Precis: The author of Glamoury and Celtic Tree Mysteries, and one of the most knowledgeable and respected students of Celtic lore and its modern applications, adds to his current body of work with an examination of the importance of the Beauty, Mystery, and Wonder triad, and an introduction into one of the most amazing writers of all time.
Celtic Spirituality and the BMW Factor
In my books Glamoury and Celtic Tree Mysteries I attempt to explain the many
aspects of the Celtic spiritual tradition as I know and understand it. Due to
the limitations of space in these books, and in my other writings, I have had
to shorten explanations which I had hoped to give in full. Now, thanks to The
Llewellyn Journal, I am able to give more background and argument which I
feel will be valuable to the student of the Celtic way.
First though, I should explain who I am and why I claim any sort of authority
on this subject. I was born in the West of Scotland where the Celtic and
Gaelic traditions are still strong. I have therefore been aware of this
tradition all of my life and I have been practicing and teaching it for many
years. I now live in America but before I moved there I was living on the
little Scottish Isle of Arran, nestled in the Firth of Clyde. Arran is an
extremely important place in the Celtic spiritual tradition but for the time
being all I want you to understand is that what I am about to tell you did
not just come from books or academic research. It comes from a lifetime of
actually living the tradition, with my family and friends, and being aware
that we are carrying on a practice which comes from a very ancient source. My
knowledge and understanding comes from hearing the old legends and stories
from my family, listening to the songs and music which have been handed down
over countless generations, and by close observation of that part of the
world in which I was born and raised.
I realized long ago how fortunate I was to have been raised in such a special
place and I was aware that a great deal of ancient lore and tradition was
being revealed to me all the time by virtue of where I lived. As I grew older
I spent much time adding to my knowledge by researching in books and
listening to other peoples' comments and observations on my birthright. I
found much of great value there and I learned a lot from these sources and
have adopted some ideas and practices set out by others. But I also found a
lot that I did not recognise or which went against the very grain of what I
had been raised to believe and understand. Very often these dubious comments
or statements were not fully explained by the writer and often they did not
bear any source reference or comment but were simply laid out in print as
fact. This was disturbing to me.
When you are born and raised into a tradition as I was, you develop an
instinctive sense of what is right and what is wrong regarding that
tradition. During some of my studies my intuitive alarm bells went off as I
could sense my ancient tradition being tampered with and altered, innocently
in most cases I am sure, but changed nonetheless by people writing and
commenting on it. Most of the things I am referring to were minor but to me
it was potentially the start of an erosion which one day could become so
damaging as to change my tradition in irreparable ways. One thing you need to
know about the Celtic character is that we are persistent. Some may even say
obstinate. But when we see an injustice or a thing which is wrong and needs
to be corrected, we hang on and don't let go until it is straightened out. My
desire to set the record straight was the motivating force behind what I do
now - teaching the Celtic spiritual tradition as I know it.
I must stress and emphasise strongly that under no circumstances am I
claiming that I have the one and only true way, assuming that there is such a
thing in the first place. I am opening my heart and soul and giving you a
glimpse of who I am and the beliefs that have shaped me. If these insights
are useful to you, then well and good. If not, then I make no apologies. You
will find your heart's desire soon enough. You always have the choice. You
can accept or reject anything or everything that follows. All I ask is that
you read on with an open heart and mind and feel and think over what I say
before accepting or rejecting it. It is not the only way, it is not the
"right" way - it is merely one way. But it is one way that has
worked admirably for me.
As a final comment to this introduction you will find that I pull material
from many, many sources, not just books, myths or legends. The Celtic
spiritual tradition is encapsulated in music, poem, story, song, dance, art,
the people and the very landscape itself. I shall be using all of these
sources wherever possible in order to explain things as fully as I can and
also in order to place as many images and stimuli in your minds as possible.
These will work their way into your unconsciousness via your consciousness
and help make the whole tradition come alive and integrate fully into your
whole being. Mere books, quotations, references and cross references can
never do that.
