The Four Winds: Mandala of Wholeness

As a previous student of psychology, I am quite familiar with Jung and his theories of the self and consciousness; as a person following an Earth-based spirituality, I am comfortable and feel quite at home in his ideas, identifying more closely with Jung than some of the other psychological theorists. When reading about the Mandala of Wholeness, I realized that I had essentially come up with my own mandala during my discussion of the Settling of the Manor of Tara, which included the elements of air, earth, water, and fire, with spirituality as the central focus. I find this interesting because many times when one is mastering concepts of a specific subject matter, one can pick up on ideas seemingly almost before they are taught, creating a very logical sort of “learning map” for future concepts. The idea of many mandalas being used throughout this course makes sense to me, just as the use of various mandalas as we make our way through life is also logical. Both the Irish and the Jungian mandalas, in their similarities and differences, have a place in my heart. To me, the Irish variation is rooted in more of the physical attributes while predictably, the Jungian model is more rooted in the psychological. Summed up another way, the Irish, like the Earth, is something we can see and touch while the Jungian model is more of a sensational model, something that is more unconscious and felt rather than seen.

The prosperity section in the East is more concerned with spiritual prosperity than literal. Generosity is a central concept here, and to me this means less the giving of physical gifts and more the anticipation of one’s needs and the willingness to go the distance to help someone in need with the understanding that you may get nothing out of it other than the satisfaction of being able to help. I try to make a difference in this way whenever possible, whether it is a simple matter or something more complex, no matter how far out of my way it takes me. Practicality also comes into play here, and is my lifestyle. I am a no-frills logical person by nature and I revel in the simple things. By this I mean not only the physically simple but the emotionally and psychologically simple as well. I try to see things at face value and don’t really like things that I have to interpret. I think the phrase “say what you mean and mean what you say” is very appropriate when discussing the Eastern part of the mandala. Traditionally, the East is also a farming Province, and this fits well in both the Irish and the Jungian model as sensation is the knowledge that something is there and thus, it is rooted in the physical presence as well as the practicality that exists at the heart of the farm.

In the South is the music section, but this term has less to do with actual music than a description word for the idea of creativity and inspiration. I believe creativity is at the heart of who we are and it comes into play in everything we do, whether it is actually part of a fine arts activity such as music, theatre, or poetry or whether we are looking to complete a more practical task. We use creativity in our daily lives whether we are at work and looking for ways to problem solve an issue, or whether we are at home raising children. Even simple everyday tasks like sweeping the floor requires creativity. I believe that from the beginning of time we have used creativity as a way of both solving problems as well as evolving and changing humanity into what it is today. In Jung’s model, creativity and feeling go hand in hand as both can be seen as our “rhythm of life”.

Knowledge in the West and battle in the North seem a bit obscure to me, and it almost seems like either these two should be swapped in the Irish model or perhaps in Jung’s model the ideas of thinking in the North and intuition in the West should be moved. Battle in the Irish model deals more with the ego and the relationship of the soul and thus would seem a little more intuitive to me. Even though the book says the two concepts should be separate, I disagree to a certain extent: I believe they can be seen as both separate entities but also combined into one, as thinking is intuitive and intuition is also a part of the thinking process. For this reason, I have symbolically combined them within the same paragraph. With that said, I am a firm believer in the idea that “knowledge is power” and that we should continually strive to learn throughout our lives. I am also a very intuitive person in that, when psychologically pulled in a certain direction, I think it is important to listen to that message. Basic instinct is a part of intuition but there is also a less logical part that doesn’t seem to follow a pattern, it just exists as almost an animalistic need that should at the very least, be acknowledged. I find that when I listen to the animal in me I can do no wrong and that if it feels right, it probably is.

When considering both the Irish and the Jungian models, all four directions work together for wholeness. Prosperity, music, knowledge and battle come together to create the sovereignty of wholeness, just as in the Jungian model where sensation, feeling, intuition, and thinking combine to create the individuality of wholeness. However, despite the fact that the central functions in each model can be seen as separate ideas, the general concept is of putting the four directions together like pieces of a pie to combine them into one, and then labelling it. Thus, we can see the individual pieces plus the “whole”, which I think could be summed up in both a simpler and more complex description of wholeness, called Earth.

