The Druid Network

Ideas for honouring Lughnassadh

• Host or attend community “games” such as sack races and other fun activities
• Plan a barbeque and invite friends to celebrate
• Go to a berry farm and pick berries – they are in season now!
• Leave an offering of berries outside
• Think of the many skills you have to offer

I. Skills

When was the last time you took an inventory of all of your skills and talents? Lugh got the opportunity when he first went to Tara…

When Lugh first arrived at Tara on his white horse, on a cold and rainy evening, he was greeted at the door by the doorman.

“No person is admitted to Tara unless they have a useful art to offer us”

“Not hard” said Lugh, “I am a warrior”

“We already have many warriors”

“I am a smith”

“We have Gobhniu, a very fine smith.”

“I am a physician”

“Dianchecht is our physician”

On and on it went: poet, seer, brewer, artisan, etc. There was one of each craft in Tara!

Finally Lugh said “Go and ask if there is a man or woman in Tara skilled in all of these things. If not, then allow me entrance for I am a master of every art.”

The doorman asked the assembly at Tara, who were just sitting down to eat and they were intrigued. They wanted to see if this man really could do what he claimed he could.

Lugh was admitted and proved his skill in all areas tried.

His skill in all things inspired Nuadha to grant kingship to Lugh for a year, which proved to be beneficial in the second battle of Magh Tuireadh.

Questions to Ponder:

1. What skills do you have? Take an inventory if you don’t think you have a lot…you’d be amazed at what you can do but never thought of!
2. How can you use these skills to serve the Gods, the Community and yourself?
3. What skills do you have that you haven’t used too much lately?

II. Celebrating Diversity and Bridging the Gap

Looking at the wars in the world and even in the conflicts in our own lives, one has to ask where conflict comes from and why it usually ends up on a sour note. Is it not possible for human beings to find common ground and get along?

To promote healing on this level, I believe several factors must be in place:

• Understanding
• Respect for the other’s perception (not necessarily agreement)
• A mutual agreement to find common ground

It is well known that every person is different. We have different skin colours, beliefs, fingerprints, abilities, weaknesses, genetic makeup and personalities. With these variants in each person on all levels, it is easy to see where conflict can come from.

Usually conflict comes from differences in opinions, beliefs or personality. We see it in the wars that are fought over idealistic differences (or because someone wants someone else’s assets), we see it in our own daily conflicts.

It is easy for us to look upon someone different than ourselves with hate or revulsion because we do not understand that person’s viewpoint or understand why they do not believe or behave the same as us. We’ve all felt it in some form or another. Sometimes, it can be explained, other times we don’t like a person but we just can’t figure out why…something about them bugs us!

The gift of diversity in humankind can be both a blessing and curse. A blessing in the sense that there is a rich tapestry of cultures, beliefs, ideologies and types of people out there, and a curse because these differences can often clash.

Take a look at someone you do not particularly like. It is probably not easy to list that person’s positive qualities or even to just see that person having the same worries, loves and dreams as we do. Even harder is to see these things in a former lover with whom we have broken things off badly, but not because of things like abuse or criminal activity.

Hard as it is to imagine, I often find myself having to step back and look at that person and think that perhaps that person may seem repulsive to me, but is loved and valued by someone else. Someone out there finds that person worthy of love. Someone out there thinks that person is wonderful. Someone out there is very similar to that person and can see the good qualities where I cannot.

While my ex whatever might not have worked out well for me, perhaps he has found the love of his life who sees nothing but good and commonality in him. Perhaps I would be happier in another workplace with people who are more like me…I may not be the problem at work, but my difference might be creating a rift. Perhaps I just need to work out my differences and accept things as they are and work to find a common ground in these situations.

Not all of us are made to be compatible with everyone, which just adds to the problem of conflict.