A FORGOTTEN WRITER
With that in mind I am going to start in an unusual place. I am not going to
talk about the soul, spiritual development, gods and goddesses or anything of
that nature, at least not yet. First I want you to read a short poem. It is
by a much-neglected Scottish Victorian writer under the name of Fiona
Macleod. Fiona Macleod was actually a man, William Sharp, who was among the
Celtic revivalists at the end of the 19th century and early years of the 20th
century. He was a friend of many of the other Celtic revivalists of the day,
W. B. Yeats, George Russell, Lady Gregory, MacGregor Mathers, etc., and he
may have been an initiate of the original Order of the Golden Dawn. However,
he never wrote anything under either his own name or as Fiona Macleod that
was openly magical or occult. You will not find any direct instruction on the
Celtic spiritual tradition in any of his writings, but in the writings of
Fiona Macleod he did succeed in capturing better than anyone else the outward
expression of the soul of the Celtic people. It is within the pages of her
works that you will find all the instruction you will ever need to understand
the deep spiritual beliefs of the Celtic people. I believe this is crucial.
Without a firm grasp on the spiritual motivations of the Celtic people you
can never fully understand the intricacies of Celtic society or the workings
of Celtic magical practices.
It has never ceased to amaze me that Fiona Macleod is not better known today
amongst the Celtophiles of the world. Her short stories, plays, prose, and
poetry are a wealth of information for those able to read with an open heart
and allow the words, ideas and scenarios to slip into the mind and germinate
there. To fill this enormous gap in the body of Celtic studies my new book,
tentatively titled The Little Book of the Great Enchantment, will be a
biography of William Sharp with an in-depth examination of the things that
motivated him to write such wonderful spiritual material under the name Fiona
Macleod.
For the moment though, just read the words of this short poem.
Dim face of Beauty haunting all the world,
Fair face of Beauty all too fair to see,
Where the lost stars adown the heavens are hurled,
There, there alone for thee
May white peace be.
For here where all the dreams of men are whirled
Like sere torn leaves of autumn to and fro,
There is no place for thee in all the world,
Who driftest as a star,
Beyond, afar.
Beauty, sad face of Beauty, Mystery, Wonder,
What are these dreams to foolish babbling men -
Who cry with little noises 'neath the thunder
Of ages ground to sand,
To a little sand.
("Poems & Dramas," Fiona Macleod, 1895)
APPLYING THE BMW FACTOR
This short piece contains nothing overtly spiritual or instructive but it
does contain what I consider to be the underlying principle and basis upon
which the whole Celtic spiritual tradition is solidly built. I call it the
"BMW Factor": Beauty, Mystery and Wonder. Without these three
things there would be no Celtic spiritual tradition. Indeed, without these
three things there would be no spiritual traditions at all. But how often are
we asked to stop and contemplate them? How many spiritual text books, even
the world's great holy books, ask you to simply acknowledge and appreciate
the beauty, mystery and wonder of just being alive? It is such a simple
thing, but it is another one of the simplicities we have forgotten. I am
asking you now to remember and to bring the BMW Factor back into your life.
One of the world's great spiritual traditions says that we must become as
little children in order to understand the deeper mysteries of the soul. How
very true. Children live in a world that is filled with beauty, mystery and
wonder. They smile at it and with it and it brings them deep joy and
contentment. We, the mature adults of this world, teach our children to
"develop" and "progress" away from childhood, to rampage
quickly through adolescence and to fly headlong into full-blown adulthood. We
tell them to forget the BMW Factor. Yes, it is cute to behave this way while
we are babies. It can be fun to see the world this way while we are still in
primary or elementary school. But things change dramatically once hair starts
growing in odd places. If we try to take our BMW Factor through high school
and college, we are very quickly made the subject of ridicule. As developing
adults, we suppress and bury it even more quickly in order to be accepted and
respected by our fellow peers, who have all done exactly the same thing!
