A Story Fragment

Technorati Tags: Story Telling,Fiction,Dagda,Lugh,Celtich Mythos

It was a beautiful early fall day, most of the leaves still bright green and the light breeze dappled the path with sunlight. A solitary man walked along, a small pack on his back and a staff in hand.  It was getting late, only a couple hours of sunlight left so his thoughts were leaning toward finding someplace to camp when he saw the inn. He stopped and looked at it for a bit. Hot food and beer sounded good but he was trying to remember if he had been through this way  before, whether anyone would remember him and whether his disguise would keep him safe.

He dredged up a memory of having stayed here once, but it had been many years ago. He started walking again, still debating whether to stop by the inn and scanning the courtyard. It was filled with horses but all appeared to be those of merchants and farmers, not imperial troops. That made it likely a safer bet to stop and get a meal. He entered the inn and headed to the bar to see about food and a place in the stable to sleep.

The innkeeper was a young man, blonde haired and slender, looking nothing like a typical innkeeper . It was the eyes, the man decided. The man behind the bar didn’t look like he had seen enough of both the good and the bad that one sees behind the bar when you own it, so this was probably some new apprentice the owner had hired. While he was filtering all this, he listened to the transaction the person ahead of him was making with the kid. Not only was he young, he seemed to be giving away the owner’s profits, not that the merchant ahead of him was going to complain. No wonder there was such a crowd.

“I’d like dinner, ale and a spot in the stable for the night,” he said to the kid, who responded with a ridiculously low price. “Does the owner know you’re giving away his profits?” he asked.

The kid smiled, “You could say that, sir. I’m the owner.”

The traveller shook his head. “Your generosity will keep you from being owner for long.”

The kid just smiled wider, an innocent smile, and laughed. “Have a seat and I’ll have your food brought over to you, sir.”

The traveller headed to a table where a buxom waitress brought him food and an ale. He are silently, taking in the myriad of conversations around him, minding his own business. The food was delicious and he was just ruminating on how sad it would be for the inn to go out of business because the owner was inexperienced when a man sat down across the table. This man's hair was a grizzled grey and his arms were thick with muscles built up from years of hauling kegs and wiping bar tops clean; his eyes had seen everything that goes on in a bar and someone like this was whom the traveller had expected to see behind the bar.

"I know who you are," the man said quietly. "And I have a favor to ask of you. " The traveller nodded slightly, neither acknowledging nor correcting the man's comment. "It's a special day, the wedding of my son and the miller's daughter. I gave them the inn and invited all of the merchants who made this a regular stop, to come by in celebration. "

The traveller’s mind raced as he wondered how he had been so blind to all the signs. The ridiculously low price for services wasn’t because the innkeeper was inexperienced because the couple was being generous on this day in the belief their generosity would be repaid them throughout their marriage, an ancient custom. One almost as old as the sharing of stories on such a day, mixing memories and tales to give the new couple a head start in life based on the wisdom of their elders or, in some cases, just old tales well-told.

The grizzled innkeeper continued, “I met you once, many years ago when you came through in different circumstances. While I won’t tell anyone who you are, your appearance here on this day is an auspicious sign for my son’s marriage. I just wanted to warn you in advance that we would be honoring this old custom and it’s not just because you were here. Some of these merchants have been working on what they want to say for months.”

The traveller nodded and the innkeeper got up and went to mingle with the other guests. The traveller kept eating and considered. He knew the story he should tell but he also knew the story he probably would tell. He should tell any of a number of stories he knew from his long life, that would be the safest thing he could do. But he had been given a gift from the Gods a long time ago and stories were his stock in trade. If he played it safe and told one of the stories he should tell, he would be dishonoring the Gods. Custom required that the details for any story told tonight would never be revealed, but the story of his telling of a story wouldn’t be so covered and while no one might figure out who he was tonight, folks who heard the tale eventually would and he would have to change his plans. He probably had a week before the story reached the wrong ears.

He sighed and took a sip of his ale and pondered. While he did, the grizzled innkeeper got up and started to thank everyone for coming, introduced his son and daughter, and started the evening’s activities. Everyone who could tell a story was asked to contribute and while you didn’t have to, it was bad form to be over a certain age and not contribute. The first storyteller was an eight year old village boy who told one of the popular stories of Dagda. It was funny on multiple levels and, while the storyteller might not get all of the sexual connotations, it was a very appropriate story for a wedding celebration such as this. The boy told the story well and seemed to enjoy the rounds of laughter that it brought.

