The Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Dannan

The Tuatha De Dannan came to Ireland from four cities of the Otherworld, Murias, Falias, Gorias and Finias, bringing with them four treasures.  It should be noted here that these four symbols of magical elements are reflected in the Sword, the Spear, the Cup (Cauldron) and the Singing Stone of Destiny-Falias. 

At the time of the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann the race inhabiting Eire was known as the "fir Bolgs" who were divided into three tribes.The "fir Domnann" controlled North Munster, South Munster and Connaught. The "Fir Bolg" controlled Ulster and the "Fir Gaillon" Leincester. At that time their king was called Eochid son of Erc.  It is said that the Tuatha Dé Danann arrived on the 1st of May (Beltaine) bringing with them treasures from their home cities. From Findias they brought Nuada's sword, from Gorias they brought Lugh's lance, from Murias they brought Dagda's cauldron and from Falias they brought the stone of destiny. The gods reached the coast of Ireland in a shrowd of mist to conceal themselves from the Fir Bolgs. Morrigu and her fellow war godesses created fogs, rainstorms and larva to fall on the Fur Bolgs so that they had to take shelter for three days until their own druids overcame the enchantments.
Finally the two sides met and after a period of truce the two sides began a bloody battle where Eochid was slain and the Fir Bolgs defeated. It was in this very battle that Nuada had his hand sliced clean off and, although Diancecht skillfully made him a hand of silver, he was sufficiently disfigured to have to give up the rule of the Tuatha Dé Danann.  And so it was that the Tuatha Dé Danann took control of Ireland. The surviving Fir Bolgs were given Connaught to live in and to this day there are those that claim ancestry to that ancient tribe.  

Mannanan, the Holy Bárd, brought from Murias in the West
the Cauldron of Renewal,
which has the Power to regenerate life.
Those who drink from it do not die, but may pass beyond the Portals
to gain the wisdom of the Otherworld and return.

Dread Morrighan, the Rìgh-Bhean, brought from Falias, in the north
the Stone of Destiny.
This is the stone of Divine Right on which kings are crowned.
Wherever it may be, the Scepter is to be with it.
In that resides the wisdom and the spirit of the Mighty Ones,
Its guardian has the Power to cross beyond the Portals of Time and Space.

Great Lugh of the Long Arm, Warlord of the Dannan, carried from Finias in the South
the Spear of Victory.
This is the Shining Spear, against which no enemy shall prevail.
The guardian of this spear shall be always victorious,
for its Power is such that no battle can ever be sustained against it.

Ogma of the Sunface, the Lady's Champion, carried from Glorias in the East
the Sword of Light.
No enemy ever escapes once it is drawn from its sheath.

The Quartering of Eire

copyright September 16, 2002

By Autumn Laird

East the cauldron, Murias, Fort of the Sea and prosperity

South the Fal stone roars, Failias, proclaiming musically a King's destiny

West the spear of Lugh, Gorias, Burning Fort of wisdom

North the sword of Nuada, Findias, come battle and warring

Center the flaith of sovereignty, Meath, where the great fires of Tara burn

To each quarter linked to Otherworld aspects...

 

now Tara manor is settled

come ye children and gather the stones

find the music in the south

and dance to the sounds of a melody

let the pipe and drum play on in the north

wars forgotten in the enchanted isles

let the peace become

a place inside a heart so strong

be at one with the song

rock and sway to the faerie tune

the past be the past

the future still lies in your hands

now come to the standing stones

remember the circle that is unbroken

through the maze winding, turning

spiraling back to the center

where first the quarters of Tara united

upon a sacred hill

in the mist and in the heather

green as all earth lay untouched

a path to the sky through the waters

and through the rains

upon this land we do pray

bring ye peace and love

the power of the ancient days

channeling in the accent

to reach the highest point

cleansing of the land

reunited in the king sun

given by the mother goddess of the land

it is her right to which should all ignore

listen now to hear the ocean roar

and know too that I am within

a sacred spiral of returning

come now to the four quarters

be blessed by the wind

be warmed by the sun

be purified in santimonium by the fire

be fed upon the green earth

be sustained by the water's mirth

and illuminated by the word

so that in time all will unite

hand in hand this heart of royalty

stood by the course of time

by the will of perseverance

so that the trees will know us

by the knocking upon their cord

awaken ancient ones

spring forth your faerie life

the forests call again

to the bog and to the edges of man

till the day comes

when we see the past at hand

and return in this circle

wiser than before

knowing the Goddess lives inside

this season's door

so be it that the lines have run

deeper than man has ever come

the living essence for which is given

spirit to the green lands

upon them rides a protector

the Greenman

should you kill him to like the Goddess

in fear and in sadness

all that will blight your wickedness

in blindness you will know

the circle must turn and grow

not be held back by some misfortunate soul

who would bind a land to greed

so for me I will choose to see

and sing the song melancholy

as we return to a wasted land

but it is in my hand that sweet blossom can grow

within the tiniest seed

my song will surely show

the path up those ancient stones

changing my song into joyous reunion

with the Goddess in my heart

and the Kings of Tara bestowed

the ancient rite of the serpent healing

winding its solar skin across the stone

shedding the old year of its weariness

and now it is plain to all this Celtic Mandela

making the invisible world visible

to all who lay sheltered under under the tree

for which creative life force guides thee

to the Otherworld and back

returning to the center of history.

