| Diana shall
honor the fairies, while Gregg circles around her offering tobacco to the land spirits.
Diana says: "I call from
the high road down the lowroad to our ancestors and beckon you to come forth. I call to
you and request your presence. May you meet us here at the crossroads and join us in our
ceremony."
(Cup held high)
"To the fairy realm above the earth"
(Hold cup down low)
"To the fairy realm below the earth. To the
spirits of this land. May you accept this libation of milk and join us here tonight."
(Pours milk over the stone)
David recites the story of the
Tuatha De Danaan's landing in Eire:
The Coming the Tuatha De Danaan
(from The Book of Conquests by Jim Fitzpatrick)
"On the eve of Beltane, the sacred feast
day of the god Bel, I Tuan, the great sea-eagle, rose before the sun and sailed the clear
high air over Connemara.
Thunder clouds weighed heavy on the mountains;
strange mists curled from the lakes and rivers hiding the sight of their land from the
gaze of the Fir Bolg and Eochai, their king.
Even I, Tuan, felt the cold heartbeat of fear as
the skies grew pale. I soared upward from the doom-laden veils of mist.
As I broke the cloud I saw them.
Sailing the winds above the purple mountains of
Connemara, and beyond through the high air and low air that rose and blew among the Red
Hills of Rein, was a great fleet.
Shrouded by magic mists, borne on strong winds,
the Tuatha De Danaan came in their great mystical ships, raven emblazoned sails at full
stretch.
Beneath the sky of stars the truth is not known
whether they were of the heaven or the earth, sons of demons or of men.
On my curved wings I flew with the enchanted
ships and I sang my song of greeting
I invoke the name of Nemed,
The land of Eireann
Our God the Sun
I, Tuan, welcome you
Welcome to the green mountains
The dancing shadows of the woods
The rippling bright waters
The fish filled lakes
It is your land awaits you
Nowpride, not fear, pulsed in my heart keeping
time with the drumbeat of the oars. Bright standards and silken banners coloured like all
the flowers of the world flew from their mastheads in the high air.
So I saw the coming of the long ships of the
Tuatha De Danaan into the valleys of Connacht. Each one was hung with magical shields and
their sides painted with oghams. The sun, hidden from the Fir Bolg, rose high to touch the
armour of these painted strangers with fire and life. For the black sailed ships did not
come from the land of death but were driven by the strength and magic skill of mortal men,
hereos the like of whom have not been seen in the land of Eirean before or since.
A thousand heroes and their followers came with
that fleet to Eireann. At their head was a warrior king, a flame haired giant who stood
against the sun, his colored, checquered cloak billowing in the restless wind. This was
Nuada, King of the Tuatha De Danaan.
I, Tuan, eagle and story bearer, flew with Nuada
and his longships above the purple hills of Connemara and at last came to rest with them
against the Red Hills of Connacht. And here Nuada would remain king until his arm was
rested from his body at the first battle of Mag Tured.
Then:
In recognition of the Tribal King and his marriage to the
land, there shall be a re-enactment of Bres being driven to the east and Nuada's rise and
right as King being reinstated. It shall be performed on both a physical and spiritual
level as follows:
The three aspects of the Land Goddess (Bari,
Veronica/Chandra and Veronica) shall stand by the fire. Bres (Brian Kee) shall stand next
to them. All present shall be gathered in a circle around the area. The land goddess
stands as the coming fertility of the land and Bres stands as the last remnants of the
primal chaos and disorder of winter that shall now become summer.
Nuada (Jon wearing the silver glove), Dagda (Brad), Ogma
(Brock), Mian (Craig) and Satirist (David) shall walk the circle once to raise the energy
and spirit of the recreation. Satirist shall stop in the north. Dagda and Ogma shall stop
in the west. Nuada and Mian shall stop in the south.
The Satirist shall step forth and satirize Bres for his
un-hospitality. Bres shall move to the west where the Dagda and Ogma shall begin insulting
him and demanding his departure. Bres shall move to the north where the tribe shall join
Dagda and Ogma in shouting and demanding his departure:
Group Shouts:
Bres Away! Bres Away! (sending the last of their chaos with him)
Once Bres has departed, Nuada shall fall to his knees.
Mian shall remove the silver glove from Nuada healing the King into completeness.
Now, the group forms a face-to-face gauntlet between
Nuada and the Land Goddess. The remaining people form a circle around her. Bari calls for
the King to stand and come to her. Nuada stands and begins moving down the gauntlet. As he
moves through, the gauntlet steps back to allow him passage. They turn to watch him walk
and feed him their own sexual energy (which shall be used to fertilize the land). Once
Nuada reaches the Land Goddess (Bari) the other two aspects (Veronica and Veronica) shall
take his energy and begin feeding it back out into the land.
Nuada shall take his sword and drive it into the ground
at the Goddess' feet.
Brian and Gregg step forth and hold a sack of corn seed
over the kneeling King. If she, as the goddess of the land, recognizes him as king and
recognizes their union, she shall lean forward and withdraw the dagger from Nuada's hip.
She then cuts the bag of seed over his back, letting it spill to the earth. She then
places the dagger in the ground next to the sword, and embraces the King as her companion.
Nuada shall then invite all to Dance and Feast.
Following the feast will be the telling of the Clann
geneaology by Gregg followed by a storytelling circle and festivities. |
