Today"s Oracle 10th April 2021

Cauldron of the Otherworld (Alchemy)

The brewing cauldron symbolizes the goddess's powers of replenishment in everyday life. In the brewing of earth's elements, alchemy and medicine are formed. The cauldron conveys healing to the body and emotions, and wisdom to actions. Lost aspects of the self may be returned.

Invoking Healing and Replenishing the Spirit.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are likely to attract the return of health, vitality, and optimism to your life. If you have been feeling weary, ill, or depressed, you are likely to feel more active, energetic, confident, and cheerful in the weeks ahead. The brewing cauldron signifies the potential to heal and replenish your emotional and spiritual well-being.

The brewing cauldron resides in the Otherworld and appears on the earth to heal and give wisdom. In her semblance as a hag, the goddess tends the cauldron, adding elements of the earth and stars to preserve the ancient brew. Mythological warriors travelled to the Otherworld to seize the sacred chalice or cauldron to convey it to the Middle World. The Cauldron of the Otherworld symbolises the goddess's powers of healing and replenishment to everyday life.

The cauldron conveys gifts from the Otherworld to restore health, replenish vitality, and grant wisdom and prophesy. It derives its supernatural power from the womb of the goddess, the inexhaustible cauldron of creation. Through the art of alchemy and healing, the brewing cauldron of the Otherworld brings healing to creatures of the Middle World, or those dwelling on the earth.

Archaeological evidence and mythology portray cauldrons, pots, buckets, chalices, and vats as sacred symbols indicating replenishment, prosperity, and abundance. Precious objects including brooches, weapons, shields, and cauldrons - cast as offerings - have been found in lakes and at the source of springs. Domestic and temple statues found in Britain, France, and Germany frequently portray the Celtic goddesses Rosmerta and Nantosuelta, and occasionally their consorts Sucellus and Mercury, as holding or accompanied by various bowls, pots, and goblets. In the wine-producing regions along the Rhone and Rhine Rivers, the containers seem to hold wine, a supernatural elixir associated with the blood of birth and regeneration. In Irish and Welsh myth and legend, cauldrons and chalices appear frequently as symbols of replenishment, rebirth, and inspiration. In the story of Taliesin's origins, as retold here by John Matthews, Ceridwen the Hag brews a supernatural potion for her son:

"In the time of Arthur there lived in the region of Llyn Tegrid a nobleman named Tegid Foel [the Bald]. And he had a wife who was named Ceridwen, who was skilled in the magical arts. Tegrid and Ceridwen had two children: one who was so ugly that they called him Morfran [Great Crow]. The other child was a daughter, whose name was Creirwy [Dear One], and she was as fair as Morfran was dark. Ceridwen thought that her son would never be accepted in the world because of his hideous looks ... so she resolved to boil a Cauldron of Inspiration and Wisdom according to the Books of the Fíerllt, and the method of it was this: she must first gather certain herbs on certain days and hours, and put them in the Cauldron, which must then be kept boiling for a year and a day, until three drops of Inspiration were obtained.

[See comment 2 below for the full story.]

Spiritually, the presence of the brewing cauldron signals the return of elements of your essential nature that have been lost through harmful, neglectful, or wrong actions in the past. In the days and weeks ahead, you may recall personal qualities and hopes long abandoned. Some may have been cast off in childhood by trauma or disappointments. Others may have been left undeveloped, or discarded as impractical, ridiculous, frivolous, or childish. Still others may have been corrupted through lies and self-deceit. Having drawn this oracle, some of these qualities and hopes may now be returning to you.

Today's Oracle 9th April 2021

Charioteer / The Chariot (Rescue from Danger)

The charioteer is a loyal companion who comes quickly to rescue us from danger. While the warrior fights, the charioteer keeps the chariot slightly apart from the fray, helping the warrior make a hasty retreat. The charioteer's qualities are trustworthiness and loyalty.

Invoking the Qualities of Trustworthiness and Loyalty.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting loyal companionship and good counsel. Perhaps you are in a leadership role and you need discerning yet supportive feedback. Perhaps your endeavours are risky and you need cautious and discriminating advice. Perhaps your life is so out of control or in transition that you temporarily need to have a trustworthy person make decisions on your behalf. Perhaps it is sufficient just knowing that others are available to assist you, even if you rarely call on them. just talking things through with someone sincerely interested in your welfare can be greatly stabilizing and heartening.

