. Not only is their family relationship established, but their names have the same meaning ( http://www.dil.ie ) :
míach
o, n. and f. a measure of capacity, primarily for corn, generally transld. bushel and in Laws sack. Acc. to Laws ii 200.14 Comm. and iii 328.23 Comm. a `miach’ of malt was worth one `screpall’.Airmed
a, f. (med) measure of grain, dry measure.
The Or- prefix on Ormiach doesn’t seem to exist in the Old Irish (and Ormiach itself is not a word), so the suggestion was made to me by my local Old Irish expert (Cáer) that perhaps Ormiach is a mutation of Ar-miach. there are changes from ar- to er- in some words, especially in pronouns, and then in later language when dealing with pronominals, it changes to or-.
Ar-med
Or-miach
No matter which one it is, there are divine twins afoot!
30 Days of Druidry
I asked Chelly if she would like to participate in 30 Days of Druidry with us – a meme started by Alison Leigh Lilly based on the 30 Days of Paganism meme. We certainly won’t be doing it in 30 consecutive days, and all three of us may participate, hopefully providing you with different perspectives on these topics, as our druidry differs for all of us.
30 Days of Druidry
- Why Druidry? [Cáer]
- Foundations: Cosmology [Cáer]
- Foundations: Nature and Earth [Cáer]
- Foundations: The Three Realms [Cáer]
- Foundations: The Elements [Cáer]
- Foundations: Altar, Grove and Nemeton
- Foundations: Day-to-Day Practice
- Relationships: Gods/Deities and Spirit
- Relationships: The Ancestors
- Relationships: Spirits of the Land
- Relationships: Ritual and Worship
- Relationships: The Fire Festivals
- Relationships: The Solar Festivals
- Relationships: Rites of Passage
- Inspirations: Awen and Creativity
- Inspirations: Prayer and Meditation
- Inspirations: Storytelling and Myth
- Inspirations: Music, Poetry and Aesthetics
- Inspirations: Ethics, Virtues and Values
- Inspirations: Divination and Magic
- Inspirations: Mysticism and Philosophy
- Everyday Life: Druidry and Family Life
- Everyday Life: Druidry and Romance
- Everyday Life: Druidry and Work/Career
- Everyday Life: Conservation and Environmentalism
- Everyday Life: Druidry and Community
- Everyday Life: Peace and Social Justice
- Everyday Life: A Day in the Life of a Druid
- The Future of Druidry
- Advice to the Seeker
