Today's Oracle 27th March 2021

Stag (Wild Nature)

The king of the forest, the stag deer represents dignity and potency in life. By bringing the quality of dignity to passion, the stag focuses the passionate, wild, and sometimes unruly forces within and outside our own natures.

Invoking the Union of Focus and Passion.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you want to act from the passionate and spontaneous side of your nature. Yet your passions are still unruly, creating disorder within and around you. By bringing focus to your passions, you can harness the passionate and sometimes unruly forces within your own nature. Without this inner focus, even creative passions can generate tension and conflict. In emulating the quiet dignity and watchfulness of the stag, you can skilfully command your passions and create harmony in your life affairs.

The stag represents the wildness of nature. Associated with Cernunnos, the Lord of the Animals, and the goddesses of the sacred hunt, the stag acquired divine status among the Iron Age Celts. The stag's noble presence among the animals, its branching antlers resembling mature trees, and potency and aggression during the rutting season, epitomize the great forests of old Europe over which the stag presided as King of the Forest. The stag represents the noble and wild passions within all of nature.

In the Camonica Valley of northern Italy, cave walls contain rock drawings dating from the late Neolithic people through the Bronze and Iron Age Celts. The Celts were renowned hunters and their numerous stag images on cave walls indicate a reverence for the stag and an eagerness for the sacred hunt. Images from the fourth and seventh centuries portray stag like or antlered hunters, suggesting shape-shifting or, at least, an intimate correspondence with the quarry. Dominating over three-quarters of the religious imagery, drawings of the stag are often blended with another powerful Celtic image, the sun. At times, the rays of the sun appear as antlers, signifying a common sovereignty. Attesting to the stag's noble, if not divine, status, one rock drawing shows a circle of figures dancing or praying around a stag with tremendous antlers.

A synthesis of archaeological and mythological evidence points to the stag as symbolizing wild nature, the King of the Forest. Ancient Gaul was heavily forested, as was England and Ireland. The stag's antlers branching like a tree into the sky, together with its speed, dignity, and carriage, imply a noble signature among the forest animals.

Typically, the stag is associated in Celtic mythology with Cernunnos, the Lord of the Animals. The Gundestrup Cauldron depicts an antlered Cernunnos with his familiar companion, the true stag. Perhaps resplendent of an older tradition, goddesses are closely linked with the stag, especially when power and fertility are invoked. The Irish goddess Flidhais, who kept herds of deer as though they were cattle, seems to personify the wild and fertile nature of the surrounding forest. A goddess presiding over the sacred hunt of the stag was found buried with a Celtic warrior in an Iron Age site at Strettweg in Austria.

Lastly, in the Christian era, the deer is associated with St. Patrick in Ireland: The king has sent men to ambush Patrick on every road leading to his court at Tara. Patrick passes the soldiers with his company of eight young clerics, followed by Benen carrying Patrick's writing tablets on his back. The men pass unnoticed, appearing as deer followed by a fawn with a white bird perched on its shoulder.

The stag's sovereignty amid the wildness of nature is quiet, alert, and reserved - ample balance for the virility and power within. In walking quietly and attentively in danger, remaining calm and alert under stress, and meeting each situation with the right balance of speed and strength, the stag models inner and outer poise and self-control. A calm and steady focus will allow you to remain calm in any situation, as though you were walking serenely in a forest. However unruly your nature or the situation, a one-pointed focus will bring power and strength to your actions.

Today's Oracle 26th March 2021

 Sun god (god of the Sky)

The power and return of the sun has been acclaimed and honoured for thousands of years. The warmth and light of the sun kindles the life-giving potential of the earth's biosphere. The sun's qualities are majesty, radiance, fertility, and beauty.

Invoking the Qualities of Power and Radiance.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are sensing a fiery power emanating toward you or from within you. You marvel at the majesty of the sky world and the delicate fabric of life stirred by sunlight. You cannot seem to get enough sunlight. The brilliance of light attracts you. You may want to wear bright jewelry, or even be attracted to precious gems, especially diamonds.

