Ovatic Work from the bards
LABYRINTH a work of art by Ike Rust
THE FINDING OF THE SERPENTINE an epic poem by Oakwyse
The Finding of the Serpentine
The Lay of Manannan Mac Lir and the Ovate
1
Slowly up the stoney path
ascending the West End hills,
the Sun’s shadows just shortly past noon,
OakWyse the Ovate walked alone.
Stone on stone beneath his booted feet
the only sound,
though far below silent sheep grazed
and white browed waves addressed the shore.
2
Earlier, beneath the eaves,
encircled before the hearth,
in Earth shadow beside the green Sea,
Druids, who only just before
had shore to shore traversed the Otherworld
did come again
together to the Inn to share
in learned tones their journeys’ tales.
3
“Did’st thou know,” she said to him,
with wisdom that comes from youth,
“Earth-knowledge ‘tis thou must have,
working with Earthen-truth to find
through mind to mind encounter with the Land
a balancing
for Air and Fire, the elements thou dost love?”
So forth he went, into the hills.
4
O’er the crest of rock and dirt
‘twixt Faradh and Cairn Buidhe,
he gazed across the rugged land
and, far off, did see so soon
o’er dun on dun tall Lathraichean that stands
above the stones
of Curaich Bay, as to the sky above
it raised its head, and called to him.
5
“To Port a’ Curaich must ye go,”
the rugged dun cried out,
“among the stones there, on the strand, find
the token left by Manannan:
for hand to hand, from god to man he
doth freely give
to you a power stone of Serpentine,
a healing charm for you alone.”
6
“And when ye’ve found the token
on the beach of Cloumbecille,
then climb my seaward side unto the top,
within this crown of stones to lie,
that, by and by, upon the wind-blown grass
you may receive
a deeper understanding of the Earth.”
Then, marveling, the Ovate carried on.
7
The sun shone warm, the wind blew chill,
the sky was high, and brightest blue.
Down from the ridge he came upon the
banks of crystal Staonaig Loch.
From rock to rock, above the muddied banks
he picked his way,
while all the while the crown of Lathraichean
did beckon, and show him the eay.
8
Time and space play many tricks
up on the barren Sliabh Siar.
He climbed the stones of the Old Black Wall,
into the trackless moor he went,
where rent and rent the sodden ground had been
by rain and rill,
while from this bowl of circling rock and ridge
the outer world did fade away.
9
Then in the bowl of Sliabh Siar,
below the house of John Maclean,
in a pathless waste, in a time forgot,
and ringed about by crag and stone,
alone, alone, with ne’er a sight of journey’s end
he onward went,
while in his heart the Stone cried out the more,
for all that he could see it not.
10
Dark and rich the ground was, and the grass,
bright green with water nourished, beckoned him.
But though it seemed to offer sure
a path of solid ground to tread,
yet led and led him further into bog
and sucking marsh,
while Lathraichean lay hidden from his view
and rumors of the sea escaped him, too.
11
Encircled by the ageless hills of I,
no-place and no-time lured him fast away
toward Faerie-land or Otherworld,
the which he could not know or tell,
for spell on spell now wove about his sight.
And shadows dark
encircled both his eyes and mind alike,
while slow forgetfulness surrounded all.
12
“And when ye’ve found the token
on the beach of Coloumbecille,
then climb my seaward side unto the top,
within this crown of stones to lie,
that, by and by, upon the wind-blown grass
you may receive
a deeper understanding of the Earth,”
the memory of unseen promise called.
13
Then gradually the ground
did drier grow beneath the Ovate’s feet
while steeply climbing to a southern ridge
beyond which cried the sea-birds’ call,
as wall on wall of gusting wind did blow
across the rocks
with smell of salt and bracken carried up
from Port a’ Curaich, in the distant spray.
14
In but an instant of eternal time
the universe was changed before his sight!
From Cnoc na Faire, the Look-Out Knoll,
young Oak beheld a meadow fair,
where, there and there across its curving bowl
the white-wooled sheep
were grazing silently beneath a sky
reflected in the heaving blue-green sea.
15
Below, across the wide and open field,
twin bays of tumbled stone shone in the sun,
and over all against the sky
tall Lathraichean proclaimed its might
from height to height, as from the shore it rose
and to the sky
its head did lift, and offer to the gods
the gift of Earth, the joy of life!
