Lesson 3

Sacred Center

Note to instructor:
In this lesson our children learn about the Celtic concept of the sacred center as the point at which the whole world connects and which gives order and stability and how the sacred center is expressed in various Celtic cultures. The children will also be introduced to several expressions of the sacred center in use by various Comhaltacht Draiocht groups. This provides an excellent opportunity for the children to explore the way in which the sacred center is expressed within their own Congregation or family rites. The children even get to practice the establishment of the sacred center and the blessing of sacred space.


Short story:
Talisha and The Tree.
Talisha was five years old and she lived with her mom, dad and older brother, Harold. Talisha and her family were members of a Pobal called 'Sacred Eye Pobal' and her mother was the Bandrui. When the Pobal did celebrations of the holy festivals, the ceremonies were always in the field beside the house that Talisha and her family lived in. The ceremonies always took place around a giant tree big enough for a lot of people to stand under. Everyone in the Pobal had always called it 'The Tree' and this had become its name. Talisha really liked Pobal meetings because everyone in the Pobal came over to her house and had lots of fun. There were always visitors and new people to meet, and Talisha liked meeting new people. Talisha had the most fun when people started playing music, singing and drumming. When the weather was nice and warm enough everyone would go out to the tree to sit under it and play music. When they went outside, Talisha and the other children liked to dance under The Tree.
Mom said that The Tree was a weeping birch tree and was the sacred center of the Pobal. Mom described how the trunk was like a strong pillar that held up the branches which arched over and protected the Pobal just like the sky. The roots reached out a long ways around the tree so that when you were standing under the tree you were standing on land being held up by the roots. The roots also dug very, very deeply into the ground just like reaching into the underground waters of the otherworld. So The Tree was special because it reached between all of the worlds. Sometimes, offerings to sky gods would be left in the branches while offerings to land gods would be poured out or buried at the foot of The Tree.
Talisha especially liked ceremonies at night because when it was dark, the Pobal would hang lots of lanterns from the branches to light up the area under The Tree and it felt like Talisha was standing in a big magical cave. Talisha was very happy that her Pobal had The Tree as a special place to meet and as a sacred center for rites and celebrations.

Sacred centers group discussion:
This is a facilitated discussion about the various manifestations of the concept of the sacred center as seen among the many congregations of Comhaltacht Draiocht. In this discussion we will be directing the conversation in order to allow the children to examine the concept of sacred center and to examine various symbols of the sacred center. The desired result is for the children to come away from this discussion with a basic awareness of the sacred center as a spiritual concept and the understanding that this concept can be symbolized in many different ways. Some possible questions and points of discussion include:
Does anyone here know what the sacred center is?
Sacred centers are also gates between the worlds so we often make offerings and prayers at the sacred center so that it goes to the other-worlds to the Gods and ancestors.
The sacred center in a rite stands between the worlds, kind of a place where sky land and sea meet. We also think of it as a place where our world, the underworld and the sky world meet.
So how do we show the sacred center in our ceremonies here at our Congregation?
Does anyone know different ways that some other Congregations symbolize the sacred center?
In some Congregations they use a living tree while in others they use a wooden pole to be a symbolic tree.
Some Congregations use a stone to be the sacred center, and other Congregations use a pit or hole in the ground.
Fire is the sacred center for some Congregations and they have special altars or hearths for the fires.
What would we do if we visited another Congregation and they had a sacred center which was different from ours?
Do you think that it would be fun to see what kind of sacred center other people in other Congregations have?
Are sacred centers just for Congregations or can families have sacred centers?
What about people, can each of us have a sacred center as part of a personal shrine?
Does anyone here have a sacred center for your home or for your own shrine?

Short lecture:
Sacred centers.
Ancient Celtic people met for ceremonies and rites at places had special symbolic sacred centers. In Gaul there was a special forest which was the ceremonial center for the land. Ancient Ireland had a hill which was called the navel of the world, they also had a special stone which was a kind of sacred center. The ancient Welsh had a great pit with two dragons which was the center of Wales. Some of the Celtic tribes had special trees called Bilè which is where they would meet for ceremonies. All of these different things were kinds of sacred centers.
Today in Comhaltacht Draiocht we still have sacred centers which are the spiritual centers for our ceremonies. Different Congregations use different kinds of sacred centers, but usually there is some type of sacred center in a Comhaltacht Draiocht rite.

Activities:

Bilè craft:
This craft is for use by those who make use of a Bilè as the symbol of ritual center. For this craft you will need small wooden bases with a screw in the center, usually small squares of three or four inches are available at craft stores. This craft will also need small wooden dowels around twelve inches long. The dowels are attached by one end to the bases by a screw through the center of the base (use a small screw that will countersink so that the base can lay flat). Each child will be given a base with a dowel standing straight up in the center. Then each child can paint his or her Bilè and decorate it with ribbons, small silk leaves and flowers. After the paint, glue and other decorations have dried, each child will have his or her own little Bilè to take home and use on his or her altar.

Stone collecting fieldtrip:
This project is for use by Congregations that use a stone as the symbol of the sacred center. A field trip is planned to take the children to a beach, river bed, out into the desert or any other place where interesting stones can be found. Each child searches for a small stone which he or she can use on his or her individual altar as a symbol of the sacred center. It is nice to make the fieldtrip into a family oriented picnic, but make sure you take sunscreen and insect repellant.

Blessing a sacred center.
The children gather in a group around a tree, stone, altar, ritual hearth, Bile or some other symbol of the sacred center and as a group they recite the following blessing three times.
"From the center to the edge, blessed by the Ancestors. From the center to the edge, blessed by the Gods. From the center to the edge, this place is holy."
After this blessing the children may continue with other activities in the area around the sacred center these activities may include signing, dancing, poetry, drumming or other activities often associated with ritual space.
*** It is important in these activities that are used for teaching the children about liturgy that things are kept vital, energetic, pleasant, positive trying to emphasize the expressive aspects of sacred rites. This will help the children to associate joyful and spiritually expressive feelings with rites of worship which will allow them to have an overall positive attitude toward these rites.

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