A chariot and team of horses pull the sun across the sky. In the blessed isles, golden chariots seem to rise "with the tide towards the sun." The charioteer's art is to stand loyal to the champion in the heat of battle. Withdrawing the war chariot slightly apart from the fray, the charioteer stands ready to rescue the champion if the battle presses too dangerously. The charioteer's qualities are intense personal loyalty and trustworthiness, especially amid the fervour of turmoil and change.

The Celts were terrifying fighters, much feared by the Romans. Combining the swift movements of the calvary with two-wheeled war chariots, the chariots raced between the lines and harassed the enemy. The screaming of instruments, the howling of warriors, the rattle of chariot wheels, the neighing of horses, and the confusion were ghastly. Darting back and forth between the lines of comrade and foe, each chariot carried a warrior, charioteer, and weapons behind well-trained horses. Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico ruefully bemoans the charioteers' skill. As the chariots veered close to the enemy lines, the warriors hurled spears at Roman soldiers and gouged them with swords. The warriors then jumped from the chariots to fight on foot while the steady charioteers remained with their chariots poised at a distance, ready to retrieve their masters safely from the fray.

The war chariot is readied for combat, the horses dressed and eager, and the warrior "warped" with the frenzy of the battle. The loyalty of the charioteer steadies the conflict. The charioteer casts a spell over the horses and his comrades-in-arms to disguise them and make ready their presence. From the Ulster Cycle, the story of the champion Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster, and his charioteer, Laeg, epitomizes the loyalty and readiness of the charioteer:

"The sickle chariot, friend Laeg," Cúchulainn said, "can you yoke W" . . . The charioteer rose up then and donned his charioteer's war-harness ... of stitched deer's leather, light as a breath, kneaded supple and smooth not to hinder his free arm movements .. . his feathery outer mantle [and] his plated, four-pointed, crested battle cap.... To set him apart from his master, he placed the charioteer's sign on his brow with his hand: a circle of deep yellow like a single red-gold strip of burning gold shaped on an anvil's edge. He took the long horse-spancel and the ornamented goad in his right hand. In his left hand he grasped the steed-ruling reins that give the charioteer control. Then he threw the decorated iron armour-plate over the horses, covering them from head to foot with spears and spit- points, blades, and barbs. Every inch of the chariot bristled. Every angle and corner, front and rear, was a tearing-place."

The charioteer's great strength is his or her trustworthiness and readiness to help. The more stressed. your situation, the more important is reliable counsel and the loyalty of comrades and friends. Choose your confidants wisely, based on their personal qualities, and then seek their counsel, support, and assistance.

Today's Oracle 8th April 2021

New Moon (Wisdoms of the Heart)

The new moon represents the wisdom of the heart, which come with emotional and spiritual maturity. Spiritual traditions everywhere tell of the compassionate wisdom (or intelligence) of the heart. Knowledge is acquired from the implicit and tacit meanings of things in their essence.

Invoking Tenderness and Compassionate Knowing.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are learning to see with the eye of the heart. There are meanings, understandings, and discernments known to the heart alone, and rarely seen or understood by the intellect, the discriminating mind.

According to the old traditions, the moon is revered as the queen of the night, beauteous and fair. On seeing the new moon rising in the night, the men and women of old Scotland and Ireland bow gently, bending a knee in admiration. "Hail to thee, thou new moon, guiding jewel of gentleness!" Shining in the night sky as the queen maiden of guidance and good fortune, the new moon brings graciousness and maidenly joys to daily life. She signifies tenderness, compassion, and the intelligence of a loving heart.

Along with reverence and rites concerning the sun, stars, and fire, lunar worship is a common feature of the old ways of the Celtic people. Alexander Carmichael, recording the prayers and customs of the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides in the late nineteenth century, observed these vanishing customs and rites, still then extant among the country people.

In the Island of Barra of the Outer Hebrides, the old men and women "make obeisance to [the new moon] as to a great chief. The women curtsy gracefully and men bow low, raising their bonnets reverently. The bow of the men is peculiar, partaking somewhat of a curtsy of the women, the left knee being bent and the right drawn forward towards the middle of the left leg in a curious but not inelegant manner." Carmichael records several invocations and prayers hailing the new moon, the jewel of the night sky:

"Hail to thee, thou new moon, guiding jewel of gentleness!

I am bending to thee my knee, I am offering thee my love.

I am bending to thee my knee, I am giving thee my hand,

I am lifting to thee mine eye, O new moon of the seasons.

Hail to thee, thou new moon, joyful maiden of my love!

Hail to thee, thou new moon, Joyful maiden of the graces!

Thou art travelling in thy course.

Thou art steering the full tides.

Thou art illuming to us thy face, O new moon of the seasons.

Thou queen-maiden of guidance.

Thou queen-maiden of good fortune.

