It is the very end of summer. Covid is as strong as ever. Where I live in southern California, we have been besieged, first, by extreme heatwaves and then now by devastating wildfires. The wilderness has advanced into our known world and brought us back into its own. At Lammas, when I celebrated my personal sacrifices so as to reap a bountiful first harvest, it was hard to relive all the personal and family sacrifices that I and so many others have willingly given. Autumn Equinox approaches. It is often dubbed The Witches’ Thanksgiving and, again, I will find myself thinking on those things for which I’m thankful as well as those things I have successfully harvested in my life. Right now, when I am in-between these Sabbats, fully entrenched in a heat wave and feeling creatively and otherwise depleted, I find it difficult to look at my sacrifices and personal harvests as any great accomplishments. At times like this, I turn to story to fill me with renewed vigor for these and other things.
In the Arthurian mythos there are tales of those who are lost and wandering. Sometimes, it is a knight lost in another world. Perhaps it is a desert landscape or an enchanted wood in which he finds himself. At any rate, he is not in any civilized environment. The knight may have set out on a quest, but could not complete it for some reason; or he may be grief stricken and left his known world for the wilderness. There is an oft quoted Tolkien line: “Not all who wander are lost.” But for many wanderers, they are indeed lost and have no hope on the horizon.
After writing the first two paragraphs, I spent several days struggling to articulate how I wanted this post to move forward. I decided to ask my Tarot and oracle cards for some guidance. I have the Celtic Totem Animals boxset by John Matthews. The mini animal cards almost feel like an afterthought to the book and accompanying CD, but it has helped me to find my way in this instance, and is actually a really neat addition to the set. I spread the deck and felt compelled to pull three cards. I received Eagle, Bear, and Bee. The following day, I pulled two cards from my Gaian Tarot, which is by Joanna Powell Colbert. The first card seemed to be part of the prior day’s pull, as it was the Two of Fire and had a very peaceful cat on it. Cat is also part of the Matthews book and deck set. Sometimes, when we become lost in the wilderness, we encounter animals. In myth, it is in these animals that we may find answers, purpose, or solace.
Wild Animals may be what frightens us most about becoming lost in the wilderness, but in Arthurian and broader Celtic myth, wild animals are not always what they at first appear.
Eagle
In the oldest Arthurian text that we have, “Culwch and Olwen,” the eagle that the adventurers encounter, is the second oldest animal alive. He has pecked a mountain into a rubble hill and, thus, has literally changed the shape of the landscape and has great wisdom beyond human understanding. I like to think of the eagle as having an eternal knowing; great wisdom of those things which are and have been.
In a 16th century manuscript, we find an Arthurian poem, believed to be at least four centuries older, “The Dialogue of Arthur and Eliwlod.” Arthur encounters an eagle in an oak tree who, upon seeing Arthur, laughs at him. Arthur soon discovers that the eagle is his nephew, Eliwlod, reborn as an eagle. This conveys that eagles are a great part of our understanding of Celtic beliefs in rebirth and transformation. The eagle, himself, basically tells Arthur that there is no escaping death.
Bear
I’d like to quote a bit from Celtic Totem Animals by John Matthews:
“No Celtic story in which the bear appears has survived, yet it is to be found in the illuminated manuscripts prepared by the Celtic monks, and on even older carvings from Romano-British times. Its strength and stamina, coupled with its hibernatory habits, make it not only a powerful companion to have at one’s side but also an excellent guide in the realm of sleep and dreaming” (p. 142).
I very much associate the bear with rebirth, as the bear descends into the Earth Cave every winter and returns aboveground in spring with her cubs. The Continental Celtic Goddess, Artio, (her name comes from the Celtic word for bear), is a Goddess we can go to to ask for fierce protection for ourselves and our families, as we all know of the ferocious devotion of a mother bear. We can ask for her guidance when descending into the unknown, help with dream interpretation, and at the shift of seasons when things change for good or ill. Mythically, when we encounter bear, we may be at our most lost in the wilderness, but we need only remember the priorities of the Mother Bear and ask for her help traveling within the wilderness.
To be continued in Solace in the Wilderness part II
Loathly Lady 