The simplicity and total acceptance of the BMW Factor becomes replaced by the
convention of asking questions and expecting answers to everything. Pure
acceptance and joy have gone. Questions, answers, more questions and more
puzzling answers become the normal way of life. Is this the way you are? No
longer a child and asking endless questions and demanding consistently
accurate answers from others when you cannot figure out the answers for
yourself? This is probably what many of you expect from this article -
clear-cut, comprehensible answers to the deep questions of the soul. Well,
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
What I am asking of you is to suspend your curiosity and to quiet your
questioning mind. Open yourself to the ideas and images I am giving and
simply receive them as they are. There will be time for questions, reasoning
and logic later. But for the moment, develop your intuition.
This is a major key to understanding the Celtic spiritual tradition and to
unlocking the BMW Factor within you.
INTUITION BEFORE LOGIC
By giving priority to your intuition as opposed to your logic, you will be
able to let the mass of ideas and concepts you are about to be exposed to
settle deep within your consciousness. There, unhindered and unhampered by
intruding questions and reasonings, these seed of beauty will take root and
will eventually work their way to your consciousness from within. Then they
can be examined and questioned as much as you like, but only once they have
become an integral part of your deeper being.
This may at first sound difficult or, paradoxically, too simplistic. How can
you understand or appreciate anything by not questioning it? Well, consider
what you do when you listen to your favorite piece of music. In this scenario
you are relaxed, quiet in thought and totally receptive to the sound of the
music coming alive within your consciousness. You don't stop and try to
examine each and every note, discern each and every instrument that is
playing, or attempt to interpret the "meaning" the composer had in
mind when writing the piece. You enjoy it by just letting it be. It is very
simple. So, too, with the ideas and concepts I am about to give you. Let them
come in unhindered, enjoy them if you can, and let them take deep root before
digging them up later for closer examination. Just as you listen to that
favourite piece of music over and over again and it always seems fresh, you
can mull over the beauty, mystery and wonder of the Celtic spiritual
tradition time and time again and appreciate its inherent simplicity.
Having said all that, it will be necessary for me to go against the grain of
my belief somewhat from time to time. I do need to split this tradition into
component parts which you can take apart, examine, understand and, where
possible, find answers. This is the way we expect to learn and the way most
people find easiest to learn. I'm prepared to compromise with that! I don't
want to make things more difficult than they already appear to be. But as we
are doing this I ask you to keep in the back of your mind at all times the
BMW Factor.
I am asking you to begin remembering these long-forgotten simplicities.
APPROACHING LIFE WITH THE BMW FACTOR
I would like to make a suggestion. From now on in your day-to-day life make a
deliberate effort several times each day to look through the eyes of your
Inner Child at the ordinary, regular, and mundane world in which we live.
Become aware of the BMW Factor that surrounds you and is aching to be
acknowledged by you. Stop and look at the real beauty of your surroundings.
Look at the sky, at the trees and flowers. If you live in the city look at
the architecture of the buildings, look at people you pass in the street or
on the bus, look at your own home. Have you not made an effort to place
beautiful things there? Pictures of loved ones, paintings, music, incense,
and soft furnishings are all there to add beauty to your living space. Why
did you choose these particular things? Look at them anew and appreciate
their innate beauty. Turn on your TV. There are many beautiful images to be
seen there if you look for them. Go to a movie. Not all films today are about
violence or alien invaders and even here deep beauty cannot be hidden. Open
your eyes and let beauty fill your soul. Another simple step.
Next try pondering a little mystery every day. Why is the sky blue and water
wet? Why do cats hesitate in doorways? Why do swans have black feet? Don't
try to answer these questions. Just mull them over and be aware of the
mysteries of life that surround you constantly. They are mysteries - let them
stay that way.
Along with the B and the M factors we need the W factor - Wonder. True wonder
is when you intuitively know that there is no answer; that the wonder you are
witnessing and feeling is beyond the limits of logic and answers. Take some
time each day to truly wonder at things. Make yourself aware of how literally
wonder-full the world is. I am not going to make suggestions as to what will
invoke a sense of wonder in you. You are a mature adult - find out for
yourself!