There were many more stories as the innkeeper asked one person and then another to share. There were humorous stories of how not to do things and the one merchant’s wife who told of her first night on the road with her new husband, travelling from her parent’s home to his village some distance away, and how she had been so focused on the coming night with her husband that she wasn’t paying attention while she washed out her travel clothes and suddenly realized they had started to float downstream and had chased them, half naked and almost stumbled into another camp. That had brought everyone almost to tears with laughter.

There were poignant tales as well. One husband and wife told how a simple miscommunication and two very stubborn people had almost led to their marriage being no more until one finally gave in and they started talking and figured out the miscommunication and all ended well. It was a good tale, one that had a very real message and it was tales like this that were the reason behind the custom of not talking about the details of any story.

The grizzled innkeeper called on the traveler, “Stranger, do you have a story to tell?” All eyes turned toward the traveller who sat a bit straighter to give his voice better support, smiled and started to speak.

“On a night such as tonight, there are no strangers. No one brought into the loving embrace of heartfelt tales and lessons can leave as anything less than close friend. And yes, my friends, I have a story to tell.” He’d made his decision hundreds of times since the innkeeper had approached him earlier, and every time it had been the same decision. This time was no different, he would tell the story he had to tell in these circumstances.

“My story is an old story but a complicated one, because it concerns a life and a life is a very complicated thing. While you can take a day in a person’s life, it may not make a great deal of sense without some understanding of that person’s history.” He indicated the bride and groom who were sitting in front of the fireplace. “If we were to tell a tale of either of these two gentlefolk, it might be important to understand that they have a well-respected innkeeper or a prosperous miller for a father or that their mothers’ were women held up throughout the community as folk to be emulated.” He paused while the parents of the couple blushed or looked down and the rest of the crowd acknowledged the truth of his statement with nods or yesses.

“So, to tell this tale correctly, I have to begin by telling you of the father of the mother of our tale. He was, by all accounts, a giant of a man, an evil man, a violent man. When given a choice to make, he always chose the one that benefited himself in the short run, never concerned with a longer view. And the cruelest fate to befall anyone associated with him was that he was the king of his people and, while they prospered under his rule, they didn’t realize that the consequences of his actions would lead to their downfall as a people as he gave no thought to anything beyond himself.

“As with many families, he had several children, but it was his third child, a daughter, that caused the most consternation. While she was still in the womb, near time for her mother to deliver, the king had the wise men of his people in to cast augurs and tell the fortune of his daughter to be. Like many oracles, most of what came from that day was vague and subject to interpretation, but there was one, the king’s most trusted advisor, who had a clear message. He said, ‘O, king, your daughter shall be the most beautiful woman in all the land but beware, for her beauty comes with a cost. For to her son will come the task of killing you.’

“As you might guess, this caused the king some consternation. But he knew exactly what to do. When his daughter was born he ordered her to be kept in a tall tower on an island that loomed out of the sea, and she was there kept by a dozen ladies in waiting and they were instructed to never let her see a man nor to ever talk about men. And there, in the tower, she grew up and learned many womanly things but nothing of men. But there she also dreamed of a  man, whose face haunted her, though she never spoke of this to the women who kept her.

“One night, this man appeared to her, in the flesh, and she knew him and she knew love and she discovered a happiness that she hadn’t known she was missing. But she also knew that this man couldn’t stay because her father would have killed him and she didn’t want that. So he left as mysteriously as he had come. And, though it was just one night, their love making resulted in her being with child, which made her father furious. When she went into labor, the king was there, very anxious to see if the result of this union would be male or female. When she delivered three healthy boys, he gathered all three up in a sheet and raced down the stairs of the tower. He picked up some rocks and placed them in the sheet and then went to his boat and rowed out, intent on dropping the whole bundle in the sea.

