Fertility and Blight
Why we should be writing the next mythological cycle...
How do we become fertile?
…Rich in heart, mind and creativity with the power to support growth. I’ve been contemplating this since Bealtaine.
The recent solar storm rattled me (I am one of what it seems to be the 0.1% to have missed the aurora borealis in Ireland)! It made me feel frantic, so much energy, not positive or particularly useful - Empty. It prompted me to ponder fertility with an attention toward creativity, change and the sun.
My initial response intuitively is that to become fertile we must first become bare, lost and dark - The state of the world at the moment?
A massive draining and emptying is unavoidable, a blight of the human species’ structures and norms. Although this may all sound rather bleak, I think it’s a necessary step in ensuring the readiness of a new fertile age. An era full to the brim of new stories and myths. Yes, a fusion of blight with a stirring of fertility, a cosmic arrangement. Moments of collective action and hope, combining and weaving slowly in to a symphony for those who are to come after us - the future people.
In Celtic mythology the cauldron is seen as a vessel of fertility, its darkness harbouring magic and a depth of possibility. We know from archaeological finds that cauldrons were widely used in the Celtic nations from ancient to medieval times, they were prestigious vessels used for both domestic and ritual purposes. The cauldron of the Dagda was one of the treasures of the Tuatha Dé Dannan.
The Tuatha Dé Dannan are the group of principal pre-christian Irish deities. They were said to excel at all arts, arriving on to the shores of the west coast of Ireland 37 years after the Fir Bolgs, (whom they displaced during the first battle of Moytura). They arrived in a mist of cloud, settling on a mountain in the west just before Bealtaine, causing a three day eclipse. The Dagda was a leading figure of the Tuatha Dé and is widely accepted by experts to have been a much older deity from old Irish pre-Christian tradition who was written into the pseudo-historical mythological stories.
The Dagda is also known as Eochaid Ollathair (father of all) and reigned as king of the Tuatha Dé for 80 years, his two main possessions were a massive club and a cauldron, this cauldron was one of the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Dannan. The cauldron of Dagda was said to hold the power ‘that no people would go from it unsatisfied’.
Unfortunately, what is clear from Irish Mythology - remember it was written by early Christians - is that there is a lack of, or suppression of, creation myths, solar mythology and end of world stories, which are a feature of other Indo-European mythologies. Even though we have evidence from some archaeological finds that this may have been a feature in earlier Irish pre-christian and Celtic lore and ritual beliefs.
The Christians who wrote the myths were very careful to purge the past. John Waddell former professor of Archaeology in the University of Galway and an old teacher of mine, offers an interesting chapter in his book Pagan Ireland Ritual & Belief in Another World, where he states ‘there may once have been Irish twin deities, one associated with cosmic knowledge and the other with social order’, akin to that of Odin and Tyr in Nordic mythology, he cites specific archaeological finds, such as The head of Ralaghan to back up this theory.
In light of the above we’re left with no meaningful myth to guide us regarding fertility, blight, the sun and the transformation of the world, applicable to the chaotic social scene we find ourselves in 2024 (if you know of one, please let me know).
…Which is why we need to create new stories, not written by Christian scribes in monasteries or paid by powerful institutions, but by you and I, at home, in the field, by the fire, on
… Creating a new assortment of tales based on the past, present and future, weaving the threads and spells of change and time…The charge toward change is stirring
the collective cauldron is boiling
the blight condensing and vaporising deep within…
give it a stir
there’s a new consciousness cooking…