Today's Oracle 10th April 2020

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.

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."

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.

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 9th April 2020

Coupling of Earth and Sky (Unlimited Possibilities)

The sexual coupling of goddesses with gods and mortal men represents the union of sacred polarities - feminine and masculine, earth and sky, darkness with light-and the procreation of unlimited possibilities. Success requires steady development.

Invoking the Qualities of Patience and Steadiness.

The mythical sexual union of the sovereign goddess with a god or mortal king conveys fertility and prosperity to the land. Throughout Welsh and Irish legend, the sexual union of the sovereign goddess and a mortal man elects the man as king and grants him otherworldly powers, so long as he is just. The goddess Morrigán mates with Daghdha, the great tribal god. The queen-goddess Medb (meaning "one who intoxicates") chose and tested her many sexual partners. The coupling of earth and sky signifies unlimited possibilities.

The sexual coupling between the sovereign goddess with a tribal god or mortal king signifies the bringing of otherworldly blessing to people, animals, and crops. The goddess signifies the spirit of the land itself, the man its protector. The royal court at Tara, the mythological heart of Ireland, was traditionally the site of the ritual enactment of union between the king and the land, represented by the goddess of sovereignty. The mythic exchange of sexual potency assured new offspring and vigour, and brought fluorescence to plants and flowers. The people and animals were fertile. The sun shone and rains came to nourish the fields. The harvests were regular and abundant. The people grew healthy, prosperous, and joyous.

One of the many manifestations of the sovereign goddess is the Morrigán, often associated with protecting the land in times of war. The Morrigán is a great warrior, fierce in battle, but here is associated with fertility, courage, and bold sexuality. The Dindshenchas, a twelfth-century manuscript linking topography and myth, describes her role as sovereign of fecundity. The Morrigán mates with the Daghdha, the tribal god, as she stands straddling a river, with one of her two feet on the south of the water and the other to the north of the water. In a place known as the Bed of the Couple, they have sexual intercourse, thereby assuring the fertility of the people and animals and fruitfulness of the land.

The earlier the legend, the more prominent is the goddess's role in electing the future king of Ireland. The queen-goddess Medb's intrepid sexuality was but her duty in choosing the best consort possible for the well-being and protection of Ireland. Often manifesting as the hag, the sovereign goddess elects the king independently, choosing the best candidate from among the royal line. The coupling takes place once one has passed the hag's terrifying tests.

Without union with the sovereign goddess, the spirit of the land, no king can rule justly and wisely. The sexual union of the goddess with a mortal man elects him as king. As long as he is just, she grants him otherworldly powers and the land flourishes with bounty.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, anticipate the unexpected. The essence of the earth and sky, represented by the union of the sovereign goddess and mortal man, are joining to prepare a common accord and showing of blessing.

The new is possible, yet the success of this transition depends on your attitude. Sexual union creates urgency and possibility. The intensity of sexual coupling, the union of opposites, and the exchange of energy signify the heat of transformation and life. While the "marriage" of these forces is already within you, the force of birth requires patience and steadiness. New life is precious and requires grand attention and care. Be patient and steady. You may even have to slow down and pace yourself, as sexual energy discharged erratically can cause unnecessary confusion. Allow your life to be spacious and comfortable, so that new life and new possibilities have a chance to grow and develop easily. Nothing can be hurried. If you are receptive and steady, new possibilities will take root within you. If growth is even and unhurried, the possibilities are great.

Today's Oracle 8th April 2020

Lugh/Lludd (Warrior, the Shining One)

Lugh, the master of all arts, is one of the Tuatha De Danaan and a great warrior of the Irish mythological cycle. As foretold by a druid, he kills his own grandfather, Balor of the Evil Eye. A warrior's quality is mastery.

Invoking the Quality of Mastery.

The Irish warrior Lugh is the master of all the arts. When he approaches Tara, the fort of King Nuada, the king's eyes are dazzled by the bright light of Lugh's countenance, as though he has gazed straight into the sun. Lugh's counterpart in the Welsh tradition is the warrior-king Lludd, who joins with his brother Llewelys to overcome the three plagues oppressing the Isle of Britain. A warrior's special quality is mastery of all the arts, including poetry, music, smithing, pageantry, and healing.

Long ago in Ireland, in mythological time before the time of the Celts, the Fomorians lay siege on the Tuatha De Danaan, who were living peacefully on the emerald isle. Among them, Lugh is a warrior more beautiful and noble than any man. Born of supernatural origins, he is the son of a prince of the Tuatha De and a Fomorian princess, the grandson of the powerful Fomorian king, Balor of the Evil Eye. When Lugh approaches the gates of Tara accompanied by his warriors, he gains access to the king's court as the master of all the arts, including carpentry, smithing, music, combat and war, poetry, magic, healing, cupbearing, pageantry, and gaming. Once the Tuatha De king, Nuada, sees that Lugh is matchless in all the arts, he enlists his aid against Balor. Soon, Lugh enlists the help of Manannán Mac Lir, the powerful ruler of the sea. From Manannán, he acquires a breastplate that no weapon can pierce and a sword whose thrust no one can survive. As Nuada watches Lugh and his warriors returning to Tara, his

"Eyes were dazzled by a bright light as if he had looked full into the sun, but then he saw the brilliant rays shone from the face of the leader of the troop and from his long golden hair. Darts of light came off the young man's armour and off his weapons and the gold-embossed harness of his horse. A great jewel blazed from the front of the golden helmet he wore on his shining hair, and Nuada knew that Lugh had come back to Tara."

As soon as Lugh takes his seat in the court of the king, a horde of slovenly Fomorians bears down upon Tara. To Lugh's horror, when the unkempt men stumble into the court, Nuada and his household rise to their feet. When Lugh protests, Nuada replies that these Fomorians are returning to claim their taxes and a third of the crops and a third of the children as slaves. Outraged, Lugh brandishes Manannán's sword and kills all but nine of the Fomorians, sparing them only to turn to Balor with Lugh's deadly reply.

