Deaf Pagan Crossroads

In my previous post, I talked about the ancient hill of Tlachtga and its celebrations of Samhain.

In October of 2011 I was fortunate to take my dream trip to Ireland, which included the opportunity not only to visit several of the sacred sites of the early Irish tribes, but also a chance to witness the Samhain rites at Tlachtga. My tour guide for this trip was none other than well-known Pagan teacher and author Gavin Bone. Gavin and his wife Janet Farrar live in a lovely Irish cottage in the countryside of County Meath, to which I was warmly welcomed and served tea and toast.

After traveling to Loughcrew earlier in the day – only to get caught in a downpour that left me and my travel companions soaked to the skin, I returned to the bed and breakfast to shower and change into my ritual clothing for that night’s event. First came a delicious dinner at a local pub, and then we all piled into the rental van for the drive to Athboy, where we met Janet and Gavin, who would be participating in the ritual.

For the past several years, the Tlachtga Samhain festivities have been coordinated by Gemma McGowan – a Witch, Priestess, and Healer who has one foot clearly planted in the otherworld. She’s also a singer, songwriter and storyteller who can enchant you with songs and tales of her encounters with the Fae, of wild sorceresses and strange spirits, and fantastical magickal moments. Gemma makes her home in Kells, County Meath – where she is the proprietor of White Gables Bed & Breakfast, a beautiful old town house providing accommodations to those wishing to tour all the wonders of the Boyne Valley.

We gathered together at Athboy’s Fairgreen – a park-like area in the town, and the starting point for our torchlit procession to the Hill itself. First Gemma led us in learning the chants that would be used for the night’s festivities:

Tlachtga Lady Goddess Fair

Come to us on frosted air

Guide our path by pale moonlight

Light our fires on Samhain night.

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn

All that dies shall be reborn.

Fire and rain, fire and rain

All that dies shall live again/

O eist linn, O eist linn

A shinsear, A shinsear

O eist linn, O eist linn

Is tuir do bheannacht duinn. 

Then we made our way through the darkness to Tlachtga itself – also known as the Hill of Ward. There Gemma shared with the group of about two hundred people the story of the goddess for whom the site was originally named…

The Story of Tlachtga

as told by

Gemma McGowan

Samhain, 2011 

“In days of old, when the night gave birth to day and this was a land of gods and heroes; when the great festivals of Imbolg, Beltaine, Lughnassa and Samhain were pivotal points in the lives of the people of this land, great gatherings were held to mark and celebrate the cycles of nature.

At Imbolg, Brid’s fire ignited a spark of hope as the lactating ewes heralded the coming of Spring and new life sprung forth from the darkness of Winter. The returning light brought the promise of Summer and its time of plenty, and Lady Brid blessed her people with renewed strength and inspiration.

At Beltaine young lovers found each other’s warm embrace around the great fires at Uisneach, the central point of Ireland where the High King kept his summer residence, and where the cattle were through the flames to cleanse them of all malignity and to inspire fertility in the cattle, the people, and the earth herself.

It was at Tailteann (now known as Teltown) – the home of the great harvest Goddess Tailte who gave her life in her efforts to clear the forests of Meath so that the grain could be grown and the cattle reared for future generations – that the great festival of Lughnassa was held, inaugurated by the God Lugh, known as the Ildana – “the Shining One” – because of his innumerable gifts and talents, to commemorate the Goddess Tailte. On this day lovers could marry for a year and a day, but should they wish to go their separate ways by the time the year was over, annulments were commonplace.

But it was here to Tlachtga they came on Samhain night to celebrate the Festival of the Dead and their New Year. On this night the cattle were slaughtered and cured for the oncoming winter, with only a few kept to ensure reproduction for the following year. This was a time of plenty and a time of celebration, when the people of the land could finally rest. Their work for the year was done, and all that awaited them was the long dark of the winter months. Here to Tlachtga they came, a place shrouded in mystery where only Her fires could burn on Samhain night, and all the other fires were quenched to be re-lit from Tlachtga’s own. Little do we know of their practices, for it is said that the cult of Tlachtga existed over two thousand years ago.

