The Noble Spirits
The Noble Spirits
The Noble Spirits
The Noble Spirits
Throughout the worlds, in every place, there are many Tribes of Spirits. Beings of wonderful diversity, some beautiful, some hideous, the Noble Spirits are beings who serve the Gods in maintaining the Order of the Worlds. Some dwell in lonely places apart from company, keeping a pool or stone or tree as their domain. Others dwell together in glittering courts, keeping their revels and feasts. These beings are neither Gods nor Dead. They may rightly be considered as lesser relations of the Deities, assigned by them to hold the natural world in proper order.
The Gods are our allies, the Dead our kin, but the Spirits are, in many ways, quite separate from us. They are the Other, and as such they are not automatically our allies and friends. In many tales they are the enemies of humankind, or must be carefully placated. When we approach these spirits today, we approach nature in the wild, the untamed reality that is the basis of all tame life.
Yet we also see that some of the Spirits choose to work for, or with, mortals, especially for the fertility of the land. So we know that they can be our allies as well, if we approach them with respect.
When we seek contact with the Nobles we seek places wild and tangled, un- touched as much as possible by human work. Go out from the cities and parklands and fields, or find places within them overgrown and untended. If you keep a yard or field as your own, it might be good to leave a small section of it completely untended, as a place in which the Nobles can feel welcome and honored. In many places there are patches of relative wilderness even in habited places. Look closely in you own area, but remember to get out of the city and the farmland and into the real wilderness.
Even in cities the Nobles watch and ward, keeping the lives of the nonhuman Kins. There may even be a greater Lord or Lady, keeping a court. But it is in the wilder places that you may come to glimpse the greater Spirits, the Wild Powers. When you go to seek them and make your offerings, go with care. Be certain to be fully prepared for the reality of the wilderness, and go with the greatest respect both for the wild land, and for the Spirits that you seek.
These first efforts to attune to the land and the spirits are an opportunity to begin simple ritual. We provide, below, a very simple approach to greeting the spirits in a natural place. It requires a minimum of tools and allows attention to be focused on the natural locale.
The skills of the basic nature attunement, ‘openness’ type of meditation are central to this work. While there is value in using the imagination to construct forms for the Spirits, it is perhaps better to begin by simply offering worship, then opening your eyes, ears and heart to the real presences of the land. Expect nothing at this stage, or expect everything; but set aside your expectations and open to your senses. Then, when vision comes, it will be ensouled by the reality of the land.
It is also possible, and useful, to approach the land and the spirits with no ceremony at all. Simply working the open-eyed meditation in various settings will go some way toward making strong natural contacts. The Druid’s way is, however, a way of ritual, and greater results are likely to come from even simple ritual work.
Passing The Mist & The Inner Grove
Passing The Mist & The Inner GrovePassing The Mist & The Inner Grove
Passing The Mist & The Inner GrovePassing The Mist & The Inner Grove
Our Druidry requires the discovery or creation of an Inner working space - a visionary locale from which journeys may be begun, and into which the spirits will be called. There are many such methods, but here we give one that is based on seeking the Inner counterpart to the material locales we create for ritual.
The Working: The Working: The Working: The Working: The Working:
- Prepare your ritual space, if possible outdoors, or come before your Home Shrine. Seat yourself comfortably, back straight.
- Work a short blessing of the space, or the full Druid Circle and Gate if you wish - in your first exercises it might be to work the full opening - renew and strengthen your Earth and Heavens contacts.
- Feel the cool Earth Power and the hot Sky Power meet in your head, meet in your heart, meet in your loins.
- And in the meeting-places, feel the mingling of the Powers begin to produce the Mist - the streams of vapor pouring out of your Inner Cauldrons, flowing out from the roots of the Tree, where Fire and Water meet.
- visualize the Mist gathering and thickening, beginning to accumulate. Even as the Powers are meeting in your own body, and the Mist flows from you, you may perceive the Mist approaching from around you, from the Gates in your Nemeton.
- The Mist gathers, growing thicker, and collecting around your feet... around your hips and loins... around your arms and chest. It grows thick and opaque, and rises, at last, to surround your head.
- With your eyes closed, envision the Wizard’s Mist as it surrounds you... see it grey and silver and white, sometimes glistening, sometimes shadowed, growing thicker, warm and comforting.
- This is the Mist of the Between... the place of neither/Nor... neither waking nor sleeping, neither in the common world or in the Otherworld... a place where journeying may happen... a place of unknown possibility... rest here for a while... rest in meditation as your mind holds the presence of the swirling Mist of the Border...
- Now, seated in the Mist, it is time to begin... in your imagination’s eye... in your Inner Vision... not with your physical body... Stand up... Use your body in vision... brace yourself... and rise up from where you are seated... feel your point-of-view rise with your head... holding your point-of-view behind your imagined eyes... You stand up in your vision body... you take a step forward... and stand in the Mist...