The Tuatha De Danaan and the Fomorians prepare for war. King Balor, Queen Ceithlinn of the Crooked Teeth, their twelve sons, and a great army of warriors march across Ireland to Tara. On the Plain of Moytura, the ground becomes "slippery with blood" as men fight and die, friend and foe side by side. When Balor fells Nuada with a single blow, Lugh is so enraged that he taunts his grandfather Balor to lift the eyelid of his deadly eye. Ten Fomorian warriors pull on ropes, as though drawing a curtain, to raise the weighty lid. Lugh thrusts a stone from his sling into Balor's eye as it opens, killing him instantly as the eye falls back through Balor's head. Though the dead are "as countless as flakes of snow," the Fomorians are forever routed from Ireland."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracting adventure and challenges to your life. This oracle signifies the actions of a mature and seasoned warrior, capable in many arts of action and contemplation. Seasoned warriors do not go out looking for high adventure, but challenges seem to find them nonetheless. To meet approaching events, you will want to combine authority with grace, skill, and artfulness. In acquiring many skills, you will be both flexible and strong. A true warrior has complete command of her or his actions. By coupling your skills to one another in your actions, you will master both the situation and yourself.

If the present situation is dangerous to yourself or others, wise action is to seek guidance and assistance. A warrior rarely journeys alone, but is accompanied by kindred companions and trusted friends or advisors. Pursuing worthy and risky objectives without the aid and wise counsel of others is unwise and sometimes perilous. Concerted action adds strength to strength.

Today's Oracle 7th April 2020

Bear (Fierce Femininity)

The wild bear of the forest is the expression of motherly devotion and loyalty to family and kin. In times of provocation and danger, the mother bear protects and defends her young without regard to her own safety. Her actions are swift and unselfish.

Invoking the Quality of Selfless Actions.

The wild bear of the forest is intimately linked with the Celtic goddess Artio, her very name meaning bear. Artio, the bear goddess to the Gaulish Celts, appears fiercely protective in the manner of a mother bear defending her young. She guards the bears from danger and guards humans from the bears. Accordingly, Artio personifies divine watchfulness and protection for both the human and animal realms. In human affairs, her motherly and bearlike protection brings a sense of safety, ease, and well-being.

Artio was the bear goddess of the Celts of Switzerland and the Moselle Valley during the Roman-Celtic period. While retaining the calm and tranquil bearing of the mother goddess and characteristically bearing fruit for her supplicants, Artio was nonetheless a fierce protectress. She had something of a double identity, as she was both the guardian of the bears and wild creatures of the forest, and the guardian of the sacred hunt.

Like a mother bear defending her young, Artio watched over animals and humans alike. Fiercely loyal, she was venerated by the Celts for the protection she provided against the wild forces of nature and, by extension, against enemies. Hunters and warriors propitiated her interventions. When enraged she was aggressive and dominant. Raging like a mother bear protecting her young in times of danger, the Celts felt safer under her sway.

Artio's fierce qualities resemble the "Mother Terrible" aspect of the goddesses of Old Europe from the Balkans discussed by Marija Gimbatas (6500-3500 B.C. ). Artio's supernatural character may be a remnant from a time when goddesses were revered as the primal forces of nature, presiding over life, regeneration, and death. While Celtic mythology abounds in stories of fiery goddesses and queens, archaeological evidence for Artio (or other ferociously dominant goddesses) is scarce. A small bronze statue found near Berne, Switzerland, depicts a regal Artio bearing fruit before the full figure of a bear, who appears to be greeting her. Between them is intimate identification, as though they are matched in strength and ferocity and equally divine.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, this may be an ideal time to develop the fierce, feminine qualities of readiness and responsibility for others into your character. Not only does the mother bear protect her own young, but she personifies selfless, courageous acts on behalf of others. She acts immediately and powerfully in service to others to protect and preserve in times of danger and distress. Her actions bring peace and tranquillity to life. Everyone benefits from her watchful attention and protection.

Being watchful and safeguarding the rightful needs of family, kin, and community are beneficial and necessary qualities in human life. Men and women are called on to intervene and mediate when the rights of others are unjustly violated or circumscribed. Trust your immediate and selfless response to situations when others are in need or danger. There is no reason to hold back and think about it. Act.

Today's Oracle 6th April 2020

Wondrous Child (Promise)

The wondrous child represents promise, hope in the future, and the rekindling of spiritual life. The new life is innocent, potential, and incomplete. The qualities of newborn innocence and inner development require safety and long stretches of unencumbered time.

Invoking the Qualities of Hope and Trust in the Future.

The Wondrous Child conveys promise and the rekindling of hope and trust in the future. In Irish legend, the wondrous child is Cú Chulainn. As a boy of seven, he was already the greatest combatant in the court of the king, Conor Mac Nessa, and he grows up to defend all of Ulster single-handedly. Taliesin, the great bard of Wales, is another wondrous child. When as a child he is discovered in a leather bag in a salmon weir, he composes poetry recounting the feats of his fabulous origins.

Throughout the world, the birth of exceptional children is a sign of hope. In Celtic lore and legend, the origins and childhood of great poets, saints, musicians, and warriors are often miraculous in character. Cú Chulainn, the great hero of the Ulster Cycle, was the son of none other than the god Lugh of the Long Arm of the Tuatha De Danann and Dechtire, sister of the King of Ulster, Conor Mac Nessa. Oengus, the youthful champion, was the son of the river goddess Bóinn and Daghdha, the Good God.

