by D. N. Carter
Alisha entered the dining hall looking tired carrying the empty bowl. As she closed the door, Paul looked at her. He instantly knew she had been crying and his heart skipped a beat.
“Is he okay?” Upside asked concerned.
“Well he ate all of this, so that is a good sign,” she answered and paused as she walked through to the kitchen area. “He is not all right fully yet… but he will be,” she said and placed the bowl inside the large draining unit.
Paul could sense she was upset as did Theodoric and Sister Lucy. Attar looked at her and then to Paul. He motioned with his head that he should go to her.
“Do you still play?” Attar asked turning to face Upside. “I have several instruments. Perhaps now is a perfect time to bring some music in,” he asked as he stood up.
“Aye, aye that I can,” Upside replied and smiled. “And I would like to see this tattoo you possess…for I too have a small one…’tis between my shoulders too,” he explained turning to face Theodoric.
“Really?” Theodoric asked almost incredulously.
“Really…’twas done whilst I was a babe,” Upside explained further.
“As a babe…that is so wrong,” Alisha said turning round to face everyone just as Paul reached her. She looked him in the eyes and smiled before moving to sit herself down at the main table. Paul stood still not sure whether to go and sit beside her. He could sense her sadness and he knew why. “Come do not be shy, show us your tattoo,” she said looking at Upside.
“My mother said it is the mark of Lugh…though I have never learnt what that meant,” Upside said as he stood up and removed his cotton shirt. He turned his back so they could view the tattoo set in the middle of his back between his shoulders.
Attar leaned closer to see, then sat down again. Sister Lucy smiled as Alisha raised her eyebrows at Upside’s naked upper torso, his muscles well defined.
“By the lords you look as strong as an ox, my friend,” Thomas laughed.
“And you say your family is of noble lineage, you play the harp, your mother tells you your family is connected to the line of Celts, yet you do not know who Lugh is?” Theodoric asked as he moved to stand beside Upside. He looked closely at the tattoo, mainly faded but still with visible hues of blue and green upon it. It showed two trees leaning towards each other, but the tops were like heads, their hair flowing backwards made from branches. A small fleur de lys was just visible between the heads. It looked so similar to the tattoo upon his own back he felt his stomach suddenly tighten and knot. Sister Lucy saw the look in his eye as he stepped backwards. “’Tis of the same fashion as mine…put your shirt back on and I shall tell you what Lugh is.”
Upside put his shirt back on and sat down. As he fastened the togs at the top, Theodoric sat down between Attar and Sister Lucy.
“My father told Taqi and I about Lugh and that he played a harp…and that music was the key to understanding the whole of creation,” Paul said as he finally sat down near to Alisha. She looked at him, smiled, though he knew she was not smiling inside and she rested her head against his shoulder.
“I suspect there is more to your lineage than perhaps you are aware of, for whoever gave you that tattoo gave me mine,” Theodoric said in all seriousness. “Not all Celts had Druids…and some did not worship in the same manner, but they all used the oak and tree symbolism. Dderwydd was another name used to describe them…but that came from Middle Eastern words as I am sure Attar can confirm. Broken up into myth words, we get Dera and Vid and we have the sacred oak tree, and Vid of vision, which in turn means ‘vision from a sacred wood’ for speaking prophesy accompanied by a harp. Dera-vid or Derwydd, is David, as in David and the harp as detailed in the Bible. It was once claimed that a king could not be a king unless he was a Derwydd, Deravid, a person who leads with prophecy through the harp,” he continued and looked at Alisha. “Ali, do you still carry that dagger with the oak seeds in?”
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“Always,” she replied and patted her waist. Upside raised his eyebrows curiously.
“Know this, the ancient word Danu means Milky Way, and even though many deny it, Celtic and Vedic Danus are one and the same goddess,” Theodoric started to explain. “You only need study their identical traits. It was from this Goddess that Lugh came. He was the synthesis of the ‘Stag Lord’ with Sun-God. The Tuatha De Danann, in the realm of myth, were the Singers of Reality. They created reality with their songs. ’Tis why so much importance is placed upon music and harps. In time man will remember that these myths are indeed historical fact and that all that we are is governed by sound…harmonics.”
“My family has always been connected with the name Lugh but we changed it and hid the fact for reasons I know not,” Upside explained. “But harps…I think I was born on one,” he joked.
