Today's Oracle 1st May 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 30th April 2021

Sovereignty (Voluptuous Authority)

Sovereignty is personified by the mother goddess who grants sovereignty to rightful kings. The earth's power originates in her hot and fiery interior, giving the earth's surface its lively, sensuous, and voluptuous qualities. Her presence signifies enthusiasm and activity.

Invoking the Vitality of the Natural World.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you not only want to be out-of-doors but want the freshness and spontaneity of nature as a core dynamic in your everyday life. The raw and voluptuous quality of nature seems like fire to your physical well-being. Activities such as sitting in the sunshine, feeling the wind against your face, listening to the call of birds and the sounds of animals, crackling autumn leaves under your feet, or swimming with the current of a river are needs that seem to course like a stream through your muscles and nerves. It is not just the vigour of nature that attracts you, but the fresh and startling impetus in the acts of nature that spark your drive, health, and vitality.

The sovereignty of the earth is personified by the mother goddesses who pass sovereignty to rightful kings. The earth's power originates in her mysterious and fiery interior, giving the earth's surface its lively, sensuous, and voluptuous qualities. The earth's hot interior rises to caress the earth's surface through wells and thermal springs, seas and lakes, certain mountains and hills, and in the essence or power of place. Sovereignty signifies the fresh vitality of the natural world.

The sovereignty of the earth expresses herself in the wonders of the natural world, its beauty, intricacies, and marvels stroking the senses and calling us homeward to the present moment in time. Celtic sovereignty is scarcely a transcendent deity, but queenly and earthy, naming us kin and returning us to the soil that bore us into flesh. The earth herself pulses with the power of creation. Thermal waters rush to her surface, her sacred cauldrons boiling within.

As in most cultures with an ancient lineage, the Celts revere the earth and personify her as mother, the source of life. The goddess Brigit carries the clearest attributes of sovereignty in several Celtic countries. Sovereignty is passed, albeit temporarily, to the rightful king or chief. In Britain, she is worshiped as Brigantia, a territorial goddess and namesake of a Celtic tribe once living in the Midlands. In the preparations for celebrating the Feast of the Bride on February 1, a home-crafted symbol of sovereignty, a "small straight white wand (the bark being peeled off), [is placed] beside the figure [of Brigit]. The wand is generally of birch, broom, bramble, white willow, or other sacred wood.... A similar rod was given to the kings of Ireland at their coronation, and to the Lords of the Isles [of Scotland] at their instatement." Similarly, Brigit is linked with the source of life and the seasons. According to Celtic lore, the serpent of the Otherworld resides within the earth, appearing on the Feast of the Bride after the harshness of winter is spent and the greening of spring begins. Heavy with sleep in winter and restive and awake in spring, Brigit rules the seasons with her activities. She is sovereign.

It is best to catch the wind of this fiery energy while you can. Like weather and seasons, it changes. Now is an excellent time to play, to be spontaneous, and to allow your enthusiasm to guide you. Put your productivity agenda aside. Later, in a slower time, you can reflect and integrate.

Today's Oracle 29th April 2021

Sun Wheels (Talismans)

Like the sun itself, sunlight gives protection and warmth. Carved or crudely fashioned sun wheels are talismans drawing the light and warmth of the sun into the chaos, pain, and sorrow of life and even into death. The sun wheel's qualities are trust and hope.

Invoking the Quality of Protection.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the brilliance of the sun banishes darkness and chaos and brings you comfort and security.
There are numerous ways to convey the qualities of the sun in your daily life. You might use a sun symbol as a talisman to carry in your pocket, in your purse or bag, or on a chain. Wear an amulet as jewelry, on a necklace, string, or key chain. Keep a symbol of a sun in your office or work area to serve as a reminder, or meditate with the sun as it rises. You might wish to use a candle flame as a focus of meditation. In your imagination, bring light to any darkness and confusion in your life. Allow the outer light to fill the interior reserves of your being. Conduct your daily activities mindful of the light and warmth of the sun.

Sun wheels are signs of protection and healing. Worn as talismans, they protect warriors in battle. Buried with the dead and carved on tombstones, they comfort the dead and illuminate the mysterious journey to the Otherworld. Offered at healing springs and lakes, votive sun wheels are carried to the depths of the earth. Symbolizing the warmth and light of the sun within the fecund earth, they represent healing and protection amid chaos, sorrow, confusion, and pain.

