ask that I might know the ways of Druidcraft. to sow the
seeds of love and beauty in the world and in my life. l will
use the knowledge that I gain, the rnagic that l learn, to
help and heal, to grow and change. l will nurture the child,
tend the plants and animals around me, foster strength
and courage in the hearts of all.
Now feel your whole life and all your future lives spreading out before you, and feel a sense of freedom and joy in the infinite possibilities and adventure that this awareness brings. Then walk to the seashore or place your hands around the water bowl and say:
Newborn into the ways of magic and of Druidcraft, I ask
for Nine Waves of blessings!
Cup your hands in the sea or in the bowl and splash the water over you, nine times in succession. With each splash call out a line of the following blessing, and really allow yourself to receive each blessing with each wave:
A wave of blessing for my body - may it feel powerful
and free!
A wave of blessing for my voice ~ may it be strong and clear!
A wave of blessing for my speech ~ may l be heard
and understood!
A wave of blessing for my livelihood - may I find joy
in my work!
A wave of blessing for my generosity - may it flow from
my heart and hands!
A wave of blessing for my desires - may they be fulfilled
for the greater good of all!
A wave of blessing for my wealth - may my life
be abundant!
A wave of blessing for my health - may it be strong
and vital!
A wave of blessing for my life - may it bring joy and
blessings to others!
Now call out:
Nine waves of grace and of blessing be upon me, waves of
the Giver of Health, Joy and Life!
Give thanks to the God and Goddess for the blessings of this ceremony and, if you are by the sea, finish by meditating beside the fire, listening to the crackling of the flames and the waves of the sea, feeling the blessings flowing through your being. If you are indoors, you might want to meditate, listen to music or enter sleep to allow the blessings to flow through you unimpeded by everyday thoughts.
A HOME BLESSING CEREMONY
The self-blessing helped you to be magically receptive. The following ceremony helps develop your ability to be magically active.
In order to work magic you have to feel at home in the world – you have to have a sense of centredness, of stability. To achieve this, it helps consciously to bless your home, so that the environment around you feels supportive, protective and clear.
One evening, or day, when the moment feels right, fill a bowl with water and have some incense (unlit to begin with) that you can easily carry around (if incense disturbs your breathing, or if you just don't like it, use a candle instead)„ When you feel ready to start, decide where the hearth, the centre of your home is, and seated there, close your eyes and imagine you are looking at the Earth from outer space. See it floating in the vastness of the universe, with the sun, moon and stars shining. Then, move down towards the part of the Earth where you live, and imagine you are looking down on the area around your home. Sense the earth and sky, the rivers and stars all sending their special energies to your home and the land around it. Now see your home itself, and imagine a circle of golden light around it. Now come into the home and open your eyes and look around you. Say out loud:
O Great Spirit (or Goddess and/or God), l ask for your
blessings on this my home, my hearth, my household.
Then light the incense or candle and say:
O Brighid, Goddess of hearth and home. I ask that this
incense/flame might be blessed in your name, that it may
purify and cleanse this home, this place.
Then walk through your home waving the smoke from the incense, or the light from the candle, around the perimeter of each room, working Sunwise (clockwise if you are in the northern hemisphere, or anti-clockwise if you are in the southern hemisphere), around the home, and around each room. Then pick up the bowl of water and say:
O Brighid, Goddess of the well and the flame, l ask that
this water might be consecrated in your name, that it may
cleanse, purify and bless this home.
Then walk through your home sprinkling water from the bowl around the perimeter of each room, again always sunwise, around the home and every room. (If you want to be really traditional, and you can get all around your house outside, then you can sprinkle around the house nine times, returning to the hearth to light the fire.) Then say:
O Brighid, please bless this house from site to stay, from
beam to wall, from end to end, from ridge to basement,
from balk to roof-tree, from found to summit, from found
to summit.
Then come to the place that feels most like the centre, the hearth of your home, and sit down and read, or say out loud, the following blessing. And as you do so, imagine that blessings are flowing from Brighid or from Spirit through you, to your house. Feel this energy of blessing actively radiating out into the world through you, as you say:
A blessing upon this home,
A blessing upon this hearth,
A blessing upon this …
(If you have created a sacred space or sanctuary inside or outside your home now is the time to mention it. Use whatever term appeals to you, such as Sanctuary, Sacred Space, Sacred Circle or Place of Transformation/Meditation/Devotion.)
