I'm delighted to share
this beautiful photo of Summer Solstice sunrise at Newgrange/Síd in
Broga (taken a few days after the actual day of solstice).
For a moment of the year, the sun stops its run, and stays awhile in the northeast at dawn. But, like everything in nature the spiral will wind down once more towards winter, when the sun will come home again.
The big crowds that come to Síd in Broga on winter solstice are
completely absent for summer solstice. I am glad for that! At 5am it's
probably no surprise, but sometimes it's nice to be the only human
figure walking among these magnificent remains...
In the story of Tochmarc Étaíne, the Wooing of Étaíne, there is an
incredibly powerful image of Elcmar, standing atop Newgrange at Samhain
in druidic garb with a fork of white hazel in his hand. Elcmar has
arrived into the ownership of Síd in Broga through his power as a druid,
and a poet, and a diviner.
And this is the symbol that is all to often
missing from the interpretation of Newgrange today. Today, it is called a
tomb. It has become a dead thing. The image of Elcmar standing
on the mound in all his power reminds us that the creative and
intuitive side of our nature must not give way to the deadening image of
the archaeologist's measuring rod.
Yes, the archaeological
interpretation of Newgrange is hugely important, and we are extremely
grateful for all the light that they have shed on these wonderful
ancient places. But they do not hold a premium on the interpretation of
these sites. In ancient times, the poet held almost equal court in terms
of status with the king.
Today, we should allow the druid Elcmar to
hold equal standing with the archaeologist. This means accepting that
Newgrange has a power beyond what can be measured with a red and white
pole. This means empowering aspects of ourselves that are hidden in the
darkness of the sídhe, and shining that solstice light into the darkness
to awaken something latent in us. We must allow our Elcmar nature to
stand on the sídhe at Samhain.
Without that inculcation, that instilling
of the wisdom from within, Síd in Broga loses its power, and becomes
just the New Grange, that heap of stones that once was a tomb but now is
an empty vessel. And the real danger in depriving ourselves of our
Elcmar image is that everything thus follows the same path - everything
becomes inanimate and materialistic and our view becomes perhaps even
nihilistic. Why are we here at all?
The Meaning of Myth - the Fork of White Hazel. Anthony Murphy with Treacy O'Connor.
Our Elcmar image allows us to stand
in the power of our presence, in all that it encompasses - scientific
and spiritual, awesome and terrible - and to engage fully with the
journey of life. Thus, the childlike initiate becomes the supreme poet
of the Boyne, the one who has tasted the Salmon of Knowledge. To the
rationalist, the monument is called Newgrange, and it is a pile of
stones from the past - the corpse of something it once was. To the poet,
the monument is called Síd in Broga, and it is a crystal bower, a place
where the sun eternally shines.