Taliesin, the incomparable bard of Wales, had once been a boy called Gwion Bach. Upon "accidentally" acquiring knowledge of all there was to know, he incurs the wrath of Ceridwen the Hag, who chases him as a greyhound when he is a hare, as an otter when he is a fish, and as a hawk when he is a bird. Finally, as a hen, she eats him when he is a grain of winnowed wheat on the floor of a barn. The grain of wheat passes into her womb, and in nine months she gives birth to a son so fair and beautiful that she cannot bear to slay him. So she puts him in a leather bag and watches him while he shape-shifts into a hare, a fish, a bird, and finally into a grain of wheat. Immediately, Ceridwen eats him and the seed goes into her womb. Nine months later, Taliesin is born once again as a boy so fair and beautiful that Ceridwen, unable to kill him, places him in a leather bag (in some versions a basket) and sets him to drift on a river on the eve of Beltaine.

Meanwhile, the son of a nobleman, called Elffin, known for his terribly bad luck, is sent by his father to a favoured salmon weir. Every May Eve, the father was accustomed to taking salmon of great value from the weir, but Elffin finds nothing but a plain leather bag. When Elffin slices the bag open, he sees a bright forehead, and cries, "Look, a radiant brow (taliesin)." Elffin is despondent over the bad luck of returning to his father's court with nothing but a child. But the boy astride Elffin's saddle begins at once to compose a poem for him. Amazed, Elffin asks him how he could possibly compose such poetry, being so young. Taliesin replies with another poem, known as "The Consolation of Elffin":

"Elffin of noble generosity.
Do not sorrow at your catch.
Though I am weak on the floor of my basket, there are wonders on my tongue.
While I am watching over you, no great need will overcome you ..."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are urged to cherish and develop a talent or skill that is latent within yourself or in someone you love. It may be a child, a friend, a partner, or even a teacher. Whether you need to attend to yourself or someone else, the talent in question is extraordinary in some unique way. If the talent is within you, you will need to create an environment that allows for long stretches of unencumbered time to practice or cultivate the essential skills. Garnering unencumbered time in modern life may require major reordering of priorities. If you are in the role of supporting another, you are in the role of an assistant and supporter who makes time and more supportive environments possible. Either way, you are a great encourager of self or another. New life in all forms is invariably innocent, potential, and incomplete. The role of encouraging, supporting, and providing safety are essential to its secure development.

Update on #COVID19

This is not the last time we will see COVID19!

Today's Oracle 5th April 2020

Boar (Fearless in Conflict)

The wild boar or pig is a fierce and indomitable creature symbolizing war and conflict. The fury of an enraged boar or army is rightly feared. The qualities of the boar are fierceness, power, and unassailable strength.

Invoking Strong and Decisive Actions.

The wild boar is revered for its ferocity and strength. By association, weapons and armour adorned with boar symbols lend fury and courage to warriors. Arduinna, a boar goddess and huntress from the Ardennes Forest in northern Gaul, rides bareback on a galloping boar. Arawn, the Lord of the Welsh Otherworld, rewards Pwyll for his bravery with the precious gift of the first herd of pigs in Wales. The wild boar signifies power, strength, and fearlessness in conflict.

Wild boars personify the terror of war. Celtic weapons and armour bear the symbols of the boar, its mouth menacingly open and dorsal bristles standing straight up. Replete with screaming, yelling, clamouring chariots, clashing weapons, and the neighing of terrified horses, Celtic battles were horrifying, bloody, and noisy. Roaring over the hill in wild abandon and screeching savagely, enemies were often reduced to terror by the tumult. Adding to the din, among the horns are trumpets called carnyxes, fashioned in the shape of a boar's head, its mouth open and snarling. When blown, carnyxes add a horrid, rattling screech to the fury of battle.

Boars and pigs are also prized for their meat. They demand great skill and courage from the hunters and their horses in the hunt. Though often exaggerated, the Celtic fondness for pork and ritual feasting is well known and documented. Warriors extolling their bravery competed for the champion's portion of pork at the feast. Choice pieces of pork were buried with chieftains to prepare them for otherworldly feasting. Pig offerings were made to the gods, sometimes slaughtered with select portions buried as gifts to the Otherworld, butchered and given as food offerings, or consumed in ritual feasting.

The legends from Wales and Ireland portray boars as supernatural, enchanted, and as gifts from the Otherworld. In the First Branch of the Welsh Mabinogion, Pwyll, Lord of Llys Aberth, encounters Arawn, Lord of the Otherworld. For breaking an honour code, Pwyll must exchange places with Arawn for a year and slay his otherworldly enemy, Hafgan. Pwyll keeps his pledge, and after the year is over Pwyll and Arawn return to their own realms. In gratitude, Arawn sends Pwyll and later his son Pryderi wondrous gifts, the most precious being the first herd of pigs in Wales. In "Math the Son of Mathonwy" of the Mabinogion, which chronicles the conflict between northern and southern Wales, the magician Math, the Lord of Gwynedd, envies the otherworldly pigs:

"So they went unto Math the Son of Mathonwy. "Lord," said Gwydion, "I have heard that there have appeared in the South some beasts such as were never known in this island before." "What are they called?" asked Math. "Pigs, lord." "And what kind of animals are they?" "They are small animals, and their flesh is better than the flesh of oxen. . . . " "And who owns them?" "Pryderi the son of Pwyll; they were sent to him from Annwn, by Arawn the king of Annwn. . . ." "And by what means may they be obtained from him?" "I will go, lord, as one of twelve, in the guise of bards, to seek the swine." "It may be that he will refuse you," said Math. "I will not come back without the swine," replied Gwydion. "gladly," said Math, "go thou forward.""

In the Tale of Culhwch and Olwen, Culhwch is of royal birth and cousin of Arthur. Cursed for offending a queen, Culhwch falls in love with Olwen, the daughter of the giant Ysbaddaden. Since Olwen's marriage prefigures the giant's death, Culhwch is given a series of extraordinary tasks to perform by the giant before he can win the hand of Olwen. His quest centers on capturing Twrch Trwyth, a fierce and enchanted boar who was once an evil king, and seizing the shears, comb, and razor from between Twrch Trwyth's ears. Enlisting the aid of Arthur and Mabon, son of the goddess Modron, Culhwch follows Twrch Trwyth and his band of enchanted pigs all over southern Wales, Ireland, and Cornwall before bringing Twrch Trwyth to the ground.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the conditions ask for strong and decisive actions. To act with power and strength, you must first seek clarity and then act decisively. Conflict, disagreements, and discord can be multiplied by indecision and vacillation. The wild boar is never indecisive, but moves swiftly forward. While the aggression of the boar is needed in everyday life, a fierce focus and determinism are often required in business and professional life. Sometimes you must fight for what you need.

