Behind the Wall (30 October 2020)

 (Second Night of Yew Month)[1]

I will meet you out behind the wall;
behind the wall, my love.
And there will I confess and tell you all;
Tell you all, my love.                                                                 1

Stranger truths than mine you’ve never heard;
never heard, my love.
For I have come to you from the Merrow’s[2] Hall_
straight from the Merrow’s Hall, my love!                                 2

Will you stand by me_ behind the wall—
behind the wall, my love?
For there I’ll press you with my stories,
tales dark and tall—
                  dark and tall, my love!                                            3

Stranger stories I know you have told me;
out behind the wall, my love—
for you are from the Cailleach Sídhe;[3]
the Cailleach Sídhe, my Love!
You are from the Place beyond the wall
_my love;
                   _the place beyond the wall!                                  4

- Montague Whitsel

 

 

 

[Originally penned September 1998, revised April 2005]

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[1] Yew Month – Ioho – the 13^th month in Celtic mysticism; the last three days of October leading up to Samhain; which was ‘New Year’s Eve’ in the ancient Celtic world.

 [2] “Merrows” – a Celtic name for ‘people of the sea’ (“mermaids” or “mermen.”)

[3] A Cailleach is a wise woman in the old Celtic tradition.  A Sidhe (here intended to be pronounced “side” not “shea”) is a place of crossing-over between this world and the World of Faery.

Night Satin (29 October 2020)

A Mystic Imramm[1] -- First Day of Yew Month[2]

I went out of sight and mind,
into the forest where
the Satin of the Night
touched my prickling skin_
whisking me over the veil
between here and there—
screaming with delight!                         1

Oh_ the Satin of the Night!

Darkness overtook me there,
and I fled yet further astray—
touching Trees of Knowledge
and wading through streams
of refreshing revelations!                     2

Out into the Depths of the Night
I went_
Sober yet for a little while
until_
the Satin of the Night
transduced my soul’s frequency
into another register—
                   and I WAS GONE!             3 

Oh _the Satin of the Night!

Loving the embrace of Darkness
and the One who dwells therein_
I ambled, rambling down the vales
in mystic blindness
reveling in sanctifying oblivions
of the Depths of the Night!
Freed from the halters and bridles
of the everyday lights of my life_
          I Swooned into Ek-Stasis!          4

Oh_ the Satin of the Night!

And I danced and was swept away
over borders of mundane sight_
into Peace—
wherein a Silence like Solitude
hums and thrums;
glistening all those who
        find themselves “gone,”
Alone with the Unalone;
Illuminated
            without mundane light!             5

And when I returned—

I was refreshed and knew
that I had been ”Away,”
though I’d never left—
gone into Bliss and Quiet Solace_
screaming without a voice
in the Satin of the Night!                       6
So mote it be.

- Montague Whitsel

Originally penned; Samhain, 2015

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[1] Immram – A Celtic term for a voyage-tale, usually involving travelling to places with symbolic and spiritual significance.

[2] Yew Month – Ioho – the 13^th month in Celtic mysticism; the last three days of October leading up to Samhain; which was ‘New Year’s Eve’ in the ancient Celtic world.