16
The out across the waves his gaze did sweep.
Amid the crests of silver-beaded spray
the churning seascape there did seem
to promise something more than sea:
“To Be! To Be!” it cried out to his heart!
And with a start
he broke his reverie and headed down
into the bowl, and struck out toward the strand.
17
Down and downward from the gate,
and seaward across the field,
between the sliabh and the sea-smooth stones,
under the arching sapphire sky
where cry and cry the sea-fowl in delight
did OakWyse go,
and in that vast expanse it seemed he was
alone, but for a single ram.
18
In the curving of that bowl,
and the circling cliffs above,
two creatures stood as if all the world
were encompassed in their gaze;
while days on days in moments seemed to pass,
before the ram
with toss of eye and horned wooley head
released the Ovate to the shore.
19
Finally, in the boundary place
of water and of earth
he stood, at the joining of sea and stone
while all went silent about him, save,
in wave on wave, the washing of the shore.
Thus down he looked
at the tumbled shingle beneath his feet
and there the promise token did he seek.
20
As he stooped to turn the stones
on the shore of Port a’ Curaich,
to look beneath for the brilliant green
that would announce the Serpentine,
unseen, unseen, a guiding spirit cried aloud,
“Turn thou no stone,
for what you seek is waiting in plain sight!
The token promised now is to be found!”
21
The final wave of the Western Sea
as it ended its journey on the shore
and washed up on the banks of I,
did suddenly reveal a polished stone
which shone and shone with inner, emerald light!
“I have found it!”
cried the Ovate in delight,
as all the sea began to rage and foam.
22
He held aloft the sacred stone
on the shore of Coloumbecille,
while high above, Lathraichean’s crown
in the sunlight gleamed, and cried aloud,
“Be proud, be proud, for thou hast found
the Serpentine!”
And all around the world did spin and turn,
and the sea-birds called and the winds did howl!
23
Then out at sea in the foaming waves,
in the crashing and heaving swells,
a great form from the sea-bed rose,
and mounted in the Ovate’s sight
from height to height in great magnificent display
the Sea Itself,
as in the churning waters did appear
the mighty form of Manannan Mac Lir!
24
Out Oak strode into the sea,
around his ankles broke the chilling waves,
while high above the towering cumulus
was white against the sky;
and high, and high again Mac Lir did rise
above the waves.
Sea-plant was his clothing, hair, and beard,
a gleaming emerald trident in his hand.
25
Powerful but kind he seemed to be,
a combination strange yet true.
In torrents dropped the sea from off
his arms and shoulders bare,
more fair than fair his countenance did seem
as down he looked
from a height of many hundred feet
above the heaving waters of the bay.
26
A flash of fire from the Sea-god’s hand
around the Ovate then did spread, and there in silver set about his neck
upon a silver chain did shine
more fine than fine, the Serpentine!
A gift from God,
from the deep, green Seabed store,
from the depths of Westernness, to land upon this shore.
27
In the shallows of the bay the Ovate stood,
Snake Stone token hung about his neck,
in awe and wonder gazing at the sight
of Manannan Mac Lir, whose face
seemed Grace on Grace, and greatest Might.
Then Oak, and God,
alone together at the sacred seat
of Earth and Sea, did finally so meet.
28
Mac Lir, with gulls encircling his brow,
and barnacles abounding in his mane,
did look with passion on the Ovate there
and passionately declare,
“Beware! Beware! for Blessing comes to thee
from all the Earth!
A power to be reckoned with, thou be,
for strong and blessed, who wears the Stone, is he!”
29
Suddenly Mac Lir was gone!
Returning below the waves
in swift descent without a hint
of troubled sea, he left th’apparent world,
while swirled and swirled the seabirds overhead,
above the still
and silent waters of Columba’s Bay.
Above the Ovate, Oak, above the shore.
30
A violet light burst from his crown,
ascending the calming skies,
and ‘round his brow in spinning amethyst
a firey circlet flew,
while bluest blue around his throat did spin.
In brilliant green
two circles more across his chest did cross,
with yellow at his bowels, and red before his loins.
31
Flashing, spinning, pulsing fire,
charged with power, the circles turn,
while standing, legs apart,
and arms spread wide
he cried, he cried, to the deep green Sea,
to Manannan
Mac Lir, the Ocean god of power,
to Manannan Mac Lir, the god of power!
