Alix Morgan MacAnTsaoir
Celtic peoples put a high value on honor, character and family. Our synergism as a people comes from our love of the Gaelic Celtic ways, our love of our ancestors and our very high regard for each other. The Clannada holds the Traditional Triads to be one of the keys to the value system of our ancestors and we celebrate those values as we attempt to make them a reality in our everyday lives. In an effort to put the values by which we seek to live into ritual as a way of not only remembering and celebrating them, but also as a way of sharing them with Celts and non-Celts alike, we have taken a page from the book of Maulana Karenga, the originator of the African-American Holiday, Kwanzaa, and have set this nine day celebration of Lughnasadh to honor our ancestors and our heritage and to celebrate core Celtic values. Ritual celebration serves to focus our minds on what is important and serves as a teaching tool for our children and those who are new to our cultural heritage and norms. We have chosen Lughnasadh as the time for this celebration as it is the time of harvest. We celebrate the richness of the harvest of our culture and heritage and the values and traditions our ancestors held dear and passed down through time to us.
Our celebration is nine days long and each day will highlight and celebrate one value. Because the Celtic day starts at sunset, our celebration begins at sunset the first day. A useful tool to focus our attention on the meaning of our celebration is a special altar set up for the occasion. The altar cloth can be any special cloth that brings to mind our tribal heritage. This may be the Clann tartan or a cloth woven or embroidered by a family member or beloved ancestor. Nine candles, representative of the nine values we celebrate, grace the altar, one to be lit each day of celebration as we talk about the value it symbolizes, until the flames on all nine candles blaze symbolizing the fire of IMBAS (IMBAS is inspiration) that inspires us as we seek to rekindle in our hearts and the hearts of Celts everywhere a love for the old ways and the beauties and values of our cultural heritage. A backdrop of a Celtic knot or a triskele reminds us of the fact that we do not stand alone in isolation, but rather are a tribal people who thrive as parts of the interwoven threads of the lives and realities of our kin, of the land, and of the Gods in our lives. Pictures or remembrances of our beloved ancestors add to our altar and remind us again that we are a proud people who come from a proud people. Representations of the Gods of our people or tokens sacred to them belong on this altar reminding us that our oaths to the Gods should never be forsaken. Votive offerings to the Gods can rest temporarily on this altar before they are cast into the well or votive pit as a part of this celebration of our heritage. Traditional food of Lughnasadh can be placed on this altar as well. Bannock and curds or cheese come to mind from the folklore.
During each day of the festival, the candle should remain lit on the altar within the bounds of safety and reasonable practice. The day should be devoted by each family member to thinking and talking about the virtue of the day, remembering that each value celebrated is a year long and life long ideal not merely a one day remembrance. At the end of the nine day festival, the special altar can be taken down with reverence, perhaps by the children with an adult there to remind them what each part of the altar celebrates and to recap during the time the teaching of the nine preceding days.
The first day we celebrate our family, Clann and Tribe as the source of our unity .
Three duties of the excellent person: to cherish their mate and children, to love their country, and to obey the laws of their people.
We suggest that this celebration center on the hearth and the home. The members of the family might use this time to set up the altar. When the special altar cloth is placed, the story of its significance should be told. If the cloth is a Clann tartan, the Clann history can be relayed at this time. If it is a special gift from a family member, the life and accomplishments of that family member can be celebrated. When momentos or pictures of family members are added to the altar, their significance can be discussed. At this time, ancestors spiritual and familial are remembered and their stories told. The first candle is lit.
The second day we celebrate integrity as we reclaim the right to determine the ways we are perceived as a people, reclaim the heritage and culture of our ancestors and renew our determination to stand with loyalty and honor for the values that have been bequeathed to us by our forebears.
The three highest causes of the upright human: Truth, Duty, Honor.
This day the Celtic knot or triskele that is the backdrop of our altar can be especially focused on. The meaning of our cultural heritage and our sense of ourselves as a tribal people can be discussed. This might be a fitting time for the family and gathered Clann to wear their finest National Dress. The second candle is lit.
The third day we celebrate responsibility , individual and collective as we work together to reclaim that which is ours by right, to recreate our families and Clanns and to build a tribe that will support each other in need, work with each other for our own betterment and provide for our people in all ways.
Three chief obligations of a person to their country and family: to gain possessions by diligence and integrity, to profit their country and their kindred in all that they do, and to seek lawful learning wherever they go.
This day we can discuss the ongoing projects in our community and how we are participating in those projects. Our community service and our service to the Tribe and Clann should be emphasized. The third candle is lit.
The fourth day we celebrate hospitality as we honor the laws of old. Our generosity and hospitality extends to the world at large as we work together to build an economic base for our tribe and then share what we have with those around us.
The three manifestations of humanity are: Civility, Generosity and Hospitality.
This day we can focus on the offerings of cheese and bannock that are on our altar as we invite others to share our feast. Perhaps a lonely community member or someone who has no where else to go can be included in our celebration.
There is an old custom that is particularly apropo for this night. The custom dictates that the head of the table be left empty, with a full setting and full plate and glass, in reserve for the "King under the water who shall come to lead the people back to freedom and glory". Some of our people incorporate this custom on the High Days, and if an unexpected guest has come during the meal, they sit at the reserved place.
If the family so desires, the incantation found in the Lughnasadh Festival article by Ian MacAnTsaoir (properly rewritten to reflect the expression of the individual gathering) may be recited as the father shares the Bannock with the family.