Several factors come into play with conflict:

• Ego – The ego is a part of the self that is not necessarily such a bad thing. However, the ego is that little part of us that wants to be recognized and wants to be right. Every human personality has an ego…everyone wants to be seen as right. When people make choices or find things in life that work well for them and they all want to share their good fortune with others. This is nice, but often it becomes a sales pitch and then feelings of being snubbed if the other person does not completely follow suit. We’ve all been guilty of that at one point or another. What must be remembered is that while something might work wonders for one person, it may be a disaster for the next person.
• Irreconcilable differences – People are different and sometimes those differences clash so much that it seems there cannot be a common solution for both parties. Extreme religious differences are a common theme in today’s world, but these differences can affect people on all levels.
• Assault or Abuse – Conflict can also arise when one party makes an attack on the other.
• Misunderstanding – In a lot of conflicts, someone has misunderstood the words or intentions of another which has led to a rift in friendships or associations.

As I mentioned before, three things are helpful in order to promote healing and understanding:

• Understanding of the reasoning behind a person’s difference of being or belief – Knowledge is power and often the simple understanding of another’s difference can help make things easier to work with when trying to reach a resolution
• Respect for the other person’s perception – We do not always have to agree with another’s viewpoint, but we should at least respect that they have a viewpoint and probably good reason to think that way.
• Mutually agreeing on common ground – We can agree to disagree and find a way to make things work well for both of us…a compromise in other words.

There are some situations where no solution can be reached and the best thing is to separate the two parties…such as cases of abuse. An abuser cannot be changed, nor should one try. One must protect oneself, but one can also ensure steps are taken so that further conflict can be lessened or avoided by involving the proper authorities.

What must be remembered is that we are only responsible for our own actions, not those of other people. We cannot change another person or their ways, but we can change how we react to the situation. We can take the steps to work with the other person to make the situation accommodating for both differences. If they choose not to, we can at least respect that that person has a difference and just avoid a conflict.

Today’s tale comes from Wales and is about how a man loses the love of his life because he cannot see things the way she does in three separate situations.

The young wife of the farmer Blaensawdde near Llanddeusant in Carmarthenshire had lost her husband in one of the many wars raging between England and Wales, leaving her widowed and pregnant.

However, she did not let the loss of her husband prevent her from running his farm successfully and raising their child. She never did remarry.

As the child grew into a man, he found that he was having trouble finding a wife. Like his mother, he would give his heart once and for life, so he would not take the matter of finding a wife lightly.

One morning, while watching his sheep on the higher slopes of the Black Mountain by the banks of Llyn Y Fan Fach (a lake), he saw a strange rippling in the water. Shortly after, he saw the most beautiful woman sitting on a large rock in the lake. He was drawn to her and felt that this was the one he would give his heart to…and he did.

Unfamiliar with the wooing of a woman, the young farmer offered the lady some bread.

“You won’t catch me that easily!” she said. “Your bread is too hard.”

He blinked and she was gone. He was heart broken, and went home to tell his mother about what he had seen.

His mother suggested that perhaps unbaked bread might be more to her liking (Being made from fire, a water person might not like it), and the next morning he took the unbaked bread and waited by the water. Sure enough, the lady appeared again and he offered her the unbaked bread.

“I will not have you.” She said. “Your bread is unbaked!”

She disappeared again and he was heart broken. What to do?

Again, he told his mother what happened and she said to him:

“Well, she has shown up twice…perhaps she will show again. She obviously has taken a fancy to you, but you have to bridge the gap with the right thing. Try half baked bread and see if that works.”

He brought some half-baked bread to the lake the next morning before the sun came up thinking perhaps early morning would be a better time. He ended up waiting all day and at night he threw the bread into the centre of the lake and said “I have no gold or riches to give you…just this bread made from the grains of my land’s rich earth and formed by my own hands. It is all I have, save myself, which you would have forever.”

He then turned and began to walk away. He looked back and there she was on the shore of the lake.

“I will have you for you have offered what any good and true man has to offer. Be warned that I will leave you if you strike me with three causeless blows, even if they are gentle ones.”

He couldn’t imagine ever raising a hand to a woman of the fairie folk and one so fair and lovely as she. They went home together and he was completely smitten with her. His first order of business after they were married was to move him, his new wife and his mother down the side of the mountain to Esgair Llaethdy near Myddfai. This would make it easier for his aging mother to get into town and he could show off his new wife!

In the spring, their first child was born and it was time to get the little one Christened, but his wife kept delaying until he finally became impatient. It was a hot summer day when they were to get the baby christened and the sun blazed down.

