#or like even Miach or Dian Cecht

[an-stoirm]

Coworker: "-opens mouth- ... -closes mouth- ... -blinks- Do you have a religion?"

Me: "-beaming- Yes, I do!"

Coworker: " ... I was just going to curse God for giving me a uterus XD"

Me: "Oh, in my religion, I'd ask you which one ;D"

[7serendipities]

Upcoming Online Ritual: Healing the Morrigan’s Crows

I’d like to explain the ritual a bit, but to do that, let’s start at the beginning, before I ran this ritual the first time…

Two years ago, I sent an application to present a workshop and short ritual at what I then thought was going to be a multi-day retreat in Orange, Connecticut. My application was accepted… and then, well. The Pandemic Happened. After some back and forth, it was decided to proceed with the event, but online, and I was asked if I could adapt my ritual to be used online. I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to try, and I’m happy to say that it went really well! People had great experiences, and it was actually easier than I thought it would be to reach them, even through a screen. Now, two years later, with probably a dozen more online rituals in my rear view mirror, I think it’s time to bring this one back, on my own.

Part of my work for Na Morrigna is to offer healing to other followers and devotees (the “Crows”), and leaving it up to that follower or devotee if they’d like to reimburse me directly for my time, or if they’d prefer to get Na Morrigna involved in the exchange as well, with the Crow giving offerings to Them, and Them gifting me with the sort of assistance we previously agreed upon. A combination of the two is also fine, and really it’s up to each person’s individual situation, so this ritual has two ticket options: free, or pay-what-you-want. I’m not particular which you choose, so just choose what’s best for you! My agreement with Na Morrigna is a good gig, and I’m happy however it plays out.

However there is one requrement: in order to attend this ritual you should already have a relationship with the Morrigan, or with one of the other goddesses sometimes referred to as one of Na Morrigna, the plural (ie, Macha, Anu, Badb, Nemain). You do not need to be an oathed devotee, and you don't need much experience, but the ritual format presupposes an existing relationship. This is not a good ritual for a first meeting with the Morrigan. Besides that, as long as you’re somewhat familiar with guided meditations and with basic spiritual hygiene for before and after rituals and other workings (grounding, centering, shielding yourself, warding a space, cleansing yourself/a space), you should be good!

At the beginning of the event, I'll briefly discuss a few examples of battlefield healing from Irish mythology (including the use of the Well of Sláine in the Cath Maige Tuired, and the exchange of healing between Cuchulainn and the Morrigan in the Ulster Cycle), and talk about how that informs my own spiritual healing practice, as a healer called to serve the Morrigan and her community of Crows. This will give us a little time to settle in, and let stragglers show up a few minutes late. Don’t be too late, though — once I’ve given the instructions for the second part and everyone is ready with their supplies at hand, I won’t be letting anyone else in, because I’ll be starting the ritual.

The healing ritual is focused on cleansing away all wounds that prevent the Crows from doing the sacred work of Na Morrigna, so that they can return to their battlefields, renewed and ready. This includes invocations of four deities of healing (Dian Cecht and his children Miach, Airmed, and Ochtriullach), a parallel working with water and herbs which concludes with self-asperging or anointing with the blessed water, and a short guided meditation to see Na Morrigna at the Well of Sláine.

The confirmation email from the ticket page has these instructions as well, but you’ll need a few supplies on hand for the ritual:

A vessel to be the Well, at least half full of water  (Filtered water or spring water is best, but basically any drinkable water will do.)

A small amount of salt, in its own container (I use Irish sea salt when I can find it, but again, basically any salt will do.*)

A small dish to hold the pre-mixed herbs (I'll be using the following nine healing herbs: mugwort, lemon balm, rosemary, feverfew, yarrow, lavender, bay, hawthorn, and clary sage. If you have access to these or to any nine healing herbs you know well, wonderful!  If not, any three kitchen herbs will do, as we'll  be using sympathetic magic to tie your bowls to mine and then to the Well of Slaine.)