A blessing upon my tallest grass,
A blessing upon my faithful friends,
If you have children say:
A blessing upon my growing daughter/son(s)
Then say:
A blessing upon the household’s helpers,
A blessing upon my parents,
A blessing upon my occupation,
A blessing upon my goods and income,
A blessing upon my kith and kin,
A blessing upon this place of magic,
A blessing upon my work therein.
A blessing upon me and upon my home in light
or darkness,
Each day and night of my life.
Spend a few moments feeling the blessings invoked infusing your home and your sanctuary, and then sense these blessings radiating outwards to your neighbourhood and to the world, like ripples in a pool. Then, to finish, say out loud:
O Great Spirit/God/Goddess, O Brighid of the Hearth, l
thank you for your blessings.
Blow out the candle, and celebrate!
The crystal blessing given at the beginning of this chapter is a traditional Scottish one, translated from Gaelic, and published in a four-volume collection entitled The Silver Bough, edited by the Scottish folklorist Marian McNeill.
Both the ceremonies are based on traditional rites, recorded from the oral tradition in Scotland and beautifully re-worked by the folklorist Alexander Carmichael in his Carmina Gadelica - Hymns and Incantations. Just as Carmichael adapted the original versions, I have adapted his, since any spirituality that is alive has to grow and change – it cannot remain fossilized. Carmina Gadelica has been one of the many sources of inspiration for both modern Wicca and Druidry.
The self-blessing is based on a blessing given to newborn children that was undoubtedly originally Druidic. It was used in Ireland as well as Scotland, where it was recorded in the Highlands in its later Christian form. It was still used there until a hundred years ago, and could well be still in use today. Once the baby was born, she or he would be passed over the fire three times, then carried three times, clockwise, around the fire, before receiving nine splashes of water from the midwife, who, with each splash, would recite a line of this blessing:
A small wave for your form
A small wave for your voice
A small wa
ve for your speech
A small waive for your means
A small wave for your generosity
A small waive for your appetite
A small wave for your weak
A small wave for your life
A small wave for your health
Nine waves of grace upon you,
Waves of the Giver of Health.
This was the Blessing of the Nine Waves. Nine was a number sacred to the Celts and the Goddess. If you committed a terrible crime, you were placed in a coracle and cast into the sea - beyond the Ninth Wave. To be cast beyond the Ninth Wave meant exile - the worst of all punishments. But within the circle of nine waves you were at home, close to the land of your birth that would always protect and feed you, like the Goddess Herself. I have adapted the words of the ceremony to suit the midwifing not of a baby child, but a baby follower of the Way.
Asking for the threefold blessings of land, sea and sky is deeply rooted in Celtic tradition. Oaths were also sworn on these elements, as is shown in this 'Pledge of the Elements' from Ireland: 'If I break faith with you, may the sky fall on me, may the sea drown me, may the earth rise up and swallow me.'
The second ceremony is based upon two Home Blessings, and again the words have been altered, but only slightly, from Carmichael's versions that can be found in Carmina Gadelica.
If you are familiar with Wicca or Druidry, you may wish to perform the initiation within a sacred circle. Here we see some differences in approach: Wicca tends to use a concept of the magic circle drawn from the grimoires of medieval magic, seeing it as a protective device to separate the sacred sphere of operation from the external mundane world. Druidry tends to see the circle as symbolic of all the Earth, rendering the sacred space a microcosm of the whole world. Rather than seeing these as differing concepts, in Druidcraft we can include them both within our practice, the circle both protecting our sacred space from unwanted influences, and at the same time it can be seen as inclusive creating a microcosm of the macrocosm.
If you are not familiar with circle casting and calling to the quarters, the ceremony will be effective without such additions.
CHAPTER THREE
The Cave of Dreams,
The Ways of Love
I am the Fertility of the Furrow,
into which you drop the seed of life at planting time.
l am co-creator with the Goddesses and Gods,
bringing forth life from my great and holy bosom.
Boann and Bile
fill my loins with teeming seed and fertile eggs
and the plough carves my image in the sacred form of
the Mother.
Receive l the seed, bear l the life,
creating art, and thought, invention,
and folk in the image of the divine.
