Earthsongs: International Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, ISSN: 1499-0482, Volume 9, Issue 4, copyright © 2005, Elder Grove Press and content providers. All Right Reserved.

TLACHTGA: THUNDERBOLT WISDOM WOMAN ©
by Melanie Marttila

When I started this assignment, I knew nothing of Tlachtga. In the course of my Ogham studies, I have learned that she is a fascinating figure, powerful shaman, and perhaps guardian or even keeper of the cosmic wheel.

Tlachtga, or Tlachtgha is an old Irish name and a combination of tlacht, or earth, and gae, or spear. Thus, Tlachtga can be translated as earth spear (Matthews 199). Caitlin Matthews further identifies Tlachtga as “Thunderbolt-Wisdom Woman” (198). The legendary figure of Tlachtga was the daughter of the arch-druid Mog Roith, and a woman of no small power in her own right (Farrar 280). Her father, whose name means “devotee of the wheel” (Matthews 189) is associated with the sun and its cycles. During the siege of Druim Damhgaire, he blows upon the hill where Cormac mac Art’s army stood saying “I turn and return” (193). It is interesting that this idea is one that the vision poet William Butler Yeats takes up in his own theory of gyres, most famously illustrated in his poem “The Second Coming.” Mog Roith also uses “the tinder-box of Simon” (195) a magician mentioned in the New Testament book of Acts. This tinder box has an interesting resonance with the fairy tale of the same name. In any case, Mog Roith is often called druid of the wheel (189), the wheel in question being the great cycle of years and seasons. Historian T.F. O’Rahilly suggests that that he is the remnant of a Celtic deity Roth, God of the Wheel (189). Tlachtga herself is responsible for creating the pillar-stone of Cnamchaill, meaning bone-damage, which blinds all who see it, deafens all who hear it and kills all who touch it (199). The fact that her father is blind would seem to indicate that he may have seen it, or been involved in its creation. O’Rahilly suggested that the pillar-stone of Cnamchaill shot thunderbolts to blind, deafen, and kill (199).

So here we have thunderbolt part of her appellation Thunderbolt Wisdom Woman. Often, in order to achieve wisdom, one must sacrifice something of value. Imagine the wisdom bestowed by the sacrifice of sight, or hearing? Shaman often must endure some form of wounding as part of their initiation, and must find a way to heal themselves, or compensate for the illness or injury before deeper understanding may be achieved. Further, there is always a delicate distinction between sacrifice and death. Those who seek wisdom and power for their own ends may only achieve their own demise.

Tlachtga also created the “red and swiftly mobile wheel,” (202) which Janet and Stewart Farrar call Roth Fail or Roth Ramhach, from a piece of her father’s wheel, (280) and the stone of Forcathu (Matthews 202). Matthews attributes the roth ramach or roth fail to be Mog Roith’s sky chariot (190) further indicating that in some Christian interpretations the artifact may be turned into a kind of doomsday device at the end of days.

So here we have three artifacts, a pillar, stone, and wheel. Though I have no evidence for this, I would posit that these artifacts may be components of something like the Finnish Sampo, or magic mill. The Sampo, built by the sorcerer Ilmarinen was capable of grinding corn, salt, and money. It was later broken, but its pieces, like Tlachtga’s artifacts, each retained “marvelous power” (Nelson 37). The Sampo also has associations with the cultural development of the Finnish people from the Stone Age through the Bronze Age to the Iron in the method of its creation (37). Further, it has cosmological significance as the cosmic mill, or mill of time, also called the world tree, which supports the upper, middle, and lower realms of existence (38). It is in this sense that I think Tlachtga’s artifacts have the most interest. She, with her father, are creators, servants, and guardians of the wheel. I would think that it is hardly possible to have “created” the wheel of time, per se, but perhaps to have given the keys for its interpretation in the form of artifacts, I think this latter possibility quite probable. Caitlin Matthews equates Tlachtga with Sophia, or Eve, stealing wisdom from the gods in order to endow mankind (200). Here is the wisdom part of her title.

Tlachtga learned her skills by travelling east with her father where they met and worked with the magician Simon Magus (Farrar 280), or Magnus (Geoghegan). The three sons of Simon each fathered one of fraternal triplets on Tlachtga and she returned to Ireland, making it as far as the Hill of Ward, near Athboy, Co. Meath, where she died birthing her three sons, Diorb, Cumma, and Muach (Matthews 200). Tlachtga’s sons each gave their name of a region in Ireland and the legend states that so long as their names are remembered, Ireland will never be visited by vengeful strangers (201).

Tlachtga is a Celtic woman of power, like Macha, who dies in childbirth, thus founding a sacred site. This would seem to be a literal integration of the goddess with the land. Mary Jones compiler of Jones’Celtic Encyclopedia, identifies this tradition as “onomastic.”

Tlachtga, or the Hill of Ward, is traditionally the home of the Samhain fires. Geoffrey Keating mentions how King Tuathal Teachtmhar “built the royal seat of Tlachtga, where the fire Tlachtga was ordained to be kindled. The use of this sacred fire was to summon the priests, augurs, and druids of Ireland, to repair thither, and assemble upon the eve of All Saints ... no other fire should be kindled upon that night throughout the kingdom,- so that the fire that was to be used in the country was to be derived from this holy fire” (247).

