Today's Oracle 11th April 2021

Hammer god (Scepter of Authority and Choice)

The Hammer God is primarily a tribal father god, wielding his hammer or mallet as a symbol of authority and command. He is mature and kindly, yet his presence signifies the need to consider options wisely and make sound, discriminating decisions.

Invoking the Qualities of Wise and Just Decisions

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you need to make wise and careful decisions regarding your own resources and activities, and perhaps those affecting a large number of people, such as your extended family or community. Others are looking to you for guidance, leadership, and support.

The Hammer God is primarily a tribal father god, wielding his hammer or mallet as a symbol of authority and command. Of mature age and kindly disposition, he is the most good-natured and benevolent of the major male deities. Frequently holding a pot or goblet or standing near wine barrels, he is also linked with the inexhaustible cauldron of the Otherworld. His Celtic name is Sucellus, meaning "The Good Striker," and his presence brings wise and judicious decision making, especially in community affairs.

The Hammer God had widespread influence throughout the Rhineland and ancient Gaul, extending southward to the mouth of the Rhone. Over two hundred stone and bronze representations have been found, largely along the Rhine and the Rhone River valleys. His mature and kind appearance lends a benign and fatherly presence. In the image he not only carries a large club but his erect penis depicts power and robust fertility. He holds a hammer or mallet, his signature attribute among many Celtic tribes. Often the hammer is crudely carved; sometimes it is realistically portrayed, with a long-shafted handle and metal blade. Occasionally, a double-ax, suggestive of unlimited authority, is present along with the hammer. The Hammer God is so ubiquitously associated with the hammer that sometimes his presence is marked by the symbol of the hammer alone.

The most prominent father-god of Irish mythology is the Daghdha, meaning "the good god." He is one of the Tuatha De Danann, the people of the goddess Danu. Like the Hammer God, he wields an enormous club, suggestive of authority, fertility, and perhaps its role as an agent of renewal. Another of the Daghdha's attributes is his possession of an enormous, inexhaustible cauldron, also associated with the otherworldly powers of the mother goddesses.

In a similar manner, the Gaulish and Rhineland Hammer God is also associated with pots, goblets, and wine barrels, particularly in wine-producing regions like Burgundy. Though always signified as holding a hammer or mallet over one of his shoulders, he sometimes carries a pot or goblet as well, or stands with wine barrels at his feet. This association assumes his protection of the grape harvest and the production of wine.

You must consider the situation perspicaciously, carefully examining the circumstances and options, as well as the possible outcomes of your present actions. You may need to be very patient, waiting for information to form a discernible pattern. Only then can you make prudent decisions. The fatherly presence of the Hammer God signals an auspicious opportunity to better your own circumstances and the circumstances of those for whom you are responsible. If you take sufficient time and care to listen to all sides of the discussion and weigh all the possible outcomes, you will not only be successful but garner the esteem of your family and community.

Today"s Oracle 10th April 2021

Cauldron of the Otherworld (Alchemy)

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

Invoking Healing and Replenishing the Spirit.

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

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

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

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

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

[See comment 2 below for the full story.]

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

Today's Oracle 9th April 2021

Charioteer / The Chariot (Rescue from Danger)

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

Invoking the Qualities of Trustworthiness and Loyalty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Oracle 8th April 2021

New Moon (Wisdoms of the Heart)

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

Invoking Tenderness and Compassionate Knowing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thou art travelling in thy course.

Thou art steering the full tides.

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

Thou queen-maiden of guidance.

Thou queen-maiden of good fortune.

Thou queen-maiden my beloved.

Thou new moon of the seasons!"

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

Today's Oracle 7th April 2021

Faery Wind (Air)

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

Invoking Exchange with the Spirit World.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Oracle 6th April 2021

Pooka (The Trickster)

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

Invoking the Unexpected, Curious, and Whimsical.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Oracle 5th April 2021

Faeries of Mischief and Play

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

Invoking the Qualities of Laughter, humour, and Fun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Oracle 4th April 2021

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

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

Invoking the Quality of Loving Attention.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today's Oracle 3rd April 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 2nd April 2021

 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.

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.

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."

