"We are ever-turning in the gyre of
the year. The sabbats are the moments in
time when we become most conscious of this. At them, we may stop to reflect on all our
motion and movement in the dolmen of silence & solitude before dancing off
again_ in ever new directions, retrying old patterns and finding new
ones—transforming ourselves into whatever we wish to become.”
To the Reader:
Each
year as the Winter Solstice approaches, I seek a wakening in my earthen senses,
in my imagination and in compassion, hoping for some degree of mystic/spiritual/
philosophical illumination. Four years
ago, while meditating in the mornings during Yule, I started composing the
story of the advent of the “Lady of Tara Lough.” This story has come to be added onto the
Whittier ‘legend’ of Nicholas and his Elves; a story that originated in an
inspired poetic attempt to link the ‘historical’ Saint Nicholas with the modern
Santa Claus. The Legend unfolded in the
early to mid-1980’s and has been evolving ever since. It is now a short novella! A brief outline of the overall story is
presented first in this blog, which provides the basic story of how a (very) fictionalized
version of Nicholas met up with a troop of Irish ‘Elves. I was inspired to attribute the story of the “Lady of Tara Lough” to Hildegard
Whittier; one of my characters on Deer Hill. It is Hildegard’s vision of the mythic touchstone standing behind the character of
“Mrs. Claus” in the modern secular Santa Claus ‘mythos.’ Hildegard is now the custodian of the whole
Nicholas tale; having inherited the role of Master Storyteller from the writer Susan
Jean Whittier, who passed away in 1995.
I hope you will enjoy both the imaginative outline of
the ‘Legend’ and the mystical tale of the advent of Runa Luna, Mistress of Tara
Lough. Blessed be!
– Montague Whitsel
I. The Legend of Nicholas and the
Elves - A Synopsis[2]
-
Geoffrey C Whittier
As legend has it, Nicholas (born in Asia Minor in c. 370 CE)
was orphaned at birth and grew up seeking Wisdom. He eventually became a disciple of Jesus the
“Carpenter of Wisdom” [this is Egbert Whittier’s term]. He ministered to lonesome, abandoned,
neglected and abused children. He gave
anonymous gifts to needy children, and when he died, he crossed†over into ‘the
Otherworld,’ where he continued his benevolent ministry. As his ministry in this life was in its full
flux, Nicholas met a troop of “Faeries of Éire” (as Egbert called them; they
are the ‘Elfs’ of our modern Christmas mythos).
These Faery aided him in his ever-expanding yet secret ministry to
children and made it possible for him to extend his compassionate work well
beyond his hometown of Myra.
This troop of Faeries had come into Asia Minor at the end of a
long pilgrimage. They had left their
home in Éire to go off seeking wisdom.
There they met Nicholas and, finding him an instance and living rune of
the wisdom they were seeking, they pledged themselves to him in willing
service. They delivered gifts and ran
errands of mercy and compassion for him, thereby helping him expand his
ministry until it nearly – though far from fully – “filled out the extent of
his heart’s compassion. Nicholas and his
Faery friends are said to have lived together in a secret cave, somewhere outside
the town of Myra. This cave had once
been used as the treasure-stash of a local bandit band that had mad many donations
to the boy-gift-giver’s ministry.
As the time of the Gift-Giver’s death approached, Nicholas and his
Faery assistants made a pilgrimage north, ostensibly to get back to Éire. During this journey they were encountered on
the shores of a northern sea by a Celtic manifestation of Wisdom; the
Mabon. This dying-and-rising wisdom-god,
who was born at the Winter Solstice, granted them Eight Magnificent Reindeer
and showed them how to get across the sídhe
(i.e., a “doorway” between this world and the “otherworld”) to a place “at the
top of the world.” Nicholas, having died
on the ‘northern shore’ where they met the Mabon, went on to the Top of the
world, where the Faeries then met him again, having been carried there by the
Reindeer. There they found a workshop
and a circle of twelve ráths (i.e.,
faery huts) already prepared for
them. They settled down at this esoteric
place with Nicholas and continued in their compassionate and philanthropic
work.