32
Then the fading light revealed,
in the shallows off the shore,
a new and different wonderment to see:
A seal, with head and shoulders high,
did sigh and sigh upon the wave
and look upon
the Ovate where he stood in silent awe,
upon the beach, upon Iona’s shore.
33
Out he started toward the seal.
He watched as up it stood,
and there before his eyes became
a woman, naked, beautiful and fair,
with hair, with hair of deepest auburn hue;
o’er shoulders bare
it fell upon her alabaster breasts
to end in curls below her rounded hip.
34
First upon the Irish shore
this woman came in old, old days;
from all the ancient tales she passed away
and blended with the very Land
while band on band of others came along.
The Land itself
and living still, the Sovereign of the Isles,
Cessair, now old but ever young and free.
35
Quietly, she came to him,
gently did they embrace,
but pausing not to linger in his arms
and ceasing not in Her intent,
further went and went into the very core
of his being,
and there together two in one did merge,
among the waves and stoney shore.
36
Land and Sea now joined within
his body in power sublime,
and naked, save for silver-mounted Serpentine,
he grew erect, and to the seabed gave
in wave on wave the generating seed,
fluid of life,
while all around the Sea was filled with seals,
of every size and age, leaping for joy!
37
Turning then upon the strand
and leaving the Coloubecille Bay,
he found himself clothed in a flowing green cloak,
while upon the grass of the green bank
there rank on rank of every beast appeared:
sheep, lambs, goats, cows,
dogs and cats, and many birds, all dancing
with joy, as among them all he walked.
38
But Lathraichean now called to him,
“Do’st finish the journey begun?”
So leaving the celebration by the shore
he gazed upon the towering spire
that higher and higher rose above the bay:
Lathraichean called,
and upward he began to climb,
upon the seaward side, as had been bid.
39
Out into the Western Sea,
beneath him as on he climbed,
ranged Port Lathraichean and an Fir-Bhreige,
The Ruins, and the False-Man of memory drear
so near, so near to joyful time at Curaich!
Up, up he climbed,
with blue Atlantic far below,
and the paths of sheep to show the way.
40
When at last the Sea and Sky
did fair equidistant seem,
he reached the summit of the hill,
and there in the afternoon sun shone
stone upon stone of natural circle ‘round
a fair grass lawn
of greenest hue, grown from the many gifts
of the grazing island sheep.
41
Wind did whip about his face,
he world at his feet was spread.
He turned slowly ‘round at the wonder of all,
from Jura to Mull, to Coll and Tiree,
away and away to every compass point
a gray-green world;
and here did meet upon the height
the realms of Earth and Sea and Sky!
42
“Get thee down upon the ground!”
Who spoke? Ah, it mattered not,
for such authority was sure the mark
of God or Goddess, or of Mother earth,
and worth the worth of any King or Queen
for sheer command
that needs must be obeyed,
so himself upon the grassy ground he laid.
43
Down upon the grass he lay,
in the bowl at the top of the hill.
With the gulls overhead, and the rocks all around,
he spread out his arms on his back on the ground.
Not a sound, not a sound, but the crying gulls
and whipping wind!
The Serpentine lay upon his brow,
upon the eye that sees within.
44
Showing him his life’s long years,
the Land of Iona then
did teach him of his fear of Earth,
that from the fear of his own body came.
The shame, the shame, with which he’d learned
to see himself
was to be reconciled, blessed, and healed,
so love of body, love of earth might yield.
45
Once again the Ovate stood
upon bold Lathraichean’s height.
But now as the wind blew his hair about,
brought tears to his eyes and nose,
he rose, he rose to a greater height, for he
thought of Cessair
and of mighty Mac Lir, and the corporal
power they with him had shared.
46
The return to Baile Mor
could not now be an easy path,
for the new understanding of physical self
would have to be tested and tried
as from side to side of the West End hills
by himself
he would walk: over height, down in vale,
without compass or map as guide.
47
Up on Dru-im an Aoinidh,
the Ridge of the Western Cliff,
through rivers of grass running wet
as the deep Iona Sound;
ground not ground, but mirey trap;
he learned of the Earth
a new love as he sought,
from tuft to hillock, solid ground on which to walk.