Thou queen-maiden my beloved.

Thou new moon of the seasons!"

When you begin to see with the eye of the heart, it will be as though a veil has been lifted before you. You will see more deeply into the nature of things, relationships, and events. Your discriminating mind will relax. With your actions more in accord with natural patterns around you, you will interfere less, allowing others and events to mature according to their own design and necessity. Your actions will be more secure and compassionate, supportive of what is implicitly good and natural. In time, these softer wisdom of the heart will bring you greater wisdom and nobility of character.

Today's Oracle 7th April 2021

Faery Wind (Air)

The faery winds and whirlwinds of late summer burst forth suddenly and take a part of the harvest to the Otherworld. The winds signify the need to offer a part of our resources to the spirit world. The winds urge us to avoid indulgence and to serve our communities generously.

Invoking Exchange with the Spirit World.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, your life will be enhanced by giving your money, resources, and time to worthy charitable and spiritual endeavours. Within the Christian tradition, tithing is a traditional - and often misunderstood - term for giving back to creation from the fruits of your labours. Numerous indigenous cultures have elaborate rituals for redistributing wealth. In many of the world's religious traditions, merit is acquired by honouring holy men and women with food and alms. In this oracle, the faery winds signify the otherworldly taking of a portion of the harvest to support the needs of the spirit world.

The whirlwinds of late summer are the faery hosts out making their rounds. The whirlwinds come on the loveliest days of late summer at harvest time. Sweeping everything into their path, they pass over the countryside as if searching for hay, corn, or even animals. Haystacks are hit and lifted into the skies. Heaps of corn disappear into the faery winds. Sometimes men and women out harvesting blow away, too. The faery hosts raise the high winds to take what they need.

In Ireland, the old people say that it is the faery hosts who raise the high winds. Nodding their heads or tipping their caps at the wind as if greeting a lady, a small whirlwind is thought to be "the gentry," the faeries making their customary rounds about the countryside. A high wind, though, is fearsome and unlucky. Even if you are not blown away, it is unlucky to get a "blast." Grazing horses are known to snort to blow the "good people" out of their way. A characteristic story comes from County Donegal:

"I myself have seen a faery whirlwind on a summer day take all the hay of a holding into the firmament. They often raised high winds in harvest-time to get the corn they wanted. One year long ago a man named Paddy Bhride living east of here at Fál Garbh had the devil's own lot of corn sown - as much as the rest of the town land all together. When he had all his corn reaped and stooped there came a nigh of high wind and Paddy went out [and] there was not as much left as would sprinkle Holy Water on a corpse."

The faery hosts raise the high winds to take what they need of the harvest. As the winds sweep across the winnowed fields, they suddenly can pull a haystack into the sky. A man or woman, horses, and cows can be swept away, too. Sometimes the faeries speak or laugh as they pass across the fields, departing with an acerbic bit of faery whimsy:

"One fine autumn day long ago, a gang of men were reaping oats, and three women were binding the oats after them. They heard a whirlwind coming into the field with force. The women stood looking at the whirlwind. It was lifting the oats, taking it up into the sky, and whirling and whirling all the time. One of the women stooped, and pulled a wisp of grass from the side of the ridge, and when the whirlwind was making for them: "Here," she said, on purpose, "take that instead of me!" throwing the wisp at it. "Aw," said the whirlwind, "you grey goose's shit, it wasn't you I was after!""

Because the spirit world constantly acts on your behalf, it is honourable to return a measure of your resources to it and to those who support prayerful and spiritual activities on your behalf. The faery winds urge us to avoid indulgence and to cultivate less attachment to material possessions. By consciously giving of your money and time, a natural sense of exchange and respect for the spirit world and all life will gradually extend to everything you do.

Today's Oracle 6th April 2021

Pooka (The Trickster)

From the Pooka, a goblin and trickster of the Otherworld, expect the unusual. The Pooka is known to take humans for a ride and dump them. He is not what he appears to be. Be open to unforeseen experiences, circumstances, or insight.

Invoking the Unexpected, Curious, and Whimsical.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you may expect the unexpected. Tricksters are natural shape-shifters, so the Pooka might show up suddenly in many guises, as unforeseen events, unanticipated circumstances, unique people, or abrupt changes in direction. The Pooka's signaling characteristics are its sudden appearance (as if from nowhere), feeling tricked into doing something you wouldn't ordinarily do (against your better judgment), and perhaps being shaken by a series of seemingly dangerous or reckless events. Despite their unlikely appearance, these unsettling experiences may awaken you to new choices and opportunities. When you least expect it, the Pooka has the pesky habit of picking you up and "dumping" you into new circumstances.