When applied to personal or intimate affairs, this oracle points to swift and decisive actions to curtail misunderstandings or even to stop the actions of others when safety or security is threatened. In specific circumstances, you must protect and defend yourself, physically and emotionally, from the actions of others. Stay centered and resolute.

Today's Oracle 4th April 2020

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.

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!"

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 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 3rd April 2020

Salmon (Knowledge)

As a magical creature of the waters that is close to powers of the Otherworld, the salmon brings knowledge and wisdom, expressing them through the creative arts, especially poetry, prose, and singing. Ancient bards were inspired by tasting the salmon of knowledge.

Invoking Spontaneity and Artistry.

The magical salmon brings supernatural knowledge and wisdom. Taliesin, the ancient bard of Wales, was retrieved from a salmon weir in the River Convey. In the Finn Cycle of Ireland, the red-speckled salmon living in a pool on the River Boyne acquires great knowledge by eating the berries of the rowan tree overhanging the pool. When Finn tastes one of the salmon, he acquires knowledge of everything in the world, past, present, and future, and becomes as great a poet as he is a warrior and hunter.

In Irish and Welsh legends, the salmon captures the wonders of otherworldly wisdom. Swimming in pools close to sacred springs and feeding on rowan berries, salmon acquire knowledge of all there is to know.

The Finn Cycle of Ireland chronicles the story of a magic salmon and the giving of the knowledge of all things to Finn. To acquire greater wisdom, Finn goes to  learn poetry from Finneces, who lives on the shores of the magical River Boyne (Bóinn), encamped there for seven years attempting to catch one of the red-speckled salmon that live in a pool by the river. The salmon eat the berries that fall from a rowan tree overhanging the pool and acquire the knowledge of all there ever was to know. Whoever eats one of the salmon will enjoy the wisdom of the world. When Finn comes to Finneces's camp, the poet has just caught a beautiful salmon. Finneces gives the fish to Finn and instructs him to cook it, but not to eat even the smallest piece. While lifting the salmon off the spit, the skin of fish sears Finn's thumb. Thrusting his thumb into his mouth to ease the pain, the knowledge intended for Finneces goes to Finn. As prophesied, the wisdom of the salmon goes to a fair-haired man named Finn who becomes as great "a poet as he was a warrior and hunter."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the unspoiled wisdom within your nature seek expression in the creative arts, especially poetry, prose, drama, and singing. Even without special training or talent, creative pursuits seem satisfying and want to be spontaneously expressed. Routine activities may suddenly seem revitalized with insight. Creative and ingenious people attract you. The grandeur of nature is a great source of joy and inspiration.

In the Celtic world, the bards could both bless and curse with the eloquence of their words. In our time, words can promote good and evil and, therefore, rightful expression requires clarity of mind and heart. Take time to choose your words and expressions carefully.

Like the magical salmon feeding on the rowan berries at the bottom of the pool, wisdom may seem to come from a deep well within you. Fresh insights may nourish many aspects of your life, personally and professionally. New ideas will beg expression in words. If you respect the rights of others, this new (or renewed) artistry in ideas and words will develop and increase.

Today's Oracle 2nd April 2020

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.

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 [chancel 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 nthe 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.

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?

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 1st April 2020

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.

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.

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.

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 31st March 2020

Banishing of Snakes (Loss of Hope/Regenerative Power)

The break in connection with the powers governed by the Otherworld is symbolized in the banishing of snakes (attributed to St. Patrick) in Ireland. This oracle signifies a loss of a vital connection with the powers of the physical and natural world and invites reconnection.

Invoking Breakthrough and Reconnection with the Natural World.

The break in the connection with the powers of the Otherworld is symbolized in the banishing of the snakes, attributed to St. Patrick in Ireland. As snakes are a well-known symbol of the goddesses, especially mother goddesses such as Brigit, the popular belief in their banishment represents a break with the primal and regenerative authority of the earth and the Otherworld. The banishing of snakes signifies the loss of hope and regenerative power and invites reconnection.

Croagh Patrick in County Mayo is the traditional site associated with St. Patrick's banishing of the snakes from Ireland. The conical mountain, tipped with white quartz, stands majestically overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at Clew Bay. Also known as the Reek, the mountain commands attention and has been a site of religious activities since ancient times.

In a delightfully Irish manner, ancient and Christian traditions intertwine at Croagh Patrick. Some thirty thousand pilgrims still come annually to ascend the mountain, circuit the stations for prayer, or join the festivities on the first Sunday in August (or the last Sunday in July), the day traditionally associated with Lughnasa, the harvest festival in honour of the warrior god Lugh. By some reports, since the mountain is associated with fertility, even. into the mid-nineteenth century only women were allowed to ascend the steep slope to the summit. There the women, and especially those who were childless, slept in the "bed" of the goddess in hope of obtaining fertility.

Many legends associated with St. Patrick depict his struggle with a snake goddess, symbolizing Brigit, and commonly known as the devil's mother, the Caora or the Caorthanach. By tradition, the mountain goddess attacks Patrick as a great bird and later as a monstrous snake. He banishes her from the mountain, but she escapes to a lake at the side of the mountain, reappearing at Lough Derg, County Donegal, to attack Patrick once again.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are probably experiencing a loss of energy, vitality, and generativity in the world. The Banishing of Snakes signifies a disconnection with the primal elements of the earth responsible for physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Disconnected in this way, your body tends to feel limp and lethargic, and your emotions are likely to be depressive.

