As a storyteller, part of my practice has always been to
read and reflect upon the lore and the mythological texts that have come down to
us through the ages, to see what, if any, relevance the old stories might have
for my life.
I offer this story for the community, long connected with the upcoming festival
of Samhain, the end of summer. It is a time of contradictions,
fitting for a Celtic vision of life that seems to resist hard and fast
categorization of experience. Mythology connected with Samhain
contains death as well as life, describing the victory and defeat of either the
forces of light or of darkness, resulting in either a
destruction or a renewal of society (or sometimes both). It is also a
time of divination as well, and the season when the veil between our
"ordinary" world and the Other World of the departed Ancestors and
the Shining Ones is the thinnest.
This selection from the end of the tale of the Second Battle of Moytura, adapted from Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Augusta
Gregory, is available on the Internet, among other places at the Internet Sacred
Text Archive (www.sacred-texts.com).
And the Tuatha De Danann,
the People of the Goddess Dana, long oppressed by the monstrous Fomorians, finally rose up against their servitude.
It was at Samhain that the army of the Fomorians, led by the beautiful but ungenerous former king Bres and his champion, the giant Balor
of the Evil Eye, and the warriors of the Tuatha De Danann, led by Lugh, the
all-skilled Samildanach, met in battle on the plain
of Moytura. And there was great slaughter, with spear
against shield, and sword against sword, and a river of blood carried away
bodies of friends and enemies together.
Then Lugh and Balor of the
Evil Eye met in the battle, and Balor raised the
eyelid of his single great eye that destroyed all it looked on, but Lugh cast his spear and brought the eye out through the
back of his head, so that it was towards his own army it fell, and three times
nine of the Fomorians died when they looked at it.
And if Lugh had not put out that eye when he did, the
whole of
And after that it was not a battle any more, but a rout,
and the Fomorians were beaten back to the sea. And Lugh and his comrades found Bres,
son of the Fomorian Elathan,
on the battlefield, who said: "If you spare my life, the men of
"Let their ploughing be on a Tuesday, and their
casting seed into the field on a Tuesday, and their reaping on a Tuesday,"
said Bres. So Lugh let him
go free after that.
And then Lugh and the Dagda
and Ogma followed after the Fomorians,
who had stolen away the Dagda's harp with them. And
they came to a feasting-house, where the harp was hanging on the wall. And the Dagda called to it, saying: "Come summer, come winter,
from the mouth of harps and bags and pipes." Then the harp sprang from the
wall, and came to the Dagda, and it killed nine men
on its way.
And then he played for them the three things harpers understand, the sleepy
tune, and the laughing tune, and the crying tune. And when he played the crying
tune, their tearful women cried, and then he played the laughing tune, until
their women and children laughed; and then he played the sleepy tune, and all
fell asleep. And through that sleep the three went escaped from the Fomorians. And the Dagda brought
out from the hall a cow, who in turn called to her calf, and at the sound of
her call all the cattle of
Then after the battle, the Morrigan proclaimed their
victory, and
prophesied:
Peace up to heaven.
Heaven down to earth.
Earth beneath heaven,
Strength in each,
A cup very full,
Full of honey;
Mead in abundance.
Summer in winter
Peace up to heaven
Be this nine times eternal.
But the Morrigan also said:
I shall not see a world
Which will be dear to me:
Summer without blossoms,
Cattle without milk,
Trees without leaves
Sea without fish.
Every man a betrayer
An evil time…
Here are some points that I have reflected on in reading this story; perhaps
they might serve as a starting point for your own reflections for Samhain. More likely you will come up with your own
personal responses, which I hope you will take time to share with me.
1. The solar hero Lugh, skilled in all things,
battles the one-eyed monster Balor in this tale; what
is the significance of the contrast between the two? Perhaps I've been
obsessing about some aspect of my life or a problem; can I benefit from a
broader perspective? Lugh is both an ancestor and a
divinity (as is Balor, for that matter); what aid
might I seek from the Ancestors or the Shining Ones?
2. The story speaks of planting and reaping and consuming; what seeds have I
planted this past year that can sustain me through the dark winter? What seeds
do I want to plant now, that can bloom in the coming year?
3. The Dagda's harp is able to sings of all the
aspects of life, of joy and sorrow and sleep, and is even able to destroy his
adversaries; how can I grow from the experience of all my emotions as this year
ends and the next begins?
4. The Morrigan prophesies both good and evil
outcomes; what future do I want, and how can my present choices bring it about?
May we all enjoy the blessings of the Ancestors and of the Shining Ones,
Michael
McGuinness (Secretary of FoDLA)
©2006 Michael Sean McGuinness