To the West and Connacht 

Came the foundations of Learning and Wisdom, 

Teaching, science and judgment. 

From the North and Ulster came the Battle 

Pride, war, conflicts and contentions. 

To the South and Munster came Music, 

Poetic arts and advocacy. 

The East and Leinster brought Prosperity, 

Abundance, hospitality and dignity. 

And from the Centre, from Mide, 

Came the Kingship and Stewardship 

Which holds the other four provinces 

Fast into one island community.

Where the mists of time have come to part,

The quarters of Tara remain close at heart,

Four points uniting the mystic cross,

In the center the web is pulled taught,

Through the rocks and the trees,

Life spins in the Celtic heartbeat,

Woven together by the fabric of island, mist, & sea

Story of gold illumination turns the pages,

To a song made of the elements and the quarters at hand,

Sweet ballad of green Eire-land.

 

Dan nan Rón ~ Song of the Seals

Autumn Laird

December 8, 2003

 

Hear me on the crashing waves

Bobbing on the current watching

My blood runs through your veins

We are your kin and fortune

 

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

We live upon the sea among the tides

Rise up sons and daughters of the sea

For no matter what the day brings-

Our mark is upon the rocks we sit

Crystals of salt form in each damp footstep

 

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

Look children of the earth for the water

Flowing through you this mesmerizing call

Strong as tides beating under the full moon

Bringing you back home to cliff and shore

Dive into the waters of our birth

From the very beginnings on earth

To answer the healing powers of the seal song

 

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

By the seventh stream on the seventh day

In the course of the ninth high tide

Days of ancient ceremony and calling

Where we stand equal in sun and moon

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

A glimmering in the playful eye

May we change and take husband or bride

On the sands of shifting time

Our hearts belong always to the rocking waters

Once we walk out of our skins

Forever we will be trying to find a way back in

 

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

Once we have left the sorrow fills our eyes

And our tears lead us back home

Where the streams meet the sea

And our hearts dance merrily

Swift and fast we swim

To meet the waters we were born in

 

May there come a Light

Upon the Shore

 

For love we may hold on

But that single longing of the sea

Calls louder to one of the waters be

The colours of blue-grey-green

Remind us of what we will always be

And free we run to the seagulls cry

To the  Dan nan Rón.

 

Children of Danu

By Autumn Laird

January 26, 2004

 

I shiver in the timbers of trees

Ancient grove light shedding on me

Watching the hillsides for movement

Shades elongating as the wind begins to still

Slowly dips the sun beneath the horizon

For it is in these twilight hours

Where gray stands the pale shadows

Crept from the earth the dancers take flight

These bright children tall and limber

Light on their airy feet taking to the song

 

Some dark, some light shrouded in the unseen

Wrapped in a mantle of history

They have not faded into the mythic falseness

A people tattooed by the hidden knowledge

Received to the green lands which they called their own

Weary of the searching for better places they roamed

The misty green, stony fields and fingers of forest yields

It looked to be the land Danu had chosen for her children

So they abandoned their ships in a fiery blaze

It blotted out the sun for many days

To those who could remark on their arrival at Beltaine of May

It seemed their ships shone with a light all their own

Gliding over the waves, like they were sent from the skies they raved

Such numbers were they to overtake the great island

They hath planted their feet to stay

 

The Old Ones of the lost tribes sent forth

Settling first on a mountain in the West

Eclipsing all the world with their magic and lore

From eleven generations of Nemedians they were born

In the cities of Falias, Findias, Gorias, and Murias

Obscure beginnings they cast their luck

To the new isles they carry their treasures

Oh Falias, from hence the stone of kings comes

Bringer of destiny we seat before you

Oh Findias, wielder of Nuada’s sword

None shall escape or break your blade

Oh Gorias, agile spear of Lug’s light

From it’s bearing it will guarantee victory

Oh Murias, great boiling cauldron of the Dagda

In it’s depths everyone will find break their fast

 

Sacred pillars of society they created with these treasures

With these sacred gifts to the green lands come

Formed three lakes and brought agriculture

To settle the fearsome Formorians by marriage bed and by war

The champion is thus reborn of Balor’s misfortune

Though he takes the king’s hand, Nuada is avenged by Bres

Come many years that drift by, a hill is formed

A spire of life arise over the city of Tara

Crystal hearts beating pure and strong singing the blood-line long

Three sons of the Good God Dagada split and share

Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Greine

And each take wives bestowing divine sovereignty

Triple gods and goddesses of art they become

Blacksmith, silversmith, and carpenters

Sons and daughters of the hammer

 

