Gaol Naofa Stands with Standing Rock – #NoDAPL

Original photo by Kyle Brown – Dawn on the Mississippi River

Although Gaol Naofa as an organisation is generally neutral when it comes to politics, as a council we have decided this is too important and vital an issue to stay silent. In addition to our avowed stance on Indigenous Solidarity, we believe that as Gaelic Polytheists we have a duty to honour and respect the land spirits of wherever we reside, and advocate for the protection of the environment and sacred sites that will be affected by things like this proposed pipeline.

In that spirit, a number of our members, along with those in our related organisation, CAORANN, have been joining in prayer with our friends and relatives who are at the demonstrations and prayer vigils in Washington DC, at sacred sites all along the proposed route of the Dakota Access/Bakken Pipeline, and at the sacred waters all over the world. Some of the people on the front lines of this struggle have been instrumental as advisors to our organisation, and without them, we probably would not exist.

The young people from Standing Rock reservation have run all the way from the Dakotas to Washington, DC to bring awareness to the danger facing our water supply. We are so proud of them.

We have been praying at the water, making offerings, singing and praying for protection. We are sending love, strength and gratitude to the runners and the land/water defenders who are carrying this forward for all of us. Slàinte Mhath.

Prayer

From the Center of the Land
A Shail-Spioradain,
The spirits are guarding the water
The spirits are guarding the land

Who speaks for the waters?
Who speaks for the land?

Sacred waters of Turtle Island
Watershed of Oceti Sakowin

Ogalala Aquifer, sacred
Rivers Mnišoše, Mníšošethaka, Iowa, Illinois
and every tributary and well and stream
feeding spreading flowing
into us all.

The water is in us all.
Every time you feel the thirst
Every time you reach for water
you hear us. The spirits of the land and waters
The ancestors upon whose bones you stand.
Hear us.

Sacred waters from which we are born
flowing from the lands of our ancestors,
Abhainn Chluaidh, Uisge Dhè, An Life, An Bhóinn,

Flowing to the ocean, dancing across
to the shores of Turtle Island
merging and twining as one.

Who speaks for the water?
Who speaks for the land?

From sacred Standing Rock, reaching out worldwide,
to the all the sacred rivers, flowing, and circling back
to the center again. As one.

Land defenders crying, praying, “Come, Protect the water!”
Land defenders rising, singing, “We Protect the Water!”

The waters flow free. Clear. Strong. As one.

Pure. Sacred. Forever. As one.

Slàinte Mhath.

With love and gratitude to the youth, Elders and allies of Standing Rock and all the water runners, in Solidarity. – An Chomairle Ghaol Naofa

Notes:

• 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 (Lak?ótiyapi) name for the Missouri River
• Mníšošethaka – Dakota (Dakhótiyapi) name for the Mississipi River [please note, the second-last “a” is supposed to be a
• 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”

August 9, 2016

Memes

Those of you who follow us on social media may have seen the memes we’ve been creating. We’ve added a page to the site to archive the ones we’ve done so far, and where we’ll be posting more in the future: Gaol Naofa Memes.

We’ve been working with a mixture of proverbs, prayers, triads, and quatrains from various Goidelic sources, doing our bit for language preservation and providing links for further info. For regular updates follow us at our Gaol Naofa Facebook page and Twitter account.

Original image: Dawn Perry

September 15, 2015

New video: Offerings in Gaelic Polytheism

Since our most recent video – A’ Ghealach Ùr (The New Moon) – which was released back in February, we’ve been working on a number of projects for the website and for future publication. We’ve had such great feedback from the videos we’ve been doing for the Gaol Naofa Youtube channel, though, that we decided it was high time for another one, so we’ve taken a short break from things to put together our newest video, titled Offerings in Gaelic Polytheism.

Offerings are an important part of our religious practice, and – in theory – they are also one of the most simple things a person can do to make the transition from someone who’s interested in Gaelic Polytheism, to someone who is a practising Gaelic Polytheist. Our latest video is intended to be a brief introduction to the subject, giving an idea of why we make offerings, and how we can go about making them:

If you want to find out more about the subject then one of our earliest publications here on the Gaol Naofa website, Offerings in Gaelic Polytheism, is well worth a read. The article has been expanded and revised over the years, and you can also read up on the historical and archaeological evidence over on the Tairis site along with a breakdown of different types of offerings that can be made. The video includes a prayer from one of our publications last year, our article on Children and Family in Gaelic Polytheism, which gives a simple overview of how to get started (whether you have kids or not!).

Wherever you are in the world, we believe it’s important that offerings should be made with respect to the local spirits. Offerings should not harm the environment or local wildlife, and we would urge careful consideration and contemplation about how your offering(s) may impact the local area. In recent times, this especially needs to be stressed when tying clooties or other things on trees. Although traditions evolve naturally over time, and the type of offerings that are being tied to trees are no exception, the increasingly common trend of tying non-biodegradable items (including, for some reason, things like iPhone cases and even nappies/diapers) tightly onto branches ends up stunting the tree’s growth or even killing them. The practice of leaving pennies or other coins worked into the tree trunks or natural cracks in stone is equally damaging. We believe that the Nature Spirits whom we honour will be better-disposed to you if you don’t harm their abodes and if the offering you make is truly something that honours, feeds, and beautifies the tree or sacred site instead of damaging it. Similarly, as much as we try to keep pets from getting at food offerings, there is always the risk of strays getting into them, and in many places wild animals commonly consume the offerings. Small amounts of human foods are usually not dangerous, but just to be on the safe side be aware of local wildlife, and familiarize yourself with what foods may be harmful if consumed by local animals.

As always, we hope you find the video useful! If there are any subjects you’d like us to cover in future, why not let us know on the Gaol Naofa Facebook page.

We leave you with this ‘Good Wish’, excerpted from the Carmina Gadelica #282, Dùrachd:

^{Photo credit: John McSporran, used under Creative Commons Licence.}

August 24, 2015