OakWyse
At the heart of magic, and of the desire to give and receive blessings, lies the power of love. Romantic love is increasingly emphasized in modern society, but in reality our love can express itself in many ways and one of the tasks of following a spiritual path, and learning about magic, is to broaden our understanding and expression of love. Pursuing a path of nature spirituality, such as Wicca, Druidry or Druidcraft, encourages us to love widely. It fosters a love of the land, the earth, the wild; love of peace and beauty; love of story and myth; love of history and reverence for the ancestors; love of trees, stones, and animals; love of the body and sexuality; love of the sun, moon, stars and sky; love of each other and love of life.
Wicca's great contribution has been to suggest a belief in common with the alchemy of the West and the Taoist and Tantric philosophies of the East, that Creation arises as a result of the love between two aspects of Deity - feminine and masculine, the God and the Goddess. Our world, all of life, comes from this love and is an expression of love. Whenever we express our love we connect to the central force and purpose of Creation. Whenever we make love we re-enact the primal beginnings of Creation. As a result of this belief, creation and sexuality are seen as sacred, and all phases of our sexual lives can be experienced as rites of passage and celebrated with rituals - rituals for birth, puberty, marriage or handfasting, separation and dying. In this way, our sexuality is seen as an integral part of our lives and is honoured, celebrated and enjoyed, rather than being seen as a source of shame. By relating to it in this way, our sexuality becomes a source of energy and healing.
Modern Druidry, in contrast to Wicca, has tended to focus on the product of the union of the two divine principles, on creativity in all its forms. But a study of the old stories of the Bardic tradition show that an understanding of the importance of love and sexuality also existed within the Druid tradition, so that today both Wicca and Druidry are able to share a belief in their sacredness.
THE DREAM OF AENGUS
In ancient times, the Irish god of Love was known as Aengus Og. Born of the great father-God Dagda and the goddess Boanna of the river Boyne, he was of the fairest face that you could ever gaze upon. Four shining birds flew above his head, and their song was so sweet that whosoever heard its melody would fall in love at once. It was said that each bird was in reality a kiss of Aengus, and in every part of Eire women longed to see the bright wings of these magical creatures hovering beside them, ensuring the imminent arrival of their sweetheart.
Cashel Aengus, the house of the god of Love, was none other than the great temple of New Grange, which lay in the valley of his mother - the goddess Boanna. And it is no wonder that the most magnificent of all temples in Eire should be the palace of the love god - for is not love the most magnificent of powers?
The house of Aengus was constructed from great blocks of granite and white quartz that blazed in the light of the sun, and just as love is born from the womb of the mother as a new child for the Earth, so was the house of Aengus made in the likeness of a woman's womb. And just as the love of man and woman causes a child to be conceived, so did the house of Aengus attract the dawn rays of the Winter Solstice sun, deep into the womb of that sacred hill.
And there, within the hill, while Aengus lay sleeping one night, he dreamt a dream that would haunt him day and night for the next three years. At first in his dream he saw a mighty dragon, and he climbed upon its back and flew to the sun. Then all at once they hurtled towards the Earth, to fly above the waters of a broad, deep lake. And then the vision changed. Aengus was alone upon the lake shore, and walking towards him in dignity and majesty was a woman of such radiance and calm, that he was struck with the deepest passion that man has ever known for woman. He stretched out his hand towards her, and as he did so, his hands and arms became the wings of a swan. And he looked towards her, and she too had grown the wings of such a bird, until all at once they were completely transformed, and they flew as white swans together through the sky, swooping and diving over the lake, before flying westwards towards the setting sun. At that moment he awoke, knowing in his soul that he would not rest until he could find this woman, and hold her close to his heart.
For one whole year Aengus dreamt each night of this maiden, until he was sick with love, and no food would pass his lips. On hearing of her son's illness, Boanna roamed Eire in search of the maiden who was haunting Aengus' dreams, but after yet another year had passed she returned with the like of the maiden not found. And so the god's father, the Dagda, asked the king of the Sidhe of Mumu to search for her. For another full year his men hunted the length and breadth of that green island, until at last they came upon her, walking beside the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth.
Aengus was lifted from his bed and taken by chariot to a castle near the lake. For three days and three nights they feasted, before he was taken to the lake Shore. And there they saw one hundred and fifty maidens, walking in pairs beside the water, each pair linked by a silver chain. But there was one fair maiden taller than the rest, who wore a silver necklace, and was joined to her partner by a golden chain.
'It is her! It is her!' cried Aengus. 'She is the maiden of my dreams. She is the
lady of my heart!'
But the King of the Sidhe of Mumu led Aengus away. 'That is Yewberry, Caer Ibormeith. You cannot have her. She is of another tribe.'
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