Invoking Vision

Aligned with snakes and with fire, Brigit is the guardian of transformation. Present in moments of creativity and vision, she presides as midwife, prophetess, and patron of the arts; and over healing, breast-feeding, and the brewing of beer. Brigit is vigorous, passionate—and usually a virgin. Her presence inspires creativity in chal- lenging situations and the capacity to meet old circum- stances with renewed vision.

If you choose this card, you are attracting trans- formation and regeneration into your life. The snake goddess brings creativity and power. Relationships, too, may begin to breathe with new life. Creative projects, artistic pursuits, and unexpected insights may appear in ordinary cir- cumstances. New ideas may present themselves while conversing with friends and family or while engaged in everyday activities. Now is a good time to watch for newness and allow your imagination to roam freely.

Snakes shed their dry skins only to grow new skins. Close to the powers of the Otherworld, Brigit and her snakes signify creativity as well as caution. The presence of regeneration can trans- form positively or allow one to manipulate others and circumstances for personal gain. The other- worldly powers of the snake inspire transforma- tion but may also confuse, resulting in mistaking your own desires as the needs of others. Check your intuitions with the counsel of those you trust to tell you the truth.

In a time when many of us feel a yearning to connect with the natural rhythms of the earth and of our own lives, more and more of us are turning to native traditions and oracular systems to solicit guidance and support. One of the most colorful and far-reaching of indigenous traditions is close at hand among the European Celts. Imaginative and attuned to the movements of nature, the Celts “divined” answers from the animals, plants, wind and seasons. Trees and animals had particular knowledge of all things—past, present, and future. Through the centuries, bards, holy women and men, healers, and soothsayers gained their powers to see into the unseen by looking to nature and from stories from the past. Over time, stories and legends told and retold through the generations amassed an enormous store of knowledge to heal, protect, and transmit wisdom.

By gathering these ancient Celtic stories and legends together, I created the Celtic Healing Oracle composed of 64 symbols from the ancient Celtic ways of knowing. The symbols represent three thousand years of Celtic culture and history derived from archaeological excavations of Bronze and Iron Age Celtic sites in continental Europe and from the myths, folktales, and faery traditions still flourishing in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. For those of us attracted to Celtic imagination and merriment or with ancestral roots in Celtic lands, the symbols will resonate deeply, as though long-slumbering insights are stirred to life once again.

My personal journey to create this oracle system began nearly forty years ago when I lived in Germany in a mountain town above the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar Rivers, once a Celtic stronghold. I was then an academic dean, passing as a high-functioning administrator and professor of psychology. Yet, in my private life, the timeless memories held in forests and land around me spoke to me through sensations and dreams. Memories touched me like air tendering the skin of a newborn, of an ancient time when the earth was the heart of knowing and her creatures were as familiar to one another as we might be to friends and lovers. Animals, trees, plants, and spirits invited me to experience their reality, where nothing is lost because they remember even as we forget.

Interpreting the Oracles

The 64 Celtic oracles contained in the Celtic Healing Oracle convey the power and wisdom of the ancient Celtic way of knowing. In choosing a card from the deck, the symbols will provide a broad spiritual perspective into the hidden forces within your nature that shape your actions, habits, and ways of knowing. Such insight may bring a sense of relief regarding circumstances and events that may otherwise seem out of control or bewildering. However, consulting the oracle is not fortune-telling in the conventional sense. It will not tell you which job to take, who to marry, what automobile to buy, or whether you should travel to India or Hawaii this year. However, it may give insight into the unseen motives influencing your choices or widen your perspective, allowing you to glimpse the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual forces at work in your life.