The Goddess from the Fire and the Serpent Power
Searles O'Dubhain

Sat Mar 24 12:32:23 2001
In my book on Ogham Divination, I talk about the roles of wisdom and power as they flow within the land and ourselves.  I thought I'd post this excerpt from th ebook here to both give and gain a better understanding of the subject:*p*The Siege of Knocklong *p*An excellent example of how briga and búa were used by a Druid is found in the tale, “The Siege of Knocklong.” In this story, the army of Munster is battling against an invading army from Ulster. The major forces at work are Druidic and Otherworldly. I shall speak to the Druidic forces in this message. The Munster Druid, Mug Roith, was called upon to battle a fire that had been created by the Ulster Druid, Ciathruidh. Mug Roith had his helpers gather Rowan wood that had grown in a certain place to create a fire. Next, he had each warrior provide a shaving from the haft of his or her spears. All of this was bundled together into a ball by using butter. After performing suitable invocations to his personal God and while observing all of the appropriate forms. Mug Roith threw his created ball of spear shavings and butter into the rowanwood fire. This created a counter fire and a Magical smoke that Mug Roith ascended while dressed in his bullhide cloak and wearing his feathered bird headdress. The battle was taken into the Otherworld at this point and Ciathruaidh and Mug Roith battled within the clouds. The fires on the surface of the land followed the battle in the clouds. As one prevailed, so did the other. In the end, it was Mug Roith who was the victor. Ciathruaidh and his assistants were turned into stones.*p*In this tale, the Druid takes the briga of the rowan and the briga of the warriors’ valor and turns it into a new creation by converting it into búa. The Magical fire as well as the chanted incantations facilitated this conversion process. The entire working was used to provide a channel for the bri to flow within. Mogh Roith guided the actual búa of the conversion while in his Shamanic state of consciousness known as “Magical Flight.” No energy was lost but much energy was converted between this world and the Otherworld. The skill of the Draíocht was in shaping the working by recognizing what elements of briga were available and necessary and then providing a means for converting that briga into the búa of the working. By his success in the battle, Mug Roith increased his own briga and his ability to channel búa.*p*The Goddess from the Fire*p*I once had a vision of the Goddess Brighid that occurred during a ritual I was leading. When she stepped forth from the flames towards me, a serpent entwined either of her arms.  Each snake was coiled in the opposite direction from the other, a sun-wise coiling for the right hand side and a land-wise coiling upon her left hand and arm.  Their heads were facing outward.  One serpent was poisonous and could bite while the other was a constrictor, able to crush and swallow its victims.  Each of the snakes on her arms amplified her power and symbolized it at the same time. The twining serpents also left no doubt for me that they were the tools of wisdom and knowledge. In their complimentary forms, they brought teaching and learning, experimenting and analyzing, creating and destroying.  *p*The coiling of the snakes has many possible meanings.  One meaning is found in the snake's ability to spring from a coil.  This seems to represent an energy that comes from its shape and interconnectivity. It is a potential energy much like bríg (a power that derives its meaning from Brighid herself). Coiling reinforces one part of the snake upon another part through a supporting of itself.  The act of coiling also serves to make snakes a smaller target.  A coiled snake is a spring with the stored potential energy to strike and move quickly. Another meaning associated with this coiling ability is shape shifting or shape changing. Snakes can bend and form themselves into a variety of shapes through their inherent flexibility. Another way that snakes change is through shedding their skins as they grow. The shedding of the snake's skin is definitely symbolic of new birth and learning.  In our own life and learning, we can each learn a lesson from snakes by shedding our own outgrown beliefs and ideas as new knowledge provides us with wisdom. Our minds and selves should grow to fit the size of our expanded horizons.  When our quests are fulfilled, we either quit growing or we go on new quests.  The snake sheds its skin when it grows.  There are other more sensual and suggestive meanings of this shedding of skin as well, but I leave that to the power of your imagination to manifest. Snakes go into the earth and return again.  Snakes sleep through the long winter and re-emerge in spring.  Snakes enjoy the sun and derive their inner warmth from it.  They exist in the subterranean world and the world of the surface that we inhabit. They are a connection between the worlds. In this they are much like the fires of the mind that connect inherent, unleashed, subconscious, physical energy with focused and liberated mental, spiritual and emotional energy, which is another way of describing the characteristics of kundalini.  *p*The Daughter of Ivor*p*It is the belief of some modern Celtic Pagans that the "Daughter of Ivor" is the snake. She is Brighid, the daughter of fire and the Goddess of wisdom, hearth and healing.  Ivor is her father, The Dagda.  'Wisdom' is the daughter of 'Skill in Doing.'  This is another way of saying that Brighid, the wisdom goddess, is the daughter of The Dagda, “the Red One of Great Knowledge.” The two snakes of Brighid’s arms are symbols of the latent and dynamic power of our spiritual wisdom.  They coil about our three centers of wisdom: our pathway to the present, our *now*, and our ability to create a future.  If the two snakes of power do battle, the flows of power and energy between our cauldrons will suffer.  We will be fighting ourselves. It is better to let one snake of energy teach us while the other becomes a serpent of learning.  In this way, the intuitive power of the Moon may taste of the fruits of wisdom while the deductive abilities of the Sun give us direction. The teacher can also be a student while the lessons are experienced by both. *p*The Two Serpents*p*In Vedic teachings, these pairs of coiling energy serpents within our body are called Nadis.  Their names are Ida and Pingala (one is white and representative of the Moon, while the other is red and symbolizes the influences of the Sun within the body).  One nadi is considered a feminine form of energy while the other is a flow of masculine power. The lunar nadi is said in Yoga to connect to the left nostril while the solar nadi connects to the right.  A yogic exercise in breath control alternates the usage of each nostril to reestablish balance between the male and female forces.  Observing the nature of breathing at this time will indicate whether solar or lunar energy is dominant within the body.  In my own view of Druidic power and mythology, the male flow of power is visualized as the Red Bull of the Sun while the feminine energy is considered to be the White Cow of the Moon. The marriage of the two within us is what determines our own physical, mental and spiritual power. The 'Daughter of Ivor' is the creative control of the breath when we balance and marshal our internal energies. She is Brighid, the Goddess of Poetry.*p*When we meditate, we can better determine the balance and ever-changing harmony of differences between these two sides of ourselves.  In the contention that can occur when we attempt to integrate our energy sources, our struggles parallel the subterranean forces that were in characterized as battling red and white dragons in the tale of Vortigern’s Tower.  Perhaps there is a lesson to be found in this contention? Facing our inner conflicts helps us discover our true strengths and weaknesses and empowers us.  When we do this, we become Merlin in a sense and are able to better focus our own spirits, wills and energies. We can become as Merlin became when he was selected to be the sacrifice at Vortigern's Tower.  We can chose to be the offering or we can become the revelation and the solution.  Revealing these inner red and white dragons to ourselves allows us to free our creativity and to establish a firm foundation for any future achievement. Understanding the flows of power can also enable us to establish a connection between our own inner flows and the power inherent to wood itself. There are ritual actions and techniques that can empower the Ogham for us much as the rowan wood empowered Mug Roith's magical fire and what is sometimes called the “serpent’s breath” in tales of Merlin.*p*The Empowering of Ogham Fedha *p*The empowering of Ogham fedha is no different from the techniques used by Mug Roith. When we empower them through a flow of búa from our own inner briga. The use of blood to stain the fidh is not necessary (though it is a powerful technique for such things and a way of binding them to you). Using blood, water, paint, stains, berries, etc., are more a matter of personal choice and the spirit of the moment. What is required, is that the Ogham establish a direct link with you and your Anam. Sweating, chanting, the exercise of personal conviction, and the infusion of your own personal spirituality are sufficient to this task. It was the knife of Ogma that was a mother to the Ogham but it was his immortal spirit that was their father.*p*After their construction is complete, your fedha can be used in Ogham Divination by selecting them (in sets of nine, one for each respective dúile) and by casting them upon a cloth. The casting cloth itself should be white with suitable cosmological symbols in the center and at its four corners (in the finest of Northern European traditions). The symbols that are selected for the corners are used to orient the cloth to the four cardinal directions, while the symbols of the center are used to interpret the meanings and relationships of the Ogham fidh themselves. The entire cloth should represent the elements of the Cosmos while the Ogham fidh can be said to represent the dúile of the self (more details will be given later). I will be discussing these relationships more completely throughout this work and will be giving specific examples of my own use of Ogham in the sample readings that are provided in the last section of this book.*p*Searles*br*