A beverage of your choice to be offerings, in a container easy to pour out of

A vessel to pour offerings into

A stirring implement

* Note to US residents: Most of the sea salt labeled “Celtic” in stores is from France. Most of the direct salt companies in Ireland have prohibitively expensive shipping, but I ordered some from Salts of the 7 Seas. We’ll see if it shows up fast enough! If anyone has a better lead on Irish sea salt, please let me know!

Image above is of two hands and wrists in greenish water strewn with leaves, provided by Squarespace via unsplash.

I hope you’ll join me! Click here for Tickets!

[themori-witch]

Hi! Sorry to bother you, but I saw you're Irish polytheist and I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Miach? Out of all the celtic gods, I think I really click with him, but...I can't really find much information on him save for the story of him healing King Nuada, and can't find anything at all about worshipping him.

I am indeed, and don’t worry you’re not bothering me at all. I like getting sent questions, it’s nice. 

MIACH is the son of Dian Cecht (whom is the son of the Dagda).  He, like his father, is a healer and a very skilled on at that, which is why Dian Cecht killed Miach for being able to craft Nuada a hand made of flesh in place of the silver prosthetic. 

From this, you can take two things:

Healing is a major factor in Miach’s lore and therefore, likely plays a major part in his worship or working with him. 

Skill is another major factor in Miach’s lore, and it is safe to assume that you can work that into worshipping him also. 

You can expand on these two things even further:

Herbs and herbalism are important in healing and in Miach’s lore. According to his mythology, when his sister (Airmed) wept over his grave, 365 herbs and plant sprung to life. These herbs were known as the herbs of the world, and reflected the amount of joints and veins in Miach’s body.  You can work this into your worship and honouring of him in many ways. For example, you may choose to create a herb garden, with herbs such as Chamomile, Peppermint, Angelica and Rosemary. These plants are used commonly in healing. Not only that, but growing them and using them is something that is tied closely to Miach’s own story. 

Miach was killed out of jealousy that arose from his skill as a healer. There are many ways to honour skill, and it is my belief that if one were to start working with Miach, you could honour him by improving your skills and offering works you have crafted to him. 

I hope this is of some help, there isn’t a lot on Miach, and when it comes to worshipping or working with him, it may be best to start out with the basics as above, build your relationship with him, and let he himself guide you.

[tipsycad147]

Airmid: Keeper of the Herbs of Healing

Things That Are Sacred to Her:

Colours: Green blue purple and brown Time of Day: Morning Day & Moon Phases: Monday during the Waxing Moon to promote healing, Waning Moon to diminish disease. Stones: Amber, Coral, Lapis Lazuli, Zircon, Jasper, Opal Metal: Silver

Animal: Snake Senses: Touch and Sight Incense: Lemon, Verbena

Elements: Earth and Water

Seasons: Summer and Fall

Holiday: Beltane

Herbs:

RISH GODDESS OF HEALING

Level Two Project by OceanPhoenix Adept in the Sisters of the Rising Moon School

© 2012.  All original material in this site is under copyright protection and is the intellectual property of the author.

Image courtesy of http://www.sacredfamiliar.com/2011/08/happy-awakenings-at-imbolc-and-big-roar.html

Other Names: Airmed, Airmeith Race: Tuatha Dé Danann

Who is Airmid? Airmid is the Celtic Goddess of the Healing Arts. She was also a member of the Tuatha De Dannann, the most ancient race of deities in Ireland.  Goddess Airmid is revered as a master herbalist and magician. She rules over magic, healing, learning, Herbalism and the complexities of family relationships.

