Head (Immortality)
For the Celts, and many other indigenous peoples, the head carries the essence of a person - even after death. Considering what we will leave to future generations after our death often gives maturity and perspective to daily activities.
Invoking the Refinement of Character.
In their artwork, the Celts frequently exaggerated the size of the human head and portrayed facial features, hair, and expression in the eyes with consistently finer detail than given to other parts of the human body. A large head might be expertly carved, with little attention given to the rest of the body and with limbs appearing diminutive by comparison. The large size and refined detail of the head give the image a lively, immediate, and personal character. Even apart from accompanying symbols, one senses that the expression alone relays identity and, by inference, an epic tale or heroic account.
Greek and Roman writers were ready to criticize the much-feared Celts and inform us that they practiced head-hunting, decapitating the victims of war and keeping the heads as trophies or offering them in shrines dedicated to the purpose. In southern Gaul at Roquepertuse, a shrine-portico from the second century was arrayed with niches containing skulls of young men who had died in battle. Epics from ancient Ireland and Wales portrayed warriors collecting the heads of battle victims. Even into the nineteenth century, the heads of Christian saints were thought to endow wells with holiness and healing powers and the heads of evil people to poison a well.
The well-known tale of Bran the Blessed (Bendigeidfran) from the Welsh Mabinogion is a fine example of the divine properties thought to be encapsulated in the head. Bran was of supernormal size and of the royal family ap Llyr of Harlech in Wales. His sister Branwen was married to the king of Ireland, who, upon returning with her to Ireland, treated her as a servant. In time, Branwen trained a young starling to speak and sent it across to Wales to relay her plight to Bran, who immediately mobilized his armies against Ireland. Bran's forces won, but only seven warriors survived, and Bran himself was fatally wounded in the heel by a poisoned spear. Bran then summarily commanded his men:
"And take the head and carry it to Gwynfryn [White Mount] in London," said Bendigeidfran, "and bury it with its face toward France. You will be on the road for a long time: you will be feasting in Harlech for seven years with the birds of Rhiannon singing to you, and the head will be as good company for you as it ever was when it was on me. Then you will be in gwales in Pembroke eighty years, and until you open the door toward Aber Henfelen... you can remain there, and the head untainted, will be with you. But from the time you open the door you cannot remain there, go to London and bury the head.... Then his head was struck off, and the seven men and Branwen as the eighth began the crossing.
IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are invited to refine your character. Your character will outlast the death of your physical body. In the Celtic imagination, the refinement or coarseness of your character continues after death. The head of a person even converses with companions and endows wells and shrines with personal properties. Most religious traditions worldwide aver the continuity from life to death in some form, whether it be immortality, reincarnation, or the memories of future generations. Even if you do not personally believe in a form of life after death, considering what you leave to future generations after your death will give maturity and perspective to your daily activities.
Having drawn this oracle does not suggest that death is close, but that your present circumstances give you a unique opportunity to focus on refining your character. You are urged to look carefully at the people and challenges in your life that invite greater subtlety and nobility.
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