The power of the sun to give light and warmth and its return each day have been revered for thousands of years, from the time of the Bronze and Iron Age Celts. Portrayed as a spoked wheel or swastika, the sun rolls across the firmament pulled by a chariot and team of horses. Among the Romanised Celts, a powerful sky god brandishes his solar wheel as a shield as he crushes the head of a monster with his foot or hand. The sun god signifies majesty, power, radiance, fertility, and beauty.

The sun gives warmth, light, and cycles to the year and is therefore associated with the giving of life, fertility of the crops, and the conquering of menacing forces. Complementary to the earth's primal power over life, the sun touches the earth and sparks the life already there. From archaeological evidence from the Bronze and Iron Age through the mythological period, the allusion to sexual coupling is obvious: the warmth of the sun enters the moist interior of the earth where life begins. Solar images adorn the bodies and are conveyed by goddesses and gods alike. In the Camonica Valley in northern Italy, the Celts of the late Bronze and Iron Age carved on cave walls solar images, round disks or spoked wheels held aloft or volleyed by human figures. The Gundestrup Cauldron bears the image of a magnificent sky god portrayed as being upheld, perhaps conveyed, by a wheel. Small clay figures of young goddesses are affixed with sun wheels surrounding their bodies or adorning their breasts, bellies, and thighs. Images of the sun and earthly abundance appear to harmonize in the Celtic imagination. Though sun images are primarily associated with male deities and images of earthly abundance with mother goddesses, it is not uncommon to find goddesses associated with sun wheels and gods carrying cornucopias and signs of a prosperous harvest.

Images of the sun wheel and swastikas, sometimes accompanied by a chariot and horse, on cave walls, coins, and armour, distill in imagery the mythic portrayal of the sun conveyed across the sky by a chariot and a team of horses. Perhaps only an animal as prestigious as a horse could accompany the sun. Epona, the horse goddess, is sometimes accompanied by solar imagery.

Solar deities in the Roman period, however, became increasingly masculine and fierce, though benevolent toward those they protected. Borrowing some of Jupiter's appearance from the Romans, the Celtic Jupiter is a powerful god, portrayed as standing and holding his solar wheel authoritatively. He frequently appears as a victor and as a god of generous mien and majesty, mounted on a horse and brandishing his (entirely Celtic) solar wheel like a shield against the enemy. Beneath him, pressed down by his foot or hand, is a monstrous, serpent like creature. The Celtic Jupiter is a warrior god, conquering the hideous forces troubling human life.

Two of the great fire festivals of the Celtic world, Beltaine at the coming of summer (May 1) and Lughnasa at the coming of the harvest (August 1), ritualise fire as the sun's semblance on earth. The cycles of the sun bring life. Celebrated into the nineteenth century, a midsummer celebration in Germany, for example, involved setting a wheel of straw on fire and rolling it down a mountain into the Moselle River. If the wheel reached the river still ablaze, a good wine harvest was foreseen. Similarly, the great fire festival of the Christian year, Easter, became associated in time with the sun. On Easter, the country people in Ireland rose early in the morning in hopes of seeing the "sun dancin' in the sky."

Drawing this oracle suggests that you have an opportunity to attract majesty and radiance to your character and attitude toward life. This is your time in the sun, a time to shine, bringing a sparkling quality to your own life as well as to others'. If you are attracted to a spiritual path, you may sense an inner light that propels you to focus more intensely on your meditations, prayers, or practices toward gaining enlightenment.

The sun's constancy and radiance invariably help to instil confidence and assurance. Positioning your life within the sun's beneficence brings balance to the flow of ordinary life events. In sensing the constancy of movement beneath change, hard times will bestow resilient and bountiful times, steadiness, and hope. By mindfully drawing closer to the sun's radiance, your life will seem more buoyant, majestic, powerful, and inspiring.

Today's Oracle 25th March 2021

Brigit, the Snake and Fire goddess (Transformation)

The snake goddess is associated with midwifery, smithing, and the fostering of the creative arts. Her capacity for change and renewal inspires creativity in challenging situations, and enhances our capacity to meet old circumstances with renewed vision. Her qualities are imagination, intuition, and vision.

