Not so long ago, in the living memory of my great-grandparents in fact, people of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland revered the spirits of land, sea, and sky, blessed and communicated with animals and birds as friends, and knew their essential place in the cosmos and re-affirmed it daily. The people uttered “Charms of the Gaels, Hymns and Incantations” to give voice to harmony between themselves and non-humans and often centered female divinity in the form of Christian saints or vestiges of much older goddesses. These poems, prayers, and songs were collected in the latter half of the 19th century by Alexander Carmichael who gathered them into a nearly 700-page book titled Carmina Gadelica published in 1900.
As I was recently rereading it, I realized that, scattered throughout the book were expressions that, taken together, offer a spiritually vibrant, awe-inspired, deeply caring worldview that is very different from our 21st century western paradigm of exploitation of non-human beings and the rest of the natural world. While obviously not exactly the same as what might have been pronounced in ancient times, perhaps we can find within the lyrical beauty of these words a hint of the spirit of what once was for us to bring into our own time.
In this worldview, singing to the spirits of the cosmos was essential to being human. One younger person told Carmichael: “The old people had runes which they sang to the spirits dwelling in the sea and in the mountain, in the wind and in the whirlwind, in the lightning and in the thunder, in the sun and in the moon and in the stars of heaven” (281) (here “rune” means a prayer or invocation).
This same sense of deep connection also extended to individual animals, plants, and other living beings. The Scottish Highlanders and Islanders were highly dependent on cattle as a food source. But, to them, their cattle were not objects to be exploited, but were instead beloved. Carmichael relates that on the night of the new moon, the people would gather on the highest hill shouting “See! See! See!” when they first spotted the moon on the horizon. Then, “herdboys and herdgirls were wont to whisper softly in the ears of the cows: ‘There is the new moon, thou beloved one among cows!’” (283).
Similarly, when a farmer had taken his cows to pasture in the morning, he would say farewell to them for the day with this “herding rune,” which also connected the cows to the sacred world ( 598).
The herding of Bride to the kine
Whole and well may you return.
The prosperity of Mary Mother be yours,
Active and full may you return.
The safeguard of Columba round your feet,
Whole be your return home.
Be the bright Michael king of Angels
Protecting, and keeping, and saving you.
The guarding of God and the Lord be yours
Till I or mine shall see you again.
The help of Coivi (an Archdruid) to you.
Traveling coire (hollows in hills), traveling copse (trees),
Traveling meads (meadows) long and grassy,
The herding of the fair Mary
Be about your head, your body, and aiding you.
It was also common for people to sing to their cows as they were milked and for cows to express a preference for some songs over others. Even these songs were full of affection and lyricism. One song is called My Brown Cow:
Ho my little cow, ho my brown cow!
Hi my little cow, ho my brown cow!
Little cow of my heart, dear, beloved
Jewel of the white cows art thou (379)
The Scottish Highlanders and Islanders depended on hunting for their sustenance, which became a sacred act with traditional protections for the animals. Young men were required to be “consecrated” before going out on their first hunt. First, they were to connect with the Earth by standing barefoot on ground which had no grass. Then they were required to abide by ethical and moral guidelines including: “He was not to take life wantonly. He was not to kill a bird sitting, nor a beast lying down, and he was not to kill the mother of a brood, nor the mother of a suckling. Now was he to kill an unfledged bird nor a suckling beast, unless it might be the young of a bird or beast of prey.” (601). Patricia Monaghan noted that this protection of wildlife echoes ancient Celtic goddesses. For example, the Scottish goddess Glaistig would hide wildlife from hunters who killed does while the Cailleach killed hunters who harmed pregnant deer.
Some of the hymns and incantations imitated the songs of birds. According to Nigel Pennick, Celtic bards were able to understand the language of the birds and the trees.
Voice of the Swan
Gu vi gi,
Gu vi go,
Gu vi gi,
Loud “guile”!
The swans! (359)
Carmichael also gathered many “runes” honoring plants as they were gathered including this one.
The Pearlwort
I will cull the pearlwort
Beneath the fair sun of Sunday
Beneath the gentle hand of the Virgin.
She who will defend me,
In the might of the Trinity
Who granted it to grow (370)
Carmina Gadelica also speaks of the loss of these traditions. The same person who told of his elders singing to the spirits of the cosmos said “Then came notice of eviction, and burning, and emigration, and the people were scattered and sundered over the world, and the old ways disappeared with the old people” (281). And so, 60 years after the publication of Carmina Gadelica, I was born and, until later in life, never knew that the profound love and connection I felt for the wildflowers, the squirrels and chipmunks, the turquoise sky, and aquamarine water was not strange and childish, but ancient and wise. Now, in our own generation, it is our task to bring the traditions of our ancestors, whomever they may be, that honored all non-human beings and strove to remain in proper relationship to them into the 21st century in our own way.
Sources:
Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in the Last Century. Hudson, NY: Lindisfarne Press, 1992
Monaghan, Patricia. Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines. Novato, CA: New World Library, 2014
Pennick, Nigel. The Sacred World of the Celts. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 1997
Thank you, Annelinde! I have heard Carmina Burana, but I didn’t realize the similarity. I’ll have to listen to it again! No wonder I used to love that piece so much when I was younger!
(I’m quite late in responding to this post- just catching up!). Thank you so much Carolyn. These songs, spells and runes give a deeply welcome and needed snapshot of our ancestors who were fully connected to the living world around them. It gives me such joy and relief to remember how we once were. I thought of Carl Orff and the “Carmina Burana” which are similar. May these lifeways return!