WATER OF THE HAZEL ©
by Tira Brandon-Evans
Considering the fact that the sea surrounds Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britain and the Isles it is not surprising that the element of water plays such a dominant role in the myths and legends of our Celtic Ancestors. Water, itself, is the fourth element. In modern day psychology, water symbolizes the unconscious, the dream state, the well from which flows intuition and memory. Water was traditionally viewed in very much the same way throughout Celtica. Water is one of the elements of life itself. It is third in order of those things necessary to sustain life: air, fire, water, earth. We can survive for only a few minutes without air. On a very cold day, we can survive for only a few hours without fire or heat. We can live for only a few days without water. We will almost certainly die after several weeks without food.
It is very strange, is it not, that we, as a species, do not take better care of the life sustaining waters of our planet Earth? Nevertheless, we do not. Even as you read these words, horrendous water pollution is going on. Moreover, even though their contribution is tremendous, industry is not principally responsible for water pollution. You and I are. We dispose of toxic wastes everyday by sending our garbage to landfills where our toxins leech into the water tables surrounding our cities, towns and villages. We spray our lawns and gardens with poisons that flow into the storm drains on every street throughout the industrial world. We use harsh chemicals to wash our cars, which also end up in the storm drains. Every storm drain eventually empties directly into some waterway, a creek or drainage ditch, and these polluted waters immediately affect the fish and other living things in those waterways.
It is, quite literally, time for us to clean up our act. Fir Darrigs appear near polluted waters. Fir Darrigs are Faerys that, in our world, appear as fat, ugly creatures. They tend to be black or very dark gray and have long pointed snouts and rat-like tails. Their appearance in the Otherworlds is not so dreadful. They appear so here because the waters they inspirit are polluted. The skulls crowning their shillelaghs are symbols of the death we are creating in their environment and ours. If you should be unfortunate enough to see a band of these faerys, you may be sure that the area in which you saw them is in desperate need of rescue. This wholesale pollution of our precious water would have been inconceivable to our ancestors. To our Celtic foremothers and forefathers water was sacred, holy. The phrases still in use today reveal this. We speak of the water of life, of holy water, of healing waters in hot springs or mineral springs.
Our greatest Western myth has the archetypal symbol for the water element at its heart. This premier symbol of the element of water is the Grail of Arthurian Legend. The Grail is a Christianized version of the Cauldron of the Goddess. There are many cauldrons mentioned in Celtic myth. Undry is the Cauldron of the Dagda, the Irish All-Father. Undry supplies an endless feast. Whoever eats from it finds it contains that food which she most likes. The Undry is also the Womb of the Goddess. There are two other famous Irish Cauldrons. One is the Cauldron of Brighid, which she forges under Croghan Hill in County Offaly. It was a custom in Ireland to bury a pot under the hearthstone to represent the Cauldron of Brighid. The other is the Cauldron of Mebd of Tara, located at Rathcroghan or Croghan Hill in County Roscommon. Croghan Hill, County Offaly, is on the Mid-winter axis as viewed from the Hill of Uisneach while Rathcroghan is on the Mid-summer axis. Mebd’s cauldron is a Cauldron of Sovereignty. The King became king by marrying the Goddess of Sovereignty, Mebd of Tara.
The Welsh Cauldron of Bran restores the lives of slain warriors but not their speech, for they have traveled to the Enchanted Realm and may not speak of what they saw there. It originally came from Ireland, from under a lake, and Branwen brought it back to Ireland from Wales as part of her dowry when she married the Irish King. In addition, in Wales, Cerridwen's Cauldron bestows wisdom, inspiration and re-birth. Bards are born from the Cauldron. In Wales, the bard Taliesin is re-born after tasting the broth of Wisdom. This water of illumination was simmered for a year and day in Cerridwen's Cauldron. A third Welsh cauldron is the one King Arthur sought and found, the Cauldron of Annwn.[1] It will not boil the food of a coward. The breath of nine maidens heats it. In the Preiddeu Annwn or the Spoils of Annwn, Arthur and three shiploads of heroic companions set sail to capture the Cauldron of Annwn. This fabled cauldron is enameled in iridescent colors and rimmed with priceless pearls. One of the names of the castle, wherein the Cauldron of Annwn is guarded, is Caer of Honey-Mead. Another is Manawyddan's Caer. A caer is a tower or stronghold and Manawyddan is the Welsh name of Manannan mac Lir, the God of the Irish Sea. The Caer of Honey-Mead perhaps connects the Cauldron of Annwn to the Irish Cauldron of Mebd for Mebd means mead. Annwn's Cauldron was so well guarded that only seven men returned from the adventure.
Among Faery Shamans, the element of water is usually placed in the West. The West is the direction of the Faery City of Murias, Murias of Wisdom, Murias of Memory, Murias of Dreams. The door to Murias is variously seen as being blue, gray or purple. It stands between Summer and Winter and is filled with the abundant harvest of Autumn. It stands between day and night, in the twilight time, at the rising of the moon.
ENDNOTE:
1. Annwn is the Welsh Underworld and is ruled by Arawn, the Lord of the Dead. [Return to Article]
Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans, editor of Earthsongs: Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, and is, herself, a Faery Shaman. Her books, The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shaman's Handbook, Portals of the Seasons: A Celtic Wheel of the Year, Through the Unremembered Gate: Journeys of Initiation, The Labyrinthine Way: Walking Ancient Paths in a Modern World, and Healing Waters, are all published by Elder Grove Press. She is presently writing a book about the Ogham. You may contact Tira by email at info@faeryshaman.org.
Water of the Hazel excerpted from The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shamans Handbook, copyright © 2001 by Tira Brandon-Evans. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page
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