“But he was so made with rage that he didn’t see that the sheet wasn’t as tightly tied as he would have liked and one of the babies fell out as he was heaving the whole load overboard. That one baby was rescued and taken to his father who gave him over to be fostered by a smith. The boy was quick at everything he touched his hand to. He learned to smith as though he were Gofannon himself, and when he picked up a sword he had made he found it to be a natural extension of his arm. Words flowed naturally from him as though from the greatest bards, he heard any story once and was able to tell it. He knew all of the stories of the land and the Gods. He watched a craftsman at work and could instantly do the craft.

“And yet, for all of his skills, he was humble. While he could do something, he wouldn’t boast of it, he just did his work as he was bid to do. When he was of age, his father came and told him it was time for him to go forth and see the world. And so he set a pack and took his favorite sword and headed forth. After many days of travel and many minor adventures, he found himself approaching a beautiful city, one that made him fill with joy just to see it.

“As he approached, a woman suddenly appeared, blocking his path. ‘What business have you in Teamhair?’ she asked, ‘For no one enters the court of King Nuada unless they have a skill that none other possess.’

“’Well, I’m a smith,’ the young man said.

“’We have a smith,’ she said and started to turn away.

“’Aye, but I’m also a poet,’ he said.

“She turned back. ‘We have a poet.’

“He countered that he was a bard, a historian, a wright, a harpist, a sorcerer, a craftsman, and each time the woman responded that they had one. So he cocked his head to the side and said, ‘Aye, but do you have one person who is all of these?’

“She pondered for a moment and said, ‘No, we do not have any one person who is all of these.’ And she bid him enter Teamhair and thus Lugh joined the court of Nuada and started on a whole different set of adventures.”

The traveller bowed to the married couple, “And thus we learn three very important lessons. We are all more than the sum of our parts, we must persist in the face of adversity to gain what we truly seek, and fates will happen regardless of our attempts to thwart them.”

Everyone cheered the story and the grizzled innkeeper called upon another person for a different story. After all the stories were done and everyone was heading off to their rooms or homes for those who lived nearby, the innkeeper came up to the traveller. “That was a gift fit for a king that you gave my son. You didn’t have to do that. you know that people will be talking about having heard that story and folk will put two and two together.”

The traveller sighed. “I’d love to agree with you but that was the only story I could tell in the circumstances. You know who I am, you know what I am, to tell a different story would have been to dishonor the Gods. But, as I was reminded in the telling of the story, you can’t thwart fate. There must be a reason that I was here tonight.”

The innkeeper nodded, then picked up a pack. “This is for you. It’s good travelling food and some extra gear. My son doesn’t know who you are and I won’t tell him, but he wanted to repay you for the gift of your story. Don’t tell me you can’t take it, you need it.” The innkeeper led the traveller out to the stable. “Are you going to sleep here?”

The traveller considered and then shook his head. “No. I’ll go on a couple of hours and rest then.”

The innkeeper shook his head. “No, here,” and started to saddle a horse. “She’s not much of a horse, but she’ll give you a better pace than your feet will. Take her and, when you don’t need her anymore, let her loose, she’ll find her way home.”

The traveller shook his head. “I can’t accept this.”

The innkeeper chuckled, “You don’t have a choice.”

“How do you know I’ll let her loose to come home?”

“I know who you are. Your honor wouldn’t let you do anything less. Unless you are prevented from it, you’ll let her loose to come home.” With that, the innkeeper loaded some saddle bags with some additional feed. “Go, and Gods bless you.”

The traveller mounted. “I wish there were more I could offer you, but I ask the blessings of the Gods on this house and all who live here.”

The innkeeper smiled, “I suspect that’s worth more than you know. Good luck.”

And so the traveller left, walking the horse out, heading off in the direction he needed to go. As he lost sight of the inn he looked up toward the heavens and said, to no one in particular, “Thank you, I think.”

The Long Road to Identifying My Patron

For a lot of reasons, I decided that 2012 was going to be the year I got serious about my spiritual journey. As a part of that, I joined ADF and started to work my way through the dedicant path. And I found something very interesting happen.

I’ve had Danu in my life for almost a decade. While there are many gods and goddesses I have had nodding acquaintance with, She has been a constant. But this year there was an additional presence that started to make itself known. And, I have to say, it was a very welcome presence. There has been a lot of turbulence in parts of my life and my extended family’s life. Danu is a nurturer but I just felt the need for aid from someone with a different set of skills. I had the sense that what I needed was someone with the skills of a trickster almost, but I didn’t want the level of trickiness that someone like Loki would bring.