Culture: Northern Europe Celtic Realms Ireland Place Associated with Airmid: Sláine the Well of Healing / Heapstown Cairn

Popular Myth: According to legend, there was once a great and noble god, Nuada, who ruled the Tuatha De Danann. During battle, Nuada lost his arm and was forced to relinquish the throne as a result of the deformity, as it was said to rule one must be at all time whole.  Airmid’s father, Dian Cecht, fashioned a silver arm for Nuada so he could  return as ruler of the land. Dian Cecht’s son, Miach, believed that with his own skill as a surgeon and his sister Airmid’s aptitude for regeneration, an even better solution was possible. Together, they rebuilt Nuada’s arm of flesh.  Dian Cecht was furious when he found out.  He flew into a jealous rage and attacked his son. After a few attempts (as Miach was a skilled healer and could keep up with the wounds), Dian Cecht finally landed a blow to his son's head therefore preventing him to heal himself.

Deeply grieving, Airmid went to her brother’s grave and laid a cairn of stones around the burial plot. She went there everyday to grieve. Then, after a year, she noticed three hundred and sixty-five herbs grew on that spot - each one a cure for a specific part of the body.  She spread her cloak and began to gather up the herbs according to their properties. Dian Cecht learned of this, and again in a fit of rage, he overturned the cloak scattering the herbs to the wind and forever losing the gift that Miach had shared with humankind. Only Airmid has knowledge of the specific herbs in Her brother’s offering, and so in times of need, we may invoke Her spirit for guidance.

Another tale is about Sláine, the Well of Healing.  Airmid and her brothers helped build the Well of Sláine, also called the Well of Health. The Well became known as the Heapstown Cairn. The Well of Sláine was created to restore life to warriors killed during battle. The wounded warrior would be dipped into the well and life would return, making him fit for battle. During the second Battle of Moytura, the opposing side filled the well with stones in order to stop Tuatha De Dannann from healing their warriors. Legend has it that the site is still guarded by Dian Cecht and his sons.

Symbols: Wells and Springs Three Entwined Snakes The Mortar and Pestle

Things That Are Sacred to Her:

Colours: Green blue purple and brown Time of Day: Morning Day & Moon Phases: Monday during the Waxing Moon to promote healing, Waning Moon to diminish disease. Stones: Amber, Coral, Lapis Lazuli, Zircon, Jasper, Opal Metal: Silver

Animal: Snake Senses: Touch and Sight Incense: Lemon, Verbena

Elements: Earth and Water

Seasons: Summer and Fall

Holiday: Beltane

Herbs:

Image courtesy of http://botanicalposters.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2

Lessons to Learn from Airmid: With healing one must be patient. Time heals all wounds.

How Prayer Was Used by Her People: The  healing charm that Airmid and other healers recited remains in Celtic folk use even today. This is said to be the one She and Her brother chanted over Nuada's arm as they were healing him: Bone to bone Vein to vein Balm to Balm Sap to Sap Skin to skin Tissue to tissue Blood to blood Flesh to flesh Sinew to sinew Marrow to marrow Pith to pith Fat to fat Membrane to membrane fibre to fibre Moisture to moisture

Original art by Ocean Phoenix  *The Herbal Spiral*

How She Is Worshipped in Today's World: We celebrate Goddess Airmid by appreciating Nature and the gift of plant medicine. Call on Her for general magick, learning herbalism, for inspiration in crafts or understanding family loyalty, and of course, healing.

Irish Healing Waters Spell:

Take equal parts of lavender, violet, and rosemary.

Empower them and then boil them in a pot with about a quart of water over medium heat.

When the water is richly coloured and the herbs are scenting your kitchen, drain the water off into a jar. A plain coffee filter works great for this.

Place the jar in sunlight for an entire day to absorb the radiant energies of the sun. *You can do this on a Wednesday to add the healing powers of Mercury to the spell.*

Occasionally look at the jar and add your own energies to it.

Just before sundown fetch the jar and hold it firmly between your hands just below your naval. Feel your desire to be well filling the jar and with your minds eye see it glowing brightly as the sun.

Chant these words until you have filled the jar with as much energy as it will hold.

By the herb and by the sun. Wellness and I are now as one, Strengthening energies now are merged, Baneful energies now be purged.

