by Dillon Carlyon
Some say there are few stories left about you,
but there are stories written on the wind,
in the sky, across the bright eye of the sun.
Tales of adventure are written
along trunks of ash and branches of rowan.
Lays of romance are woven into ivy,
the wolves of unresting passion know a line or two.
Tales of death are etched in stone
over the burials of heroes who loved you.
I was there when your spear pierced the firmament
and light spilled from the sky like blood.
I wept in sadness at your mother's imprisonment.
I wept in happiness when your father freed her.
I laughed when you were admitted to Tara
for being the Samildanach, the Many-Skilled.
I dwelt in bitter resignation with you
when you refused healing to the sons to Tuireann.
I shuddered when Balor's vile head
shattered the stone on which you placed it.
There are stories written
and many more stories unwritten
but they can all be read in that daily miracle
of slowly cascading brilliance, the sunrise.
You are the king of life,
and the long-armed cast of your rowan spear
transforms bitterness to tenderness,
sadness to happiness,
hatred to love.
Currently living in California, Dillon Carlyon is an Oak Grove Ogham Master and has completed 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. Dillon is the producer of the Society of Celtic Shamans Podcast. Contact Dillon at carlyond@gmail.com
Story of Lugh copyright © 2009 by Dillon Carlyon, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page
Earthsongs: International Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans copyright © 2009 by Elder Grove Press and content providers. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permissions of the copyright holders. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.