“Then you would have probably been told all the stories about bards who were poets, singers, musicians and storytellers oft known as Druids, seers and prophets. They are associated with the Celts but not all were Celts as I said…and most were not what you would call a true Druid. Bardic tradition has many fields of learning from poems, songs, Druid practices and history, Ogham, divination, myths and legends, Brehon law, folklore and of course harps…though much romanticism is attached to them and some still claim to hear their chants in the stone circles, especially in the Glen of Lyon in ancient Caledonia,” Theodoric said and paused for a moment as some past thoughts entered his mind. Sister Lucy clasped his had reassuringly and Paul knew there was obviously some past shared experience connected to the place to cause her reaction as she feigned a brave smile. “We listen to the heaven-inspired utterances of the Arch Druid, as he stands on the capstone of a cromlech, in the eye of the sun, surrounded by the white-robed throng, with the bowed worshippers afar. We see the golden sickle reverently cutting off the sacred mistletoe. We follow, in imagination, the solemn procession, headed by the cross-bearer. We look under the old oak at the aged Druid, instructing disciples in mystic lore, in verses never to be committed to writing. We gaze upon the assembly of kings and chieftains, before whom the wise men debate upon some points of legislation,” Theodoric rattled off as if performing some stage act until Sister Lucy nudged him hard and smiled at him. “Sorry, I always get carried away when talking about them,” he coughed and continued. “Now know this, the Tuatha De Danann…they were the pre-Celtic inhabitants of the Emerald Isle who were the gods of the Celts, they are also seen as fairies and the Shining Ones.”
“Shining Ones again…the watchers,” Paul interrupted.
“Yes, the genuine ones were at least, for too many opportunists would take on the mantle and outer clothing of a so-called Druid to seek fame, power and position,” Theodoric continued.
“Like a lot of men I know of who did and still do the same,” Upside commented.
“Like who?” Paul asked, concerned and fearful that he was referring to Percival.
“Oh most do not last long as they soon expose themselves,” Upside answered. “’Tis why in the early days of the Order, our white surcoats were replaced with the light beige ones and sometimes dark brown ones because too many false knights would throw on a white mantle or surcoat and off they went.”
“But I thought your surcoats were white?” Alisha asked, looking confused, and looked at Theodoric.
“Oh they were to start with…,” Theodoric replied immediately. “But look closely and you will see they are in fact an off beige sandy colour. Better camouflage in the hills and deserts. They often appear white from the gleaming sun.” Upside nodded in agreement. “Pure white is only used for travelling or ceremonial duties.”
Paul’s mind immediately raced back to Stewart’s initiation ceremony. He wondered how he was or if he was still even alive. And Taqi…how was he?
“I just thought they were that off white because they were dirty,” Alisha remarked and chuckled. She looked at Paul and saw how tired he looked. “Perhaps we should retire to bed as we intended,” she said and placed her hand upon hi
s.
“No, I shall sit a short while longer now for my mind is alight,” Paul replied and kissed her hand.
“So please tell me more of this Lugh,” Upside asked.
“Lugh,” Theodoric replied and paused. “It was from the Dananns that Lugh originated for he is seen as a Celtic solar deity and king of the Tuatha De Danann. He was also called Lamfhada, of the long arm, in Gaelic. The evil Underworld god Balor was the Sun God Lugh’s grandfather, whom Lugh, the Shining One as he was also known surprisingly, had to kill.”
“Why?” Upside asked bluntly.
“Oh, because a prophecy had stated that a son of Balar’s daughter would kill him with a spear or the sword of light, so Balar had her three sons murdered, so he thought, but Lugh was rescued and taken away. Lugh became king of the Tuatha De Danann and is likened to the Greek Apollo. The story is that as a young man Lugh travelled to Tara in the Emerald Isle to join the court of King Nuada of the Tuatha De Danann. The doorkeeper would not let him in unless he had a skill with which to serve the king. He offered his services as a wright, a smith, a champion, a swordsman, a harpist, a poet and historian, a sorcerer and a craftsman, but each time was rejected as the Tuatha De Danann already had someone with that skill. But when Lugh asked if they had anyone with all those skills simultaneously, the doorkeeper admitted defeat, and Lugh joined the court and was appointed Chief Ollam of the lands. He won a flagstone throwing contest against Ogma, the champion, and then entertained the court with his harp. The Tuatha De Danann were at that time oppressed by the evil Fomorians, and Lugh was amazed how meekly they accepted this. Nuada thought that Lugh could lead them to freedom and so he was given command over the Tuatha De Danann, and he began making preparations for war. Now the Celtic word for August is ‘Lúnasa’ and comes from ‘Lugh Lámhfhada.”
“How is this Lugh like Apollo?” Upside asked.