Image courtesy of http://herbsandnutritionalhealth.blogspot.com/

~The Codex of Airmid~ Goddess of Healing Herbs Decrees The Right of Gaia's Children to Gather, Grow, and Use Nature's Gift of Medicinal Plants. — The Tuatha de Danann

http://www.cherylrose.com/icons/airmid/

Ritual to Bring Airmid's Healing to You: THE RATTLE OF HEALTH ~Adapted by the ritual to Airmid by Michelle Skye~ Items needed: Your favourite meditation music two candles (I suggest green) a rattle a white sheet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * make your Altar on a low table like a coffee or end table. * Once you are set up, turn on your music making sure it loops or the whole CD is one song. Listen to the music for a little while relaxing your body and letting stress slip away from you. * if you wish to cast a circle do so now and you may even want to call in Airmid herself into it. * Take a few deep breaths and light your first candle.  this candle represents your ailment you no longer want. (i.e.: depression, cold, headache, etc.) Think about it, How long have you had it? the pain it has caused.  explore this. when you feel like you have explored it in depth, light the next candle. This is the healing candle This candle symbolises  the healing you wish to be done.  What would your life be like with out this ailment?  who will it change you? Picture your  self with out it. * With this in mind, pick up your rattle.  begin to shake it.  Shake it over the area you wish healed. head heart arm, where ever the ailment is.  Think of the positive  benefits it would have for your life and your family.  Picture this and let the energy build.  use Airmid's healing chant with the beat of the rattle: Bone to bone Vein to vein Balm to Balm Sap to Sap Skin to skin Tissue to tissue Blood to blood Flesh to flesh Sinew to sinew Marrow to marrow Pith to pith Fat to fat Membrane to membrane Fiber to fiber Moisture to moisture *When you are done, blow out the candle that represents your ailment. * Wrap yourself in the whit sheet and lay down in the light of the healing candle that still burns. * Breath in and out  deeply and visualise the white healing energy all around you and within you.  The white sheet represents the healing energy from the universe and the goddess. *When you feel you are ready, sit up and blow out the healing candle.  Repeat this as needed until healed.

My Prayer to Airmid: ~Adapted from the Invocation to Airmid by Michelle Skye~ Oh Airmid, Gentle and sweet, fierce and dark, You dove into the depths of your sorrow and found your power.  You gained yourself and healing for your sorrow.  Great giver Airmid, Help me honour my gifts so I may appreciate the life around me and the life within.  Grant me your light to help others that need your love and healing. Blessed be

Altar for Airmid:

"A home altar for Airmid should be covered with a cloth, symbolising the cloak on which she laid out the healing herbs. It can be scattered with dried or fresh plants of all types. Flowers in vases, bunches of herbs, potted plants, wreaths of branches or piles of berries could all be placed on its surface. A bowl or cauldron of spring or rain water can symbolise her well of healing and regeneration. Incenses for her should be floral or earthy scents redolent of growth and verdant green, pine or fir resins, or the elegant sweetness of amber. If you use candles, they should be of beeswax to symbolise the fertilising work of the bees and the curative powers of honey. If you feel a need for a blade on the altar, consider using a sickle for its close association with agricultural work, rather than an athame. Bronze, silver, stone or wood are preferable to iron, for the folklore tells us that the de Danann dislike iron. Your indoor temple can be decorated with bunches of drying herbs hanging from the ceiling, herbal wreaths on the walls, baskets of dried flowers, with indoor herb gardens in pots and under sunlamps, with bottles filled with your dried herbs, and mortars and pestles for their preparation."

http://cleticpagan.tribe.net/thread/0133ee6f-c433-4d6c-af2e-e9bb146f5abd

My Altar dedicated to Airmid:

[ad-ciu]

Of Dice and Gods: Diancecht

Apparently some people are actually reading these, I hope those of you that are, are enjoying them! For today, we are going to continue looking at the presentation of ‘Celtic’ Deities in Dungeons and Dragons, Fifth Edition. As always, this is not a commentary on the work of the developers, but a commentary on how inaccessible proper accurate sources for Celtic Studies are to the general public.