Reestablishing a stable connection with the transformative powers of the Otherworld typically involves a lengthy and steady process of recovery. If severely depleted, your physical body and even your emotions may require a slow rhythm to heal and revitalize. You may also have to break strong personal habits that deplete your energy and health. Many factors are involved in this process, including attention to proper diet and exercise, adequate sleep and rest, time spent outdoors, and sustaining a nurturing social and emotional life. If you have a positive and appreciative attitude toward your natural environment, your recovery will be quicker and stronger. It may also be necessary to look at ways in which you may be dismissing your own physical and sexual needs or participating in addictive habits that undermine your physical and emotional vitality.

Today's Oracle 30th March 2020

The Morrigán, the Raven goddess (Chaos)

The Morrigán signals the presence of sex, lovemaking, chaos, and often death to a particular way of being. Chaos clears the way for transformation. Often appearing in disguise, her qualities are confusion, chaos, destruction or death, and rapid change.

Invoking the Quality of Rapid Change.

The Morrigán presides at thresholds of change, namely conflict, life and death, and sexuality. On the eve of the battle, in the twilight between the armies, the Morrigán hails the victor in the shape of a great crow or raven, screaming encouragement to the favoured and death to foes. Voraciously sexual, her couplings with gods and heroes render protection and fertility to the land. Her presence signifies confusion, destruction, and, especially, rapid change.

After the Tuatha De Danann had defeated the Fomorians, a demon-like race inhabiting Ireland, and cleared away the slaughter, the Morrigán or Mórrígu (meaning the "Terrifying" or "Great Queen") proclaimed news of victory and peace to Ireland. Joined in a single voice, the ancestors, the rivers, the summits, and the sources of waters of Ireland demanded, "What is the news?"

"Peace up to heaven
Heaven down to earth
Earth beneath heaven
Strength in each
A cup very full
Full of honey
Mead in abundance
Summer in winter ...
Peace up to heaven ..."

Later in mythic history, in the Ulster Cycle and the Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) chronicling the great conflict between the provinces of Ulster and Connacht, the war goddesses Neamhain, Badhbh, and the Morrigán terrify the Connachtmen and "a hundred warriors died of fright ." Appearing as a great crow or raven, the Morrigán prophesies victory to the forces of Ulster and hides the deadly news from the forces of Connacht. The great hero of the conflict is Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Ulster. Throughout the epic cycle, Cu Chulainn himself is hounded by the seductive and clever Morrigán, who both aids and ultimately defeats him. She attempts to seduce him, he spurns her, and she attacks him in revenge. She tricks him into breaking his geis, his sacred oath: Cú Chulainn eats the flesh of a dog, his namesake. Weakened, he goes into battle. Shortly thereafter, the Morrigán appears to him as the Washer at the Ford, washing blood from his tunic, a sure sign of approaching death:

"She was washing blood-stained clothes in the stream, moaning and sobbing all the time. As Cú Chulainn watched, she lifted the garment she was washing out of the water and he saw his own tunic in her hands. Blood poured from it into the stream and turned the water red."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are approaching or are in the midst of rapid change. While the appearance of a goddess of war may appear sinister, she also clears the way for a new order once the chaos and confusion have passed. With greater spiritual maturity and experience, the presence of the Morrigán is welcomed. Following in her wake, you can quickly and even graciously rid yourself of attachments to material possessions, bankrupt relationships, and harmful or futile circumstances. This oracle is auspicious: great psychological and spiritual progress is possible. Success depends on your conscious participation, as the changes now in progress are inevitable and you cannot change them. However, by consciously observing and welcoming the changes, a new order will quickly appear, integrating remnants of your old life with new elements you never dreamed possible.

Casting this oracle may also signal the need to remain in a state of upheaval and bewilderment for a while longer. At present, no future direction can be clearly indicated, and the oracle cautions you to wait and ask again later.

Today's Oracle 29th March 2020

Hag, the Initiator (Beginnings)

The hag initiates change and transformation, and signals the potential for significant change and transformation in relationships and the affairs of everyday life. Her often terrifying appearance is a test of your readiness for change.

Invoking Readiness for Change.

In Irish myth, a ghastly hag symbolizes the sovereign goddess of Ireland in the quest for the rightful heir and king. Through her, he is joined to the land. When the hag mates with the rightful heir, she signals his sovereignty by becoming a lovely maiden. In Irish and Scottish folk tales, the hag gives birth to the mountains and valleys, hills and rocks, and the various creatures of the land. The hag tests and initiates beginnings and rightful change.

The powerful hag is one of the three aspects of the Triple-Mother Goddess, the sovereign goddess of the land. Typically old and yet ageless, her terrifying appearance tests the readiness of kings and heroes. In Irish, Welsh, and Scottish legends, she enchants her "chosen" heroes with magical powers and confounds and hounds any who spurn her advances. Her shape is spine- tinglingly horrid and yet radiant, as captured in a contemporary poem, originally composed in Gaelic, by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill:

"She stood naked in the dark, her palms cold like luminous fish on my shoulders:
her hips flashing fire beneath the two moons of her breasts.
I sank my head in her sea-weed hair and bitter waves of sea bruised and battered me, our white-horse waves rusted to rats: all became empurpled.
In the morning waking my head aching I saw sallow scales encrusted her and rotten teeth from the abyss snarled at me and hissed.
I took my awl and last and left the place fast!"

In approaching this goddess, the Irish kings were chosen. By legend, the reign of the U1 Neill, descendants of Niall, was initiated by the blessing of the goddess of sovereignty, the hag. Though the youngest of the five sons of the king, Niall became the king of Ireland from 379-405. As the story is told in an early fifth-century manuscript, Niall and his four brothers were out hunting in the forest and were overwhelmed by thirst. One by one, each brother comes upon a pool of water guarded by a hideous hag. She offers each a drink in exchange for a kiss and each one flees at her dreadful appearance, except for Niall. He kisses the crone and makes love to her. As they kiss, the hag becomes the loveliest of maidens, her face like the radiance of the sun - none other than the goddess of sovereignty herself.

folk tales in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland abound in stories about the hag, the "Mountain Mother," the "Great Old One," or the Cailleach in Gaelic. Striding across the land, she "lets fall from her skirts" the natural features and creatures of the land. In Ireland, many tales tell of benevolent hags, loathsome hags, hags saved by saints from peril, and hags who turn to hares and turn back into an old neighbour woman again when caught milking the cows!