Invoking the Qualities of Imagination, Intuition, and Vision.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting change and regeneration into your life. The snake goddess brings creativity and power. Domestic activities, family and friends, and circumstances close to daily activities are likely to be sources of breakthrough and insight. Old and fossilized circumstances and relationships may begin to breathe with new life, vision, and activity. Creative projects, artistic pursuits, and unexpected insights may appear in ordinary circumstances. New and creative ideas may present themselves while conversing with friends and family or while engaged in everyday activities. Now is a good time to watch for newness and allow your imagination to roam freely.

Aligned with snakes and with fire, Brigit is the guardian of transformation and change. Present in moments of creativity and vision, she presides as midwife, prophetess, and patron of the arts, especially of poetry, hospitality, healing, breast-feeding, and the brewing of beer. The young and beautiful Brigit is composed, vigorous, passionate — and usually a virgin. Her presence inspires creativity and the capacity to meet old circumstances with renewed vision.

The Goddess Brigit, who also appears in Christianity as St. Brigit, figures powerfully in the Celtic world. In many ways, Brigit is a youthful composite of all the attributes and symbols of the Celtic goddesses. Derived from the Gaelic word brig, the name Brigit means "High and Exalted One." Often appearing as three sisters, she is identified with the transforming power of the Dark Goddess herself.

Brigit's special symbols are snakes, fire, and sometimes the cow. Surrounded by snakes, Brigit remains close to the earth, lending authority to transformation and change. As a child is about to be born, the attending women intone softly to invoke her presence and assistance. In Christian legend, she is known as the midwife to Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. Aligned with the element of fire to forge and mould, Brigit also presides over the hearth of the blacksmith and over imagination, vision, and prophecy. This excerpt from a simple prayer from the Scottish Highlands invokes her to shield men and women from danger at night, inspire song, and give guidance:

"I am under the shielding of good Brigit each day
I am under the shielding of good Brigit each night
I am under the keeping Of the Nurse of Mary
Each early and late, every dark, every light
Brigit is my comrade-woman
Brigit is my maker of song
Brigit is my helping-woman,
My choicest of women, my woman of guidance."

The first of February (or the thirteenth of February by the old style) is the Feast of the Bride - Brigit - celebrating the coming of spring. Brigit, as a serpent, emerges from the brown hills and turns winter to spring. Fragments of the ancient songs still survive:

"The serpent will come from the hole On the brown Day of Bride
Though there should be three feet of snow On the flat surface of the ground."

Snakes shed their dry old skin only to grow new skin. Close to the Otherworld and its powers, Brigit's snakes signify creativity as well as caution. The presence of regeneration can transform positively or can manipulate others and circumstances for personal gain. The otherworldly powers of the snake not only inspire but may also confuse, resulting in mistaking your own desires for the needs of others and even turning into trickery and deceit what may have appeared to be a worthy pursuit. Check your intuitions with the counsel of those you trust to tell you the truth.

By remaining open-hearted and generous to all, you will experience renewed vitality in everyday encounters and activities as you attract the qualities of imagination, intuition, and vision into your life.

Today's Oracle 24th March 2021

 Will O' the Wisp - Jack O'Lantern (Fire)

Will O' the Wisp is too bad for heaven and too clever for hell. He therefore forever wanders the countryside with a wisp of light. Using the creativity of fire unwisely or selfishly brings misfortune. Seek to use creativity and talent with generosity and compassion.

Invoking the Use of Creativity and Talent.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, your creativity and talent may be going astray. A wise person uses his or her creativity wisely and unselfishly. Are you undervaluing your talents and skills and therefore undermining your endeavours? Are you withholding your strengths? hoarding them? trivializing them? neglecting them? overlooking their potential and not attending to their development? Are you supporting your talents through proper diet, exercise, and rest?

Will O' the Wisp was a poor and quick-witted man who ill used his talents taunting his neighbours, including the devil. Some say he was an awful man who always got the upper hand with his neighbours, and even with the devil. When Willy died, he was welcome neither in heaven nor hell. He still wanders about the Irish bogs at night with a lantern or his nose afire. His presence signifies the fires of creativity and talent and their right use in the world.