Learn to enjoy the experience as you go through your daily routine opening up
to the constant beauty, mystery and wonder of your world. Don't fall into the
trap of thinking, "OK, this is important. This is practical spiritual
development so I need to be focussed and serious about it. I must not get
light-hearted or too happy as that is not being spiritual." Nonsense.
Get as light-hearted as you want. Enjoy the experience like a child with
unrestrained laughter, giggles, smiles and the occasional open-mouthed,
wide-eyed stare. And anyway, do you really want all the answers? Would you
really be happy giving up the BMW Factor of life in return for nothing but
scientific data and technical explanations? What kind of a world would that
be? Certainly not one that this particular Celt would like to live in!
These are very joyful experiences but inevitably they will become very
humbling experiences. Sooner or later your intuition will help you realise
that you too, in your own physical body, are also an object of beauty,
mystery and wonder. The ancient Celts were well known for their love of art
and self-decoration. Jewelry, flamboyant clothes, tattoos, elaborate hair
styles, intricately carved and painted utensils for the home were all part
and parcel of being a Celt. And there is nothing wrong in being that way
today.
Unfortunately, many of us raised in the West under even an open-minded
Judaic, Christian or Islamic spiritual tradition we have been given an
unconscious guilt feeling which inhibits our recognition of self-beauty and
our desire to surround ourselves with beautiful objects. In our western
society today amongst those who profess spirituality it is often implied, if
not openly stated, that it is wrong or "sinful" to pay attention to
such things. Do away with these feelings! They are nothing more than a heavy
emotional burden you can now well and truly dump off. Go out and get a new
hair-do. Buy some outrageous new clothes. Take a walk in the park and quack
along with the ducks in the pond. Show your old self that the new beautiful,
mysterious and wonderful self is coming through.
It sounds easy, but I know it can be deceptively difficult. It is a hard
thing to get over that guilt feeling and to acknowledge the BMW Factor which
is your birth-right. But really, it is OK for you to do so. Friends, family
and even total strangers have already recognized it in you many, many times
throughout your life. Just think on this - it is not only the other person
who is beautiful, mysterious or wonderful. You are too. Right now you are all
of these things to someone. I assure you that the more you progress through
this tradition of forgotten simplicities the more attractive, mysterious and
wonderful you will become to everyone, including yourself.
CELTIC SPIRITUALITY
Now a sudden change of tack but something you need to consider and deal with.
I cannot do any of this for you. I cannot make you more beautiful,
mysterious, wonderful or spiritual any more than I can make you lose weight
or lower your cholesterol level. The onus for any and all of these things
lies fairly and squarely on your own shoulders. I am not a crutch to lean on
nor am I a leader to show you the one, true way. But I can guide you. I can
make suggestions and perhaps make you aware of things you were previously
oblivious to. But that is all. It is up to you to make what you will of the
things I tell you.
If you look to the great corpus of ancient Celtic legends you will find that
this motif appears time and time again (my book Glamoury has specific
examples of this). Very often in these old allegories a teacher or way-shower
appears to help the hero or heroine of the tale. But they never take on the
role of the hero or heroine and they never shoulder any of his or her
responsibility. And any hero or heroine who tries to off-load some of their
cares or responsibilities onto such a way-shower is doomed to failure.
There are no priests or priestesses within this spiritual tradition. There
are no Holy Men or Women who take on the responsibility for the spiritual
development of their people. There are no churches, mosques or synagogues
with ministers, rabbis or teachers that you can visit once a week in order to
be spiritual. Ask your developing intuition and your time-honoured logic the
question, "Can any other person be spiritual for me?" For once
intuition and logic should both come up with the same answer - a resounding,
"NO!"
Well, now that I have just talked myself out of a job, I shall continue.