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 1st April 2021

 The Under Tree (Taking Root in the Otherworld)

The Under Tree extends its trunk and opens its branches toward the sky and into the Otherworld. It represents our capacity to expand and stand strong in the hidden and unknown aspects of our nature and to nourish their graceful expression.

Invoking the Qualities of Exploration and Expansion.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, the ancient tree beckons you to take root in the Otherworld to stabilize and then expand the hidden and unknown resources of your nature. For centuries, the poets and musicians of the Celtic world have been nourished by otherworldly or spiritual forces within the earth. In this way, poets and prophets break totally new ground, bringing new ideas to awareness. If you accept the invitation, you will begin to explore undeveloped talents and inclinations in your character. Sustained periods of exploration and discovery may be ahead of you. In the Celtic world, the Otherworld is joyous and delightful and never dreary or depressive, so exploring the otherworldly (or inner) side of your nature is likely to be lighthearted and graceful. Supported by an otherworldly merriment, too much work is rarely involved. Rather, the newly matured talents and qualities will add greater depth and dimensionality to your life and work.

Wile  all trees spread upward in the sky, the Under Tree also reaches beneath the ground, extending its trunk and branches within the earth. By following the tree's branches into the earth, the traveller enters the Otherworld beneath the ground. In the Christian period, the Tree of Life grows on the Blessed Isles ever to the west. Forever blossoming and fruitful, the tree supports the maturing of the unseen and unexplored resources in our nature.

A mysterious tree guards the entrance to the Otherworld beneath the ground. By climbing down through its branches, a traveller enters the Otherworld and encounters supernatural figures living there. In the Welsh Mabinogion, the legend of "The Lady of the Fountain" tells of the hero Owain, who becomes the champion of the fountain of wisdom and the husband of "the Countess," none other than the sovereign goddess herself. One of Owain's companions, Kynon, tells a story of being directed by the Lord of the Animals to

"Ascend the wooded steep until thou comest to its summit; and there thou wilt find an open space like to a large valley, and in the midst of it a tall tree, whose branches are greener than the greenest pine trees. Under this tree is a fountain, and by the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the marble slab a silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, so that it may not be carried away. Take the bowl and throw a bowlful of water upon the slab, and thou wilt hear a mighty peal of thunder, so that thou wilt think that heaven and earth are trembling with its fury.... And the shower will be of hailstones; and after the shower, the weather will become fair, but every leaf that was upon the tree will have been carried away by the shower. Then a flight of birds will come and alight upon the tree; and in thine own country thou didst never hear a strain so sweet as that which they will sing."

The ancient tree is the center of the Celtic world, connecting the earth to the Otherworld below and the sky world above. Its branches reach into the ground and sky. Sometimes the tree is silver and its fruit shimmer like jewels. If an apple tree, a branch from the sacred tree bears blossoms and apples all year long. In the Ulster Cycle, Cú Chulainn's charioteer, Laeg, eloquently describes the ancient tree as he approaches the hallowed realms of the Otherworld:

"At the entrance to the enclosure is a tree from whose branches there comes beautiful and harmonious music.
It is a tree of silver, which the sun illumines.
It glistens like gold."

Today's Oracle 31st March 2021

 The Sacred Three (Seeing in All Directions)

Odd numbers, multiples of three, and the triple spirals are sacred symbols in the Celtic world. Triplication of divine figures signifies the all-seeing and unifying presence of the spirit world. Look for the wider circumstances behind events.

Invoking Awareness of the Spirit World.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are focusing too narrowly on the immediate circumstances rather than looking at the larger context and possibilities for the future. The all-seeing vision of this oracle invites you to step back from the immediate situation, to scan events as though you were looking at them from a distance, and to imagine how possible outcomes might look from a future date. This enlarged perspective will inspire confidence, focus your intention, and simplify your actions.

The tripling of supernatural figures and sacred attributes signifies the all- seeing and unifying presence of the spirit world. Triplication reaches its height in the images of the Triple-Mother Goddess. Tripling the image gives an air of magic and fervour to gods, heads, horns, phalluses, horses, and faces of supernatural figures.The image of the tricephalos appears to look out in three directions simultaneously from a single head.