Anyways! Today, I give you Diancecht who, because I am stubborn and this is my field, is named Dian Cecht, two words. Dian Cecht is described by the Player’s Handbook as the God of Medicine, and Healing. He is Lawful Good, has the Life domain, and his Holy Symbol are crossed Oak and Mistletoe branches.

So, unlike the previous two entries, today we are back to having a Literary record, hoary! We actually have an idea of who Dian Cecht is. He plays a part in a few myths, the most important being Cath Maige Tuired, as well as a brief cameo in Tochmarc Étaíne. His other appearance is in the Dindshenchas tale of the River Barrow. Three separate appearances is pretty decent for Irish myth. In all three of these he is described as a Physician, sometimes specifically as the Physician of the Divine Tribe of the (Probably) Gods.

From this, we can see that the presentation of Dian Cecht as a God of Medicine and Healing is fairly accurate. He is even credited with the creation of one of the early Irish medical laws, the Bretha Dein Checht. So, this is actually a fairly solid description of the Deity in question which is wicked! This the first solidly accurate one we have seen, which I suspect is because the notion of a ‘God of Healing’ is probably how Dian Cecht would be presented in most texts.

Due to this function as a God of Medicine (probably better explained as a Physician God than a God of Physicians though) the Life Domain is perfect for him. It’s pretty much all he does. He heals the dying during  Cath Maige Tuired, he heals Mider’s eye in  Tochmarc Étaíne. He also kills a baby one time in the  Dindshenchas tale, but he says he has a good reason for it. I sort of doubt it since he’s capable of resurrecting the almost-totally-dead, but he doesn’t bother resurrecting the baby which he should be able to save if he wanted to.

Right, so, now onto the interesting things, the seeming misunderstandings. Dian Cecht is presented as Lawful Good. I wouldn’t characterize Dian Cecht this way, not due to the infant murdering since, like, in theory maybe there was a reason he couldn’t resurrect him. He had snakes living in his heart that were going to consume everything in Ireland. The reason I think Dian Cecht is probably not Lawful Good is when his son, Miach, heals the missing hand of Nuadu which Dian Cecht could only offer a prosthetic to replace it, Dian Cecht commits filicide. He kills his son with several blows to the head, intentionally killing Miach so that not even he could hope to heal the final wound. Airmed, his daughter, morns over the grave of Miach from which sprouts three hundred and sixty five healing herbs. Airmed orders the herbs by their function, but Dian Cecht mixes them up, and tosses them to the wind to confuse their uses.

So, Dian Cecht is a colossal twat. He killed his son for being better than himself, and then destroys his daughter’s work which was intended to help people. I would in the very least make Dian Cecht Evil for these acts as they are entirely due to personal spite, and are entirely culturally inappropriate. Second, I would make him Neutral, since Dian Cecht is flagrantly defying social norms, but at the same time, is the source of an important legal tract. So, Neutral Evil, not Lawful Good. Pretty big shift.

The question is, however, why Lawful Good in the first place? His primary myth, his role in  Cath Maige Tuired,��has him murdering his own son, and generally being an enormous asshole to his daughter. I suspect that the reason for this alignment is due to assumptions of his personality due to his role as a God of Healing. Who expects the God of Healing to be one-upped by his children, murder one of them, ruin the work of the other, and generally be a vengeful ass? Probably not the developers of this book, or really any standard member of the public. I expect the association is due to this assumption that a Healing God is probably a nice guy.