Tlachtga is also considered a prehistoric settlement, which has an iron-age ring fort, and which was used as a fortified camp in the 17th century. The hill was also associated with an aonach or sacred fair held every three years at the Celtic feast of Samhain. The last of these fairs was recorded in 1168 and involved the last High King of Ireland, Rory O' Connor (Athboy). Mary Jones identifies two references to Tlachtga in Irish literature. The first of these is the banshenchas, or "the Lore of Women" which sought to act as a sort of condensed guide to the various women of Irish myth. The second is the dindsenchas "the Lore of Places" which sought to explain the names of various locations in Ireland. The text from the banshenchas may be found on the Clan Cassidy Web Site, the link to which may be found at the end of this article. The banshenchas say that Tlachtga is the daughter of Mog Ruith and the wife of the son of Simon. It also indicates that she slew a martyr, though it doesn’t specify which one, and embroils her in the battle between Midir and Fuamnach over Etain (Dobbs).

Jones points out the apparent confusion between (or association with?) Tlachtga and Etain and further comments that the reference to the slain martyr may have more to do with Mog Roith holding the axe that beheaded John the Baptist (Acts 8: 8-25) than with anything she herself had done. Mind you, Matthews indicates that the Church held a special hatred for Tlachtga, one that was “not found against any other of the Celtic Gods and heroines” (198). Might this have been because of the apparent confusion in the banshenchas, or because of the deeds of her father?

The text of the dinsenchas may be found in three translations, one of which comes from The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom (which may be found at the Shee-Eire Web site), one may be found in an article by Sioga Geoghegan, which she has translated herself, and a third set of two translations comes from the online Celtic Literature Collective, one from the Silva Gadelica, and the other from the Kilbride MS. I have included links in my list of sources so that you may read and compare.

Tlachtga is a fascinating figure of history and legend. I wondered why I hadn’t heard of her before in my years of delving into Celtic lore. She is, nonetheless, a vital part of that lore. Tlachtga is (I believe) the only woman associated with the Ogham represented in the Ogham scales (Side Ogham of Tlachtga 61), her name has been given to the hill upon which the Samhain fires once burned, and what can be found of her story indicated that she was truly, a Thunderbolt Wisdom Woman.

As for Tlachtga today? She is alive and well, not only in the place name, but also in nearly every article on the history of Samhain or Hallowe’en
target="_blank">http://www.webofoz.org/heritage/Samhain.shtml, in the municipal tourist board Web sites of Ireland http://invest.meath.ie/tourism/quality_of_life.html, as the subject of archeological research http://www.nuigalway.ie/cshshc/pra2.html, and on genealogy and historical research pages. One can take pagan-centric tours of Tlachtga http://www.dreamtimejourneys.com/magical_ireland_itinerary.html, or join the Eriu of Tlachtga branch of the An Tir Scribes http://scribes.antir.com/TirRighcontact.html. In the information age, Tlachtga is no farther than your nearest computer. Here are some additional places to start:

Sources

Annals of the Four Masters. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ruairc/oannals1.htm

Annals of the Irish Kings. http://www.angelfire.com/ego/et_deo/irishkings.wps.htm

The Annals of Ulster. http://members.aol.com/lochlan4/annals.htm

Athboy Parish Web Site http://www.athboyparish.ie/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=65

The Bible. King James Version.

Bonwick, James. Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions. 1894. http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/idr/idr23.htm

Met. Dindsenchas. IV, Tlachtga, 189, lines 29-40. Found at the Celtic Literature Collective http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/tlachtga2.html

Dobbs, Margaret E., ed. "The Banshenchsa Part I" Revue Celtique vol. xlvii. 1930. http://www.cassidyclan.org/partI_Banshenchus.htm

Farrar, Janet and Stewart. The Witches Goddess:The Feminine Principle of Divinity. Custer: Phoenix Publishing. 1987.

Fraser, Sir James George. Balder the Beautiful. http://www.fullbooks.com/Balder-The-Beautiful-Vol-I-4.html

Sioga Geoghegan. “Tlachtga: Earth Spear.” MatriFocus: Cross-Quarterly for the Goddess Woman Samhain 2004 Vol 4:1. http://www.matrifocus.com/SAM04/ireland-tlachtga.htm

Jones, Mary. Jones’ Celtic Encyclopedia. http://www.maryjones.us/jce/jce_index.html Keating, Geoffrey. The History of Ireland (BOOK I-II) http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text049.html http://www.originofnations.org/books,%20papers/ucc_celt_published_T100054/www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text050.html

Matthews, John & Caitlinn. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom. Rockport: Element. 1994.

Nelson, Robert. Finnish Magic. Llewellyn: St. Paul. 1999.

O’Grady, Standish, trans. and ed. Silva Gadelica. p. 511, III p. 48. Found on the Celtic Literature Collective http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/tlachtga1.html Shee-Eire. http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Myths/Heroes&Heroines/Tlachta/tlachta.htm

Melanie lives in the same house where she was raised and in which her father was raised, on a street which bears her family name. She has published poetry, short stories, and articles. As a member of the Oak Grove, she seeks to deepen her understanding of the ancient paths. Brightest blessings and sweetest dreams! You may contact Melanie at sassafras@smellyflipper.ca

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