And the presence that appeared was one who radiated confidence, helpfulness and a certain sly, trickery that seemed to be very helpful. Many of the things I needed help with or clarity for seemed to become much easier. All the while I was left wondering who my patron was. And my patron seemed to resonate with me in ways that were truly startling.

I have always loved confidence game themes. The Sting, Switch, the Mission Impossible series, etc. All of those have a common theme of being confidence games with the goal of some type of justice. This felt as though it was a key attribute of my patron.

I have always loved thunderstorms. I remember, from a very young age, sitting on my aunt’s porch in Binghamton, NY and enjoying the flash of lightning and the roar of thunder; sometimes a low, dull roar off in the distance and sometimes the sharp crack of a nearby strike. And, since my patron entered my life, I found that thunderstorms reverberated even more deeply with me.

My patron seemed to align with these attributes within me. For a time I thought that he was Odin, who fit on some levels but it never seemed to be an exact fit. The storms, yes. The confidence games, yes. But overall it just was off.

So I asked my patron to reveal himself to me in a dream one night. It was an interesting dream in which my patron did exactly what I asked but… Well, in my dream, I was at an automobile dealership. There were several salesmen there, all young men in dapper suits but there was this other man to whom I gravitated. He was old, no, ancient. His body was gnarled and his hair was mostly gone except for tufts here and there. When he approached me, the younger salesmen formed a ring around us and started to gather closer. It seemed they were intent on separating us and/or removing him from the scene.

He didn’t seem scared, though perhaps a touch indignant. He asked if they knew who he was and removed a card from his wallet and handed it to me. In the dream, I could clearly see letters written on the card in pencil. Of course, when I woke up I didn’t have anything to take notes on and the letters faded from my memory almost as quickly as a drop of water used to see if a wok is at the right temperature. Those letters teased at me for several weeks.

Then, on July 2, there was another big issue looming large in my life. My wife was coming home from spending some time with our grandchildren and my daughter had a court case against a man who had been harassing her.  I got up early in the morning to do a rite, asking my patron for help in my daughter’s case and asking the Shining Ones for protection for my wife’s journey. My wife made it home safely (though she did have a bit of a harrowing journey that showed that she was protected and guided coming home). The court case resolved itself in a very good way, and another, related case, resolved itself in an even better way.

The next day, I finally had some breathing room to catch up on reading emails in the ADF discuss list and Amanda Thomas had posted a link to the essay “Lugus: The Many-Gifted Lord.” I printed it off to read after work. When I got a chance to sit down and read it, it was as though scales fell from my eyes.

All my life I have labeled myself as a jack of all trades, master of some and here it turns out that my patron is jack of all trades and master of all, yet another parallel that made Lugh my obvious patron in the 20/20 glare of hindsight.

The compelling arguments that Lugh’s domain is storms and his association with Lightning and Thunder.

The way that Lugh uses trickery to right wrongs.

So now I know that my patron is Lugh and my patroness is Danu and my life is a little more complete now.

Still have no idea what the symbols on that card from the dream really meant, since they were longer than the English Lugh and seemed to contain D’s but Lugh has assured me that it was him in the dream and I’ll understand some day.

Blessings, readers

Jun-2012-28 Simple Guidance

My patroness is Danu but recently, in the last year or so, I have felt another presence, a patron. I have been addressing him as my unknown patron and including him in rites.  I have a lot of UPG related to him but I am waiting for him to reveal himself properly. I think he did so in a dream a few weeks back but I forgot to write what he told me so I’m still in the dark as to who He is.

Anyways, I did a full COoR today, just because it felt like the thing to do. I was up before the sun and had time to make a couple of small silver and gemstone offerings before the rite began. When I started it was that pre-dawn time, when the sky is lightening but the sun isn’t up, just the type of in-between that’s perfect for rites.

I was looking to accomplish three things in this rite:

1. Connect with my unknown patron
2. Seek guidance regarding job (since I am looking for a new consulting gig in a month or so)
3. Seek help for family matters related to grandchildren

I also offered up an apple and orange to the nature spirits, in addition to the oats I usually do.