- You may, if you wish, look down at yourself... Though there is no need... you feel the presence of your hands... of your body upright... as the Mist swirls all around you...
- Now it is your task to part the Mist and move into the vision reality of your ritual space, upon the land on which you began... bring to mind your goal and your target... let your memory draw it before you... see its shape and color... recall its nature...
- In vision, reach your hand before you, and draw a triskel in the Mist before you... focused on your goal image, see the Mist swirl where you draw... and see it begin to part...
- Now the Mist begins to thin... as though blown by an unfelt wind... now, with memory and will... you see the scene resolve before you... your goal-image, the Nemeton, revealed in its Otherworld form... elements of the same scene that you left when you called the Mist... see it resolve in your Inner Eye... as the Mist clears around you... revealing the Inner reflection of the common world...
- You behold the Inner Grove resolving before you... you see the details more clearly now...
-The Inner World is brighter, but perhaps less ‘in focus’... it glimmers and wavers, resolving only when you gaze directly at a scene... sometimes resolving sharply, all on its own...
- Where you have placed your hallows you may see other forms, Inner forms... a Well... a pillar... the Fire in the Tintean... that Sacred Fire that shines in every world... and the presence of the Gate... the Way Between the Worlds... appearing however it is true and real for you...
- In your vision body, turn and look around you... turn to your right... and to your left... turn at last and look behind you... you are aware of your body, seated in the common world... You take note of its position... as you look at the Inner World around you... - ... ...
(If this is your first experience of passing the Mists, or if anything doesn’t feel right about the experience, this is as far as you should go. Skip to the return instructions.) - If all feels well to you, you may wish to walk out into the Inner... for these first experiments, remaining near to your physical body... to the original Inner Grove locale... your Sacred Fire, lit before you, will always be visible to you... always be a beacon for returning... no matter how far you roam...
- So, for a time, explore the Inner Land in which you find yourself... look at the plants and stones... look round to see the presence of birds, beasts or beings... but for now, do not seek to interact with them... only observe...
- ... ...
- and, after a time, turn and look for the glint of your Sacred Fire... and return to the place where you can dimly glimpse your body...
The Cauldron Spell
The Cauldron SpellThe Cauldron Spell
The Cauldron SpellThe Cauldron Spell
• This spell may be worked for many kinds of results.
• You must begin by conceiving a clear purpose for your spell. This intention should be shaped into a short, concise phrase that properly expresses your desire. When this is done you must determine which of the Gods and Spirits would be proper to aid in your work. Prepare an offering and invocation to those powers. If the work is especially important, you might undertake preliminary offerings to the Powers proper to the rite. • You must also prepare a sigil, or a briocht (spoken spell) or both, expressing your intention.
• The Coire Beannacht is prepared, filled with potable beverage. In this work you will place the ingredients of your Will and intention into the Waters of the Cauldron. You must choose the items with care, determining whether the results of the work will be consumed, sprinkled, etc., and what herbs, oils, stones, etc. might be best used to bring the desired powers to the Cauldron. Three small flames are prepared around it, set in a triangle. The Druid bears the Slat Draoi.
• If possible the sigil of the rite should be drawn on the ground in flour. The Cauldron is placed on the sigil, and the three flames are set around it. For indoor work, the sigil might be drawn on paper or on a wooden platen on which the Cauldron is set.
• The Grove is blessed, and the Gate is opened
• The Invocations are made, to whatever Powers are proper to the rite, and the sacrifices made.
• An omen is taken, before the rite, to determine whether it is proper to continue. If the omen is ill, take down the rite and try another night.
• Take up the Wand, saying:
Wand and Cauldron serve me now Wand and Cauldron serve me now Wand and Cauldron serve me now Wand and Cauldron serve me now Wand and Cauldron serve me now Light shine and shadow flow
Light shine and shadow flow Light shine and shadow flow Light shine and shadow flow Light shine and shadow flow
Accumulate the Shadow in the Blessing Cauldron. Place the three ingredients into the Cauldron, using whatever charm you have, perhaps in this form:
Into this vessel I place my magic. Into this vessel I place my magic. Into this vessel I place my magic. Into this vessel I place my magic. Into this vessel I place my magic.
Let the Waters of the Deep rise in this cauldron. Let the Waters of the Deep rise in this cauldron. Let the Waters of the Deep rise in this cauldron. Let the Waters of the Deep rise in this cauldron. Let the Waters of the Deep rise in this cauldron. In this V
In this V In this V In this V
In this Vessel of Magic I boil up my will.essel of Magic I boil up my will.essel of Magic I boil up my will.essel of Magic I boil up my will.essel of Magic I boil up my will. I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose)
I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose) I boil up (ingredient) for (purpose)
Let this Cauldron be filled with the Waters of Life. Let this Cauldron be filled with the Waters of Life. Let this Cauldron be filled with the Waters of Life. Let this Cauldron be filled with the Waters of Life. Let this Cauldron be filled with the Waters of Life.
