Anam Cara

Celtic Recognition and Blessing of the Dark Side

The Celtic tradition recognizes that we need to invoke blessing on our suffering and pain. It is wrong to portray Celtic spirituality as a tradition of light, brightness, and goodness alone; this is soft spirituality. The Celtic tradition had a strong sense of the threat and terror of suffering. One of the lovely rituals was the visit to the Holy Well. These wells were openings in the earth-body of the Goddess. The land of Ireland was the body of the Goddess Ériú. Wisdom and cures were to be found in the Holy Wells. In our valley, there are three such wells. Two have cures for sore eyes. All kinds of personal things were left here as “thanks offerings” for the cure. Many of these wells are in the mountains. It is quite a poignant thing in a bleak, stolid landscape to find these little oases of tenderness bedecked with personal mementos, sacred places where people have come for centuries to the goddesses of the earth looking for healing. These wells were places where the water element was used to bless and heal. In the Irish tradition, there is a wonderful respect for holy water. People put little bottles of holy water in the walls of their farms to keep away evil and sickness. Some carry it in their cars to prevent accidents. Others sprinkle it at night for the holy souls and for absent friends and loved ones. There is a lovely sense of how the water element can bring protection. A huge percentage of the human body is water. Blessing with water is beautiful; it is as if the innocent water of the earth which has flown wild and free in rain and ocean comes to bless its embodied human sister.

The Celtic tradition had a great sense of how the powers of Nature could be stirred to bring pain and destruction. There are many such stories. For instance, a woman who had special powers could cause a storm at sea by stirring water violently in a vessel. Or a fisherman at sea could raise wind by whistling for it. There are also many stories of people who had charms to cure animals. They could diagnose intuitively what was wrong with the animal and then use the charm to bring the animal back to health. Certain people also had the charm to cure people. In the invisible network of suffering, it is amazing how some have the power to heal us, and others help us carry the burden.