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the hag may be testing your readiness for change. Her presence signals the potential for significant shifts in business and professional life, relationships, and the affairs of everyday living. New beginnings are possible. While the hag's outward appearance may be ghastly, welcoming her signals your readiness for a shift in awareness and fortunes. Anything may happen if you embrace such an unlikely stranger across the threshold of your life.

Life presents many situations that are unsettling, even abhorrent. When troubles arise, they may represent the presence of the hag, artfully disguised. There is no way to prepare for her, except to watch for her presence. She has come to test your nerve and willingness for living in a new way. Welcoming her many manifestations signals a ready and awakened consciousness. Having crossed the threshold of danger, many things - anything - is possible.

Today's Oracle 28th March 2020

Esus Cutting the Tree (Sacrifice)

A living tree signifies the source of life and is therefore sacred. The ritual of cutting or sacrificing a tree represents relinquishing the practiced and familiar for the new and unknown. Cutting the tree signifies surrender of the old and receptivity to the new.

Invoking Surrender of the Old and Receptivity to the New.

The unique image of Esus portrays him as a woodcutter chopping down a tree. The young woodcutter, the surrounding animal and bird imagery, and the prominence of the tree as a symbol of life all hint at a once popular myth. Throughout the Celtic world, trees were (and still are) considered sacred, and indiscriminately cutting one down was punishable by tribal law. To sacrifice a tree signifies the relinquishing of the familiar for the new and unknown.

The complex and evocative imagery of two stone bas-reliefs from the first century portray a young man chopping down a tree or cutting branches off a tree, surrounded by the imagery of a bull and three cranes or egrets. The larger of the two monuments, discovered in 1711 at the site of Notre Dame in Paris, is dedicated to Jupiter during the reign of Tiberius by a guild of sailors, and consists of six beautifully carved stones. On one stone is a large bull standing in front of a willow with two cranes on his back and a third perched on his head. On an adjoining stone, a woodcutter chops at the branches of a willow. Inscribed above the bull and water birds is Tarvostrigaranus, meaning "The Bull with Three Cranes," and the woodcutter Esus, meaning Lord. The other, more dramatic stone monument from Trier, Germany, combines these images, evoking the drama of a complex myth of which we know little aside from the images and inscriptions themselves. On the stone from Trier, a woodcutter chops at a willow surrounded by the head of a bull and three cranes or egrets.

A woodcutter and willow so artfully depicted evokes the portrayal of a sacred act, probably ritually enacted. The bull signifies the powers of the Otherworld, especially potency. The water birds connect the image to lakes and marshes, thresholds of the Otherworld. The graceful willow is native to the banks of rivers and lakes and especially prevalent in marshes. All trees are sacred, symbolizing the passage of life and death in its cycle of growth. In temperate climates where deciduous trees so noticeably change with the season, this symbolic Tree of Life dramatizes the passage of life each year. As seen in the tree oracles and especially regarding the thorn tree, the violation of such a tree brought havoc to human life and was often punishable by tribal law. To cut or chop a tree signifies a ritual act of sacrifice and surrender to the numinous forces that impinge every day on human life, an awareness perhaps unsettling but always familiar to the rural and agrarian Celts, and other indigenous cultures worldwide.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, your deep instincts are pulling you into new endeavours and prospects and away from the known and familiar. Now is a great time to sacrifice graciously the old for the new. The new needs space in which to grow. By voluntarily clearing your life of the clutter of unnecessary habits and possessions, the transition will be much easier. If you can just clear your thoughts, fresh thoughts and ideas are ready to arise in your imagination. Your dreams and daydreams are probably already guiding you. Little can stop you except your own holding on to well-known habits and patterns of the past.

It may be important to do some practical things, such as cleaning your house, closets, garage, attic, basement, office, studio, or desk to initiate clearing your life of the useless debris that invariably accumulates. Throw away or store out of sight things you are no longer using. Then rest and wait for your imagination to awaken and your new life to begin.

Today's Oracle 27th March 2020

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.

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 neighbors 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.

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.

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.

UPDATE ON COVID19

Update on Coronavirus for the 26th March 2020

Today's Oracle 26th March 2020

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.

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.

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.

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 25th March 2020

Changeling (Exchange Between Worlds)

The Changeling represents the exchange between worlds. Some people are faeries or have otherworldly characteristics. Some of them bring exceptional talents and skills. Received and used wisely, an exchange between the worlds brings otherworldly knowing.

Invoking Otherworldly Knowing and Talent.

The Changeling is a faery who has taken the place of a human, often a child or a baby. In more general terms, changelings are people of all ages who bear otherworldly, fey, or faery characteristics, but otherwise live ordinary human lives. Like the Changeling, they may be unusually sensitive and have remarkable talents, such as natural musical abilities, capacity for healing, psychic awareness, or sensitivity to subtle energies. Their exceptional talents become blessings if encouraged and used wisely.

The Changeling is an exchange with the world of the faeries. A faery has taken the place of a friend or neighbour, often a child or a baby. In recent times, these stories have been sinister and frightening, engendering more fear than respect for faery sensitivities and talents. The stories now remaining may be a distorted remnant from a time when an easy and natural exchange between the middle human world and the faery world was commonplace and beneficial.