The image of the Sacred Three pervades Celtic iconography and story from the pre-Roman period on through to the predominance of the Trinity in Celtic Christianity. Sublimity and power are linked to the tripling of images and attributes. The well-known Triple Spiral was carved on stones at Newgrange by the Stone Age ancestors of the Celts. Images of the Triple-Mother Goddess abound in the pre-Roman and Roman-Celtic period. By tradition, when the first Celts invaded Ireland, they were met by the three goddesses who protected the land. Brigit is sometimes triplicated or represented as three sisters. Powerful attributes such as horns and phalluses are triplicated.

Of particular significance in this image of goddesses and gods are the triple-faced or triple-headed images from northeastern Gaul, near modern Reims, as well as a few images from the south and west of Gaul and even from as far north as Scotland and Ireland. A triple-faced image may appear as a single head with three distinct faces, sometimes blended with one dominant face and two in profile. Occasionally, the heads in juxtaposition may vary in age, one old and two representing youth, and less frequently male and female faces may be combined together. Images from modern Trier and Metz portraying the Triple-Mother Goddess appear to trample on the tricephalos (triple-headed) god beneath, suggesting the dominance of the mother goddess over the triple-headed god.

The Celts, already linking the supernatural with the Sacred Three, took naturally to Trinitarian formulations in the early Christian period. In the Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael chronicles the hymns, runes, prayers, invocations, and customs of late-nineteenth-century farmers and crofters of the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. One of the loveliest rituals invoking the Trinity is an evening ritual known as the "smooring of the fire," performed by the woman of the house:

"Peat is the fuel of the Highlands [of Scotland] and [the Outer Hebrides] ... Where wood is not obtainable the fire is kept in during the night. The ceremony of smooring the fire is artistic and symbolic, and is performed with loving care. The embers are evenly spread on the hearth - which is generally in the middle of the floor and formed into a circle. This circle is then divided into three equal sections, a small boss being left in the middle. A peat is laid between each section, each peat touching the boss, which forms a common centre. The first peat is laid down in name of the god of Life, the second in name of the god of Peace, the third in name of the god of grace. The circle is then covered over with ashes sufficient to subdue but not to extinguish the fire, in name of the Three of Light. The heap slightly raised in the centre is called "Tula nan Trí," the Hearth of the Three. When the smooring operation is complete the woman closes her eyes, stretches her hand, and softly intones one of the many formulae current for these occasions.

The sacred Three
To save,
To shield,
To surround,
The hearth,
The house,
The household,
This eve,
This night,
Oh! this eve,
This night,
And every night,
Each single night.
Amen."

In a larger sense, the Sacred Three reminds you that the multiplicity of forms and events before you are actually unified, if you were to see your life from an expanded perspective. The Triple Spiral expands in all directions. The tricephalos sees in all directions. The Christian Trinity represents the fullness of the Divine. By cultivating a wider vision, you will come to savor a grander unity beyond all the myriad forms and events in life. Your actions will become simple and efficient as you see the interrelations in your life.

Today's Oracle 30th March 2021

Faery Hill (The Hidden World of Faeries)

By legend, the faeries are the descendants of the Tuatha De Danann, a godlike race who once inhabited Ireland. They now reside beneath the ground inside hills and mounds in the countryside. Their presence signifies inspiration.

Invoking Inspiration.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are attracted to the spiritual forces around you. These spiritual forces, whether faeries or nature spirits, are sometimes the special friends of poets, artists, playwrights, musicians, and the inventive and creative ones of every trade or profession. The presence of the faeries and nature spirits gives the landscape around you its wondrous qualities, and you are attracted to its supernatural qualities.

The faeries, the people of the goddess Danu, live as neighbours in the hills and mounds of the countryside. Having yielded the land's surface to the Celts, the faeries now inhabit the Otherworld, beneath the ground, where they live merry and carefree lives. Their supernatural presence brings a lively, nostalgic, and passionate feeling to the landscape, especially enlivening the poetry, music, and song with a sensuous and haunting lyricism. Faery hills, in particular, denote unique sources of inspiration from the faery realms.

