Vision
It may seem redundant for ADO to establish its own Order of Flame Keepers when there are already others in the world. We may even ask whether such a custom is appropriate for an Order focused so explicitly on the Braithion period and culture. These are good and valid questions and deserve answer. The answer is very personal, yet we think it will ultimately touch more than just ourselves, and so we share it here with you. It is our custom in ADO for members to offer support to charities and organizations whose work supports our own goals as spiritual stewards, even when the endeavors are undertaken by non-Druidic Trusts or other groups. Our Founder (Morgaine) and Brother Myrddin have supported Chalice Well as Companions, and Morgaine kept the 19th watch in Cill Abhaill at Ord Brighideach for some years. However, when a period of upheaval prevented us paying for the privilege of serving, we could no longer participate in planned meditations at the Chalice Well and our Founder was unceremoniously dropped from the list of Flamekeepers. We continued in our sworn duties as best we could on our own, but the experience seemed a poor repayment for a Herculean effort.
It seemed obvious that this experience was not unique to us. We felt it to be fundamentally wrong that financial circumstances should prevent anyone from sharing in a vigil intended to benefit the whole world. We are therefore resolved that any woman with the will and discipline to serve shall retain the right to keep the Eternal Flame here. This observance has long been part of our Druid Tradition and long custom lays it in women's hands. We acknowledge that there is a sisterhood beyond the Sisterhood we share here, one that includes all women. Therefore, after much consideration, contemplation, and prayer, we've decided to revive these ancient charges for those cast out from other groups to fulfill their oaths here alongside our own membership. There is no fee or report requirement to participate. You need only to sign up for an available shift and perform your sworn duty faithfully.
Understand, we do not seek here to supplant the work of Chalice Well or to "steal the fire" of the Brigits in Kildare. These organizations play an important stewardship role in physically maintaining the sacred sites where they are based, a role that ADO could not possibly hope to fulfill. However, for those whose personal affairs make it impossible for them to meet requirements for financial support, and for those who wish to serve in an Avalonian environment, we offer a locus for continued prayer, meditation, and the fulfillment of basic vows. Much is already known of the Brigandine (Celtic and Celtic Christian) modes of keeping these sacred duties; let our focus then remain on keeping the ways as the far ancestors kept them in Avalon.
Fires of Self-Transformation
For the far ancestors, the Fire was the heart of every gathering and dwelling, providing light, warmth, and the ability to cook food. Placed in the center of the living space it provided a hub around which the wheel of Tribal life turned, and a point of focus for gatherings. By firelight did the Singers of old tell the story-lore of the Tribes, and by firelight the tribal grandmother and fathers repeated it generation to generation -- an especially appropriate place for the telling of stories meant to provide a template for inner change, for fire also changes everything it touches. It is the prime symbol of self-transformation in our Cycle of Healing; thus Fire represents the eternal Cycle of Transformation at the very Heart of Life. We offer to the Sacred Fire our striving for Wisdom, our Courage in facing our fears, and our Willingness to accept personal responsibility for the consequences of our actions.
The Lady's Lore
Before there was St. Brighid, Bride, or Bridget, there was Briga of the 'fiery arrow'. Her attributes are much the same as those of her successors: In the days before men learned to forge, she was patroness of healing springs, hearth fires and the hunt, and of the fires of inspiration which attended all three. In Avalon she is honored as the Midwife of the Sacred Year and of personal transformation. Though we do not work with her as we do the Cycle Gods, when we are in deep need of change we may call upon Her to guide us and midwife our rebirth. In time long past, fire was neither easily lit nor lightly put out. As the symbol of the Heart (seat of the Spirit and center of the home) it was held sacred. Women lit, kept, and smoored the hearthfire, tending it through the night so that it would neither smoke nor extinguish before morning light. The hot coals from the night before were uncovered and rekindled with fresh tinder in the morning. And so it was that women began tending the flame and it was a small step from tending the hearth fire to tending the Eternal Flame at the heart of Avalon.
We have all heard of the Three Cauldrons and know that they exist both within us and within the land. There was no Avalonian centre that did not have its perpetual flame, symbol of the pervasive spirit that binds the three realms together in well, grove, and cave (or mound). Each of these was carefully tended. Who tends these, tends the well-being of all. In Ireland, each circle of attendants was called a 'cell' (or 'cill') and was named after one of the trees of the Sacred Wood which were used in the fire's kindling. Each lent its special properties to the process of world healing, and in combination they formed a Grove that mirrored the nature and powers of the Wood. We will follow this way in its earlier form, reverting from 19 to 9 members per circle. Our Grove Circles will represent certain of Avalon's Faery trees. In the space below you will find the names (and shifts) of each Circle, along with the names of any members tending the Flame with them. Some will be members active in our community, others may serve invisibly, but all will be women; for only a woman may approach the sacred flame.
Lore of Fire-Tending
We have spoken of fire as sacred and as with all sacred things many charms and rituals have grown up around it. Amongst the ancestors, the daily tending of the hearthfire was shaped by many such customs -- far too many for a simple website to catalogue. Nor is it necessary to do so, for once we understand and learn the structure and feeling of these customs we will be able to make our own. We share this lore for those who have wood stoves or fireplaces, or backyard fire-pits, and who wish to observe them as part of resanctifying daily life. We hope you will enjoy them!