And lastly, his Holy Symbol is very interesting. Again, this is purely a gameplay thing, the ‘Celtic Gods’ didn’t have any real ‘Holy Symbols’ or even iconography to use due to a general lack of artistic imagery outside of Gaul and Brythonic Britain. But, the Holy Symbol of Dian Cecht is crossed Oak and Mistletoe branches. This seems to be an obvious reference to Druids, since both of those plants are reported to be sacred to them by the Romans. This is very interesting, since the developers are associating Dian Cecht with the Druids, despite Dian Cecht totally not being a Druid. Physicians and Druids were distinctly different social classes in ancient Ireland. I can’t really make a guess on why the developers linked Dian Cecht with Druids, but I suspect that some less-than-accurate texts might describe him as one, assuming since he is a learned figure with magical healing he must be a Druid. This isn’t the case, but, you know, curious. 

Dian Cecht is the first figure which has been pretty solidly depicted as a Deity, but the Alignment reveals that the author probably didn’t approach the texts in any detail since Dian Cecht is not a good, or lawful person. I suspect that they drew upon a secondary source since it seems that there’s an idea that Dian Cecht is connected to Druids, and with a basic encyclopedia entry, you could get the notion he is a Healer God, but lack the specifics of his personality.

[scionofchaos]

The Life of Miach and After

The life I remember best, before this human one, is the life known in mythology as Miach. I was born to a warlike people who saw little value in reason or the softer sciences. Things like herbalism and healing that greatly benefited them. They were not like humans. So tall at their greatest height, that humans were scarcely knee-height. Made of sterner stuff, a sort of material that could be solid, liquid, gas, or even plasma on command, and change back without issue. They used it to mend ordinary wounds and to hurl themselves across entire countrysides in a single leap. The look of it was like gold. To harm each other, they had to have special weapons built that functioned on other planes.

Among them, I was a healer, and a gifted one at that. My father, Dian Cecht, was a healer as well, but he was one of a different nature. When the king's arm was amputated, Dian Cecht replaced it with an artificial one of enchanted silver. A remarkable work, but when I was consulted, I managed to replace his entire arm good as new. Father was not happy with that, and took a sword to me. That is where the story, the legend, of Miach ends. That he/I took too grievous a blow to the head, and could not heal from it. The lie is that I died that day. In truth, what my people knew of me did die, in a sense. In my mangled recovery from my injuries, and in a warped sense of self-preservation, I isolated from all others. I never encountered another of my people again. Instead, as my mind recovered sans memory, I sought to travel the great world and learn of its people. I went to many places so infested with malice their flora, fauna, and topography could not be recognized. Literal dark places. I found solace with a proud member of the Dragons, and even wandered far enough that I met a tutelary deity of Japan. He was a proud warrior, which was familiar to me, but also a tactitian and scholar. He valued the contributions to a society, to an army, that were non-violent. He taught me the value of espionage and subterfuge, things I had never known to exist.

After that life, fleeing from the event that led to my true death, I was only able to manage the small, frail form of a raven. Large for some birds, and highly intelligent, the raven was nonetheless a major downgrade from what I had become. A spiritual leader of his people took me in, where I believe to be one of the American continents, and I was his eyes. He knew a way for me to share with him what I saw; handy since he could not use his own. I lived the short and uneventful life of a corvid, died a death I do not remember at all, and awakened next in the early 90's, blissfully unaware of all that had gone on before. Unaware of the still-present and ruling power that had challenged and bested me all those centuries ago. This time, I was human.

In the confused years before my life among the People of Danu, I existed in a form difficult to describe by human terms. In trying, I have found kinship with mythological creatures like the kitsune, the phoenix, and the salamander. I was taught by ancient and wise powers, alongside four others of my kind, to master the Psychic element and the fire representing it. Mine was the Mind, thoughts were my weapon, and emotion the fuel to my industry. Having peers in this training, we had many moments of conflict and reconciliation. Some of those "moments" lasted for human lifetimes, not that there was anything resembling a human at that point. Even the Timeless People, the Fae as you now know them, were in a much simpler state at that time. What they knew of warfare amounted to little more than barely-organized skirmishes and taunting. Before that life of oneness, my essences were apart from each other, as it had begun. My physical self was a monstrous creature of enormous size, strength, and appetite, with a penchant for sleeping millennia at a time. There is no word for it in any language I am aware of. As for my Intellect, my essential self, I was still a writhing madness born from the first stage of the universe, at a time where all material existence was energy, free and loose. That part of me had been around long before life emerged on this world; long before this world even existed apart from the Sun. Perhaps I had not even left my Mother until the Sun existed, but I do not remember.