Mysterious lights are seen on the bogs in Ireland at night. Holding a wisp, a lantern, or with his own nose ablaze to illumine his way in the dark, poor Willy the Wisp (also known as Jack O' Lantern) forever wanders the countryside. "Willy the Wisp ... refused admittance of heaven and hell, was given a wisp for light by the devil. And Willy goes about lonesome places from that day to this and the wisp with him." Willy the Wisp was too bad for heaven and too clever for hell.

When alive, he had been a terrible bad man who played spiteful tricks on his neighbours. His wicked eye was said to have the power to turn a person into a goat. Carried away with his own cleverness, though, he taunted the devil and got the upper hand of Old Nick in every deal. At long last he died and was sent down to hell. When the devil saw him coming he ordered all the doors and windows to be securely locked and bolted. Poor Will walked up and down expecting to be let in at any moment. Losing patience at long last he went over and began peeping in through the bars. What do you say if his nose didn't catch fire! But he had no chance of getting in. The poor fellow had to come back to Ireland and he is wandering up and down the country ever since with the tip of his nose on fire. That's the light you see when he's crossing the bog.... The fire on the tip of his nose is so strong that all the water in the ocean wouldn't extinguish it. He'll be wandering about night after night till Doomsday and then if the devil doesn't let him in I don't know what will become of him.

Never follow Willy's meandering light in the bog. He will lead a man or woman astray.

Unwise or selfish use of creativity and talents brings misfortune. Wise and generous use of talents brings peace of mind and contentment. Compassionate use of talents brings much joy to the heart. In seeking to develop your talents and how to use them it is wise to seek guidance from those who have manifested their own talents in creative and generous ways. Such guidance will be inspiring and sound, because it is based on having already wrestled with the tensions of ambition and impatience, success and failure, giving and receiving, and passion and resistance.

Today's Oracle 23rd March 2021

 Treasures (Stone, Spear, Sword, and Cauldron)

The four treasures brought by the Tuatha De Danann to Ireland are the Stone of Fál, the Spear of Lugh, the Sword of Nuada, and the Cauldron of the Daghdha. Each treasure in turn signals power and a challenge for further development of your character.

Invoking the Challenges of Mastery and Power.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are either naturally drawn to power and authority, or your present circumstances require the right use of power. Power is invariably a double-edged sword capable of cutting in two directions. Your skills may involve a natural talent or expertise cultivated over time. Having mastery makes possible important personal accomplishments, expression, and satisfaction. At the same time, by holding authority you also attract circumstances and events that challenge and further develop your skill and authority. Unless you acquire personal qualities equal to your talents and skills, your life situations will become untenable and you will not be able to express the talents and skills you rightfully hold. Consider the possibility that the challenges you attract are actually invitations to bring qualities such as greater awareness, confidence, integrity, savvy, kindness, and equanimity into your nature. Take time to reflect on the particular type of challenges you are presently encountering and the unique qualities needed to meet them successfully.

Accomplished in the arts of Druidry, the godlike Tuatha De Danann came from the isles to the north of the world to invade ancient Ireland. The Tuatha De brought four treasures with them: the Stone of Fál, which shrieks when a rightful king sits upon it, the Spear of Lugh, which grants victory, the Sword of Nuada, from which no one escapes, and the Cauldron of the Daghdha, from which none leave hungry. Each treasure represents power and its challenges.

Failius, Goirias, Findias, and Muirias were the four cities of the mythic isles in the northern seas. From the cities' great sages, the Tuatha Dé Danann acquired knowledge of Druidry, magic, and prophesy. They invaded ancient Ireland with a great fleet of ships, and upon reaching the western shore, they set their boats on fire and, in so doing, destroyed any hope of returning to the north of the world. Defeating and routing the Fir Bolgs who then lived on the island, the Tuatha De controlled all of Ireland and established themselves at the royal court of the high kings of Ireland at Tara. As recorded in the Book of the Invasions, which chronicles the successive invasions of Ireland, the Tuatha De brought four great treasures to Ireland from the northern isles.

"From Failias was brought the Lia Fail which ... utter[ed] a cry under every king that should take Ireland. From Goirias was brought the spear which Lug [Lugh] had: battle would never go against him who had it in hand. From Findias was brought the sword of Nuadu: no man would escape from it; when it was drawn from its battle-scabbard, there was no resisting it. From Muirias was brought the cauldron of the Dagda [Daghdha]; no company would go from it unsatisfied."

