Protecting the Water

Original photo Dawn on the Mississippi River by Kyle Brown

Mni Wiconi – Water is Life 
'S e an t-Uisge a' Bheatha

The central watershed and aquifer of North America is under threat. The water defenders are holding the line but need help. Arrests are happening. If you are not able-bodied enough or your kids and job keep you from putting your body on the line, donate to the support fund if you can, and go to the waters where you are and pray.

News stories that spin this as standing with the Indians to protect "their" water are actually missing the point. This about ALL of our water. This is the central water source for the entire continent. This aquifer, and the Mississippi River, cannot handle the inevitable oil spills that are coming from every single one of these pipelines. The question is not if the pipeline will leak, it is when.  The pollution of all our drinking water is inevitable if this project goes through. These industries are used to sacrificing the most vulnerable and disempowered communities first - the Natives on the poorest reservations, the Black folks in the inner cities - and then years after the children in these communities have grown up with birth defects do the white people start maybe noticing and not wanting this stuff near them.

Well guess what. You can't avoid it anymore. No matter what your race or ethnicity or identification. This will effect you and all those who come after us. If you want the kids and grandkids to have water to drink, this is it. This is the war. It's coming for us and now it is here.

Notes:
* Mni Wiconi - Lakota (Lakȟótiyapi) for "Water is Life"
* 'S e an t-Uisge a' Bheatha - Scottish Gaelic for "Water is Life." Uisge is "water," and usually implies freshwater. Fìor-uisge is specifically pure water, drinking water (literally, "true water"). When translating these water phrases into Gaelic and Irish, there can be some issues, as An t-uisge-beatha is a compound word meaning "whisky," whereas "Uisge na Beatha" is a phrase meaning "Water of Life." Especially when discussing or doing ceremony, the difference here is very important!
* A Shail-Spioradain - Gaelic for "Oh Guardian Spirits"
* Turtle Island - name used by many Indigenous North American Peoples for the North American continent
* Oceti Sakowin - The Seven Fires Council aka The Great Sioux Nation or the Lakota and Dakota people
* Mnišoše - Lakota (Lakȟótiyapi) name for the Missouri River
* Mníšošethąka - Dakota (Dakhótiyapi) name for the Mississipi River
* Abhainn Chluaidh, Uisge Dhè, An Life, An Bhóinn, - In both Gaelic and Irish, "River Clyde, River Dee, Liffy and Boyne"
* Standing Rock - The Lakota reservation where they are blocking the proposed pipeline, and where the runners began their journey on foot to Washington D.C.
* Slàinte Mhath - Gaelic for "Good Health/Strength/Wholeness"

More links: medichealercouncil.com  standwithstandingrock.net  ocetisakowincamp.org  rezpectourwater.com

And if you're considering going to camp, please read this first, cover to cover.  It's essential. Thanks!

Standing Rock Allies Resource Packet 
(Documents prepared by members of the Solidariteam; Oceti Sakowin Camp Protocols written with camp elders.)

#NoDAPL

And... MORE videos

Annie and I have been busy. Thanks also to our Gaol Naofa community, who have shared their photos and music, posed for photos, made coffee, driven us to wifi spots while we stared at our laptops, given vital feedback and spotted typos. We're having fun doing these, and have more to come.

This batch includes Lúnasa /Taillte, The Prophecy of the Morrígan, and La Fheill Micheil. For more about the videos, see our blurb on the website, discussion in our various online communities, and our channel itself (notably the Festivals playlist).

Slàn!

Lúnasa  / Taillte




The Prophecy of the Morrígan




Là Fhèill Mìcheil (with customs for Autumn, Lugh, Manannán and Macha)



ETA: Annie goes into more background on the conditions of peace at Lúnasa, and the importance of this tradition in her post.

Irish Fairy Beliefs: Interview with Folklorist Dr. Jenny Butler

Here is an excellent interview with Dr. Jenny Butler about the living traditions of the Creideamh Sí ("Fairy Faith"). She discusses those who have maintained these traditional ways of interacting with (or at least respecting) the spirits, along with some discussion of Irish polytheism in general.