“We will be late…hurry up!” he said and patted her back to hurry her out the door. The clouds covered the sun and she then took the baby out with him.

“You do not see what I see.” His wife said. “If we had left before the clouds covered the sun, our baby would have died from the heat. This is your first causeless blow…be careful!” He was surprised but very penitent about what he had done…what he swore he’d never do.

Some time later, his wife bore another child and the couple was invited to a relative’s wedding. They left the children with their grandmother and attended the wedding. All went well, but the lady began to weep after the ceremony. Her husband patted her arm and said “There, there…don’t cry. This is a happy occasion!”

“I weep for the sorrow they do not see and that you cannot see. This is your second causeless blow. Be warned!” He was distraught that he had done this again without thinking. Later on that winter, the bride had slipped on some ice and died, just as the Fairie lady had foreseen.

In the autumn, another child was born to the couple. The man who had lost his wife died of an illness and the couple attended his funeral. Everyone was sad, but the Fairie lady began to laugh gaily.

“What are you doing laughing at a funeral??” he asked, slapping her lightly, thinking she was hysterical.

“You do not see what I see, but I know that his sorrow is over since the loss of his wife and he is reunited with her in the Otherworld. They are happy! You have struck your third and final causeless blow. I may not love, laugh or weep as your kind do, but I will be very sad to part with you as I now must. I know no death and no end to joy or pain and this pain will last through the rest of my days.”

He was heartbroken as she returned to the waves of the lake, but raised their three sons in loving memory of her. As they had the blood of the Otherworld in their veins, they became fabulous healers…and were the first of a long line of Physicians in Myddfai (Meddygon Myddfai) that were famed throughout Wales. Their father and grandmother were both proud of their accomplishments and it is not known whether their mother visited them frequently or not to give them advice.

Questions to ponder:

1. Has a mere understanding of a difference in opinion or lifestyle caused a rift between you and another person?
2. Have you felt that this might have happened to you with someone else misunderstanding you?
3. How do you deal with the differences of other abilities, opinions, race, personality type or religious beliefs?
4. What do you think would be the solution for peace between people of all differences? What would your solution be if you could implement it?
5. How can you take the steps in your every day life to “bridge gaps” and create healing between yourself and people you may be alienating (or may be alienating you) because of a difference?
6. Can you see any way that the farmer could have approached things differently with his Otherworldly wife?

III. A Doomed Mouse and the Folly of Revenge

At one given time or another, we have all been wronged and feel the need to take revenge upon the offending party. While revenge may be a “dish best served” cold, or even “better than Christmas” (as Elvira would say), few revenge stories ever have a beneficial outcome for anyone!

What it all boils down to is that revenge is nothing but the act of doing harm to another in place of Universal Justice or Cosmic Law. Some may argue that when we take revenge, we are possibly the instruments of Universal Justice. Is that the case or are we really deluding ourselves into losing our self-control for the sake of temporary self-satisfaction? Is Universal Law not capable of meting out its own justice?

It is human nature to expect retribution for wrongs done against us.
Lawyers would not make nearly as much money as they do if this were not the case!

The Brehon Laws in Ireland were a fine example of a form of law where very little physical harm was done to offenders, but retribution was paid nonetheless! Laws involving physical punishment, etc. in Ireland actually came with the Christians, who took their law from the Romans.

Until that time, the harshest punishment seemed to be banishment from the person’s homeland. One such form of punishment was putting the person “beyond the 9th wave”. The offender would be put into a boat with no oars or rations and taken out beyond the 9th wave of the sea.

If the boat and the person returned alive, it was considered that the Gods had decided the person was punished enough and the person was welcomed back into society. Otherwise, the person was left to fate.

Everyone had a value in Irish society and any offence done against a person would be met with the offender having to pay that person’s honour price. The higher the rank (and the greater the offence), the higher the cost to the offender. Once the offender paid the price in full, the case was dropped and the person was obliged to return to ordinary life. People would accept him back into society and life would supposedly carry on.

If the person was not able or willing to pay, then the person was ousted. The other people were not permitted to speak to him and the laws of hospitality did not apply. Any person caught harbouring such an offender would be considered an accomplice. Once the person paid up, the ban on his person was lifted and that was the end of it.