With the coming of the Celts to Ireland, the powerful Tuatha De Danann, the people of the goddess Danu, eventually retreated from the Middle World on the earth's surface and yielded the land's surface to the Celts. They gently slipped into the Otherworld, where they now live fanciful and merry lives as neighbours in a parallel realm to humans. Living in certain hills throughout the countryside, often ancestral burial mounds called sidhe or sí (pronounced "shee"), the inhabitants of the sidhe are known as faeries. At night some faery hills are seen as ablaze with sparkling lights and alive with merrymaking and music. On certain nights the doors between the worlds open, particularly Samhain (now Halloween), marking the beginning of winter, and May Eve, marking the beginning of summer. On these nights, faeries are often encountered travelling about in our world and may lead humans to gateways to the Otherworld. Familiar caves and cliffs may open, revealing splendid faery castles within. While kindly observers and visitors may be rewarded, interfering with faery hills or castles invites reprisal.

A typical story from Donegal in Ireland tells of a man stacking turf on the bog. Returning at nightfall, he comes upon "a big black hole with mud lying on the surface ... and a kind of big opening down into the ground. He stuck his stick into it." When he tries to pull the stick out, "what did he do but take a jump into the hole. He went down until he hit hard ground at the bottom and began to walk until he reached a castle where there were many people singing and great entertainment and eating and drinking. He sat in amongst them but he did not eat anything" because he might never return home if he ate or drank.

The presence of the faeries living close by animates the landscape of the earth with lively activity. Along with nature spirits particular to trees, flowers, and features of the landscape, the Otherworld of the faeries imbues the natural, human world with movement, exuberance, and passion. Our world mirrors theirs.

While the Celts are unusually attentive to the presence of otherworldly beings who share the earth with us, the earth is sacred wherever you live. If you live in nature, especially in secluded places where supernatural beings are more at ease, you may be especially aware of their presence and passionate, spirited vitality. Quite unlike contemporary notions that portray the faeries as fearful and meddlesome, the faeries would much rather cooperate with us, especially sharing inspiration, visions, frivolity, song, and music. Unfortunately, the faeries - and other nature spirits - have become wary of humans, so attracting their support requires respect and care for our natural environment and the spirits who dwell there. 

THE CURRENT QUALITY OF TIME April 2021

Neptune

In the first days of April patience and tact are needed. Mercury is still in Neptune's sphere of influence, perception is clouded, and thinking is not very clear. The Sun and Venus in Aries, however, encourage you to move forward courageously. With Mercury entering Aries on April 4, the uncertainty of the last few days will quickly disappear. Now, what has only been sensed in recent weeks may finally be spoken. However, Mercury forms a conjunction with Chiron on April 9, and at the same time Mars squares Neptune and the Moon. Aim for clear communication during this time and don't blame yourself if you have to struggle for words now and then. Unclear messages could cause considerable confusion.

Aries

There is a New Moon in Aries on April 12, and Venus squares Pluto at the same time. This is an energetically charged time when many desires want to be satisfied. Anxious procrastination makes little sense now. Whatever begins during this time could make its presence felt throughout the year. Venus enters earthy Taurus on April 14, and on April 16, the Sun squares Pluto and the Moon is close to its North Node. On April 17, Gemini Mars forms a trine to Jupiter in Aquarius, and on April 19, the Sun also enters Taurus. Some of the difficulties of the last few days can now be overcome, sometimes this is achieved in a somewhat unceremonious manner or even with determined assertiveness. Sensual pleasures should not be neglected during these days. Now you could - within the scope of possibilities - celebrate a small feast of the senses and consciously appreciate the physical aspects of life once again.

In the last third of the month, the quality of time will change significantly. Tension is on the rise again and may bring an end to carefree living yet again. Venus and Mercury form a conjunction with Uranus on April 23 and 24, Mars enters Cancer at the same time. On April 25, Venus and Mercury square Saturn in Aquarius. The desire for security now becomes great, but it is unclear where real stability can be found. It is time to take a realistic look at the developments of the previous months and to handle your own resources responsibly. Blind activism or aggressive outbursts could lead you to harm yourself.