Pooka can turn itself into a horse, a goat, a dog, a cross between a mule, a bullock, and a big black pig, or even a large wool fleece racing about the countryside in the manner of a horse. If an unwary traveller accepts a lift or the Pooka sneaks under and between a man's legs, it may take him for a furious ride atop cliffs and by way of wild and dangerous places. At daybreak, the Pooka tires of the chase and abruptly deposits the rider in a wayward spot. The Pooka is heard chuckling gleefully as it gallops out of sight.

The Pooka is the trickster among the Irish and Welsh goblins and is known to take many forms. Always rough and unkempt, the Pooka appears as a horse, a goat, a dog, or occasionally an eagle the size of a horse. Sometimes the Pooka appears as a ghastly-looking creature resembling a horse with great big long horns or an unknown mix of several animals. Appearing as a horse, it may sneak under a man and between his legs and then take off galloping. At the cave under the Dun of Clopook, there is "a spirit of a Pooka in this cave which frequently [presents] itself in the form of a fleece of wool, which issued from the cave and roamed over the field with astonishing celerity. Its motions were accompanied by a buzzing sound.

Pookas frequently appear around Halloween and May Eve (April 30), when the veil between the supernatural and human worlds grows thin and otherworldly beings and humans may pass more easily to and fro. Occasionally, a kindly Pooka rescues a man or woman from the faery host or other unseen dangers. More typically, though, the trickster Pooka appears to a lost and weary traveller to offer the man a welcome lift home - or somehow manages to get the man on its back. And "when he was on his back, [the Pooka] would race over the tops of cliffs frightening the man riding on him, and when the Pooka was tired of going with him, would bring him back again to the place where he was before or some lonely spot." The Pooka may laugh heartily as it gallops out of sight. A typical story from County Kerry tells of a saint who was caught out in the woods at night by a Pooka:

"The saint wasn't long more in the place, when a pooka horse came up to him. The pooka horse told him to come on his back and that he would bring him home. The saint was glad to hear the pooka saying that, and he thanked the pooka and said that he would go up on his back. Anyhow he got up on the pooka's back, and the pooka started running wild around the wood. [He] ran into big heaps of briars and bushes. The poor saint couldn't come off his back at all, and the pooka jumped across big glens and big holes and every place worse than another and the saint thought that he would be killed every minute. Anyway the pooka kept going on that way till morning, and he let the saint come off his back when it was bright day.

When the saint was on the ground again, he took a good rest before he started away again because indeed there was a right good fright on him after the night before."

The Pooka is the trickster or prankster of the Celtic world, making mischief with unsuspecting people especially when they feel lost or tired. While the Pooka may frighten and disorient, no one is harmed. Without the Pooka's intervention, you might not have been able to see clearly the circumstances now before you.

Today's Oracle 5th April 2021

Faeries of Mischief and Play

Faeries are mischievous, playful, and like to poke fun at human seriousness. They favour mischief and merrymaking. Their presence brings playfulness, frolic, mischief, humour, laughter, and fun into life.

Invoking the Qualities of Laughter, humour, and Fun.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, watch out for fun. Laughter and humour are great medicines. Laughter soothes the spirit and ignites the body with ecstasy. Cutting deftly to the quick, laughing at yourself shatters incrimination and morbid introspection. In strained or new circumstances, humour breaks the ice, because people love to laugh deeply where spirits meet gently, without formalities. Laughter and playfulness have a natural buoyancy that joins easily to joy.

The faeries find humans curiously earnest and somber, and therefore pleasantly amusing. By playing tricks on us, they offset our seriousness with their mischief and humour. They're unusually fond of confounding humans with merry pranks, unexplainable movement and swapping of objects, and fiddlin' merry dance tunes beneath the house. The faeries' presence brings playfulness, frolic, folly, synchronicity, laughter, and fun.

In their own realm in castles beneath the ground, the faeries live lives filled with laughter and merrymaking. Nothing is lacking. Food and drink are plentiful. Their lives are joyous and carefree and without pain, sickness, or suffering. Time seems to be endless and aging is slow, if at all. The faeries are blessed with joy and merriment. Descendants of the goddess Danu, their supernatural qualities supply them plentifully, except for a few missing things that are uniquely of the human Middle World. Two of these are milk and butter, which they steal remorselessly.