(There's another Celtic trait - speaking in contradictions!) One thing I have
noticed throughout the years I have been talking about this subject is the
way many people become interested in the Celts and all things Celtic, read
all the legends and books on mythology, learn Celtic history and, generally,
become totally absorbed in the whole subject. This is a fine thing and an
approach I would certainly encourage. However I would strongly caution
against leaving things there. What I mean by this is that very often such
dedicated seekers after the Celtic way get stuck in a knotwork-laden time
warp. Yes, they know all about the gods and goddesses, they can tell you all
about the Fire Festivals and their significance and so on - but they haven't
moved on. They are limiting their interest and researches to the long gone
Celtic past and ignoring contemporary Celtic society and spirituality. We,
the Celts, are still here! There is no need to talk about us and our beliefs
in the past tense as if we had disappeared into some gloomy twilight. We, the
Celtic people, are still strong in our heartlands and still resolute wherever
we may now be found spread across the entire planet.
"Good point, but what of it?" you may well ask. My point is that
because we are still here and are still identifiable as a distinct culture
and linguistic group, we have clearly successfully progressed through history
from our earliest Celtic forebears to be 21st century citizens of planet
Earth. We have carried the bags and baggage of our beliefs with us along the
hard roads of the weary centuries and still have them intact and safe in our
possession. But we have changed and so has our baggage. Although I am a Celt
by birth, family and nationality, I am very different from my Bronze Age and
Medieval ancestors. The world in which I live bears no resemblance to the
world in which they lived. What, then, is the point in trying to live by a
spiritual discipline which is based on a modern interpretation of an ancient
society which no longer exists? There is none.
It is crucial that you clearly understand that what I wish to convey here is
definitely based on a very ancient tradition but it has adapted, evolved and
changed over the millennia just as human beings have. It is therefore as
relevant for you today as it was to our ancestors thousands of years ago. But
in a different fashion. Many of the practices which our ancestors observed
are no longer necessary. The world in which they lived bears almost no
comparison with ours. So, conversely, many things which modern followers of
the Celtic spiritual tradition practice and believe today would be strange
and foreign to our forebears.
Through science we know more of the intricate workings of our physical
environment than any other people have in the history of the human race. We
have developed means of heating and lighting our homes without needing to
gather fuel, we can eat without ever having to hunt, we do not live in
constant fear of attack from hostile neighbours, we have even been to the
Moon and sent machines to the very stars! All of these things mean that many
of the beliefs and much of the world-view known to the ancient Celts are no
longer relevant. But new needs and necessities have replaced the old and
outworn ones. These new adaptations though have not just been plucked from
the air but have been skillfully grafted to the core of the ancient Celtic
spiritual tradition. Indeed, if there were no such links to the past we could
hardly call this a "tradition," could we?
GODS AND GODDESSES
An example of a facet of the old tradition that is still important to the
modern tradition is the whole subject of the gods and goddesses. I am sure
that many of you are already familiar with the Celtic pantheon (I cover this
subject in depth in Glamoury and Celtic Tree Mysteries). Here, though, I need
to say a few words about the terms "god" and "goddess."
Personally I don't like using these words but unfortunately we are stuck with
them. The reason I dislike using them is because they convey totally the
wrong image. To the modern mind the concepts encapsulated in the words god
and goddess are not the same as the ones that would have been understood by
an ancient Celt. Today these words unconsciously evoke a sense of distance
and separation thanks mainly to the heavy influence of the Judaic, Christian,
and Islamic traditions. Most of us have been raised amongst dominant
religious traditions which are based on the fundamental belief that deity, in
whatever shape, size, form, or sex, is separate and physically remote from
humans, is more powerful than we are, and needs to be acknowledged, listened
to, and obeyed. Indeed some religions go so far as to say that the gods need
to be feared. What happens today is that when the terms god or goddess are
used, very often the unconscious reaction is for the listener to distance him
or herself from what should be the very source of their spiritual nurturing.