• Placing the Slat in the lap, accumulate the Fire in the three lamps, and light the three flames as this charm is recited:
Let this Cauldron be warmed by the breath of Fire. Let this Cauldron be warmed by the breath of Fire. Let this Cauldron be warmed by the breath of Fire. Let this Cauldron be warmed by the breath of Fire. Let this Cauldron be warmed by the breath of Fire. Let the Fire come into the Water.
Let the Fire come into the Water. Let the Fire come into the Water. Let the Fire come into the Water. Let the Fire come into the Water. Let the Light shine in the Darkness Let the Light shine in the Darkness Let the Light shine in the Darkness Let the Light shine in the Darkness Let the Light shine in the Darkness And the Deeps rise to meet it. And the Deeps rise to meet it. And the Deeps rise to meet it. And the Deeps rise to meet it. And the Deeps rise to meet it. In the joining of Fire and Water, In the joining of Fire and Water, In the joining of Fire and Water, In the joining of Fire and Water, In the joining of Fire and Water, Let the power of the Holy Ones Let the power of the Holy Ones Let the power of the Holy Ones Let the power of the Holy Ones Let the power of the Holy Ones Flow forth into our world.
Flow forth into our world. Flow forth into our world. Flow forth into our world. Flow forth into our world.
The Three Flames are lit, expressing your intent in the words of the charm. This form can serve for general blessings:
(Light the first fire) Tine Geal
Tine Geal Tine Geal Tine Geal Tine Geal
(Light the second fire) Tine Naomh
Tine Naomh Tine Naomh Tine Naomh Tine Naomh
(Light the third fire) Tine Draiocht Tine Draiocht Tine Draiocht Tine Draiocht Tine Draiocht
• See the Fire and Water mingling in the waters of the Cauldron, and envision the sigil of the working shining in fiery light in the Cauldron.
•Pass the Wand through each of the three flames, reciting one of the conjuring words given in the spells for each, gathering the power for the work.
• With the Slat, draw the sigil of the work slowly over the Cauldron, nine times. Each time the sigil is drawn recite your briocht, or chant this charm, using an intonation or hum of power if you like:
Anal nathrach, orth bhais bethad, do chel denmha Anal nathrach, orth bhais bethad, do chel denmha Anal nathrach, orth bhais bethad, do chel denmha Anal nathrach, orth bhais bethad, do chel denmha Anal nathrach, orth bhais bethad, do chel denmha
• Let the Power build until the ninth drawing and chanting is complete. Touch the Wand to the surface of the drink, and say:
So by the power of Fire and Water So by the power of Fire and Water So by the power of Fire and Water So by the power of Fire and Water So by the power of Fire and Water And by the Triple Cauldron
And by the Triple Cauldron And by the Triple Cauldron And by the Triple Cauldron And by the Triple Cauldron
And by the Power of Gods, Dead and Sidhe, And by the Power of Gods, Dead and Sidhe, And by the Power of Gods, Dead and Sidhe, And by the Power of Gods, Dead and Sidhe, And by the Power of Gods, Dead and Sidhe, Hallow these Waters.
Hallow these Waters. Hallow these Waters. Hallow these Waters. Hallow these Waters.
I open my heart to the flow of Blessing, I open my heart to the flow of Blessing, I open my heart to the flow of Blessing, I open my heart to the flow of Blessing, I open my heart to the flow of Blessing,
I, (your Child and Worshipper) (or recite your magical name and lineage). I, (your Child and Worshipper) (or recite your magical name and lineage). I, (your Child and Worshipper) (or recite your magical name and lineage). I, (your Child and Worshipper) (or recite your magical name and lineage). I, (your Child and Worshipper) (or recite your magical name and lineage). Behold, the Water of Life!
Behold, the Water of Life! Behold, the Water of Life! Behold, the Water of Life! Behold, the Water of Life! Seo an uisce na beatha! Seo an uisce na beatha! Seo an uisce na beatha! Seo an uisce na beatha! Seo an uisce na beatha!
• The contents of the Coire Beannachta are then consumed, or used in whatever way the spell requires. They might be drunk, or sprinkled, or used in some other way to transmit the intention of the work.
• When all is done, the intention is banished from the mind, and the vision of the Grove is renewed.
The Ogham
The OghamThe Ogham
The OghamThe Ogham
The Ogham is commonly thought of as the ‘alphabet of trees’. The most famous of the Ogham lists gives ancient tree-names for each of the letters. Irish Ogham lists go on to list Oghams of birds, ships, cities and many other kinds.
Ogham lots might best be made of bits of square dowel. We can imagine a perfect set made with each dowel cut from the proper sort of wood. This is a worthwhile long- term project, but to get started you will probably need to use commercial dowel. A square dowel allows you to use one corner as the center-line of the Ogham letter. That leaves two sides on which you might write the Irish and English names of the tree-letter. A Charm For Taking An Omen
A Charm For Taking An Omen