Lesson Twenty ~ Sacred Space
As we come to the end of the first set of twenty lessons, we now look at a number of related matters. Firstly, what is a nemeton ~ a holy place, what makes it sacred? Secondly, what do we know of how ancient Druids conducted rituals, and how can we conduct them now in the 21st century? Thirdly, how do we relate to the Gods in all this?
A nemeton is a place in which ritual is conducted. Often taken to mean a forest glade, it can refer to any place that is open to the sky. There were some long wooden buildings erected by the Celts, believed now to be temples, which appear not to have had roofs. The walls may have been for privacy ~ though that suggests there may have been people who did not attend the rituals ~ or perhaps to keep livestock out.
What makes a place sacred is difficult to answer. These days a building is considered holy if the people building it intended it for ritual purposes ~ such as a church or mosque. Some churches are in buildings originally intended for prosaic uses, like converted warehouses. Here the place is usually consecrated by a bishop or other dignitary. This is not dissimilar to Wiccans creating a sacred Circle in a place that is not usually viewed as magical. We do not know what the old Druids did to make somewhere sacred, if they did anything at all. Can a ritual invest a place with magical energy that was not previously there? When a Circle is banished, or a church deconsecrated, the idea is that the priest (or a deity) can take the energy away again. How do you feel this is possible?
Many religions, including that practised by the old Druids, have recognised holiness as being naturally present in some special places such as forest glades, waterfalls, mountain peaks etc. Some places have a presence all their own, which requires no building to be plonked there by humans. To borrow the Roman term, they are numinous.
Since the 20th century people have talked of ley lines, and widely recognised the idea of an energy field radiated by the Earth itself. More specifically, we have the idea that the planet contains many forces and energies, that certain of these presences are stronger in some places than others. When we speak of naturally holy sites, perhaps what we really mean is that some places are very strong in a type of power that leaves us in awe. There is not just one sort of sacred place but many, each with its own qualities. Some places exhibit the power to heal minds or bodies (or both), others induce a sense of quiet contemplation, others fill us with vigour and excitement, yet others grant peace to the broken-hearted. Part of being a Druid is to be sensitive to the Land, to recognise what sort of qualities that meadow, woods, cave or house radiates. Having sensed what it is, the next step is to work with it. Having sensed that a place is deeply peaceful, it would be utterly arrogant to decide to conduct a victory ritual for success in battle. The activities carried out in a place must be in harmony with it. To do otherwise is like trying to carve wood against the grain.
Little is known of how the ancient Druids conducted ritual. Folklorists have suggested that some features of Irish Catholic practice, which have no particular root within Biblical or Vatican doctrine, may well be left-overs from an earlier age. An example of this is ritual circumambulation (walking round and round some holy relic or site.) In Catholic practice this is usually done in a sun-wise direction for a fixed number of times, usually whilst reciting a prayer or saying a rosary. This activity can be seen at Crogh Patrick to this very day. It is easy to imagine the old Druids walking round and round standing stones, sacred trees and other holy places whilst chanting. Some European temples have ambulatories (walk ways), believed to be used for this kind of contemplative processing. The temple remains unearthed at Heathrow also featured this sacred passageway. It is very evocative to imagine a whole tribe going on a torch-lit procession around a holy site, chanting and singing in honour of the old gods.
Regardless of what went on thousands of years ago, the Gods can still be contacted and honoured in the 21st century. Rather than following an exact formula, the important thing is to commune with the Gods and find out what they want. This can be done through meditation, clairvoyance, divination and various other means.
Sadly, the British lack the early literature that Greece, Rome and Egypt have about their ancient Gods. Our distant ancestors did not record their tales in written form. In fact, they don’t even appear to have inscribed the names of their Gods on altars and monuments until the impact of Rome. By the time myths were being written, in the Dark Ages and Medieval periods, it was by Christian monks. There were still polytheists around Ireland at that stage (far fewer in Wales and England), but anything that they may have written has not survived to modern times. Thus we no longer know how accurate the written myths are ~ we know the monks added bits, because some are very obvious (such as attempts to introduce Biblical figures to old stories.) However, some additions are not obvious, and we have no idea of what bits they may have cut out from the stories. Those stories recorded many centuries after mass conversion may have been written down by people who had no idea that they were anything other than quaint tales ~ they may not have understood that these funny characters were once Gods.
