TREASURE OF THE ANCESTORS ©
by Dillon Carlyon
“Somewhere in a hidden memory
Images float before my mind
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires
And dancing 'til the next sunrise”
-Loreena McKennitt, from “All Souls' Night”
Heritage, custom, legacy—these words all reveal something of the meaning of “tradition.” What is it, however, that makes an action or an event a tradition? How many times does an action need to be repeated for it to become “traditional?” One possible answer is that a tradition becomes a tradition when no one can remember exactly how the tradition started. Modern anthropology tells us that tradition is a defining characteristic of humanity. Even today, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a person alive who has not been touched in some way by traditions that existed before they were born.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, tradition was a much, much bigger part of people's lives. Community interaction and involvement was not optional, but was instead utterly imperative to one's survival. If people did not work together, they did not prosper. Tradition defined daily life to a degree that is nearly incomprehensible to the modern post-industrial individual who has always been able to simply buy everything he or she needs to survive. Making clothes, washing clothes, cooking, tending livestock, farming, storing food, and building dwellings—our ancestors lived their traditions. It was so present, so much a part of everything, that it must have seemed invisible. Today this is a void in many people's lives. Though we strive for knowledge and understanding of the spiritual practices of our ancestors, we are undeniably distant from their daily lives and experiences.
Tradition is a subject of contention in many circles, and modern pagans and shamans get very passionate when debating it. As far as most religious and spiritual practices go, the general consensus seems to be that “more traditional” equals “better.” Problems arise, of course, when people have trouble agreeing upon what “traditional” means. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary from 1996 gives two very revealing definitions of the word. The first is “communicated from ancestors to descendants by word only;” the second is “transmitted from age to age without writing.” In this sense, there are no surviving traditional pagan practices from the Celtic world. There are many reasons for this, but one that is often overlooked is that many probably saw no need to record anything because the continuum of the seasonal cycle and the events that accompanied it appeared timeless and changeless. If the aforementioned cycle would go on and on and everyone was intimately involved with it, then why would records be needed? This is the cognitive dissonance that we are dealing with when we consider the world our ancestors lived in and perceived. Nevertheless, a simple and powerful formula emerges: “tradition” + “community” = MAGIC.
We are the closest to our ancestors in the realm of thoughts, ideas, mind, emotions, and yes, spirit. It is a unique human faculty to be able to use the imagination to elevate consciousness beyond the physical and into eternity. Shamanism is this world's oldest spiritual discipline, and there can be little doubt that ecstatic trance techniques were and are important to the Celtic spiritual experience, even if we do not know exactly how it used to be done. Our ancient forefathers “traditioned” techniques for working with the nonmaterial world to bring healing and transformation into the material world. However we reconstruct these practices, it is important to define a way of doing things based on a combination of solid research and instinct, and then to stick with it. A ritual or sacred act becomes more powerful, more meaningful and more magical every time it is repeated. In an age where we have lost our traditions, it is up to us to revive and redefine those traditions in an intelligent and responsible way. This is only possible through constant and disciplined repetition.
One of the most potent examples of the revival of ancient Celtic beliefs is the rekindling of Brighid's perpetual flame in Kildare in 1993. Obviously it was never extinguished to begin with. It was carried in the hearts and minds of many generations of those who love and honor the Goddess in all of her myriad forms and manifestations, and it was carried from heart to hand on the Imbolc day that it sprang back to life in this world.
On my last night in Nova Scotia during my vacation there this last summer, I was invited to be a part of a Samhain celebration. Though I unfortunately can't make it back to Atlantic Canada for the Celtic New Year, the invitation warmed my heart. I will be attending a similar celebration elsewhere, and I invite you to partake of the treasure of the ancestors—tradition. Can you do the same thing, in the same place, with the same people, at the same time for next year's Samhain as you will this year? If you can, and if I can, we will be on the right track as we continue to ponder a time lost, but never forgotten.
Currently living in California Dillon Carlyon is an Oak Grove Ogham Master and is currently in Year 1 of the Faery Shaman's Apprenticeship. A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans where he earned a B.A. in English, he has been studying history, religion, spirituality, the Celts, the Oghams, and shamanism for over ten years and hopes to move on to graduate work in the field of Old and Middle Irish. In his spare time he studies the Gaelic languages, Shotokan Karate, the Tibetan art of Boabom, and squeezes in reading, writing, making music, and DJing where he can. Contact Dillon at carlyond@gmail.com.
Treasure of the Ancestors copyright © 2008 by Dillon Carlyon, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page
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