Today's Oracle 22nd May 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 dancing' 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 21st May 2021

Tír na nÓg (Blessed Isle to the West)

The Tír na nÓg is one of many blessed and magical isles to the west. It is the land of the forever young, revelling in beauty, merriment, and harmony. Its qualities are joy, pleasure, peace, and blessing.

Invoking the Qualities of Harmony, Peace, and Blessing.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are becoming more aware of the simple and delightful pleasures of living. The blessings of a land "flowing with milk and honey" in your own terms are coming into your life. Long-held tensions, grudges, hurts, and fears are losing their hold on you. Personal and professional conflicts are being resolved. Harmony and contentment are replacing disappointment and loss. Your life's work is beginning to manifest in clear and concrete ways.

The blessed isles lie off the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland, as if to follow . - the sun in its homeward path. At the coming of the Celts to Ireland, the ancient Tuatha De Danann take shelter there. In The Voyage of Bran, Bran and his men wander the seas in search of the Island of Women, a land revelling in harmony, beautiful women, and merriment. In the Fionn Cycle, the young champion Oisín and the princess Niamh of the Golden Hair ride on the sea as if it were a plain to Tir na nÓg, the Land of the Forever Young.

The sanctity of islands to the west harkens back to a mythic time. Dozens of lake islands and islands off the coasts of Scotland and Ireland are revered as sites of homage and pilgrimage, associated with monasteries and abbeys in our time. The prospect of enchanted islands, beckoning the youthful and the adventurous, appearing and disappearing from sight, riding on shining pedestals to glisten in the sun, singing with music to sweeten the air, and bestowing gifts on the virtuous and forsaken has long inspired the Celtic imagination. "West of the sun," for example, is the island of Iona, St. Columba's (Colm Cille) holy strand.

The isles go by many names: Tír fo Thoinn, the Land Under the Waves; Tír Nam Beo, the Land of the Living; Tiirn Ail, the Otherworld; Magh Mór, the Great Plain; Magh Meall, the Pleasant Plain; Tir Tairngire, the Plain of Happiness. Tir na nÓg, the Land of the Forever Young, is a delightful place fit for myths and legends.

Bran mac Feabhail is feasting with his chiefs when a beautiful woman appears from nowhere. She is so lovely that "the company held its breath." Turning toward Bran, she begins to sing:

"I bring [an apple] branch of [the Isle of the Happy], In shape like those you know.
Twigs of white silver are upon it, buds of crystal with blossoms.
There is a distant isle, around which sea-horses glisten.
A fair course against the white-swelling surge Four pedestals uphold it....
Unknown is wailing or treachery In the homely well-tilled land.
There is nothing rough or harsh, But sweet music striking the ear.
Without grief, without gloom, without death, without any sickness or debility -
That is the sign of [the Isle of the Happy]. Uncommon is the like of such a marvel."

She admonishes Bran to stop feasting and drinking wine, and asks him to journey across the crystal sea westward to the blessed isle.

Similarly, in the Fionn Cycle from Ireland, Finn and his men, the Fianna, are resting in Lough Lene in Kerry after the bitter battle of Gowra. In the mist of the May morning, Finn and his men send out their dogs to hunt, when suddenly a lovely young woman gallops toward them on a willowy white horse. She is so beautiful that they hold their breath as one. She is Niamh of the Golden Hair and her father is king of Tir na nÓg, the Land of the Forever Young. She tells Finn that she has come because she loves one of his sons, Oisín. So fair is he that rumours have reached all the way to Tir na nÓg. Beckoning Oisín to follow her, she recounts the island's delights:

"You will never fall ill or grow old there. In my country you will never die. Trees grow tall there and trees bend low with fruit. The land flows with honey and wine, as much as you could ever want.... As well as all of this you will get beauty, strength and power. And me for your wife."

Oisín bids his father, Finn, and all his friends farewell. The horse neighs three times and carries them across the sea, the waves parting before them.

True paradise is a state of grace. No one can give you joy or take it away. No circumstance can deprive you of your dignity or value. No dream come true is necessarily better than the delight and opportunity to dream. No accord, contract, job, relationship, possession, privilege, or status is better than your inmost vision of yourself, the paradise of being fully content and satisfied. In the Celtic imagination, such a blessing is westward, in the direction of the sun's journey homeward, inward to itself, deep within the pleasures of being fabulously alive.

Reading for 20th May 2021

Introduction

A 3 card spread for the day using the Lenormand Oracle deck and techniques. Along with possible answers to any questions asked.
Add the 3 cards together, minus 36 which is the amount of cards in the deck. The number that's left is the OUTCOME card.
So if the cards were numbered (16, 25, 7) you would get this calculation (16+25+7=48-36 = 12). The OUTCOME card is therefore, card #12.