If a person still did not pay after being banished, the victim’s family would then be permitted to take him hostage and do unto him as they pleased until they felt the price had been paid.

Providing the appropriate costs to the victim’s family had been paid in full, Irish law seemed to be quite forgiving. Only after repeated refusal could the family then exact justice upon the offender on their own. This form of law remained in effect until the
19th century when conventional law finally took over. Laws of vengeance against the person did not seem to fully apply like they do in some countries today.

This tells me that vengeance was not an ideal highly valued by the Irish people or their lawmakers. To lose face with one’s kin seemed to be a punishment worse than pain or death!

The Welsh have an interesting story of revenge and how much harm it can do on both sides. A mouse almost met a terrible end at the gallows! In this case, the ending was beneficial because one party was able to think clearly through his ordeal.

Manawyddan and Pryderi, Rhiannon and Kicva were great friends and lived in the realm of Dyfedd. One day, as they sat upon a hill enjoying lunch, thunder struck and a mist arose. When the mist cleared, Dyfedd was spoiled and barren. There were no people or animals anywhere to be seen!

The four friends traveled throughout the land, looking for any form of life. They settled down to three years of living wildly before they became tired of it.

They went to Lloegyr and Mannawyddan set up shop as a saddler in Hereford. Fine saddles did he make and soon people would not buy saddles from anyone except him. This naturally angered the other saddlers and the four friends were soon forced to move.

Not long after, they settled down in another city where Mannawyddan and Pryderi made shields. So well-made were their shields that the people would not buy them from anyone else. Of course, the other shield makers became angered and again the four were run out of town.

They then settled in yet another city and took up shop as shoemakers. Again, the people liked their shoes best and the other shoemakers became angered at their business being taken away from them.

Back they went to Dyfedd and lived once again on hunting and living off the land.

One day, while hunting, Pryderi and Mannawyddan’s dogs came upon a boar and they chased it. It ran into a castle that neither man could remember seeing before and the dogs followed…but they did not emerge.

The two men waited and still the dogs and the boar did not come out.

“I’ll go in and see what’s keeping them.” Pryderi said finally.

“I would not do that if I were you…” Mannawyddan warned. “That castle was not there before and it seems that the same enchantment that took our homes has taken our dogs and boar!”

They waited awhile longer and still the dogs did not emerge.

Pryderi ignored Mannawyddan’s warning and went into the castle. The dogs and boar were nowhere to be found, but he did see a beautiful golden bowl suspended from the ceiling on golden chains. It was so beautiful that he was compelled to touch it.

No sooner did his hands touch the bowl, but he found himself stuck to it and his feet stuck to the floor.

Evening fell and Mannawyddan grew worried. He went into the castle and found Pryderi stuck to the bowl and the floor. Knowing better than to touch Pryderi, he went back to where the others were waiting and relayed the tale.

Rhiannon, his wife, was annoyed at Mannawyddan’s cowardice and marched down to the castle herself. She grabbed Pryderi and found herself stuck to him!

Mannawyddan waited outside and the thunder clapped again. The castle vanished into thin air with Rhiannon and Pryderi.

Now Mannawyddan was left alone with Kicva, Pryderi’s wife. He comforted her and because they had no dogs to help with the hunting, they left Dyfedd and went to another city where Mannawyddan set up shop as a shoemaker again. It was not long before the other jealous shoemakers ran them both out of town!

This time Mannawyddan took with him wheat seeds and sowed them in Dyfedd. They grew like magic. When it came time to harvest them, however, the wheat was gone.

The second crop grew beautifully but when Mannawyddan went to reap it, the wheat was gone. Mannawyddan knew someone or something was cutting down his wheat and he suspected it had something to do with whoever took Pryderi and Rhiannon.

When it came time to reap the third crop, Mannawyddan stayed outside and watched it, fully armed. He was astonished to see a whole army of mice converge on his wheat! Each mouse bit off an ear off the wheat and made off with it. He ran after them and caught one particularly slow one.

He took the mouse home and showed it to Kicva.

“I have found one of the culprits!” He said. “And tomorrow, I shall hang it.”