“Because both were skilled in all trades and both were also gods of light, not necessarily just the sun. Both were warriors and artists, and cared deeply for their mothers. In simple terms, Lugh is most commonly known as a god of the sun, and because of that the Romans related him to Apollo. As said, Lugh’s name means shining one.”
“Do not forget to mention that Lugh is also like the Biblical David. And make note of the connections to the fact that Lugh’s grandfather is an evil one-eyed Cyclopean…and there is much symbolism in the one eyed Cyclopean Giants of old,” Sister Lucy commented.
“I can explain that later if you wish, my dear,” Theodoric smiled and patted Sister Lucy’s leg. She slapped his hand thinking he was ridiculing her. Quickly he raised her hand and kissed it and smiled. She shook her head and he continued. “The myths state that Mananaun Mac Lir who ruled the oceans took Lugh in his arms and held him up so that he could see the whole of the Emerald Isle with the waves whispering about it everywhere. He told him to say farewell to the mountains and rivers, and the big trees and the flowers in the grass, for he was taking him away. Lugh stretched out his hands and cried ‘Goodbye mountains and flowers and rivers’ promising that one day he would come back. Mananaun wrapped Lugh in his cloak and stepped into his boat, the Ocean-Sweeper, and without oar or sail journeyed over the sea till they crossed the waters at the edge of the world and came to the country of Mananaun, a beautiful country shining with the colours of the dawn. Does this remind you of anything?” Theodoric asked.
“No…unless you refer to the tales of King Arthur for there I see similarities,” Upside answered.
“Well Lugh stayed in that country with Mananaun where he gathered apples sweeter than honey from trees with crimson blossoms…Paul, you are by now more than familiar with all of that symbolism with bees and even the crimson colour,” Theodoric remarked and quickly looked at Paul as he nodded. “Birds, and you may know the story of the birds, or birdmen, who played with him. Mananaun’s daughter, Niav, took him through woods where there were milk-white deer with horns of gold, and black maned lions and spotted panthers, and unicorns that shone like silver, and strange beasts that no one ever heard of and all the animals were glad to see him. He even called them by their names. Every day he grew taller and stronger and more handsome, but he never asked to go back as he had vowed. Every night when darkness had come into the sky, Mananaun wrapped himself in his mantle of power and crossed the sea and walked all over the Emerald Isle, stepping from rock to rock. No one saw him, because his mantle made him invisible, but he saw everything and knew that the De Dananns were in grave trouble. The ugly, misshapen folk of the Fomorians had come to the land and spread themselves over the country like a pestilence. They had stolen the Cauldron of Plenty and carried it away to their own land, where Balor of the Evil Eye reigned. They had taken the Spear of Victory also, and the only one of the four great Jewels of Sovereignty remaining to the De Dananns was the Stone of Destiny. It was hidden deep in the earth and because of it the Fomorians could not completely conquer the country, nor could they destroy the De Dananns, though they drove them from their palaces and hunted them through the glens and valleys like outlaws. Mananaun himself had the fourth Jewel, the Sword of Light,” Theodoric said and noticed as Paul shifted slightly and placed his hand upon his sword pommel. “When Lugh was fully grown, Mananaun said to him, it had been three times seven years, as mortals count time, since he had brought him to Tir-nan-Oge, and he had never given him a gift so that day he gave him the Sword of Light. When Lugh took it in his hand he remembered his vow. Immediately he asked Mananaun to return him to his proper home despite Mananaun telling him that he would find no joy or the music of harp strings, or feasting for the De Dananns were now weak. Ogma, their champion, carried logs to warm Fomorian hearths; Angus wandered like an outcast; and Nuada, the king, has but one dun, which is a form of hill fort, where those who had once the lordship of the world meet in secret like hunted criminals. But Lugh would not be dissuaded even when it was pointed out that no one would actually know him, he simply answered that he remembered the hills and the woods and the rivers and though all of his kinsfolk were gone from it and the sea covered everything but the tops of the mountains, he would go back. So Mananaun gave him his own white horse and even companions as high-hearted as Lugh himself. All the white horse symbolism of old is connected to the mythical Pegasus and star constellations…some of which have been carved on the landscapes of the Sacred Isles. Mananaun also gave Lugh his helmet and his breast-plate to wear over his heart and assured him he would drive the Fomorians out of the lands. When Lugh put on the helmet of Mananaun, brightness shot into the sky as if a new sun had risen and when he put on the breast-plate, a great wave of music swelled and sounded through Tirnan-Oge. When he mounted the white horse, a mighty wind swept past him, and all the companions Mananaun had promised rode beside