The rite went well. I drew omens (more on those below) and realized that I had misinterpreted the omens I drew at Solstice and corrected that after the rite.

I then took my offerings out, offering the tobacco for my ancestors to the wind and giving my well offerings and the oatmeal to the pond (where the oatmeal was gobbled up by a gaggle of ducks). Then I took the orange and apple across the street to a parcel of land that’s overgrown and left the orange and apple there for those nature spirits.

I still have a half tumbler of Glenlivet on my shrine. It felt like the right offering to give my unknown patron but I’m not sure where he would like me to deposit it. I had an idea coming back from the pond, though. There’s the stump of a tree there and it seems like it’s a good place to pour out the offering but it seems that it should wait until night so I guess it will sit on my shrine until then.

Omens:

• What blessing do the kindred offer in return for my offerings?
  Ingwaz: Ing: fertility, ancestors.
  • I’m not really sure about this. I’ve done some research on Ingwaz and I’m going to have to get back on this one. It appears to be a positive omen though.
• What blessings do the nature spirits offer in return for my offerings?
  Jera: Year: good harvest, hard work
  • I have to admit, this is a good symbol, especially with regard to my question about future work
• What blessings do the Shining Ones offer in return for my offerings?
  Fehu:  Cattle, movable wealth, generosity
  • I think this goes hand in hand with the nature spirits omen regarding future work
• What  blessings does my unknown patron offer in return for my offering?
  Mannaz: kinship
  • I have to believe I’m on the right track with my unknown patron and trust that he will reveal himself when the time is right.

Overall I think the rite went well. I know that I feel a bit better about all of the work I’ve been doing trying to sharpen my skillset. Now, off to work.

Blessings

Summer time

I was up early this morning so I stepped out on the patio to enjoy the morning while the rest of the house sleeps. The sun was still wending over the horizon then, her golden tendrils tinging the black robe of night with a luminescent edge.
Now, with the sun properly over the horizon though still hid behind apartment buildings, the world around me begins to stir.



While I have sat here, the chatter of birds has been filling the air much the same way the sun has. My own two nature spirits, Sheba and Sheena, have been sitting inside glaring at me, probably because they haven't had their gooshy food yet. They will survive a bit longer.
Like our agrarian ancestors, summer is a time for working on bringing things to fruition. I am working on several projects that I hope to bring to completion this season, projects that will see me through the winter months. It is a hectic season but there is always time to stop, take a breath and appreciate nature.

Summer Solstice 2012

7:00 am on June 19 2012
(Rough draft of notes, to be properly rewritten at a later date)
I held my Summer Solstice rite today. I actually did one yesterday and then realized that I hadn’t followed the COoR so I printed out a handy cheat sheet from the Dedicant manual and tried again.
I spent some time before the ritual listening to David and Steve Gordon’s Sacred Drum Visions while I created an offering to Danu. In this case it was an inch and a half long, hexagonally shaped piece of Burmese Jade capped with beads of Sugilite at either end bound together by silver  that ran down each side of the Jade.
Then I opened with a prayer to all, asking that the kindred, nature spirits and Shining Ones be welcome at my rite. I took 2 oz of GlenLivet and acknowledged the OutLIers, asking that they take this offering and leave my rite in peace, then I poured that outside for them.
With another small piece I had made of Sugilite, Aventurine and Silver I purified my well and used incense to purify my space. I honored the Earth Mother by acknowledging her role in providing life and keeping us safe and helping to nurture the growth of all.
Then I acknowledged why I was here:

As the year turns on from day to day; as the long, dark nights of winter have faded into memory; as the sun reigns longer each day until it reaches its zenith; so do we come to this place every year. The sun shall shine longer than it has before and then it shall slowly begin to rise for shorter periods. Such is the natural cycle of life. But today, at it’s peak, we welcome it’s warmth upon our faces and give thanks for the nurturing nature of the sun upon the plants we grow and upon ourselves, basking in the glow of the sun’s luminosity. So we come to rejoice with the sun and ask blessings upon our in progress tasks, that they may be nurtured as the sun nurtures the grain.