Scorpio

Towards the end of the month, an intense Full Moon in Scorpio awaits us on April 27. The Sun and Moon square Saturn in Aquarius, and the Sun is about to make a conjunction with Uranus (on April 30). What happens during these days can hardly be ignored and can be noted as another landmark in the current transformation of society. With Pluto turning retrograde at the same time, minor or major turbulences in the stock markets or sustained shifts in power are also likely. Keep in mind at this time, that while an individual has limited influence on the larger, collective events, new paths are usually pointed out by the wisdom of individuals.

Today's Oracle 29th March 2021

 Power of Place (Calling in the Spirit of Place)

The landscape, its hills, glens, plains, shorelines, nooks, and crannies, are the features of the body of the mother goddess, the earth. Place-names honour the unique qualities and lore of place. Similarly, honouring the power of place situates us in the passage of time.

Invoking the Qualities of Familiarity, Remembrance, and Continuity.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you are yearning for a place you can call your own, perhaps a home, a village, a region or country, or a community. You seem to want somewhere to root, to settle, and invest yourself fully. Not anywhere will do. The place must be uniquely right for you. The power of the place compels you. Its atmosphere, physical features, people, vegetation, smells, and wildlife attract you. It may be where you are but your psyche has not yet fully engaged it. It may be a place deeply familiar and redolent of personal memories. Wherever this place is, you are more fully alive there, as though the outer landscape mirrors the inner landscape of who you are and who you are becoming. This remarkable correspondence brings vitality and a sense of contentment and well-being.

The Celts often name a place for its qualities and lore — a dell for providing shelter, a marshy corner for its soft and rushy bottom, a ring fort to signal an otherworldly ambiance, a meadow to mark the battles fought, or a holy well for its protectress. Affecting recollection, familiar places help us to situate ourselves in the passage of time and locale. Recalling such a place, Irish poet Cathal O Searcaigh concludes: "Contradictions are cancelled on the spot."

The landscape - its rocky slopes, the forks of a river, an elder tree, a spring at its source, a widening plain, or undulating hills - reveals the features of the body of the mother earth, the goddess herself. Her countenance is found in the physical appearance of each place. The power of each place is utterly unique, so that its physiognomy and stories, so familiar, are wedded to the memory of the men and women living there. In Ireland and other Celtic lands, power implicit in the stones and earth of a place is frequently distilled in place names, recollecting in a word or phrase the deeds and fortunes of memories past. Like tonic to the human spirit, the power of place - in all its nuances, the horrific and foreboding, the beautiful and innocent - links individuals and community to lore and locale.

In discussing a genre of Irish literature known as dindseanchas, the poet Seamus Heaney writes that its poems and tales "relate the meanings of place names and constitute a form of mythological etymology ... marrying] the geographical country with the country of the mind. Heaney continues:

"The landscape was sacramental, instinct with signs, implying a system of reality beyond the visible realities. Only thirty years ago, and thirty miles from Belfast, I experienced this kind of world vestigially and as a result may have retained some vestigial sense of place as it was experienced in the older dispensation. As I walked to school, I saw Lough Beg from Mulholland's Brae, and the spire of Church Island rose out of the trees. On Church Island Sunday in September, there was a Pilgrimage out to the island, because St. Patrick was supposed to have prayed there, and prayed with such intensity that he branded the shape of his knee into a stone in the old churchyard. The rainwater that collected in that stone, of course, had healing powers, and the thorn bush beside it was pennanted with the rags used by those who rubbed their warts and sores in that water... That legend, and the ringing ascetic triumph of rising in the frosts of winter to pray ... all combined to give Blemish a nimbus of its own.

The power of place is so intimate and "self-contained" that it is virtually hidden from those who inhabit the home, the locale, the village, or the city. Entering the place, the stranger "is immediately aware of the otherness and the intimate nature of the 'place.' One senses the odours unique to the place - its sounds and artifacts.... It is this quality of intimacy, based on uniqueness, that provides the possibility for placehood." By intertwining landscape and lore, the power of place connects the human psyche within the nexus of time and space.

Over the course of life, there are times to take pilgrimages to distant places and to garner their qualities to yourself. At other times, such as now, you are invited to situate your life in a particular place, to settle in and to mature amid the familiarity and memories built up over time. Surrounded by these intimacies as though encircled by the lacework of your life, your inner life and external surroundings blend together in support of each other.

Today's Oracle 28th March 2021

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.

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.

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 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.