To the ancient Celts, the sun in the sky was a life force rendering fertility to the moist earth, healing to the diseased and sorrowful, and solace in darkness and danger. Iron Age warriors embellished their body armour with sun wheels, seeking the sun's beneficence in danger and giving them courage in battle. Along with personal items suggesting a life after death, small sun wheels were buried with the dead to illuminate the passage in the afterlife, perhaps the journey to the Otherworld. Tombstones in Roman-occupied Alsace in France were decorated with solar symbols, as though to guide and enliven the dead in the Otherworld.

Sun wheels also adorned the bodies of small clay goddess figurines deposited as votives at healing shrines, springs, and lakes and buried with the dead. These figurines were mass-produced, inexpensively available, and crudely fashioned, and may have been popular among women seeking safety in the passage of childbirth. Sometimes referred to as "Venus" figurines, the goddesses were slim-figured and nubile, suggestive of sexuality and fecundity. Offered as prayers and left at curative springs and sacred lakes, these fertile and sun-filled figurines were conveyed to the depths of the Otherworld. This sacred union of the sun and earth brought healing and safety to their Celtic supplicants. At Bath in the southwest of England, the thermal springs of the goddess Aquae Sulis (in Gaelic sulis is suggestive of sun) gave comfort to thousands of supplicants before and after the Roman period. The hot springs and the steamy interiors of the shrine inspire a sacred link with sun and earth, a natural vortex of healing and protection to devotees.

Decorating armour and tombstones, worn as amulets, buried with the dead, and accompanying prayers, sun wheels gave hope to the weary and infirm and solace to those in danger.

Sunlight dispels darkness and confusion. The sun as talisman draws the light and warmth of the sun into the chaos, pain, and sorrows of life. Its brilliance will bring you renewed trust and hope.

Today's Oracle 28th April 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 27th April 2021

Leprechauns (Earth)

Leprechauns represent the playful and resourceful qualities of the earth. By poking fun at our desire for riches, the leprechauns teach us detachment and equanimity in relationship to material wealth and status.

Invoking the Qualities of Playfulness and Mirth.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting the playful and resourceful qualities of the earth. The leprechaun is boundlessly rich. Each time he opens his silken purse, he finds another golden guinea. Yet his presence often has a double meaning. On the one hand, he beckons the rich resources of the earth toward you, tempts you, and may bountifully reward you. On the other hand, he often turns your attachment toward wealth into a standing joke in which you are the principal player.

The leprechaun is a small, mischievous, and wizened man who often appears dressed in fanciful clothes such as a red vest, green trousers, and a conical hat. Aligned with the otherworldly powers of the subterranean earth, he knows its hidden treasures and is therefore very rich. When encountered cobbling in a lonely place, humans torment him to relinquish his golden guinea purse or lead them to a crock of gold. Through cleverness and trickery, he typically outwits his captors and escapes.

The leprechaun is known by many local names throughout Ireland. All manner of similar dwarves and gnomes inhabit the stories of western Europe, especially Germany and France, particularly Celtic Brittany in France. The leprechaun often lives in the ground or in rock caverns and caves. Though commonly connected with the faeries or known as the cobbler to the faeries, the leprechaun is a singular otherworldly being associated with the underground and its riches, especially gold and hidden treasure.

Most commonly, a leprechaun appears as a small and mischievous man, a wee cobbler, who possesses an inexhaustible purse of golden coins or hidden treasure. Typically encountered at the thresholds of time, just before dawn or after night has fallen, a leprechaun will often be dressed like a country gentleman of the last century, wearing a fanciful red vest with gold buttons or a gentleman's dress coat with large buttons, tight fitting trousers or knee-breeches, and curious shoes with large metal buckles or boots with curled-up and pointed toes. Occasionally, a leprechaun will befriend a poor farmer or a child by leading them to hidden treasure or leaving a guinea in an old chest each night. Some leprechauns live merrily in the wine cellars of old and noble families - as long as good wine is kept in the cellar. Nonetheless, most leprechauns are seen cobbling a single shoe in a hedgerow or out in the bog. When chased, he may disappear as though swallowed by the ground.