The new home of Nicholas and the Faeries in the Otherworld has
come to be known as “the North Pole” in modern times, though to the Faery &
Nicholas it has always been “Tara Lough;” named after the Faeries own home-tuath
back in Éire.
At this new home in the Otherworld the Faery & Nicholas
‘listen’ for the wishes of needy children the whole world ‘round, all year
long. They then plan acts of practical,
life-redeeming and mystery-inspiring charity for each coming Yule. After an unknown time, the Thirteen Faery of
Tara Lough returned to their home-Tuath in Ireland where they met and
were handfasted with thirteen Faery women who willingly gave up their mortal
lives to go live in life-partnership with their hand-fasted husbands. There were then 26 Faery in residence at Tara
Lough. Over the years as Faeryfolk from
Tara Lough in Ireland died and crossed-over, many of them chose to go out to
Tara Lough at the top of the world, to help Nicholas in his compassionate
ministries.
Thirty-nine times nine years after their arrival at Tara Lough,
the original 26 Faery Elders were enchanted into a Mysterious Wood near Tara
Lough at the Top of the World. There
they experienced the Advent of Runa Luna;
a spirit-being who inspired the Faeries with prophesies of Hope for a better
mortal world. She then petitioned them
to allow Her to return to the Cromlech and dwell with them. The Faery all accepted Her petition and
danced their way home with the Lady of the Mysterious Wood in their
company. She then became the Mistress of
Tara Lough, being ‘partnered’ with Nicholas as his brother down through the
Ages. She is the mythic reality behind
our stories of ‘Mrs. Claus.’
Over the centuries, Nicholas came to be known by different
names in many countries: Sinter Klaas, the Weihnachtsmann, Father Christmas, Grandfather Frost, and eventually
– in the United States – Santa Claus.[3] In all these guises, Nicholas has continued
his benevolent ministry of anonymous gift giving, throughout the Middle Ages
and down to the present day.
Each year on the eve of his feast (6 December), he and the faery
leave Tara Lough at the top of the world and cross-back-into this world, where they begin inspiring
Yuletide cheer in those who are willing to awaken to the magic and wonder of
the Winter Solstice Season. Their aim is
always to encourage mortals to take up the compassionate ministry in which
Nicholas has ever been involved. Many of
the Faery stay behind, visiting with mortals throughout the Season, only
returning to Tara Lough at Epiphany (The Hinterlands; 6 January). Nicholas and his Faery cross†over once more
into our world on the eve of the 25th of December to deliver
mysterious gifts to children in every land where his existence is
accepted. They leave Tara Lough by a
series of now long-established ‘roads’ between the worlds, returning again to
Tara Lough by dawn the next morning.
From the day that Nicholas and the Faeries first crossed†over
into our world to deliver gifts, the wagon of Nicholas [later his sleigh] was
driven by the 8 magnificent Reindeer gifted to them by the Mabon (or the Great
Stag), and that had drawn the gift-giver’s wagon across the sídhe and into the Otherworld on their
archaic trip North. As they are of
otherworldly origin, these Reindeer have the uncanny ability to find ‘thin
places’ between the worlds. Being
creatures of the Otherworld, they can, of course, fly. Thus, Nicholas and the Faeries can pass back
and forth from Tara Lough at the top of the world in their
reindeer-drawn-sleigh, arrive in the vales of mortal time, and then go back
again each year after their travels on Christmas Eve. Since the mid-20th century, they
have been joined by a 9th Reindeer,
whose name is famous.
II.
The Mistress of Tara Lough[4]
To the Reader: I imagine this event – the Advent of Runa Luna – took place perhaps
a century or two after Alvid’s Faery Thegn arrived at Tara Lough. I have been appending this story to the main
narrative after the original 13 Faerymen brought their hand-fasted life-partners
back from their village in Ireland, but before Nicholas really began to be
known under different names in various countries.