 
Card Placement meaning: Recent influences: Any recent influences that may impact on the day.

HOUSE - Neutral
Near: If this card is in the middle of the tableau, it predicts losses and disharmony in the home. 
Made worse if the querent’s card is above it.

Far: Free of bad cards, this card promises prosperity and a happy end to problems.

General Meaning:
I am your family and your base, your ground and your home. 
I give you stability and comfort. I am your living arrangement and environment. 
I am what surrounds you and your estate. 
The cards around me will give you signs on my present state, or what the future will dictate.

Card Placement meaning: The Day card: This is the DAY CARD which reflects the present situation and implications over the whole day or 24 hours.

SNAKE - Neutral

Near: Complicated situations and misfortunes, the intensity of which is made worse by its proximity to the querent’s card and if with cards 6, 10, or 14.

Far: Problems require patience and careful thought to overcome.

General Meaning:
Watch out for me because I am always hiding, you can never trust or believe me. 
I am cheating, deceiving, and will betray you in a heartbeat. 
Be careful where you are treading, my fangs will surely have you dreading.

 

Card Placement meaning: Possible Outcome: Card 3 reflects on both cards 1 and 2 and may provide answers to any outcome over the coming days.

ANCHOR - Neutral

Near: Problems and unfaithfulness in love affairs. New relationships are not lasting. 
Demands are made on you, financially and professionally, that you will be unable to deliver.

Far: There will be good times in professional and business settings. Increased by the presence of good cards. 
Love and relationships proceed well. Hope.

General Meaning:
With stability and security, I give a peace of mind. 
I push you to persevere and help you reach your goal. 
Watch out for negative cards, they might shackle and pull you down a hole.

Card Placement meaning: Outcome card.

SCYTHE - Negative

Near: Warning of upset, and even danger, lessened by the presence of good cards when nearby. 
Made worse by the presence of bad cards.

Far: Diminishes the effect of any positive cards in its proximity when far away. 
Trials for those close to the querent.

General Meaning:
Be careful I am swift and sharp. 
I cut through with precision with a strict and clear vision. 
I am an accident,a sharp cut, a break, or sometimes a decision that needs to be made. 
I can bring good harvest or danger. 
Look at what I am cutting nearby, it just might be your wager.

Today's Oracle 19th May 2021

Raven (Truth-telling and Prophecy)

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 prophecies.

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 18th May 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.

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 17th May 2021

 Bards (Storytelling)

Around a fire, the old stories are told again. In the telling of stories the past more consciously bears upon the present. Set against the long story of life, the familiar and unusual mingle to form the contours and patterns of our lives.

Invoking the Qualities of Remembrance and Identity.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, knowing and interpreting the long story of your life - or the long story of your family, community, or people - is important to you. Sacred texts, great literature, or science fiction that probes the boundaries of the future may unexpectedly seem more relevant to you.

One local storyteller narrates the history of the people, another relays romantic tales playing fact against fiction, and yet another recites poetry as if words were waves upon the sea. Another storyteller, perhaps an itinerant bard, sings heroic ballads, runes and incantations, songs of romance, or lullabies for children. Genealogies and epics retain the long memory of generations and seldom change. Other stories fashion plots, both old and new, breathing new life and interpretation into changing circumstance.

The most well-known bard of the Celtic tradition is Taliesin Pen Beirdd, the bard of the isle of Britain, who lived in Wales during the second half of the sixth century. A large corpus of songs, poems, and lore are attributed to him. Although much of this work actually comes from medieval times, it is identified with Taliesin to enhance the prestige of the bardic orders in Britain. Nonetheless, the poems of Taliesin stemming from the sixth century, and probably predating his time, relay much of what we know of the ancient bards whose words bestowed blessings on friends and, on the darker side, the curse of satire on foes. Taliesin speaks of his origins:

"I was instructor to the whole universe.

I shall be until the judgement on the face of the earth. . . .

There is not a marvel in the world Which I cannot reveal."

Notwithstanding Taliesin's immodesty, the bards conveyed through the centuries the mysteries of lore and tradition. Stretching back before recorded time, the most important role of itinerant bards and village storytellers was to preserve a vast body of oral lore, including history and genealogies, poems and songs, epic tales, riddles, incantations, knowledge of disputes and settlements, and law.