Myth Work II: The Settling of the Manor of Tara

There are times when certain things are revealed to us at exactly the time that we need them to be. These revelations can appear in something complex such as an intuitive insight, or sometimes as a simple idea that can only be seen if certain other things have happened to precipitate it. Recently, this came to life for me when contemplating the myth of The Settling of the Manor of Tara. A few nights previously, I had been watching a movie called The Mysteries of the Cosmos, which was a documentary into the dawn of creation from the beginnings of the universe to the present. In the movie, it stated that Terra is the Latin word for “Earth”. This information was not exactly new to me, but because I had been studying this particular myth, it suddenly occurred to me that, although spelled and probably pronounced slightly differently, Earth could possibly be seen as not only Terra, but also in a sense, as Tara. In the beginning of the story, it states that, in the conference of Magh Bregh it was determined that the area that was Tara seemed excessive and too large an area but with no civilization and no services. Just as this was true for Tara, it is also true of the Earth, and especially of an older Earth where the population was not as large as it is today. An older Earth would also have seemed to be too large an area and also in need of partitioning. Many times when facing an immense task, it helps to go back to the basics. Just as the quarters of knowledge, battle, prosperity, music, and kingship in the center were the basics for Tara, the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water are the basic and oldest ingredients in nature’s recipe and make sense for the Earth, with spirit or consciousness as its center.

The myth also states that the nobles of Ireland were summoned to the feast of Tara by Diarmait son of Cerball, but they refused to participate in the feast until the settling of the manor of Tara was determined. This makes sense to me as well, because often we cannot move forward until we have addressed the concerns of our past. As a more obvious example, we cannot enter school if we have not first learned to walk and talk, in the same way that Tara could not be partitioned without the presence of a wise man who knew the stories of the past, because through our historical records we can better understand what is needed for our present and our future. Although Fintan was indeed old and wise, by himself he would not be enough to remember all that was needed. In much the same way that crucial information had appeared before me at just the point that I needed it, Trefuilngid Tre-eochair also appeared from the sunset at the exact moment that Tara needed him to appear. With Trefuilngid’s guidance, Fintan was able to complete this task as Trefuilngid filled in the gaps and “explained to all everything unknown”.

It seems to me that Trefuilngid represents not necessarily God, but the mere idea of God, meaning that in order to make difficult decisions, we need to be guided by a spirituality of some sort. Whether that is a physical being, a specific sense of presence that we cannot see or touch, or more of an extension of self is irrelevant. The idea is that we are all guided by some sort of force depending on our individual belief system. Though some may be uncomfortable with the idea of God, it may help to think of it as less of a Godly figure and more of a consciousness that simply enlightens us just when we need to be enlightened, helping us to stay focused in the moment. This entity is at our center and functions as spirit, governing all that we hold dear in our lives with the elements always present, not only around us but also as a part of us.

The Dúile: The Shapes of the World

It has been stated that “the inner and outer landscapes are not separate. They are the wildness of the world and the wildness of the self.” To me, this means that the outer world of nature and the inner world of ourselves can be both light and dark, and order and chaos, much like in the battle of Magh Tuireadh. By this I mean that we not only physically experience order and chaos at different times yet also simultaneously, but that we also have periods where we are battling similar conflicts within ourselves while also experiencing a sort of peace or order internally. It is during the times of internal peace that we can see much clearer the sacred within ourselves as well as the sacred within nature, because our frame of mind is much more open to beauty during periods of order than during our chaotic times.

The Celtic conception of the divine can be described as an all-in-one threefold of the Shaping, Shapes, and Shapers. The shaping can be equated to a divine concept in that the Gods or Spirits are shaping the world in much the same way that the Tuatha De Danaan shaped the world in the early days, which has also shaped in part, what we have come to understand as a combination of Dana the mother goddess, Dana the spirits of the Earth, and Dana the consciousness. The shapes are the sacred; everything around us, everything we see, and everything we are. If we look at the world as individual pieces of a larger puzzle, we can see the beauty within each shape and appreciate the shapes for what they are. We can see each individual tree, flower, stream, and creature, and revel in the wonders of how it came to be what it is, and if we look closely we can follow its path and outline its very being. We can then step back and view the world as a whole and see the shaping as the foundation of what we hold dear; we can see Dana as consciousness and touch the world in a variety of ways, both physically and psychologically, and in this way the shaping is sacred as well. The Shapers are not only the Gods or Spirits, but we as the shapes are also the shapers in that we are not only physically creating other shapes but we are also shaping our views, thoughts, and ways, and adapting them to our ever-changing world in much the same way that Dana as the mother goddess has shaped the world as well as shaped the individual shapes.