This is not the way that we should relate to deity. It is definitely not the
way we should go about forging a lasting and symbiotic relationship with the
gods and goddesses of the Celtic spiritual tradition in order to develop
spiritually.
To me, my gods and goddesses are always close,and they are very, very real.
They walk with me wherever I go and I can reach out and touch them when I
need to. They are my very good friends. They care about me, they respond to
my calls for assistance and I confide in them and play with them. They are
not the watered-down psychological archetypes that the modern mind tends to
favor. They are individual entities in their own right as much as you and I.
To consider them as some sort of unconscious symbol or archetype is a
denigration of their true status and is a great insult. I would not like to
be considered as no more than the archetype of The Teacher, even though, for
the moment, I am teaching. Such a concept gives no credence or credit to my
other facets and accomplishments or individuality. So too with the gods and
goddesses. They are much, much more than archetypes, categories,
classifications or symbols. They are sentient, feeling beings, and as
individual as you and I and they deserve recognition and respect as such.
Another Celtic concept of deity is that it is fallible. The gods and
goddesses are not always right and they don't necessarily have the answer to
your question. As the legends show time and time again, they are definitely
not all-knowing and they are certainly not all-powerful. Very often they come
to us for help just as much as we go to them. This is a vital point to accept
and understand. How often in the dominant religions do we hear of God coming
to a mere mortal and saying, "Excuse me, can you give me a hand for a
moment please?" It doesn't happen. But don't be surprised when it does
happen along the Celtic spiritual path.
DON'T WORSHIP CELTIC GODS?
This brings up the whole question of worship and the giving of thanks.
Because they are not omnipotent and because they are our dear friends, we
should feel no obligation to worship them or to perform acts of placation or
veneration. Many books dealing with the history and archaeology of the
ancient Celts talk glibly about the Celtic "fear of the Gods" or
their "need to placate and pacify the terrifying forces of Nature."
Even some modern writers on the more spiritual and magical aspects of the
tradition have fallen into this trap and similarly give details of elaborate
rituals the purpose of which is simply to worship the remote and all-powerful
Celtic gods. Both of these viewpoints, fear and placation, are wrong and
totally miss the point. These are not things we would do with regard to our
human friends. We do not worship or venerate them. We do not perform acts of
sacrifice or elaborate rituals to placate them when we feel we have offended
them. You'll probably find that a simple but honest, "Sorry" is
sufficient. Why then behave like this towards our non-human friends? There is
no need and, indeed, such behaviour is more likely to estrange them from you
than it is to curry favour or garner support from them. Certainly we may wish
to give thanks for assistance, or simply acknowledge the pleasure our mutual
friendship gives us, but this is a far cry from an act of worship.
This may lead the more knowledgeable of you to ask what is the purpose then
of the Four Fire Festivals? These are not religious festivals in the sense
that you probably understand the word. They are celebrations, for sure, but
they are not acts of worship. I deal with this in detail in Glamoury but for
the moment, just get used to the idea that the Celtic gods and goddess are a
small group of people who have been around for a very long time, who care
about you and your world and who want to get to know you better. Please keep
this in mind. It is very simple but it is also very important. The ideal
relationship is a symbiotic one where both parties, human and deity, rely on
each other, trust one another and can work together in harmony and common
purpose for the betterment of both and for the advancement of the planetary
being.
I shall have more to say on the Celtic spiritual tradition in future articles
and in my forthcoming book on William Sharp. For the time being please
remember that the BMW Factor is a deceptively important factor in any
spiritual progress. Coupling this with the correct attitude to our non-human
allies and friends lays a solid foundation for steady progress along the
Celtic spiritual path. Let us jointly remember these forgotten simplicities
and bring them back into our everyday way of life.
Oh, by the way, if anyone can tell me why swans have black feet, I'd be very
pleased to hear from you!
Editor's Note: All quotes are used by permission.
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CELTIC TREE MYSTERIES:
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These title and others can be found at Isis Books & Gifts! With over
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