tri Cumhachtai Brid

The plop of a wet large leaf hitting the cement of the patio outside my back door was a good indication why I choose to take my working indoors.  We need the rain here, never get enough of it so I try not to begrudge the weather too much.  This is one of the few times I have had to do a working indoors, and the first time I have done a spirit art of this level of complication indoors.  I had been tumbling the idea of summoning the Tri Cumhachtai Brig (the three queens of the court of Brigit) like a stone tumbling in the surf of the ocean.  It wasn’t till after sun down that I decided for sure to do it.  I did have all the supplies after all, and this break from school will be short, and the winter solstice ritual is fast approaching.  I rearranged my alter and shrine to accomadate this working, and well, it just need a good cleaning up after a couple years of use.  The beginning of the rite flowed smoothly from my lips as it has been practiced for two years now.  However, I discovered as I picked up my staff sized Slat Draoi that I was long on stick and short on room.  The words of my old martial arts instructor rang in my head “you can’t use a staff in a phone booth.  The right tool for the situation.”  I realized I didn’t have any other sized Slat Draoi.  I made a mental note to remedy that in the near future, and refocused on what I was doing, making careful use of the space and tool I had.  The offerings were given, the words spoken with confidence and power.  I then sat before the alter and now shrine to Brigid, and let myself slide deeper into a trance state, in the hopes that Tri Cumhachtai would be there.   I was having trouble getting into it.  My mind was not focused as I would have liked.  Maybe it was the presence of my wife and step-daughter in the family room, two closed doors away, that was distracting me. Or perhaps it was the outside dog moving against the house, or the sudden sadness and depression I had struggled with all day that came on for no apparent reason, or any number of things, I am not sure, I just know I was struggling.  Not wanting the work and offerings to go to waste, I buckled down mentally and started to chant the Ogham name of Beith, followed by Dair, and Lus. I then I began to recite the Gailic charm “Brid thuas linn, Brid thios linn, Brid maidir linn; Brid inar gcroi”.  Soon I found my inner sight and saw the three queens standing before me.   I thanked them for coming, for their patience, and then we got to work.  We made pacts of friendship and assistance.  I was informed of some of their realms of influence.  I was shown the ways that they have already been involved in my life and development as a Druid. I received further instructions on the type of magical work they (and Brigit) would have me develop.  I have been told to develop a system of magical work using the Ogham.   This will be both work for inner development and outer magical works.  I was instructed on one way of spell casting making use of Ogham letters on a staff of wood.  The last instructions were to practice this system and when ready more instruction would come.  As the meeting came to an end, the three queens wanted to go, but I came to understand without their explicit say so that they could not till I chose to allow them too.  This was a significantly different feeling then during my audience with Brigid herself.  I gave a bit more offering of incense, thanked them, and the rite was brought to a close.

 * as I am writing this I am getting word of the tragic murders of children in Conneticet by a gunman at a school.  Perhaps my sudden sadness and depression was some sort of premonition of something very sad and wrong about to happen. 

This working felt very different then the audience with Brigid.  With the audience the sense of power and majesty was palpable, visceral.  Here with this working it wasn’t like that.  It could be that some of this is from my mental struggles to get into a trance state. It also makes sense to me though that working with the queens would have a much different feel then working with the goddess herself.  One thing is I felt that I had much more of their focus and attention.  They were more present with me then the goddess was.  I received more specific instructions about things.  This all in turn made the work seem much more “real”.  In my conversation with the queens I asked for a prediction of the weather today (I like confirmation that I am not making things up), and well, it’s spot on.  Overcast with no rain and a bit of sunshine now and then.  Another interesting note to that question is that when I asked it, I felt the queen delve into my own mind.  It was not an unpleasant sensation, just different, I got the sense she was seeking information she needed from my mind or memories to make the prediction.  After all the weather is not something normally associated with Brigit. 

A keening for those killed in Connecticut this day,
too young too young, this evil hath done
families torn asunder
Brigid wept like the rolls of thunder
as the Morrigan made her choices,
forever silencing their little voices.