I believe that we are all in the role of shape, shaping, and shaper. We are the physical shapes as residents of the Earth, but we are shaping the Earth, other shapes, and the divine, as we continue to grow and evolve. Because of this, it also makes us both shapers of a changing world as well as shaping the world. In another sense, we as shapes can be seen as being in a symbiotic relationship with the divine in that we need the three aspects of Dana to survive just the same as Dana needs us as part of the elemental world, because if there were no shapes present, then there would also be no need for shaping to occur, and that means there would be no need for the existence of both the divine and the shapes as shapers.

Celebrations

As a brand new Druid, this year's Lughnasadh will be my very first celebration as a Pagan. Although I do not feel anywhere close to comfortable with turning this into an all-out ritual, there are simple things I can do to celebrate the harvest season. Since I am new to this concept, I think it is only fitting that I should begin with the harvest celebration, being that this one is centered around food and fun; I figure seeing as we all need to eat, I can very easily incorporate this into daily life, and many people who do not know of my change in spirituality may never even notice the difference. This is not to say that I am hiding the fact that I am a druid, but more that it allows me to "test the waters" with my first actual holiday, see how it goes and how it feels. Perhaps later when I feel more ready for more of an in-depth disclosure with certain family and friends I will be more prepared to answer their questions because I will have had a little hands-on experience with the sabbats, although that experience will be almost completely solitary, which I think is alright for now.

That being said, I have subscribed to and have been reading a few email lists and message boards on Druidism and have found a few recipes for the purpose of this celebration. I thought I would start with something simple such as preparing Boxty (Potato Pancakes) in the morning for breakfast and then possibly having a harvest-type dinner including corn on the cob and some form of chicken, which would actually seem quite normal for me except for the corn. Symbolically though, it would seem to me as kind of bridging the gap between my old lifesyle and at the same time, introducing the new one. It will be interesting in any case..

Dana: The Primal Enlivening

The idea of Dana can be described as the physical land itself, spirits of the Earth, or the enlivening force behind all things. My own personal view of Dana is that she is all three things at once, which through this combination, creates the overall concept of Dana for me. Part of my reason for seeing Dana as a combination is, being raised a Christian with God as human form just never made sense to me, and it is this concept that I am now moving away from. The concept of Dana as combination of the physical Earth, spirit, and consciousness then, allows me to view this idea as simply the divinity of life, and in this way I can more easily identify with Dana as a divine principle.

Dana as planet Earth is attractive to me because she can be seen as a motherly figure and as having given birth to all things of the Earth. In this way, she is mother nature, which is how I had previously viewed the divine. Dana as the spirits of the Earth is a natural fit in this view because each of her “children” are specific forces or inhabitants that are nurtured and protected by the mother. Dana as the enlivening force is harmony and the energy of life and of everything we come into contact with. Said another way, I believe we can look at this concept as all-encompassing; a need to have all three elements of physical being, a multitude of various occupants of that being working together for a common good, and an aspect of non-physical essences and energies feeding off of the occupants of that being to provide a psychological balance to all of nature no matter who or what you are.

The idea that Dana is characterized by a quality of tending fits very well within this concept. As a mother, one tends her children in all areas of being, making sure all needs are met including physical, social, psychological, and emotional. The physical section includes necessities for survival such as food, water, and protection from the elements. Dana as Earth Mother takes care in making sure all of her children have access to these things in the form of lakes and rivers to quench thirst, other plants, animals, and microscopic creatures for food, and a semblance of shelter from the elements, whether the life form must seek this out on its own or whether it is incorporated into its being. The social aspect of tending is important as well. Many of life’s creatures need others to survive, as in the example of hunting for food with like creatures and sharing benefits within a group, or the less obvious form such as symbiotic creatures and their need to live off of or in close proximity with, another life form for various reasons. The emotional comes into play because this equates to either love or simple reproductive needs and the carrying on of each type of inhabitant. The psychological is important because being in a healthy frame of mind is the key to functioning in life: Without this ability we would be incapable of using the other aspects of basic needs, and Dana as tender of her children provides all of these concepts within each of us.

I think the first step in opening up to the idea of Dana as a way of being tended is to consciously recognize that one needs to be mothered in all aspects of life and also at varying times no matter how old or young we are. As inhabitants of the Earth, we need to rely on others for survival just as we need to rely on the Earth in the form of natural survival resources. Dana as mother provides all the tools necessary for our nurturing. Sometimes these elements are relatively easy to obtain, and other times we are simply given the blueprints to discover resources or concepts for ourselves, but I believe that we are never alone in this world; the tools we need are out there, we just have to know where to look and how to recognize these gifts when we discover them.