A common leprechaun story tells of a man, or occasionally a woman, who catches a leprechaun cobbling on a single shoe and makes a "close prisoner" of him. Until he tells where the gold is, the leprechaun has no chance of getting away. Taking the man out to an old ring fort where the faeries live, the leprechaun shows him a big ragwort, and says, "Dig under this weed tomorrow morning and you'll get a crock of gold." "Wait," he says, "and we'll mark it. Take off my red garter and tie it around the [ragwort], and you'll know where to dig in the morning." The man does exactly that and lets the wee man go. When he comes out in the morning, there is a red garter on every ragwort in the field, thousands of them, exactly the same size and pattern.

Even with a tight grasp about a leprechaun, the wee man can only be trapped by an unbroken stare. Many stories of leprechauns tell of his imitating a lover's voice from behind, alerting the captor to some alleged danger, creating a ruckus, and the like. A likely story from Ireland goes like this:

"The clocharachán [a local name for a leprechaun] makes shoes inside a little rock cavern and he has sparán na scillinge: every  time you'd look. the purse there would be a shilling there. You'd seldom see the clocharachán and it is very difficult to catch him. A man heard that he was in some rock cavern or other. He came upon him one evening and gripped him firmly.

",give me your purse! " said the matt.

"Let me go," said the clocharachán, "and I'll give you the purse."

If you took our eye off him he'd get away from you.

"Get a red-hot spit," said the clocharachán, "and stick it in his backside!"

The man looked all around him and the clocharachán departed and took his purse away with him!"

The presence of this oracle suggests that you are being tempted by material resources in the form of money, great opportunities, or a "deal." These material resources may come, but more likely, they are ephemeral. Being a natural trickster and mischief-maker, there is no telling what the leprechaun's influence will be. There is no human logic predicting his rare gifts of hidden treasure. There is only a slim hope that your present circumstances will result in making you rich or famous.

Spiritually, the tempting yet ephemeral riches of the leprechaun invite you to cultivate detachment and equanimity with regard to material treasure.

Today's Oracle 26th April 2021

Faery Lover (Sensuality)

The faery lover (suitor) is a beautiful man or woman who comes (often in the night) to rouse and seduce us. The faery lover's presence signifies unexpected pleasure and delight, and sometimes danger.

Invoking the Qualities of Pleasure, Delight, and Danger.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the sensual and sexual side of your nature is wanting attention and care. Your body itself may be wanting deeper and more intimate expression. This oracle suggests that you may be wanting and attracting new (or renewed) relationships that are both loving and fulfilling. Exploring the possibility of a new relationship with your imagination may help to make you more receptive. These new or renewed relationships will bring greater physical and emotional vitality. By being open to new situations (and not repelling them), new acquaintanceships may develop into intimate encounters, friendships, or even partnerships. The faery lover tends to approach quietly and gently, but unexpectedly.

A faery lover disguises his or her identity and appears as a beautiful man or woman. Approaching by night or in secluded places, the faery lover courts the intended with poetry and song, plays games that delight the senses, or promises riches and happiness as the rewards of marriage. Sometimes a human visits a faery castle beneath the ground and meets a comely lover there. These otherworldly liaisons are short-lived, usually foiled by amiable but cunning trickery.

Passionate love affairs often take place between otherworldly lovers and humans in old Celtic myths. Gods and goddesses seduce human men and woman, usually bringing them back with them into their realms. Children born of these unions are exceptionally beautiful and possess extraordinary powers. In the Irish folk stories, supernatural lovers are typically faeries who come to court and seduce human men and women, especially those who are forlorn or cut off from society."' In Scottish tales, the lovers are faeries, selkies, or beautiful seal men from the sea. Always, the lovers are comely and seductive, appearing as human. A selkie lover slips into a lonely man's bed by night to make love tenderly.

In a typical Irish tale, a young orphan girl encounters a handsome faery man while alone: "Day in and day out, she is driven out to mind the cows on every windblown headland and down to Elly Dunes as well. One day she was down there, a young lad came up to her and joined in the conversation with her and when she came home that evening, her stepmother said: 'You must have been playing a lot today, you look terribly worn out.' 'I wasn't doing anything,' says she." The next day and next, she goes out with the cows and each day she fails the more. When finally she confesses the tryst to her stepmother, she advises: "'When he comes to you tomorrow ... say that there is a very sick calf at home and ask what would cure it.' So the lad told her: `Tell your mother that hen dung, stale urine, a black-hafted knife and last year's burned palm, all mixed together and sprinkled on the calf, will do the trick."' Using the magic potion to get rid of the faery man instead, "the stepmother made up a posset and she gave it to the orphan girl." The next day when the girl met the lad, she had the ... bottle in her pocket. "When the lad sat down beside her, she splashed some of the posset over him. He rose up in a mist and disappeared westwards out over Achill."