All four treasures recur in the historical legends of Ireland, and feature prominently in Arthurian legend. By tradition, the Lia Fál (the Stone of Fál) still resides on the hills of Tara in County Meath, the mythic center of Ireland and inaugural site of ancient Irish kings. In a curious blend of ancient and Christian traditions, the Book of Invasions tells that the stone made no cry after the birth of Christ.

Today's Oracle 22nd March 2021

 Raven (Truth telling and Prophesy)

Ravens and crows represent the power of speaking the truth and sometimes the power of prophesy. The raven brings truthfulness, clarity, and insight into the nature of a relationship, event, or situation. Tell the truth in the present situation.

Invoking the Qualities of Insight, Clarity, and Discrimination.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the raven is your benefactor and companion. Your present situation may require speaking the truth in order to clear the way for newness and avoid misunderstandings. Regardless of the situation, lying about mundane or important aspects of your life tears at the fabric of your nature because it disables your emotional and spiritual maturity. On the other hand, bludgeoning others with your opinion without cause or necessity is not mature truth-telling, either. Telling the truth means seeing the world clearly and speaking what you see.

The earliest depictions of the raven are found drawn on prehistoric cave walls. Large ravens are portrayed speaking to human figures, as though prophesying from the chthonic to the earthly realms. Irish druids watch the flight of ravens to predict the future. Appearing as ravens, goddesses wreak havoc among armies, predicting death and the outcomes of battles. As a messenger from the Otherworld, the raven signifies speaking the truth and prophecy.

Like mother goddesses, carrion birds are complex symbols of death and rebirth. Statuary and coins depicting carrion birds hint at myths and symbols long forgotten by history. At temple shrines dedicated to the mother goddess Nantosuelta, ravens perch near her as though bearing messages from the Otherworld. Unique Celtic coins suggest an unknown story: an immense raven rides on the back of a horse. The reins appear to be held by the bird, and its talons dig deeply into the horse's back. Sometimes carrying a small cake in its beak, the raven may be bearing fruit or gifts from the Otherworld.

The earliest traces of Celtic art are cave drawings found in the Camonica Valley in the Italian Alps near Brescia, the work of Iron and Bronze Age Celts. Ravens appear to speak to a human figure who stands before the bird, as though listening.

Evocative of an intimate connection between the birds and goddesses is the mysterious winged goddess. She appears as both in this world and of another world. While shape-shifting between forms is commonplace in Celtic images, portrayals are rarely "frozen" midway in transition. Like the raven, the winged goddess may be a messenger between the realms, bearing gifts as well as prophesies.

From the Iron and Bronze Age through the Roman period, ravens appear as benign, even auspicious, in their accustomed role as prophets and messengers from the Otherworld. However, in the warrior culture of medieval Ireland, their aspect changes. Forecasting death and carnage on the battlefield, tales of terror recount a better story. In the celebrated account in the Ulster Cycle of the death of Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster, the truth-telling Morrigán appears as a raven and concludes the scene:

"Holding the huge wound in his body together, Cúichulainn .. . took a drink and washed himself and turned from the lake to die. On the shore, a little distance away, he saw a pillar stone and he struggled towards it and put his back to it for support.

Then he took his belt and tied himself to the pillar so that he would die standing up, for he had sworn he would meet his end "feet on the ground, face to the foe. Upright and facing his enemies, he called to them to come near him and cautiously they approached and stood round him silently in a circle. They stayed there and watched him but none of them dared lay a hand on him for the hero light still shone round his head....

For three days his enemies watched Cúchulainn. The ravens of battle, the Morrigu and Badb, hovered around his head and at last the hero light faltered, flickered, and went out. As it did so, Cúchulainn let out a great sigh and the pillar stone split at his back. A raven lit on his shoulder and settled there."

Telling the truth is akin to prophesy. It cleans the "eye of the heart." In time your inner vision will see things in their essence and into events seeming to take place in the future. Having been drawn to this oracle, you may have an opportunity to open the windows of perception, to see more deeply into life, and to bring insight and discrimination from the world of spirit to the ordinary, seemingly mundane affairs of life.