In order to be useful, fires must be lit, fed, smoored (banked), extinguished, and relit on a regular basis. Each of these tasks is attended by ritual and custom. We have all heard of the sacred woods and their uses on the fires of Samhain and Beltane, and this will suggest the usefulness of other woods chosen for other purposes throughout the year. We know how the people waited in the cold and darkness of Midwinter for the Druids to rekindle the sun on the crest of the spiral hill, and for their messengers to come with the burning stick from last year's fire to rekindle the hearth. All this we know (or can easily discover), and so let us pass on to other, less well-known lore.
The lore we will share here is taken from current folk practices which reflect the ways of our far ancestors particularly well and which we feel will be of most use today. The ritual tending of the fire has always been seen as a metaphor for the care of the soul. Because the soul can be shattered by the ill will of others or by trauma, charms of protection evolved to prevent the traumatized parts of the soul from wandering and becoming 'lost'. For a hearthfire to go out completely was considered a very ill omen, for to have one's fire go out was a metaphor for death. Thus, fires always included some wood for good coals that would burn hot and slowly. Even campfires were banked so that enough good embers would remain to carry from place to place when traveling. As we might imagine, fires were never left untended, but sleep comes to us all and so people learned the art of smooring the fire over, letting just enough air in to keep it burning through morning.
The Cylch or Caim
Anyone who has tried to smoor a fire without being taught will tell you it is no easy art. Usually the fire is out by morning without a coal left with enough life to start another fire. There are several parts to the secret of smooring, and first is to make the mantle of Briga, an encompassing prayer or charm of protection which includes invoking Briga's name, Spirits of Place, and the trinity of the soul itself (mind, heart, spirit). This form of prayer or charm is called a 'cylch' (Welsh) or 'caim' (Irish), meaning 'hoop', 'sanctuary' or 'protective circle'. The Cylch can be made by one person around another, or around oneself, and was always made around home and hearthfire. As the family prepared for sleep, the mother (or matriarch) would smoor the fire.
Method:
- Spread the embers into a circle
- Divide the circle into three equal heaps with another heap in the center
- In token of the Midwife's name, place three turfs of peat between the three heaps, each touching the center
- Cover it all over with ash
- While doing this, breath the Cylch over the embers
A Traditional Cylch or Caim:
I smoor the hearth as Briga the Foster-Mother would smoor it
The holy name of the Midwife
The name of the Fiery Arrow
Be upon hearth and herd, be upon each of my household.
Encircling of Gods upon myself and the hearth
Encircling of Gods upon myself and the floor
Foster-Mother of the world
Upon each herd and flock
Upon each of my household.
When this is done the fire is smoored for the night. The 'Gods' referred to are both those that are our special patrons, and the local Spirits of Place. Thus three powers are called upon. The three parts of the soul are hidden within the items being blessed as well. The physical body and anything used to house the soul were called by the ancestors its 'soul shrine'. Hiding the location of the soul shrine was thought to keep it safe from 'theft' or injury and was a common practice even in common speech. In this case it is in plainer view for those with a talent for metaphor and symbolism.
Method
To tend the flame is simple. You need only a few items and the willingness to do it:
- A candle lit from the Fire Pit where the Eternal Flame was kept in Mona, Glaston, Eidyn (Edinburgh), Iona, or Kildare, at a time when the Goddess was invoked to bless it. (This can be obtained for the cost of a candle and postage through any ADO Flame Keeper.)
- An observance candle that can be safely kept alight for 24 hours without danger of causing a fire.
- A small dish of water or bud vase and flower.
- One day in each cycle set aside to tend the flame and to keep vigil (contemplation and meditation).
Never light the flame directly from a match. Keep another taper for this purpose. Never blow out the flame. Pinch it out with your fingers or use a candle snuffer. Never let the candle burn completely out without lighting another from it. The energy of the Lady will be transferred to the next candle. You may then pinch out the first and continue your work with the second. Shifts begin and end at sunset. The first shift accepts from the flame directly from Briga and the last passes into her keeping, with one cycle completing every ten days. Your shift number will be shown to the left of your name under your chosen tree. So now the way is known to you. Below are the Calendar and available shifts. Thank you for joining us in this endeavor!
Intention
When you have gathered what is needful, begin as you would for any ritual or journey. Make a prayer or charm to evoke Briga's presence, light the candle, and meditate on your intention (to meditate, pray, and raise energy for peace and for the spiritual illumination of the world). If you are also keeping the Well vigils, you may combine the two by placing your mirror pool beside the flame, blessing its waters after the flame is alight. When you have finished with your healing work at the Well, simply shift your focus to the flame. Since Briga is Patroness of both of these activities, it will not be necessary to evoke her presence again. She is there already, and will be visibly, palpably present until you release the flame into her keeping.
It is important to consider your own home circumstances with regard to leaving the flame lit overnight. If you have children or pets you may have to extinguish the flame and give it into Briga's keeping earlier. Make up a 'flame-keeping travel kit' so that you can keep vigil anywhere you are. If this is not possible, ask another to hold the vigil for you -- but do not simply abandon it or you will spoil the momentum of energy built by each person on each shift, diminishing the power of the work. This diminishment is easily felt (and its effects observed) by all in the circle.
The original 'flame' was of course the hearth fire, and more lore and charms surrounding its tending follow the Shifts below. Feel free to adopt any of this lore to the work of your own Shift, and to post your experiences and your own chants and charms in the appropriate locations in our e-community. We hope you have enjoyed exploring this sampling of lore. We encourage ADO members to share and ask about other fire-keeping lore you may discover through your local Grove, learning circle, or within the ADO e-community.
May your time tending the Flame be one of peace and illumination!
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