The old mythic tales of encounters between Celtic gods and goddesses and human lovers are boldly and playfully erotic. Unlike these ancient stories, tales told in more recent times are sensual and erotic, but rarely directly sexual. Rather than welcomed, otherworldly lovers are typically feared and driven away. Humans rarely visit the faery realms to find lovers there. With passions no longer easily shared between the supernatural world and the human inhabitants of the Middle World, the bold passions of the supernatural realms stay hidden in the Otherworld.

The oracle also suggests that now may be a good time to nourish the normal sensual and sexual needs of the body with comfort, pleasure, and delight. Comforting the body's needs will bring you joy and strength.

Today's Oracle 25th April 2021

Spirit of Mountains (Breasts of the goddess)

Certain mountains, such as the Paps of Anu in Ireland, signify the breasts of the mother goddess, the earth. Overflowing in generosity, they symbolize the qualities of mercy, forgiveness, and impartiality in human life.

Invoking the Qualities of Impartiality and Forgiveness.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are invited to let go of judging yourself or others harshly. While corrective actions are essential in the course of human life, needlessly blaming yourself or others for past actions is neither practical nor life-sustaining. However awkward or painful, both seeking and extending forgiveness frees life to be lived more fully in the present.

Known as the Paps of Anu, two symmetrical, rounded mountains lie close together on the plains near Killarney in the Province of Munster in Ireland. Suggesting an ageless ritual, twentieth-century pilgrims carry stones from the bottom to the top of the mountains and then place the stones on the summits, forming unmistakable nipples on the breasts of the goddess. The strength of the goddess is her certain impartiality and forgiveness.

The Book of the Invasions, chronicling the successive invasions of Ireland, recounts stories of the Tuatha De Danann, the people of the goddess Anu, Áine, or Danu, who inhabited Ireland before the Celtic invasions from continental Europe. Initially from Galicia in northwestern Spain, the invading Celts compelled the Tuatha De to relinquish the Middle World and inhabit the Otherworld. Mythic history recounts the Tuatha De as a supernatural, godlike race having druids and poets of their own and hurling "a wind of wizards" against the Celts while still at sea.

"The druids of [the Tuatha De Danann] of Ireland and the poets sang spells behind them, so that they were carried far from Ireland, and were in distress by reason of the sea.... And the wind rose against the ship wherein were Donn and Airech, two sons of Míl, and ship wherein were Bres, Búas, and Buaighne; so that they were drowned at the Sand hills at Tech Duinn."

The Tuatha Dé are identified with the goddess Anu, an ancestral mother goddess of Ireland. Anu was undoubtedly a fertility goddess associated with the land. Little else is known, though her Neolithic origins suggest solar attributes, linking the fecundity of the earth and the fertility of the sun. One of her places of habitation, recorded in The Book of the Invasions, and an ancient center of ritual activity, is the Paps of Anu, a set of two breast like mountains lying close together on gently rolling lowlands in County Kerry. Modern-day pilgrims carry stones from the plains below to the very top of the mounds of stones left by pilgrims before them. Viewed even at a short distance, these mounds (probably ancient burial mounds) embellish the Paps of Anu with nipples (paps means breasts or teats). Below, near a natural spring and a starting point for ascending one of the paps, a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary beautifies a small clearing where the villagers still gather for occasional mass and festivals in midsummer.

The image of the breasts of the goddess signifies the nourishment of a mother's milk. The image overflows with the milk of blessing. Her capacity for bestowing mercy and forgiveness is boundless. As though untouched by human logic, she gives impartially to the just and unjust alike. You are encouraged to partake of her wisdom in some aspect of your life. Rather than judging or holding court on the actions of others (or of yourself), you may wish to reevaluate and amend those aspects of your life in which a gentler and more forgiving approach would be freeing and deeply gratifying in the long run.