Human life seems overly serious and ponderous to the faeries. Humans seem to be in a kind of trance, a stupor in which things seem to be as they appear. So to trick us out of over seriousness, the faeries play pranks on us - traditionally moving the byre (the barn) a few paces, stealing objects and leaving something else in its place, swapping a favourite cow and replacing it with an otherworldly cow, conversing with humans from rocks and trees, leaving gold coins about, and playing gay music loud enough to be heard above the ground. The faeries' mischief reveals the "folly of things" and offsets our seriousness with humour and befuddlement. When we take their pranks seriously, they are filled the more with mirth. By following the faeries' mischievous example, human life would seem less ponderous and enlivened with playfulness, laughter, and lots more synchronicity. In a story from Donegal in Ireland, a man gets "magic from the faeries":

"One fair day he was the only man of the neighbouring town- lands who had not a pig to sell. Devil a thing did he do but go into a field and pull a bunch of yellow ragweed and make a pig of it. He went to the fair and his pig was the first sold that day. Well and good. When the buyer was taking the pig home he took it across a place where water was running across the road. Immediately the pig crossed the water [and it changed into a heap of yellow ragweed. The buyer turned back and made for the fellow and caught him by the shoulders, but the other merely swung around in the street and let the arm go with him. The buyer was frightened out of his life and ran off as quickly as he could, but before he went the fellow paid him his money. When the buyer was approaching Killybegs he put his hand in his pocket to see if he had got the right change, and there was nothing there but horse-dung!"

Where is the laughter and fun in your life? How long has it been since you laughed so hard your sides ached? When did you last laugh at yourself? Are you taking anything so seriously that it distorts the fullness of your life? Is the humour of the human condition escaping your notice? The faeries of mischief and humour poke fun at human seriousness so as to bring us more joy. Drawing this oracle suggests that you are approaching the frontier of laughter, merriment, and fun.

Today's Oracle 4th April 2021

 Lap Dog, Hound of the goddess (Intimacy with Self)

The lap dog brings healing and renewal to the inmost self. Old habits and traumas may resolve effortlessly. The lap dog's presence signifies an auspicious time to bring loving attention to our deep emotional and spiritual natures.

Invoking the Quality of Loving Attention.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting the benevolent forces of the spirit world to transform your life from within. It is a graced and auspicious time to heal and strengthen the inmost self. Old, deep wounds may be soothed and resolved without trauma or even conscious attention. Harmful patterns and habits may dissolve effortlessly. Troublesome relationships may clear up, slip away easily, or clear up in healthier and more beneficial ways.

The hound of the goddess conveys gentle companionship to the innermost promptings of the human spirit. Unlike the harrowing hound of hell in Mediterranean mythology, the Celtic hound is kind and helpful, usually sitting at the goddess's feet, resting in her lap, gazing adoringly, or even nursing from her breasts. Associated with the regenerative powers of the Otherworld, the lap dog brings healing and loving attention to our deep emotional and spiritual natures.

A magical encounter with otherworldly hounds is found in the First Branch of the Welsh Mabinogion, when Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed, is out hunting with his own pack of hounds:

"As he listened to the baying of his pack [of hounds] he perceived the cry of another pack, a different cry which was advancing towards him. He spied a clearing in the forest, a level field, and as his pack reached the edge of this field he saw the other pack with a stag running before it, and near the centre of the clearing this other pack overtook the stag and brought it down. Pwyll at once remarked on the pack's colour, without bothering to look at the stag, for no hound he had ever seen was the colour of these: a dazzling shining white with red ears, and as the whiteness of the dogs shone so did the redness of their ears."

The hounds of the goddess epitomize the domestic dog at its best affectionate, watchful, attentive, and loyal. Allied with the healing powers of the Otherworld, the hounds convey the gentle and regenerative powers of the spirit world to heal and restore. Throughout the Celtic world, like the goddess herself, hounds are symbols of nourishment and sustenance, and especially of companionship, even accompanying the goddess in the sacred hunt. The popular Celtic goddess of the North Sea, Nehalennia, was especially favoured by seafarers who invoked her protection on their hazardous crossings. Nehalennia is never without her constant companions, an otherworldly hound or two, sitting on her lap and heedful of her wishes.

Ever vigilant and faithful, the hounds bring the reassurance of divine favour and trustworthy intimacy with the healing and restorative powers of the spirit world.

You have only to let the changes occur naturally. You are asked to trust, allowing changes to unfold freely. The natural cycle of death and regeneration are working quietly on your behalf. Try not to interfere through over activity, thinking too much, wallowing in your troubles or insecurities, or planning the rest of your life. Taking time to meditate and not hurrying may give more spaciousness to the process of change.

Drawing this oracle suggests that the spirit world is now working in a very personal way to assist you. It is as if you are getting a little extra attention right now. Positive changes are already moving within you.