Throughout the north of Europe, and especially in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, traditions attest to kidnappings of children by otherworldly beings with sickly or precocious impostors - changelings - left in their place. In Ireland and Scotland, changeling children are sickly, mettlesome, cranky, laugh when misfortune befalls the home, and sometimes have beards and long teeth. Though appearing as children, they typically betray their identity by conversing like adults, revealing ancient knowledge or memory of times long past, rising out of the cradle to play the pipes or the fiddle, or other unnatural actions for a child. Sometimes pipes, a fiddle, or another instrument are left beside the cradle and, when the family hears the most lovely music imaginable, the child is surely known to be a changeling. I II As many of the Irish and Scottish stories go, the changeling is discovered by a travelling tailor while applying his craft alone with the children:

"The man of the house wanted some clothes and sent for the tailor to make them. On that day they had a group on the bog cutting turf. Dinnertime came and the woman went out with the food for the men. She told the tailor to mind the babies while she would be out. One of them was at the bottom of the cradle and the other at the top. She wasn't long gone from the house when they spoke in the cradle. "An awkward woman's food for the turf cutters! " said one of them. "Do you remember such and such a war?" said one to the other. "I remember," said he, "and hundreds of wars besides." "Get the violin, Cathay" said the other man, "and we'll have a spell of music and dancing." He did and one of them played and the other danced.... They warned the tailor not to let on that he knew anything or he would come off worst. When the tailor finishes his work ... he put a shovel into the good turf fire and "reddened" it twice... . When it is red . . . he placed the red shovel under their backsides in the cradle and out the door with them.... A woman came to the door, and she threw in one of her own children and after a while, the other one."

Sadly, the belief in changelings has explained childhood diseases and abnormalities and has legitimised the torture of babies in attempts to rid them of the exchange. A unique or exceptional child - or even adult - runs the risk of being thought of as "away with the faeries."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, opportunities to encounter or exchange with the Otherworld are possible. There are people of all ages who naturally convey supernatural qualities and often impress others as fey, strange, mysterious, or extraordinary. They often have exceptional supersensory or uncanny abilities, especially in music, healing, or psychic awareness. In drawing this oracle, you may be encountering these otherworldly gifts in yourself or others.

In other ages, knowing things before they occur or at a distance, or healing others through touch and inward knowledge of plants and herbs, was valued and respected. People with such natural talents were recognized early on, encouraged, and trained by elders who had developed and rightfully used these talents. You may now have the opportunity to awaken and develop otherworldly talents in yourself or to support these talents in someone close to you.

Today's Oracle 24th March 2020

Nightfall (Thresholds and Beginnings)

Dusk is the beginning of each new day. In the stillness of night, we cross the threshold of beginning anew. We discover ourselves in the dark, as if carved from the night. Inspiration begins at dusk and expands while protected by the night.

Invoking Interiority and Inner Growth.

The Celts favour the night, for darkness renders guidance and mystery. Otherworldly beings quicken, just a little out of sight. Imagine a way of life in which guidance is carved from the stories told and retold in the night and images are born in the long silence of winter. Descending in a hush at twilight, nightfall is the threshold of beginnings. Things newly born are fashioned in the night. Like a womb shielding the land and its people from intrusion, the passage of night gives safe passage to the new.

The early Celts counted time by nights, not by days. The old calendars were oriented more to the cycles of the moon than to the sun. The mysteries of darkness were a protection and a comfort.

At nightfall, after the evening meal, family and neighbours gathered around a single hearth to converse, gossip, and tell tales. Strangers and beggars passing through with news were especially welcome. Stories told in good company in the night had a magic of their own. On special nights, when the mix of song and story was especially inviting, the Otherworld of faeries and ancestors and all manner of nature spirits were present, too, quickening and sometimes humming their own tunes and adding their own stories to the mix.

Night is the time of beginnings, nightfall its threshold. As darkness falls, the veils between the human world and the Otherworld grow thin. Protected as if by a shade, otherworldly dreams, inspirations, whisperings, and reveries are born. Daylight seems too bright for the imagination of the spirit world. Storytelling, inspiration, and creativity require a dimmer light, a gentler light. Things newly born are fashioned in the night. Playing light upon shadow, a flickering oil lamp or fire in the hearth is light enough to spark imagination and the whisperings of the Otherworld. Sometimes even prophesy is born.

In the poem "The Ballad of Father Gilligan," the great William Butler Yeats relays the story of a weary old priest from County Kerry who falls asleep as he prays. As the priest sleeps and another man dies, Yeats describes how the stars:

"They slowly into millions grew
And leaves shook in the wind
And god covered the world with shade
And whispered to mankind."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you long to renew your spiritual journey. The time and circumstances are now aligned with moving more deeply into your interior life. You are invited to slow down, quiet down, and deepen your prayer and meditation. By gradually quieting your outer life and the chattering of your mind, you can perceive the inward whisperings of the spirit world. In the Celtic imagination, darkness is a blessing and silence pregnant with possibility. Whether accompanied by others or richly alone to enjoy your nighttime reveries, night is the time for beginnings, insight, and spiritual replenishment. Whether alone or with others, quietude will bring solace and inner joy.

As a womb protects an embryo, the darkness of silence and daily quietude protect and nurture the spiritual life. Like young children, newly born spiritual awareness and insights must be sheltered from harsh probings and questions from the outer world, including your own.

Today's Oracle 23rd March 2020

Head (Immortality)

For the Celts, and many other indigenous peoples, the head carries the essence of a person - even after death. Considering what we will leave to future generations after our death often gives maturity and perspective to daily activities.

Invoking the Refinement of Character.

The sublimity of the human head is reflected in the Celtic stories and iconography, for the head conveyed the essence of a person and lived beyond the life of the body. Celtic warriors collected the heads of battle victims, hanging them from their belts or setting them apart on stones. Bran the Blessed instructed his companions to bury his head facing east on White Mount in London to guard Britain from invasion. The exaggerated Celtic head signifies the continuity and immortality of each human being.

