Since I was a little boy I am used to stare for long at certain animals, each time I have the chance to meet them. I perceive they are grateful for the least they have, loyal among each other, and yearning for the freedom they used to have long ago.
As seasons passed by I got aware that humans and animals formed part of the creation, though for some egocentric and dominant reason, the humans took power over them and what they called the "wild nature". Mother Nature, instead of being regarded as our purveyor and our home, came to be a place with no respect nor consideration. In fact, American Indians consider that humans lost their power to communicate with animals when they placed themselves above them, having dominion over all things as masters of the Earth.
I believe that all things in Mother Earth are connected and we are all part of the Circle of Life, and that Spirit Guides are present in many forms. Animals are not the exception. They are soul beings with a singular intelligence and skill. In our case, ancient Celts were aware that the spirit of Mother Nature was present in all of its creations, and thus they worshiped plants and animals. They were respectful for their food, their protective and healing qualities.
There is a poem by Walt Whitman that moved me a lot the first time I read it, and shares my same beliefs:
"I think I could turn and live with animals,
They're so placid and self-contained,
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied,
Not one is demented with the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another,
Nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."
("Song of Myself", Walt Whitman, 1819-1892)
Quite true, isn't it?. They have a different intellect from us. They can communicate among themselves not only by sound, and can even catch our aura and receive our mental messages.
Like other prehistoric cultures, Celts had a strong spiritual relationship with their environment. Trees were reckoned to become the abode of the sprites or divinities that in many cases had power over vegetation. This particularly responds to a Totem stage, having animals, and plants, and the heavenly bodies conceived as animals for gods before the anthropomorphic gods were conceived.
They even honored the birds, and the forest animals, with a conscious homage to the spirits that inhabit them. They are the divine intermediaries between this world and the realm of the Otherworld. They also represent the inner light of the spirit. The Celtic priesthood used to gather on these sacred groves, and it was divided into three classes; the druids, the bards and the vates. The vates were prophets and sooth-sayers, seers for the known by the Irish as fáith "prophet, seer". Like many other cultures, ancient Celts were also inclined to gain insights into a situation at hand, wonder about future events, auspicious times, the proper candidate for a marriage, or even the correct moment to start a new and successful project.
These practices were done by those competent to interpret the messages sent by the gods through bird signs, animal entrails, and other various methods. In fact, they didn’t play the role of the oracles of ancient Greece for instance, who were wise persons thought to be portals through which the gods spoke directly to people.
Nowadays, we are not so different from our ancients. Though we have further material control of our lives, we can also experience insecurity in our lives, and some of us appeal to divination in order to find a tip, a hint, an omen, or a hopeful answer. Divining is a healing art!
The way you place
them, will be the way the Spirit Guide shall unveil itself or not. You
will find it useful for clearing up your mind regarding certain moments
and events in your life.
Regaining your balance and strength, you will
certainly find yourself more reflexive upon the faults and fears that
threaten us.
It is not only a divinatory oracle that
should be used to predict the future, but a compendium of kennings and
symbolism taken from the Ogham Tree alphabet, Druidry, and Celtic lore,
in order to be used as a guide or a path to find the answer to our
questions.