But there are many others who rise and fall

Mananna mac Lir, wise sea-god

Lug Lamfhota, champion and master of crafts

Angus Og, god of dream and music

Brigid, of the fire and healing

Boand, goddess of the Boyne and wife of Dagada

Triple women of war, Badb, Macha, & Morrigan

Ogma a god of eloquence, strongman, & warrior

Donn, ruler of the dead

Dbodb Derg, son of the Dagada and later king

All come in the wave of cloaked starlight

Lapping against a shore awaiting their coming

 

Twice defeated by the mortal Milesians

They survive as immortals in the cairns and barrows of the world

Henceforth the world was split in two

The surface where the sun shines over the victors and their line

Deep in the earth, lies a route to the sídh

Many a war wages for milk and grains

The ruins remain a place of power where they can dwell

Finnbheara watches and waits, for the sun to rise

Over the split realms that rejoin as one

The dancers call from the Otherworld womb

Summoning the magic they wield through the long forgotten

Children of the twilight, children of Danu

Still come to call upon these hill forts

See the dreams of the ancestors’ tales

For they ever live on in this dance so long begun

 

I wait and watch from the circle

Feel the heat rise up from the earth

As night takes hold and the colors darken and spread

A song becomes clearer, as the stars awaken

My heart is alive with the music

Thrumming like harp strings I look to the hillsides

Knowing, I sense and see them calling me still

To join their dance and make it real

Unite these worlds, heal the crystal fracture

As we were split asunder, now the circle is bound

Together they overlap and ask me,

Won’t you listen to the song we lament?

For we come when the moon is eclipsed

Drifting on the blessing of Danu’s ships

To the West I look

 The Old Ones

copyright June 19, 2002 

By Aylinor   

Alone in the great shadow of  Stonehenge stood a great oak. His roots were deep and well anchored here. He had been in this place since the great stones were placed here. He had watched in wonder at the coming and going of the ones of the old faith.

Today he watched silently as the elders entered the sacred circle. The oldest among them his hair now white with age had once climbed his strong branches as a child to watch in secret as the old ones performed their rituals. This man seemed tired to the 

Great Oak but the twinkle was still in his eyes. His voice still sounded strong but the oak heard the sadness there.   "It is time my brothers for us to leave them. There are many others of our path that will leave this world for the Higher Plane. The new faith is encroaching and it will be many years before we will be summoned again. Our young ones will carry us with them and our words will be carried on the leaves of the trees and wind. I go to seek my rest now my brothers. Blessings to you as you seek yours."   Quietly each of the elders left the circle seeking their own path alone. The old one walked silently toward the oak. He set under the branches of his old friend and closed his eyes.   "Ah, Grandfather oak, grant me serenity." The oak gently moved his branches making a gentle breeze stir and flow over the Druid.  " I am here my friend." He knew the Druid could feel him. " 

I am so tired Grandfather...I am in need of rest."   "Then close your eyes and rest my friend. I will wake you when you are needed." And there in the shadow of the Henge the Great Oak folded his branches around the Druid and they became one.   Listen closely to the song of the trees for in them is the wisdom of the old ones.

Keepers of the Flame

copyright August 15, 2002 

By Aylinor   

                        Chants fill the night air

                        Praises to the Gods raised on high.

                        The flames reflecting the shadows on the stones

                        Each of the thirteen moving as one around the great circle of light.

                        Streams of blinding light from above

                        Illuminating each one as bright as the crystals in their hands.

                        In the center of the flame silhouetted against the night

                        A man and woman in an embrace as old as time.

                        Two were the future of the Old Ways chosen

                        As keepers of all the knowledge the thirteen held.

                        The thirteen joined hands and the light connected them in one great circle.

                        Rays of light shot toward the stars as the chants filled the air.

                        Four rays shot form the flame to the four winds

                        At each point a tree, a sacred oak, grew from the end of the beam.     

                        Lights joined in one orb and rose toward the sky.

                        With a cry the thirteen left with the promise to return when needed.

                        As the night became calm and the clouds moved from the moon.

                        Left in the circle were the two in the flame,

                        The keepers of the Sacred Knowledge of the Old Ones 

                         The new Keepers of the Flame.

Time

copyright October 20, 2000 

By Aylinor

Time is an endless melody like the satin ribbon of life

Cut and shredded, shrilled and screamed.

Memories of the past, dreams of the future all belong to each.

But the ribbon of endless time has broken since this time began 

and means nothing at all to man.

I have wondered the halls of this endless time,

But now my walk is almost through,

because now the journey belongs to you.

I have come and gone this way many times before, 

always to be heard but never seen.

I have walked beside you many times in the shadows of early dawn,

So I go being remembered only as the ghost of your dreams. 

For more on the Tuatha de Dannan see:

 http://www.shee-eire.com/Magic&Mythology/Races/Tuatha-De-Danann/Page1.htm