In their artwork, the Celts frequently exaggerated the size of the human head and portrayed facial features, hair, and expression in the eyes with consistently finer detail than given to other parts of the human body. A large head might be expertly carved, with little attention given to the rest of the body and with limbs appearing diminutive by comparison. The large size and refined detail of the head give the image a lively, immediate, and personal character. Even apart from accompanying symbols, one senses that the expression alone relays identity and, by inference, an epic tale or heroic account.

Greek and Roman writers were ready to criticize the much-feared Celts and inform us that they practiced head-hunting, decapitating the victims of war and keeping the heads as trophies or offering them in shrines dedicated to the purpose. In southern Gaul at Roquepertuse, a shrine-portico from the second century was arrayed with niches containing skulls of young men who had died in battle. Epics from ancient Ireland and Wales portrayed warriors collecting the heads of battle victims. Even into the nineteenth century, the heads of Christian saints were thought to endow wells with holiness and healing powers and the heads of evil people to poison a well.

The well-known tale of Bran the Blessed (Bendigeidfran) from the Welsh Mabinogion is a fine example of the divine properties thought to be encapsulated in the head. Bran was of supernormal size and of the royal family ap Llyr of Harlech in Wales. His sister Branwen was married to the king of Ireland, who, upon returning with her to Ireland, treated her as a servant. In time, Branwen trained a young starling to speak and sent it across to Wales to relay her plight to Bran, who immediately mobilized his armies against Ireland. Bran's forces won, but only seven warriors survived, and Bran himself was fatally wounded in the heel by a poisoned spear. Bran then summarily commanded his men:

"And take the head and carry it to Gwynfryn [White Mount] in London," said Bendigeidfran, "and bury it with its face toward France. You will be on the road for a long time: you will be feasting in Harlech for seven years with the birds of Rhiannon singing to you, and the head will be as good company for you as it ever was when it was on me. Then you will be in gwales in Pembroke eighty years, and until you open the door toward Aber Henfelen... you can remain there, and the head untainted, will be with you. But from the time you open the door you cannot remain there, go to London and bury the head.... Then his head was struck off, and the seven men and Branwen as the eighth began the crossing.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are invited to refine your character. Your character will outlast the death of your physical body. In the Celtic imagination, the refinement or coarseness of your character continues after death. The head of a person even converses with companions and endows wells and shrines with personal properties. Most religious traditions worldwide aver the continuity from life to death in some form, whether it be immortality, reincarnation, or the memories of future generations. Even if you do not personally believe in a form of life after death, considering what you leave to future generations after your death will give maturity and perspective to your daily activities.

Having drawn this oracle does not suggest that death is close, but that your present circumstances give you a unique opportunity to focus on refining your character. You are urged to look carefully at the people and challenges in your life that invite greater subtlety and nobility.

Today's Oracle 22nd March 2020

Oak (The Ancient Wood)

Oaks are among the long-lived trees, signifying the presence of the ages and the long memory of trees. They symbolize life and rebirth and the connection between earth and sky. Ancient groves inspire celebration of the continuity of life.

Invoking the Qualities of Respect and Timelessness.

Oaks are among the long-lived trees, signifying the presence of the ages and the long memory of trees. Elder oaks are revered as ancient goddesses residing upon the earth. In touching the sky with its branches and the Otherworld with its roots, oaks bring the forces of life and death together. Dead in winter and alive again in spring, oaks portray the steady passage of life. Symbolizing the connection of the Middle World with the forces of subterranean earth and sky, groves of aged oaks inspire celebration of the seamless continuity of life.

Like most other trees, the oaks are strongly associated with the goddesses. They symbolize the ceaseless passage of life from birth to death to life anew. Like the goddesses, they are connected through their roots to the Otherworld beneath the ground, where otherworldly spirits dwell. Stretching their branches into the sky, they are connected with the spirits of the Sky World, particularly Taranis, the god of lightning and thunder. The older the oak, the more enchanted, numinous, and sacred it is.

Oaks were especially sacred to the druids. A natural grove of aged oaks draws the spirits of the Sky World and the Otherworld to the Middle World, the human and animal world residing on the ground. In ancient times, Celts worshiped in open-air groves throughout Europe and Asia Minor. Even the Romans were wary of them, fearing that oak groves were mysterious and dark. Still dwelling among us in the Middle World, the aged oaks of our time invite us to their sacred grounds to connect with the spirits of both worlds and to celebrate the continuation of life throughout the ages.

The long life of oaks signifies the presence of the ages and the long memories of trees, spanning the ages. Oaks take us unto themselves as a precious creation, assuring us in their sway that life is knowledge enough. In a poem about a neighbour, a contemporary Irish poet, Cathal O Searcaigh, speaks to us of feeding "from the Tree of Knowledge":

"She inclined to flesh but also to fun and though she was fond of swearing and gap-toothed She was never gruff or gloomy with us
When we visited her on Sundays and she made us a drop of tea while she hotly "dashed" this and "dratted" that...
She kept herself there like a tree growing and withering according to season "It's not ageing I am, but ripening."
And her words fell like seeds into the welcoming earth of my mind.
And when she'd wrap me in her limbs so tightly, I felt the fat - the growth rings of her body."

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the venerable oaks inspire respect for their continuity of life within change and chaos. You are called to a deep remembering of who you are.

For the venerable oaks, time is holy, every moment. Every memory has its place. Celebration and ritual inspire vision and perspective. Wherever you live, being in nature, especially among aged trees, may be cause for remembering - not because memories are necessarily pleasurable, but because they are ripe for the harvest of discovery. Amid the vicissitudes and changes of life, all mystical paths invite deep remembering. In the long memory of trees, no memory, however distant, is ever lost. You and your life in its deepest reflections are memories held forever. Perhaps you have separated yourself from deep memories of who you are or from the life of your family or community, or separated yourself from particular memories. Still, the aged oaks cradle them as though they are treasures for unpacking.

Deep remembering ultimately leads to a sense of peace and continuity. From the context of continuity, present circumstances - the good and ill alike - appear like snapshots on a long and special journey.