I then took my well containing water from a well, water from a creek and water from the sky and asked that it could represent the well. I took my hand poured beeswax candle and asked it to be the fire and I asked my representation of the World Tree to be the World Tree.
Next, I called upon Garanus, who lives in the air, the tree and the water to act as gatekeeper. I invited my ancestors, both those of flesh and blood and those of a spiritual nature, to join me. I invited the nature spirits (and acknowledged the spider on the ceiling above me as one of them). I invited the Shining Ones and finally I invited Danu to join me.
I offered up oats to the nature spirits (placed in a bowl), tobacco to my ancestors (placed in a separate bowl) and the jade piece to Danu in my well.
I offered up a prayer of sacrifice, reminding Danu of the work I have done for her and asking her for inspiration to write a new story about her.
I took the following omens:

• What blessing do the kindred offer in return for our offerings?
  Ansuz: Mouth, god, beginnings, communication
  Fehu: Cattle; movable wealth, generosity (I realized as I was reviewing this today (Jun-28-2012) that I had misread Ansuz as Fehu)
• What blessings do the nature spirits offer in return for our offerings?
  Laguz: Water, change, hidden wealth, flowing
• What blessings do the Shining Ones offer in return for our offerings?
  Ehwaz: easy and joyful travel, help
• What advice does Danu offer in return for our offering?
  Wunjo; joy, bliss

Overall the omens read very well, all very positive. I think the most interesting one was Danu’s. Perhaps I should have asked what blessings she offered instead of advice but, taken as advice I would say that it means to seize the day and enjoy the moments of summer. Interestingly enough, when I took the offerings out and flung the oats into the retention pond, there were 5 ducks who immediately paddled over and that cup of oats disappeared mighty fast down their gullets so I know they, at least, were well pleased.

Decisions, Decisions

I am reaching the end of one part of my work life and have opportunities for other parts coming up. And I wanted some guidance as to what to do. So I asked Danu for some help and made offerings to the nature spirits and my ancestors and then to Danu and asked:

What advice did Danu have for me?
Isa: Ice, beautiful and dangerous

What blessing did She have for me?
Perþo: Dice cup, vulva; joy, uncertainty

What power should I bring to the day?
Tiwaz Tir; guidance, justice, navigation

So, how do I interpret these omens? Good question. I actually have two choices in front of me. One is a safe choice that would extend me for a month and the other is a dice shoot. I was seriously thinking about telling my boss to extend me and let the other option pass me by but I don’t think I’m going to do that now. I’ll take the uncertainty and the potential beauty for today.

Peace and blessings

Gathering Waters

Living in the suburbs, it’s not easy to find  nature spots. They exist, this I know, but I’m still looking for one close to home that feels right for me. However, I am blessed to have a daughter who lives on a farm in a house whose history stretches back over 150 years and that’s where I was the last couple of days.

While there were many reasons to come up, one reason was that I wanted water for my rituals. As a member of ADF, I use a well, a tree and fire in my rites. I have been using rain water captured during thunderstorms, which is good but I felt it was missing a bit. So I went out this morning to the creek behind the house. There’s an ox bow like meander with a tree that has a set of thick roots at it’s base where I like to sit. It’s peaceful, another plus. I took with me a liter jug and some oats as offerings.

I spent some time centering myself, feeling myself extend down into the earth and rise up to the sky. Then I turned to the tree. I silvered the creek with a small coin, asked the tree to assume the role of Yggdrasil, and asked the heavens to be the heavens. I called upon Garanus to act as gate keeper and opened the gates.

I called upon the local nature spirits and asked them to look kindly on what I was asking and put out oats for them.

I called upon the local river spirits to hear me and asked them if I could take of their water to use in my rites. Then, standing in the creek, I filled the bottle. I emptied part of it over the roots of the tree as a thank you to the tree and then refilled the jug.

I then asked the water spirits two questions.

In response to my question of whether they liked the offerings, I got Laguz: Water, hidden wealth, flowing. Since my rite was asking about using water, I took that as a very good sign.

In response to my question of what guidance they responded with Dagaz: Day, rising sun, new day, deliverance.

Then I thanked the water spirits and the nature spirits. I offered up the remainder of my oats to the nature  spirits and thanked Garanus for helping and closed the gates and took my jug of water, well pleased.

I also filled a jug from the tap, well-water. Wasn’t sure about a rite for that but I was very thankful as I did it. When I get home, I’ll mix the creek, well and rain water together for my rites.

Peace and blessings