-
Hildegard Whittier
One calm night, whilst the
Faery of Tara Lough were wassailing amongst themselves, there came a strange call
from the wood nearby_ the Haunted Wood; where strange surprises and blessed
revelations oft stir up visions out of the ordinary; inciting mystic
epiphanies!
“There was a Raven on the
Myrrhwood Tree_[5]
the One
that gave birth to Three;
singing a new directioning
rune!”
Inspired by the Call, the twenty-six
Faery Elders of Tara Lough ambled and rambled toward the Mysterious Door, which
in turning led out into the Forest of Hazel, Holly, Oak and Lore. Through it they passed by the Four_ wassailing
all the while!
Entering upon a frozen path –
one that they had never trod before – the Faery of Yule passed beyond the Door
of Four, being glistened into the Forest of Yore. The Raven ceased its calling, as a luminous
snow began falling—all amongst and upon the twenty-six Faery Elders of Tara
Lough.
“There was a Wren upon the
twisted bough
of
an Ancient Yuletide Tree;
singing
joyfully of a Ráth yet to be!”
“Free, Flie, Flow, From_ let
the Wassailers all come,
their
deep poverty[6]
to relieve,” it said,
“here and there tallying the
sum
of
humanity’s woes_
beneath this glistening
Yuletide Tree!”
Thirteen Faery in an in-land
circle, surrounded by thirteen Faery in an out-land circle, danced their runing
aspirations ‘round and across the gnarled roots of the Olden Yuletide Tree! Down into the roots of the Tree they then
went, dream-travelling-true in the Midnight Sun’s basking!
Beneath the Beir of the Christmas
Wren’s[7]
wide wings they found solace and their own truest selves awaiting them! There they intoned nine harmonic lines minus
one in a polyphonic CODA of Olden Faery-time.[8] In their hearts they each inquired of their
purpose there, being woven in strange thoughts until they were complete!
Somewhere in the nearness,
they
heard a Reindeer of the Mabon bleat!
Swirling_ Shimmering_ Dancing_
the snow blew around them in patterns that seemed to foretell of mystic
visitations! They twirled and eddied in
ever-entwining patterns, circling about in the root-works of the Olde Yuletide
Tree. As if moving through the
crystalline structures of each flake of supernal snow as it fell, the Wintering
Sun cast up a Mid-Night light-show, which shone across the cavernous sky, irradiating
the darkness! And then_
A voice manifested through the
encircling snow, haunting them to higher consciousness! _And a form began to take shape out of the
swirls of icy particles, until a new presence was sensed in their midst, then
nearly amongst them, tethered to the trunk of the Olden Yuletide Tree.
It was a Winter Wakening in
the pathways of Illumination!
And the Presence spoke, and
said;
“I am Here,” She sang, “your
vision to clear,
and make you
merry in the sídhe!
I am your Mother’s Mother_
the fount and spring of all
Good Dreams
of a Better World.
Let your field of vision reach
out and embrace
each fallen leaf and every
branch
that has
withered from this Tree!
For in the days that you shall
soon see,
all shall be mended
and every leaf re-friended,
being fed freely
and given all the nourishment needed
to thrive!
At that mysterious time,
all
branches will prosper
and every leaf shall dance
together
upon this
Worlding Tree;
sharing and being shared—
for Need and Want shall all be
disarmed,
and every bud and twig shall
have
all that
it needs!”
“Who are you, Mistress in the
Tree?”
the twenty-six Faery Elders of
Tara Lough
queried
of the Mystic Spectre,
in
harmonious unison,
without intention or knowing
how;
moving without a self-centered
will
in the dance of snowflakes,
all
entwined in the Midnight Light!
“I am Runa Luna!
Pray, invite me into your
Trifold Circle_
for I called to become
the Mistress of Tara Lough!
I have been called by YOU!”
Nine Hares then dashed and
darted beneath the Olde Yuletide Tree—with long, outstretched and furry ears,
as if stationed to hear the response of the original Faery denizens of Tara
Lough! The twenty-six Faery of the North
rose, then, up and out of the roots of the Olde Yuletide Tree and saw their
Mistress standing amidst their company!