An example of a less obvious influence is the story of Lugh’s battle with Balor. It ends with Lugh killing the giant with a slingshot, which some historians feel might be the monks trying to create their own version of the David and Goliath tale. They may have added that story entirely, or they may have just changed the weapon to make it more “Biblical”, or it may just be a coincidence that the Irish legend is vaguely similar to the old Hebrew story. Historians just don’t know… though most historians do not actually believe Lugh exists, so it may explain why they do not consider actually asking Him if He approves of the tale.
Whilst on the topic of tales, it is worth pausing to look at the matter of language. All languages change over the centuries. To give an example, here are three short quotes all from English literature:
“… if gold ruste, what shal iren doo?
For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,
No wonder is a lewed man to ruste;
And shame it is, if a prest take keep,
A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep.”
Geoffrey Chaucer (writing in the late 1300’s)
“Thou do him lowly homage for the same.And for that purpose here I somon thee,
Repaire to France within these forty daies,
That there according as the coustome is,
Thou mayst be sworne true liegeman to our King”
William Shakespeare (writing two centuries later, in1596)
“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been”
Mary Shelley (writing just over 200 years later, in 1818)
Having briefly consider the nature of what makes a nemeton sacred, let us give some consideration to the nature of the wider Land. The Irish have a book of myths, a very old copy of which survives in a museum in Ireland, called the Lebor Gabala Erinn (The Book of the Takings of Ireland.) This was written by Irish monks, recording myths they had heard old people telling. At the time this book was being written down, Bishops in Wales were still sending missionaries over to Ireland to convert them to Christianity ~ there were still Pagans in Ireland as late as the 12th century, and perhaps even later than that.
The Lebor explains how five waves of invaders arrived in Ireland. The land was initially really quite small, but each wave created plains, lakes, mountains etc. Many of the references in the Lebor are picked up on in the Dindsenchas, a book full of topographical lore explaining how various landscape features got their names or were created by one mythical character or another. The monks who wrote this down believed they were recording actual history, but much of it is probably Pagan myth getting mixed up with historical events.
The land itself was essentially created by the deeds of gods, spirits and other magical characters. One particular episode involving the Fir Bolg is worth particular attention. However, we will give the general outline of the various arrivals and colonisations:
First a woman called Cesair sailed to Ireland (which was very small then) along with her father, two male friends and 149 women. The men each took a third of the women, and divided the land up between each small tribe. Cesair’s father died of exhaustion (all those women!) His wives were then married off to the other two men, one of whom who also died from the strain. The third man, Fintan, panicked and ran away. Cesair was grief-stricken and, as a result, a huge flood swept across the land and drowned all the women. Fintan survived by turning into a salmon.
The second wave were lead by a chieftain called Partholon, who arrived 312 years later at the feast of Beltane, when the flood receded. Fintan turned into a hawk, so he could sit and watch what happened. The followers of Partholon expanded the land, made fields, dug lakes and invented all sorts of human activities ~ like brewing and animal husbandry. They also had the first murder committed amongst them! They were all eventually wiped out by a plague, again on the feast of Beltane.
The third lot arrived 30 years later, and were the tribe of Nemed. They expanded the land still further, introduced more skills, and got attacked by underwater monsters called the Fomori. Their war against the monsters, who enslaved them and imposed terrible taxes, culminated in a huge battle that was ended by a tidal wave that drowned nearly everyone. Some Fomori survived, and slithered off into the sea. Some Nemedians survived, and went their separate ways ~ some to Britain, whilst some travelled the world.
