Celtic Medicine Stories

This story is again from my home of the Scottish Borders. It continues the theme of the last two episodes, these extreme moments of total enlightenment after the accidental consumption of a magical liquid - just like Taliesin in Wales and Finn McCoull in Ireland. Michael Scott was a historical person in the early thirteenth century who became knows as the Border's Wizard.

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He was a highly educated man who studied in some of the finest schools of the time in Europe and translated Arabic texts. He likely held much esoteric knowledge. Another legend tells that he created the Eildon Hill in the Borders by cutting a larger hill in three pieces. The Eildons, you might remember from Episode 1, are where Thomas the Rhymer was whisked away by the Queen of Elphame.

We may never know the reality of Michael Scott's knowledge and magical ability but this is one story that became attached to his name over the years and survived into our time as part of the lore of the Scottish Borders.

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This story from Ireland is from one of the deep layers of Celtic mythology. If you listened to the previous episode with the Welsh story of the Birth of Taliesin you will see the similarities between these two tales that suggest an older, foundational myth.

It's an iconic Celtic tale of the crossing between the two worlds - ordinary reality and the place of all Wisdom - and here it happens in one defining moment of enlightenment.

This story forms the early beginnings of the large collection of myths and folktales known as the Fianna Cycle that comes from the third century CE. These tales were, and still are, told across Ireland and the West of Scotland. They call forth a long Celtic oral tradition of wonder and magic.

The salmon shows up across Celtic folklore and archeology as an important animal. Learn more:

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The story I am sharing with you today is The Birth of Taliesin. The word means "radiant brow" in Welsh, and you'll see why at the end of the story. Taliesin is another one of these Celtic figures who crosses back and forth between history and myth.

There was indeed a famous Welsh Bard in the 6th century called Taliesin and there seem to be stories that pre-date that person and weave throughout the mythic landscape after him. Bards after the 6th century would often compose poetry in the voice of Taliesin or channel him as they created - however you want to see that process.

This is the story of Taliesin's birth. it's quintessential Celtic Myth - there's a cauldron - of course, shapeshifting, death, re-birth and initiation all set in the dramatic Welsh landscape. This story carries a vibrancy that I can't help feel as I tell it. It's fun and full of mystery. I hope you enjoy this version of the Birth of Taliesin. 

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This is a re-telling of an old Welsh tale captured in the 12th century text The Mabinogion. Its not usually told quiet like this. I see Elen as an expression of the Sovereignty Goddess who is so prevalent in Celtic myth. She is the abundance of the land and recognizes the need to be in partnership with humans for everything to flourish.

To me this story speaks of the human-nature relationship but it also addresses the relationship between the masculine and feminine - both between two people and within all of us.

The story too touches on the theme of the dreaming of the land which skirts around the edges of The Dream Makers story I told in Episode 3. It's quite magical, I hope you enjoy listening as much I as enjoy telling it.

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To delve deeper into the images and archetypes that stand out for you in this story I invite you to subscribe to the free email course: Working with Archetypes here https://soul.kathoughton.com/working-with-archetypes

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This is the third and final part of this telling of Merlin's story. This is the part you may be more familiar with and has taken many different forms over the years as the story traveled around Britain between the North and what is now Wales.

This story speaks of Merlin as a great prophet implying that he has found some opening to the Otherworld through which knowledge, unbound by time and space, comes through him. You may recognize a parallel here with the Thomas the Rhymer story from Episode 1. The gift of prophesy is a common theme in the tradition of the Britons.

In both these stories, it is time out alone in the natural world that precipitates the coming of the prophetic ability. in other old Welsh poems Merlin is in conversation with an apple tree and a pig, suggesting his animistic worldview and respect for intelligence beyond the human.

I'd love to know what you hear in this part of Merlin's tale.

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This is the second part of Merlin's story, please listen to Part 1 first as it will give you some context for the battle that is about to happen and Merlin's grief

The battle happened in a field, by a river, in a place that now lies on the Western section of the English-Scottish Border. In the old texts the battle is recorded happening in the year 573 and is labeled one of the Three Futile Battles of Britain. We don't know why it was fought and some suggest it was futile because it pitted Briton against Briton when their fighting power would have been better directed at the invading Angles.

The short written record also states that this was the battle in which "Merlin became mad".

His madness became to focus of my telling of this story. Having experienced the madness of traumatic grief and spent multiple stretches of three days and nights fasting out in wilderness I drew on these experiences to imagine his initiation.

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I consider the experience of grief to be an initiatory experience. This post explains how I arrived at the understanding the grief carried medicine to help us unfold in to a more expanded version of ourself.

https://adventuresintheotherworld.substack.com/p/grief-as-an-initiation-part-1-of

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Myrddin of the Wildwood -Part 1 of 4: The Old Ways

Merlin has become a legend, many fantastical tales have been woven about him, and he continues to show up, in various guises in our popular culture. He has captured our imaginations as the archetypal Druid or Wizard.

When we trace the history of his story we find at the beginning the fragments of an historical figure. A man who existed on the edges.

He lived in the middle of the sixth century, a time after the Romans had withdrawn from Britain and the still powerful kingdoms of the North were fighting for power while trying to fend off increasing waves of invasions from the Angles.

It was also a time where the old nature-based spirituality of Britain was teetering on the edge of submission to the new faith moving up from the desert lands and Southern Europe.

Merlin's story is based in South West Scotland. It was only later as layers of legend began to wrap around him was he translocated to other parts of Britain.

This telling is based on the bones of a few historical scraps we have left and doesn't include many of the later additions you are likely more familiar with.

It's a long story so I've broken it up into four parts. This first part is an insight into how life might have been when the Brythonic tribes native to southern Scotland still had the freedom to follow their old ways before the oppression by the Angles.

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The Dream Makers story comes from the Isle of Skye in the West of Scotland, a beautiful island full of mountains and mystery. It's one of those stories that comes across as a simple folktale but carries some deep medicine from the realm of dreams.

It speaks to me of how The Otherworld erupts into this world through our dreaming and the importance of our attending to its messages.

Like so many other Celtic tales it reminds us that The Otherworld is ever present and we can stumble across its threshold both awake and asleep.

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What happens when we go into the forbidden places in the woods? There are times in life we are determined to find out.

This story comes from close to Selkirk in Southern Scotland, just a little west of the Eildon Hills we spoke about in episode 1 - Thomas the Rhymer.

The Queen of Feary appears again, this time in a darker guise but still as an initiator or men. Our protagonist is a fearless young women willing to hold on, to keep going, no matter what.

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This is an old story from the Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders, just down the road from where I grew up. It is the tale of an historical person known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas who is said to have the gift of prophesy. Sir Walter Scott reported in the late 1800s that local families still had books of Thomas’s prophecies that they consulted in uncertain times. This story tell of how he received his gift.

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