Ian writes: "It is not very difficult to back-engineer this verse to regain a wholly pre-Christian expression. I shall, however, leave that for the reader. In this rite the father of the household breaks the bannock, giving a piece to his wife and his children in order of age, then the whole family walks sunwise round the fire singing the rune (incantation) of Mother Mary:
'Iolach Mhoire Mhathair':
On the feast day of Mary the fragrant, Mother of the Shepherd of the flocks, I cut me a handful of the new corn, I dried it gently in the sun, I rubbed it sharply from the husk With mine own palms.
I ground it in a quern of Friday I baked it on a fan of sheep-skin I toasted it to a fire of rowan And I shared it round my people.
I went sunways round my dwelling In the name of Mary Mother Who promised to preserve me Who did preserve And who will preserve me...
The fourth candle is lit.
The fifth day we celebrate the creativity of our people, the IMBAS (IMBAS is inspiration) that fires our imaginations and brings us closer to the Gods.
Three things which the good poet preserves for posterity: memory of the praiseworthy, delight in thought, and instruction in knowledge.
All who have creative skills and talents should be encouraged to display their work that is of the traditional crafts and skills. The children should especially be encouraged to prepare some special creative moment to share with the gathered Clann as a means of encouraging them to develop their creativity and add to the richness of our people. The lights of the candles symbolize the fire of IMBAS and the fifth candle is lit.
The sixth day we celebrate knowledge as did the Druids of old. It is the search for knowledge and sound scholarship that has enabled us thus far to rebuild our culture and heritage. It is knowledge freely shared and never sold that enables us to present ourselves to the world at large as a responsible community. It is knowledge firmly implanted in mind and heart that unites us with the truth of the cosmos, the values of our people and the Gods of our tribe.
Three teachers of humankind: one is event and that is from seeing and hearing; the second is intelligence and that comes from reflection and meditation: and the third is genius and that is individual, a gift from the Mighty Ones.
The Bards and the Fili and the storytellers of the gathered family share their work this day. Scholars and researchers can bring new findings to the attention of the gathered Clann. Academic accomplishments of family members can be especially celebrated at this time. The sixth candle is lit.
The seventh day we celebrate truth . We celebrate the truths of our heritage and people. We celebrate the truths of our tribe and Clann. We celebrate the truths of the Gods of our people. We celebrate these truths be it painful or joyful and we stand by them with every breath that we take, every drop of blood that is within us and every muscle and sinew of our flesh.
Three things constantly increase: light, life and truth.
This day the gathered Clann can formulate their own ritual to renew their personal and collective vows to the truths of our tribe and Clann, our heritage and our people. A bonfire might be particularly appropriate at this time--or a small cauldron fire if a bonfire is not feasible. In the flames of this fire, our vows can be sealed. The seventh candle is lit.
The eighth day we celebrate justice . Justice is the foundation of our law and in justice we find last refuge of the poor, disadvantaged, innocent and helpless. Being a just people makes us a strong people because we know where we stand in the scheme of things and we cannot be shaken from what is right.
There are three foundations of law and custom; order, justice and peace.
This day the law can be discussed. A Brehon in the midst can elaborate on the law and what it means to us. Triads can be read and discussed. If there are any outstanding issues of justice between family members, great or small, these can be addressed at this time if all parties are willing to address them in love, so that the unity of the family will not be broken. The eighth candle is lit.
The ninth day we celebrate faith . We swear by the Gods our people have been swearing by down through the ages. Our spiritual values are not determined by popular clichés nor are we blown about by every faddish wind that blows our way. We stand as a proud people with a spiritual heritage that is a sacred gift to us from our ancestors and the Gods and which we are reclaiming step by step in this modern time.
Three things from which never to be moved: one's Gods, one's Oaths and the Truth.
The ninth day, the Gods are celebrated and we as a spiritual people reaffirm our commitment in faith. This day those who care to can share their own experiences with the Gods. The ninth candle is lit. The votive offerings that have been resting on the altar may now be taken with proper ceremony to the family votive pit or well and with proper ceremony offered to the Gods. In his article on the Sacred Precincts, Ian MacAnTsaoir used the following words. "We, as a family, walk about the pit or the shaft three times clockwise singing hymns, once for each of the Realms (Sky, Sea, Land). A communal libation is poured to venerate the Shining Ones. Then the cup is passed around to each person in attendance and the Sacred Waters partaken of, in a very real way taking Danu and Her offspring the Tuatha de Danaan into ourselves. Then as individuals we approach the pit and make our prayers, then cast in our offerings to the Gods. We then feast."
Our Lughnasadh celebration of Celtic values helps us to reaffirm these values as we seek to practice them in our everyday lives and to bind them into the fabric of the life of our Tribe and People as long as the Land remains firm beneath our feet, and as long as the Sky covers us and as long as the Sea surrounds us.
FAQ Clannada na Gadelica Introductory Page to the Web Site of the Clannada na Gadelica Bunreacht - Clannada na Gadelica A Compilation of Triads by John F. Wright Festivals Part 5 - Lughnasadh by Ian MacAnTsaoir Sacred Precincts, The Nemeds by Ian MacAnTsaoir The African American Holiday of Kwanzaa by Maulana Karenga
Suggestions:
Novena candles can be used. You can get them at the local supermarket if you have a large hispanic comunity. If not, I've found them at the $2.00 store. They are tall candles poured into tall glasses, and come in all colors. They are made to last nine days. When mine burned down, I refilled them.
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