Today's Oracle 21st March 2021

 Green Man (Renewal of the Earth)

The face and features of the Green Man are formed of leaves. He represents the masculine role in sexual coupling and fertility and the flowering of life and talent. Progress is uncluttered and easy. His qualities are innocence, success, and easy progress.

Invoking Innocence, Easy Progress, and Success.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting youthful, zestful energy into your life. In the manner of the greening of spring, easy progress is ahead of you. Ideas and actions will seem innocent and spontaneous.

In conveying the fertility of the forest and plants to people and livestock, the Green Man is the consort of the mother goddess, assisting in the greening of spring and summer and the fruitfulness of the earth. The Green Man's face and features are formed of leaves and vines. Deriving his prowess from the earth, he represents the masculine role in sexual coupling, fertility, and the flowering of human life and talent. He signifies innocence, easy progress, and success, especially in initiating new activities.

Throughout Celtic history, mother goddesses have various consorts. Often goddesses and gods, such as Nantosuelta and Sucellus and Rosmerta and Mercury, are consistently paired as divine partners or lovers. The Green Man is one such consort, a precociously sexual and youthful consort conveying fertility wherever he goes.

The virility of the antlered god Cernunnos and the Green Man are interrelated, so much so that the Green Man might be considered a variant of Cernunnos. From the earliest evidence left by Bronze and Iron Age Celts, Cernunnos presides over the forest, wearing the branching antlers of a stag. His imagery is potent and powerful, assuring the fertility of the natural world in human life. Similarly, in a carving from Germany known as the St. Goar pillar, vegetation grows from the Green Man's head and forms his beard. On the Gundestrup Cauldron, the head of a male is covered with the stylised hair formed of intertwining leaves. As in so many Celtic images the power resides in the head.

Images of the Green Man adorning European cathedrals and churches portray his head and especially his hair, beard, and mustache as a composite of leaves, branches, and vines. Long leaves may stem from his mouth to form an exaggerated beard or mustache. Grapevines, sometimes bearing grapes, run out of the sides of his mouth encircling his head as stylised hair and beard. A mass of leaves may surround his head. His image on the facades and interiors of churches artfully combines the Green Man's foliate persona with figures from the Christian gospels. His appearance is typically placed as though he were an unnamed guardian, as in the Gothic spire of the Münster of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Largely hidden from view from below, heads of the Green Man look down from the open fretwork spire in grief and sorrow at the crucified Christ on the cross below. In a Romanesque carving from Exeter, the Virgin Mary holds her child supported by the foliate head of a Green Man, his eyes closed as though in ageless invocation.

In contrast to the subtle fertility imagery of church art, the explicit, sexual imagery of a youthful consort is boldly portrayed in Irish myth and legend. Like the land itself, Irish legends are rich and moist with youthful sexuality. Much lighthearted phallic humour, for example, quickens the narrative of the Irish epic Táiin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). As a responsible sovereign, Queen Medb (often thought to be a personification of a goddess because Celtic tribes did not necessarily have queens) tests the prowess of her many consorts. In their encounter in the wood, Fergus fails to meet Medb's expectations and he "loses his sword." Similarly, Imbolc, the Feast of Brigit celebrated on February 1, is marked with sexual overtones evocative of an older agrarian perspective that linked the fertility of crops, livestock, and humans. According to one folk tradition, the man of the house enters the household in the name of Brigit and "those within ... go on their knees, open their eyes and admit Brigit," an overtly sexual reference to mating on Imbolc as a means of invoking the blessing of the goddess on the fertility of the household. The robust and fertile image of the Green Man is continued in the Irish Strawboys, the "masked and straw-costumed well-wishers who graced with their presence the house-parties of Irish country weddings."

However, your success is limited by natural circumstances beyond your control. Though appearing in many guises through the centuries, the Green Man is always younger and less experienced than the mother goddess, the sovereign Mother Earth. This youthful innocence can accomplish many ends, but you will need greater strength, confidence, and maturity to fully accomplish your goals. By accepting the limits of the situation, you will find much personal satisfaction and ready success. On the other hand, if you overextend your energy or ambition or brashly push ahead, the situation may turn from success to disappointment, and even ridicule.