Travelling from parish to parish in the late nineteenth century, Alexander Carmichael visited many such storytellers and recorded their tales and songs. The storytellers Carmichael sought out were already old; they had learned their poems and stories as children from old storytellers who had learned them when they were children. In this manner, the tales and poems Carmichael collected travel back in memory to the first half of the seventeenth century. Carmichael tells of an itinerant storyteller of early eighteenth-century Scotland, one Catherine Macaulay, who "wandered from house to house, and from townland to townland ... and remained in each place longer or shorter according to the population and the season.... [reciting] night after night, and week after week ... poems and stories ... long and weird." One storyteller of the Outer Hebrides was Janet Campbell, a nurse, who "had many beautiful songs and lullabies of the nursery... [H]er stories had a charm for children ... listening to what the bear said to the bee, the fox to the lamb, the harrier to the hen, the serpent to the pipet, the whale to the herring, and the brown otter of the stream to the silvery grilse of the current."

Some of your own life stories will not change, or only slightly. Others, reflected in the mirror of current circumstance, will change dramatically. In the act of telling stories, the past more consciously bears upon the present. Former times are revisited and integrated, sometimes in startling ways. Familiar and seemingly stray events are probed for meaning. In your stories, the familiar and unusual are bound to mingle, forming the rich contours and patterns of your life.

The art of storytelling is active, not passive. Though a story is unchanged from an earlier telling, it nonetheless brings reminiscence, meaning, and identity. What is more, a changing story may contain the promptings and guidance of spirit. Watch your own tellings for changes - they may indicate a shifting of awareness as well as prospects for the future.

Today's Oracle 16th May 2021

Hearth and Family (Right Relations)

In the cold lands in the north of Europe and elsewhere, family and friends gather near the fire at night. The warmth of the fire and the closeness of family, friends, and community is strengthened and valued.

Invoking Friendship, Family, and Community.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, it is time to lighten up on your professional identity and worldly status and cultivate friendship, conversation and camaraderie, and family relationships. This oracle suggests that your life activities have carried you too far adrift from the social activities and ordinary joys of life. Being in right relations with those immediately around you is to be relaxed with the human and unprotected side of who you are. In good company, your identity and attachments to status and worldly pursuits can relax, even if only for a short while. This relaxed demeanour is not the side of your nature that you necessarily take to the office, but the side of your nature that wants to be known and nurtured informally and intimately among those you love and trust.

Before the advent of electricity, the rural Celts would entertain one another with conversation., riddles, songs, ballads, and storytelling. With a fire brightening and warming a windowless home, a storyteller would blend fact and fiction to form a seamless tale. After working in the fields by day, men and women would gather around a central hearth for evening levity, swapping of news, and storytelling. The mingling of friends and family and the welcoming of strangers around the hearth represent right relations among people.

Alexander Carmichael describes his experience of the evening ceilidh (gathering time) of the crofters and farmers of the Outer Hebrides in the late nineteenth century. As evening approaches, the house of the town's storytellers is full, making it "difficult to get inside and away from the cold wind and soft sleet without." The house is

"Roomy and clean, if homely, with its bright peat fire in the middle of the floor. There are many present men and women, boys and girls. All the women are seated, and most of the men. girls are crouched between the knees of fathers or brothers or friends, while boys wherever boy like they can climb. The houseman is twisting twigs of heather into ropes to hold down thatch, a neighbour crofter is twining quicken roots into cords to tie cows, while another is plaiting bent grass into baskets to hold meal. The housewife is spinning, a daughter is carding.... Neighbour wives and neighbour daughters are knitting, sewing, or embroidering.... The speaker is eagerly listened to, and is urged to tell more. But, he pleads that he came to hear and not to speak, saying

The first story from the host, story till day from the guest."

The joy and art of ready conversation, music, humour, banter, and repartee are greatly prized in Celtic lands. Even today in Ireland, the soft warmth of a peat fire and lively conversation attract more attention than the nightly news or BBC. In the winter months, much of the home entertainment of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales is graced nightly by the conversation of neighbours, especially if houseguests are willing to oblige an eager audience with tales of distant places (though anywhere will do, like America or England). If you are known for pipin' or fiddlin' or tellin' stories, you will be asked to entertain. A praiseworthy Irish compliment is to be thought a "good crack," that is, capable of setting others laughing, thereby fashioning an atmosphere to forget the cares and struggles of the day. As is proverbial in Ireland, village pubs are the gathering places of neighbours. Here the melodious strains of conversation and music intertwine.

The art of socializing for the sheer joy of it seems curiously dated in the twentieth century. Nonetheless, all of us need the community of right relations, the cultivation of familiar and relaxed social relationships.