The fourth wave were the Fir Bolgs, whose name may originate from the name of a continental tribe called the Belgae (who lived in what is now Belgium.) They were descended from those Nemedians who went travelling the world. They arrived at Lughnasadh, and did similar things to the previous lot. Their most important act was to divide Ireland into five provinces or coiced, which was pretty much how the country was run until the Normans invaded it in the 12th century. The fifth division of Meath was largely a symbolic one, seat of the High Kings. The four main provinces held the real power between them. The division of the land was a constant feature of myth and law, the Fir Bolg founders of each territory being:
Rudraighe, founder of Ulster,
Gann, founder of Connaught,
Slaine, founder of Leinster,
Sengann, founder of Munster
XXX founder of Meath.
The fifth wave brought the tribe of the goddess Danu, commonly called the Tuatha de Danann. They arrived at Beltane, descending from the sky on clouds which caused a fog to spread across the land for three days. When the mists cleared, the Fir Bolg (and Fintan, still perched in a tree) were amazed to see their fortresses and palaces all built. The Tuatha came from the Otherworld, where there were four major fortresses (a Celtic fortress was basically a large village with a strong wooden palisade and sometimes a moat around it.) Each fortress had its own druid who, as a parting gift, presented the Tuatha with a gift.
The fortress of Falias had a sage called Morfessa who gave a stone (maybe a monolith, but the actual size is never mentioned) that announces who the true kings of the new land are; the fortress of Gorias housed the wise man Esras who gave them a spear, which initially belonged to a god called Assal but eventually passed into the hands of Lugh, god of radiance (the spear is like a guided missile, always finding its target no matter how hard they try to hide, and returning on command); the fortress of Findias was home to Uscias who gave them the sword of light which was owned by Nuada, a god associated with healing and warfare ~ once unleashed, it always drew blood; finally the fortress of Murias had Semias who presented the Dagda with a magic cauldron that would produce whatever food the heart desired (but only as much as the individual deserved to have ~ dishonourable people getting virtually nothing.)
Equipped with these magical gifts, the Tuatha set about governing Ireland. The Fir Bolg refused to share the land, so a huge battle ensued. The Fir Bolg were defeated and agreed to live in the province of Connaught. All was well for a while, until the Fomori come back out from the bottom of the sea and attacked. The Tuatha tried to make peace, and some even married the Fomori. However, the Fomori installed a bad king (who is half Tuatha, half Fomori) who caused mayhem. Eventually the Tuatha deposed him, and a second massive battle occurred. A great deal happened in this battle, but the important point was that the Tuatha won.
Humanity arrived after a few centuries, under the leadership of a man called Mil. The Tuatha agreed that humans could reign over the surface world, and that they would go and live in caves under the earth (beautiful caves, not grotty damp ones!)
This myth is not about the creation of the world, just about how Ireland developed. Some Christian fundamentalists may believe the story of Eden is absolutely true, but very few (if any) modern Druids believe that Celtic myths are real historical accounts. Rather they are stories, metaphors for understanding the world and the way the Gods and other spirits relate to each other, and to us. No direct parallel myth survives in the Welsh annals, but they were recorded at a late enough date that a great deal was doubtless lost. Whilst we cannot automatically assume that every Celtic tribe had similar myths, it is interesting to speculate as to the lost British creation myth. Did we once have tales about a wave of deities carving up the land into territories? If so, how many territories were there ~ five, or more? Maybe these territories, like the Irish ones, had patron gods and maybe the number was echoed in other tales (the way the four major provinces are echoed by the four cities of the Tuatha and their four sacred Hallows)?
Alas we may never know the answers to these questions. Unless the Land herself speaks to us, and we stop yapping long enough to listen.
Questions:
When conducting solitary rituals, do you use the same level of ceremony as when working with others? Have you ever conducted or participated in a “public” ritual, where there were observers unfamiliar with what was happening? If so, did you change the nature of the ceremony in anyway?
What are the legends associated with the place in which you live? How well do you relate to the locale, its stories and spirits?
Can the holiness of a place be spoilt or desecrated? If so, how? If it can be violated, can it also be restored (and by what means)?
Practical exercise:
If you have completed this book and haven’t totally lost interest in the topic, this is the time to leave the theory behind and start on the practice! Create your sacred space, choose the venue carefully and get on good terms with the spirits there. Conduct your first ritual ~ to mark the season, to honour the local spirits, or simply to celebrate Life itself.