48
And clutching yet within his hand
the Serpentine of Manannan
did OakWyse reach the highest height
of Sliabh Siar, where there, alone,
did stone on stone before him stand
the rocky Cairn
that marked a journey ended and begun
for Coloumbecille, the Cairn Cul rin Eirinn.
49
Fair Iona’s brown and green,
and the gray of the wide, cold, sea
spread below and around on every side,
and the mountains of Mull stood tall and grand.
Hand in hand did tiny, distant islets spread
across the waves.
With joyful shout the Ovate shed his pants
and watered every stone and blade of grass!
50
Down the tricky northern slope
of high Cairn Cul ri Eirinn,
the Serpent Stone now leading on,
the Sun now sinking to the west,
on pressed, on pressed the weary ‘Vate.
With slip and fall
in the sliabh mud, a greater knowledge of the Earth
then ever he imagined came to pass.
51
Past Port Beul Mor, the Big Mouth Bay,
with its fair white sand, he walked.
Then up again, up the rocky hill,
past the steep gully of Uamh nan Calman
ran and ran the trackless way along
the western cliffs.
Alone, within a deep ravine, he feared
that darkness might appear before the inn.
52
Then, in sight of Uamh an t-Seididh,
spouting plumes of Sea into the Sky,
the trackless track came to an end
as to the rocky shore it fell
where swell on swell of cold Atlantic crashed
upon the ledge
and barred the way below,
while rocky cliff climbed upward, straight above.
53
Long in silent thought he stood,
considered the trickster, Earth,
that flung such rocky bounds across his path
and dared his weary heart and feet,
which beat and beat with tired pulse
in chest and boot,
to travel miles back, another way around,
or up the rocky face to scale alone.
54
Time stood still upon that cliff
it seemed, though the setting sun
came nearer the horizon’s edge with every breath;
what must be done before the light
to night, dark night, would surely fade away
the Ovate knew,
and in his hand the Serpentine, the power stone,
did glow, and burn, and drive him on.
55
In the rocky wall a gate
appeared to his searching eyes,
and from the gate a chimney led aloft
between the rocky faces of the walls
that fall and fall away from summit’s height,
and pausing here,
then plunge in steeper fall into
the broken, tumbled, stoney shore below.
56
He placed his hand upon the rock
in greeting and in deep respect,
and gained permission to ascend the cleft.
Then painfully placed hand over hand,
and band on band of layered rock he passed,
and slowly climbed
the face of the western cliff, while down below
the Sea was still, and Manannan looked on.
57
At the top, a wind-swept rock
lay bare in the failing sun;
an ancient carpet spread upon its barren face,
and on it did the Ovate sit
and, bit by bit, regained his flagging strength.
Then landed near
an Eagle, who became a violet Man
in feather cloak and headdress large and fair.
58
“You have made me clear,” he said.
The Ovate asked his meaning; he replied:
“I have always been here, by your side,
but now you make me possible to see.”
“To see, to see,” he said and gave
to Oak his Stone
anew, in golden setting cased and strung,
and beckoned him descend the landward side.
59
Slowly down the stoney path,
Loch Staonaig now in sight,
heavy of foot and light of heart,
weary of body, refreshed in soul,
goal after goal sought after and found,
he turned to home.
The feathered Guide cried from the ridge,
“You have received the power, now find the will!” and was
gone.
60
Under the crest of rock and dirt
‘twixt Faradh and Cairn Buidhe,
he gazed upon the fair Machair,
and far behind had left (now seemed) so soon,
o’er dun on dun, tall Lathraichean that stood
above the stones,
and once had called him to the quest
and sacred journey that was nearing rest.
61
And then a joyful shout did call
across the weathering heights:
a fellow traveler, well met at crossing paths,
a good companion for the final walk
to talk and talk of great adventures found and met
on Sliabh Siar
between the upland road and Curaich Bay.
But of the Serpentine, no word would say.
62
At the muddy journey’s end,
right hard by Iona Sound,
the travelers came to a merry pub,
and entered in with hurried gait,
for Fate, O Fate, had brought them to this happy end:
Laphroaig in hand
a toast they offered to the Earth so dear,
the Serpentine and Sea, and Manannan Mac Lir.
W. William Melnyk (OakWyse)
18 November 1999
Night of the Leonids
