Was the storm that occurred at an opportune time to flood the rivers and prevent a rival clan from advancing, the work of nature or a was it a Druid controlling the elements?
Druids, the religious leaders of the Celts could see deeper than the surface and had the incredible ability to remain still, silent and focused and to see the future in sacred waters, sticks or flames. Some Druids, it was believed, could command the will of wild creatures and change themselves into animals and birds in order to travel more easily over rough terrain.
This was a race so in tune with nature that they believed some people could communicate with the spirits who lived in the trees as well as with animal spirits and mythical beings of the “Otherworld.” The Celts had great respect for the “little people:” the faeries, elves and gnomes living in the Otherworld.
Imagine for a moment, the enchanted forests in which the Celts would dwell with their winding paths through oaks and elders, the myriad shades of green and brown, the dappled light on the forest floor, foliage stirring in the breeze and suddenly, a sense of something moving within the patterns of light and shadow. Here those who were sensitive in spirit would discern the forms of the tree folk with their garments of leaves, moss and cobwebs and occasionally there would be a sighting of the delicate and beautiful faeries themselves.
Within the forests lay mystical portals: doorways to the Otherworld and within the Otherworld lived the Fair Folk or faeries with their queens and princes who fathered children in the human world from time to time. In fact the faeries too would have their dalliances with human men as some myths tell of how the Fair Folk don’t breed so easily among their own kind so the most certain way to conceive a child was to couple with a young and healthy mortal!
A human child who was also an offspring of the Fair Folk was called a changeling. Legends also told of human babies being stolen by faeries and sometimes being replaced by sticks and stones and moss of the forest or in some cases elderly fairy people who could be cared for and fussed over by its human parents.
Humans who were descended from branches of the Fair Folk may have had psychic powers of their own; some where known as sorcerers or sorceresses.
Occasionally humans would lose their path in these enchanted woods and enter the shadowy realms of the Otherworld. A man or woman could spend one night in the realm of the Fair Folk, according to myths, and return to find many years had passed by in the human world. Or someone might linger for a good part of their life among the Fair Folk to return to their own world with less than a week having passed by!
Festivals and ceremonies throughout the Celtic year celebrated nature’s cycle and the seasons. The year began at Samhain when the veil between the two worlds was so thin that it was believed deceased ancestors could return to warm themselves at the hearths of the living. At Midwinter there would be boughs of greenery, holly and ivy placed above each doorway and hung in the rooms of their homes. A great oak would be placed in the hearth to be lit with ceremony; bonfires would be lit on the hills and midnight toasts made to the spirits of the forest.
Rituals and festivals were a part of Celtic life and Celtic magic, opening up the minds and spirits of the people to allow the magic to flow.
Magic was a natural part of the life of these spiritual people. They would make talismans to ward off evil or to harness beneficial spiritual forces, or to protect or heal the wearer. Before going into battle women would sew a cross of rowan twigs into the garments of their men warriors (a potent charm against death in battle) or slip a packet of protective herbs into his boots. Celtic knots and symbols were characteristically a cluster of flowing, unified spirals that represented the oneness of nature.
The forests offered them all they required for healing and magic and none of this was taken for granted. No animal was ever hunted for pleasure. No tree destroyed for the sake of it and there would always be a thanks offered and sometimes a gift to the tree spirit whose leaves may have been taken for a healing potion or to an animal that had given their life in order for a human to have food.
Imagine for a moment travelling back in time and wandering through a mystical, enchanted Celtic forest. Then you may find yourself wondering: was all the magic and enchantment really just imagination and nonsense? Or could it be we have lost something special during man’s journey from Celtic to this present time?
© C Somerville – This article has also been published on Yahoo Voices and Helium. Permission to republish this article in print or online must be granted by the author in writing