Friends, you are all very welcomed to this sacred place on this Samhain night. The tide of death is upon us. Frost and ice and snow cover the land as the earth is plunged into her yearly slumber. Now yet again, we face the long dark of Winter. A time of slumber, of deep contemplation and of mystery. Tonight friends, we gather here at Tlachtga as we have done for a number of years now, when the veil between the realms of men and the realms of the ancestors is at its thinnest and we call back into the depths of time and space to when our ancient ancestors brought the sacred Samhain flame – which was collected from the volcano lava at Lambay, brought up the Boyne River and then the Yellow River which runs close by Tlachtga before reaching its final destination here on the hill. Tonight I will tell you the story of Tlachtga, whose name means “the Earth Spear”…tell you the story as it has been told to me, for we should always remember our affinity with the sacred places of old, and the great Gods and Goddesses who inhabit them…the forgotten ones who look now only for remembrance in a world that has shut them out. 

Tlachtga was the wise and beautiful daughter of the Arch Druid of Ireland – Mog Ruith, a man who had an unquenchable thirst for power. Together they built the Roth Ramach, a great flying wheel of fire and lightning that carried them across the sky. It is said that any who looked upon it were blinded, any who heard it were deafened, and any who touched it would die. Together they travelled the length and breadth of the country until they had exhausted all the knowledge they could from the wise people of Ireland. They then traveled until they reached Italy, where Mog Ruith encountered a sorcerer called Simon Magnus. Together Mog Ruith and Simon Magnus formed a close relationship.

But Tlachtga was a great and powerful sorceress in her own right, and her father sent her to travel the world to gather all the secrets of the magick and to bring them back to him and Simon Magnus. So on the flying wheel of Roth Ramach Tlachtga flew, traveling to various countries:

To China she flew, and there she learned the art of silk making.

To Arabia she flew, and there she learned the art of incense making.

To India she flew, and there she learned the art of using spices.

To the Norse lands she flew, and there she learned the art of the runes, and the use of written language.

To the Americas she flew, where the Native Americans taught her the art of healing and natural medicine.

To Greece she flew, and there she learned the arts of philosophy and mathematics.

To the British Isles she flew, and from the monks there she learned the art of dye making.

To Scotland she flew, where she learned the art of brewing beer from the heather.

And finally Tlachtga flew back to Italy, where she learned the arts of astronomy and science.

And so Tlachtga presented herself to her father and Simon Magnus…and they saw for themselves how wise, knowledgeable and powerful this woman had become, and their envy and jealousy knew no end.

And so it was that the three sons of Simon Magnus kidnapped Tlachtga and raped her, to satisfy the jealousy of their father and his friend Mog Ruith. Tlachtga fled from her tormentors and returned to the hill in Ireland where her people lived. She discovered she was pregnant from this rape, and it was on this very hill that she gave birth to three sons of her own – Doirb, Cumma, and Muach…whose names resonated throughout the land. Today we remember them as the protectors of Ireland, that as long as their names remain in our memory, no vengeful strangers shall ever conquer these lands.

Sadly Tlachtga did not survive the birth of her sons and died here on the hill. Thus we honor her tonight, and remember that Tlachtga gave herself in sacrifice to protect the people of Ireland…and that this sacrifice maintains the echoes and whispers of the ancient Earth Goddess; a goddess we should continue to revere today, tomorrow, and for all eternity. Tlachtga – powerful, wise, knowledgeable and compassionate. Tonight we call forth this Goddess from the mists of time, inviting her to walk amongst us on this sacred night, when the veils between the worlds are lifted and our ancestors and ancient ones commune with us once again. 

Let us all join together to take a moment to remember all those who have gone before us, especially those that we have held dear in this life.”