him. Their horses were white like his, and a radiance that age cannot wither shone in their faces. When they came to the sea that is about Tir-nan-Oge, the little crystal waves lifted themselves up to look at Lugh, and when he and his comrades sped over the sea as lightly as blown foam, the little waves followed them till they came to the Emerald Isle and the Three Great Waves of the Isles thundered a welcome, the Wave of Thoth, the Wave of Rury and the long, slow, white, foaming Wave of Cleena. Now no one saw the Faery Host coming and at the place where their horses leaped from sea to land there was a great wood of pine trees. They rode between the tall straight tree-trunks into the silent heart of the wood. Then Lugh told his companions they must rest for the night, but he himself took off his shining armour, and wrapped himself in a dark cloak and went on foot to the dun of Nuada. He struck the brazen door, and the Guardian of the Door spoke to him. This is when King Nuada called him in and met him and Ogma, the champion. After defeating Ogma in a demonstration of strength throwing a large stone, he graciously gave up his seat as champion next to the king. Lugh then sat in the champion seat and was challenged to a game of chess by the king. They played, and Lugh won all the games, so that thereafter it passed into a proverb ‘to make the Cro of Lugh’. The king said that Lug
h was truly the Ildana, and that he would make music for him if he could but he had no musical instruments. Lugh saw a kingly harp within reach of his hand, but the king told him it was the harp of the Dagda. No one can bring music from that harp but Dagda himself. When he plays it, the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter pass over the earth. But Lugh said he would play on it,” Theodoric told in an almost dramatic fashion, which made Sister Lucy smile. He winked at her then continued. “He played the music of joy, and outside the dun the birds began to sing as though it was morning and wonderful crimson flowers sprang through the grass that trembled with delight and swayed and touched each other with a delicate fairy ringing as of silver bells. Inside the dun a subtle sweetness of laughter filled the hearts of everyone and it seemed to them that they had never known happiness till that night. Then Lugh played the music of sorrow. The wind moaned outside, and where the grass and flowers had been there was a dark sea of moving waters. The De Dananns within the dun bowed their heads on their hands and wept. Lugh played the music of peace, and outside there fell silently a strange snow. Flake by flake it settled on the earth and changed to starry dew. Flake by flake the quiet of the Land of the Silver Fleece settled in the hearts and minds of Nuada and his people…they closed their eyes and slept, each in his seat. Lugh put down the harp and left the dun. The snow was still falling outside. It settled on his dark cloak and shone like silver scales; it settled on the thick curls of his hair and shone like jewelled fire and filled the night about him with white radiance as he went back to his companions. The sun had risen in the sky when the De Dananns awoke in Nuada’s dun. They were light-hearted and joyous and it seemed they had all dreamed a strange, beautiful dream. The Fomorians had not taken the sun out of the sky Nuada told his people and ordered that they go to the Hill of Usna and send out to our scattered comrades that we may make a stand against their enemies. They took their weapons and went to the Hill of Usna, and once there a band of Fomorian fighters attacked them. The Fomorians scoffed among themselves when they saw how few the De Dananns were, and how ill-prepared for fighting. ‘Behold, they cried, what mighty kings are today upon Usna, the Hill of Sovereignty? Come down, O kings, and bow yourselves before your masters!’ But Nuada replied that they would not bow themselves before them and said that they were ugly and vile and lords neither of us nor of the Emerald Isle. With war screams the Fomorians fell on the De Dananns, but Nuada and his people held together and withstood them as well as they were able. Scarcely had the weapons clashed when a light appeared on the horizon and a sound of mighty battle trumpets shook the air. The light was so white that no one could look at it, and great rose-red streamers shot from it into the sky. The Fomorians thought it was a second sunrise! But the De Dananns shouted out it was ‘The Deliverer!’ Out of the light came Lugh leading his warriors from Tir-nan-Oge. Lugh had the helmet of Mananaun on his head, the breast-plate of Mananaun over his heart, and the great white horse of Mananaun beneath him. The Sword of Light was bare in his hand. He fell on the Fomorians as a sea-eagle falls on her prey, as lightning flashes out of a clear sky and the Formorians were utterly destroyed by fire save for nine that he held his hand from striking down. He commanded them to bow before King Nuada, and before the De Dananns, and told them they are now your Lords and the Lords of all the Emerald Isle and to go hence to Balor of the Evil Eye and tell him and his misshapen brood that the De Dananns have retaken their own again and they will wage war against the Fomorians till there is not one left to darken the earth with his shadow.”[95]