“Hang a mouse?” Kicva asked. “Surely that is below your status to hang a little mouse!”

“True, but I shall hang it anyway.”

“Go ahead…” She said, thinking perhaps he’d gone mad with the recent events.

The next day, Mannawyddan began to erect a tiny gallows at the magic mound when a poor scholar came upon him.

“What are doing?” He asked.

“Hanging a dirty thief!” Said Mannawyddan.

The scholar looked around for the thief but only saw the mouse in Mannawyddan’s hand.

“Surely you are not referring to the mouse…” The man said. “Why not let it go?”

“Absolutely not. It robbed me and will die like the thief that it is!” Said Mannawyddan.

“I’ll pay you a piece of copper if you let it go…” Offered the scholar.

“No thank you.” Replied Mannawyddan. “This mouse shall hang for its crimes!”

“Have it your way” said the scholar and he left.

Mannawyddan returned to building his gallows when a priest came by on a horse. Upon hearing what Mannawyddan planned, he offered him 3 copper pieces.

“A mouse is hardly worth it.” Said the priest. “But I’d rather pay you let the filthy creature go than dirty your hands further with it!”

“Nope.” Replied Mannawyddan. “This mouse is going to hang and that’s it!”

“Have it your way…” Said the priest and he rode away.

Not long afterwards, a travelling bishop came by and inquired about Mannawyddan’s activities for he saw Mannawyddan place the string around the mouse’s neck.

“I have pieces of silver here that I will give you in exchange for the mouse’s life.” Said the bishop.

“No.” Said Mannawyddan. “A thief must die a thief’s death…even if it is a mouse.”

“I have more money than that even…” Said the bishop. “Will you let it go?”

“No”

“How about all of my possessions?”

“No.” Replied Mannawyddan, standing his ground.

“Name you price…” Said the Bishop.

“All right.” Replied Mannawyddan. “Rhiannon and Pryderi must be set free.”

“No problem” Said the bishop.

“Also…I will not set it free until the charm is lifted from Dyfedd!”

“Done”

“Also…who is the mouse?”

“I am Llwyd, the son of Kilcoed, and I cast the charm over Dyfed, and upon Rhiannon and Pryderi, to avenge Gwawl son of Clod for a trick which was played on him by Pwyll. My people came in the guise of mice and took away your wheat. This particular mouse is my wife. Since you’ve got her and are going to kill her, I will restore Dyfedd and let your people go.”

“On top of that, you must promise that you will not place anymore charms on Dyfedd or its people.”

“Done”

…And you will not take any more revenge!”

“Smart you were to make that demand.” Said Llwyd. “For I surely would have tried something else. But since you bind me to this promise, I will not undertake any more revenge.”

“Now, before I let your wife go…” Continued Mannawyddan. “I must see my people and lands restored.”

Rhiannon and Pryderi appeared unharmed and they were very happy to see Mannawyddan.

“All right…let’s have my wife back.” Said Llwyd.

Mannawyddan surrendered the mouse and Llwyd touched it with his wand. The mouse turned into the fairest woman Mannawyddan had ever seen.

Upon looking around, Mannawyddan saw that Dyfedd was returned to its original state.

Thanks to Mannawyddan’s clear thinking despite his troubles, he was able to restore his lands and his friends…almost at the cost of a mouse’s life!

To me, this shows that revenge and deceit bear little benefit to either party other than a lot of grief and perhaps more dangerous outcomes. Many people feel that they can be the bearers of Universal Justice, but Universal Justice more often manifests through accidents and chance than by conscious harm by another person (although, I suppose it can happen). Binding another or doing ill will against them is still harm, no matter what they have done.

Leave the evil-doers to their own for they will surely find their justice!

Questions to ponder:

1. Can you think of a time you have taken revenge or tried to exact justice upon another (not through the legal routes)? Was it beneficial to you in the end?
2. Has anyone ever taken revenge upon you? What was the outcome?
3. Can you think of a time when universal justice has worked on its own against an offender?
4. Can you think of a time when doing things “by the book” has produced better results than what you may have originally planned?
5. As you look towards brighter days, how can you work to remain just within yourself and benevolent towards others?