At the end the interviewer also seems to know about those of us involved in the preservation, revival and reconstruction of the old Irish ways and asks about the modern communities. While I wish she would have made a bit more of a distinction between the various folks who either observe these ways now and those who are simply inspired by them, as that only came up in the last segment and was not the focus of the interview it's understandable there were only generalizations.

Definitely worth a watch, especially as an intro to the Creideamh Sí.

Go raibh maith agaibh, a Jenny (agus a Mhícheáil for posting this)!



A bit more detail about the Creideamh Sí:

The Creideamh Sí is the foundation of our spiritual work in Gaol Naofa. The Creideamh Sí, aka "the Fairy Faith" is a collection of customs and beliefs which make up the living Gaelic ways of interacting with the local spirits. Most of the people who have maintained these ways down into the present day consider themselves to be Christian. I think it is very important to respect the living traditions and not try to redefine these terms to fit modern, American pagan sensibilities. So, the Creideamh Sí is a part of most contemporary Gaelic Polytheist paths. But any attempt to redefine "Creideamh Sí" to only mean "Modern Gaelic Polytheism" kind of misses the point and is offensive to those in the living cultures, without whom we would have nothing.

Óró 'Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile

In a recent discussion about trad songs for summertime, I was surprised to see I hadn't posted anything here about Óró 'Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile. This is one of my favorites, not only for its history as a Rebel song (in a series of Rebellions), but also as it's about Sovereignty. Which Warrior Queen is being called to? What does it mean to welcome her home?

As the refrain ends, "Now that summer is coming," seasonally this is more appropriate for Spring. But I find that it often crops up in the river of song when a welcome is called for. Sláinte Mhaith!


The Wikipedia article on the song is pretty good, and has some of the alternate versions. This is my preferred variation, adapted by Pádraig Pearse:

Gaeilge:

'Sé do bheatha, a bhean ba léanmhar,
Do b' é ár gcreach tú bheith i ngéibheann,
Do dhúiche bhreá i seilbh méirleach,
Is tú díolta leis na Gallaibh.

Curfá:

Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile,
Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile,
Óró, sé do bheatha 'bhaile
Anois ar theacht an tsamhraidh.

Tá Gráinne Mhaol ag teacht thar sáile,
Óglaigh armtha léi mar gharda,
Gaeil iad féin is ní Frainc ná Spáinnigh,
Is cuirfidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh.

[Curfá]

A bhuí le Rígan na bhFeart go bhfeiceam,¹
Mura mbeam beo ina dhiaidh ach seachtain,
Gráinne Mhaol agus míle gaiscíoch,
Ag fógairt fáin ar Ghallaibh.

[Curfá]

[Curfá]

---

English:

Welcome oh woman who was so afflicted,
It was our ruin that you were in bondage,
Our fine land in the possession of thieves
And you sold to the foreigners!

Chorus:

Oh-ro You're welcome home,
Oh-ro You're welcome home,
Oh-ro You're welcome home
Now that summer's coming!

Gráinne O'Malley is coming over the sea,
Armed warriors along with her as her guard,
They are Gaels, not French nor Spanish
And they will rout the foreigners!

[Chorus]

May it please the Queen of Miracles that we might see,
Although we may live for a week once after,
Gráinne Mhaol and a thousand warriors
Dispersing the foreigners!

[Chorus]

[Chorus]

---

Notes
¹Original: "Rí na bhFeart - King of Miracles," usually interpreted as the Christian God, altered here to "Rígan na bhFeart - Queen of Miracles," in honor of Sovereignty, who in Irish lore is always personified as a woman. There is a great tradition of poets, lorekeepers and ceremonial people singing of the Sovereignty of Ireland but, during times of severe oppression, thinly disguising these tales, songs and prayers as "simply" a story of longing for a woman.