It was a Winter Wakening in
the pathways of Illumination!
“She was a vision of icy
brilliance and mystic light!”
“_A being
of compassionate radiance!”
_they
later exclaimed to Nicholas!
Just then_ a Sign of Three set
them all free to dancing merrily; to jig and to reel with Runa Luna_ as if
under a Divine Spell of Olde Christmas!
“Come, Runa Luna_” they sang,
“Mistress of the Yuletide Tree
of Three_
dwell
with us at Tara Lough
and be Mistress of our Huts of
Dwelling!
Come, and sing a New Song of Earthen
Weal!
Come, inspire us once and
twice again
to the
compassionate gifting and sharing
through which Nikoleus has
founded
this magical nemeton at the
top of the world!
Come
and indwell with us
the vision of the Wild Man and
Saint of Olde_
He is Nicholas and shall be_
Kris
Kringle and Santa Claus_
And many, many more!
Come and carry us_
beyond
the bounds of deepening love
that we have thus far forged!
Transform us, and the worlds
that we visit
each year
during Longest Night!
Come, our Mistress of Tara
Lough!”
Carroling_ Carroling_ the
Faery of Tara Lough danced ‘round and around, their wassailing having given way
to ecstatic Invocation! And as they
invoked Her, the Lady in the Misted Light of Ice and Snow took form! She was beauteous and radiant, a vision of the
corporeal blessedness. And She said:
“I AM NOW HERE,
WITH(in) You!”
Carroling in Her sway, the
Faery of Tara Lough danced back along the wooded way_ back to the Mysterious
Gate through which they had come into this haunted realm! Dancing, hand-in-hand; each with their
hand-fasted partner—they jigged and reeled all the way back to their huts of
dwelling, with Runa Luna keeping stride with them in their midst!
When at last they reached the
Cromlech of Tara Lough, dancing and becoming even better vessels of the
compassion they had always strove to embody, Nicholas came out and was awed at
Her presence! She joined with Nicholas in
the Circle of Three, and thus became, after nine days and nights, the mystic
partner of Nicholas’ in the Otherworld.
Together they preside over the compassionate work of the ráths of Tara
Lough; their love irradiating the Cromlech in which they and the Faerymen and
Faerywomen dwell! They are
together to this day; and many wonderful and strange stories could be told of
their love, their lives and their adventures!
So mote it be! Amen.
[1]
Hildegard is a character living in my fictional world of Ross County, PA. She lives on Deer Hill with the rest of her
extended family and is the mystic of the family in her generation. She is a practicing Neo-Pagan, living out a
devout Goddess-centered spirituality.
[2]
This text comes from “The Whittier Yule Calendar” section of my book Heart and Hearth (Authorhouse, 2009;
525-558), a bit revised. The tale was
originally told by Egbert Whittier to his family and friends in the early
decades of the 19th century.
[3]
Egbert Whittier was the originator of the “Thirteen Nights and Dayes of Yule”
in the early 19th century. He
had a poetic and mystical relationship to a human vision of Jesus of Nazareth
as “the Carpenter of Wisdom.”
[4]
Tara Lough – the place at the ‘top of the world’ in the ‘frozen north’ where
the Elves and Nicholas abide. It is in
mythic terms what “Santa’s workshop’ and ‘the North Pole’ are in the secular tales
of Christmas.
[7]
The Wren is associated with St Stephen’s Day; 26 December – and is here found
in the “under-root-world of the Otherworldly Myrrhwood Tree, awaiting its role
in various Christmas stories. As the
Wren was usually said to be sacrificed on the day after Christmas, it here is
perched below its beir; a conveyance used to transport a corpse. Before its sacrifice; it speaks wisdom.
[8]
Polyphony is music with two or more intertwining harmonic lines; whether instrumental
or vocal. A CODA is a repeated part of the music. The “minus one” refers to Faery music; which is
said to be identified by having one of the (usually) four harmonized lines of
melody ‘missing,’ giving it a mysterious feel.
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