If this tale of origin sounds totally baseless in the doctrine of your religion, stay tuned. There's another post coming where I'll talk all about that.

[scionofchaos]

More Details On My Life Story

When this present life, my human existence, was around 20 years old, I was made aware that someone in my past had "sealed" me. Even the messenger knew not what this meant, exactly, but it was clear that something about me was being held back by an intelligence not my own. I worked diligently to find this Seal and the means of opening it, knowing full well I might not like the result. When I finally found it and had the means, I made the single most important discovery of my life.

But first, a brief aside into the Seal and how it and my 'key' worked. It was a marking on my palm, loosely aligned with the natural grooves. Totally invisible to an untrained eye, but it could be seen in a reproduction made by camera, if you were able to see the real thing. When I turned my senses onto it more closely, I determined that it was not truly a marking, but some kind of door -- a gate to somewhere else, in this case, my inner world. If I could find the right means, that door could be unlocked, and opening it would release whatever was trapped on the other side. Having no specific training in how to go about this, I focused as much Interaction as I could into my sub-dominant hand, and formed a very hard and sharp edge -- immaterially speaking, of course. Despite extreme discomfort, I applied the tip of this blade to the center of my palm, and pushed. With a lot of effort and pain, I managed to accomplish two things. One of my firmly closed, blocked Venues was now open; my right hand would later serve as a font and focus of Interaction, while the left would help direct Interaction toward my Pure center, and by that proxy the Causal Plane itself. The second achievement was the full release of what had been Sealed inside me. At first, I took it to be a being separate from myself, and communicated with it as such. Over time, I learned that this being, a healer from long ago, was actually me.

My past life has been recorded, albeit in a limited way, as the being Miach (pronounced 'muh-yock', with 'ia' sounding like ya, for those not familiar). Miach is remembered as the son of the healer Dian Cecht ('dyon ket'), but neither of these are names that sound familiar to me. I have gone by many, though my true name will not be recorded here. Members of the People of Danu, they/we were decidedly not human. But we did not think of ourselves as gods. This was primarily because we had no sentient domain to be worshiped by. We had peers, the Giants and the Ancients, and we had beasts. At the time, humanity was just then coming into the world. For much of our people's history, far back as anyone could remember, humans had been making the slow, plodding evolution from mere apes -- creatures that today are no smarter than human toddlers and preschoolers. They were helped along in this process by the meddling of higher powers, such as my people and those like us across the world, but even that help was primarily of use to individuals. The species as a whole would take millennia to develop to the point where buildings and farmland began to appear.

In my time, humans scrabbled in the mud for bugs and edible roots, using wooden tools and on rare occasion stone. Now, this was mainly the kind of human that I was exposed to in my homeland -- what would become called Ireland much later. There were more impressive examples of civilization elsewhere, and the end of my life was thousands of years after this memory I'm recalling for you now; in a time where the species was more enlightened. Between my human life and that one, there was a period of weakness that I barely remember. I had been stricken by an enemy powerful enough to end me for good, but had just enough left in me to come back as something simple. A raven. I was cared for by an elderly shaman, a blind man, who in turn I provided with my sight. I am only now starting to recover memories of that life.

There are two lives I remember from before the Tuatha de Danann. The more recent (relatively speaking) was my time as a spirit of Fire, an Ancient as I have described. I know not how that life ended and my life as 'Miach' began. Much of the memory from that time is primal, more based in emotion than thought. I remember how it felt, not what I did or what happened around me. Before that, there are only vague memories from before my primordial body -- a great and slumbering beast -- was joined with my original Intellect. I will endeavor to share what I can about all my past lives in future posts.