birthing sounding the first note of our Spring
first life and bringer of life onto this earth
For this story poem, I have used mythology that I learned through a story that tells of the Birch being the first life on this earth, born from the other world, they say.
This story tells of all trees, all plants, all animals and ourselves. all being born from the same divine womb, that I will call Womb Of Creation in this book.
Bards have shared stories of Beith the Birch being the defender and protector of women. They have told of Birch trees standing guard to protect the arrival of all life into this earth, life that comes from the hearth fire of the Womb Of Creation.
Bards have also related stories advising that should any women be abused by any man then the birch will punish him with a beating from its branches. This is still within the law statute books of some countries today, including the Isle of Man.
If you have not read my Beith The Birch story poem, please click here to indulge ...
about my Beith the Birch story poem ...
My story poem has unfolded as a collage of three story visions.
The first vision is of the Birch being the "first life on earth", taken from a local story I tell to visitors about the "Birth of Bhride". Most people visiting us seem to be more familiar with Brighid than Bhride, but it is the same mythology.
I have been told stories about the spirit of Bhride being born from the Hill of Ceis Coarran, Keash, the highest point of Co. Sligo, close to where I live.
There is an intriguing short story of the Birth Of Bhride that I love to tell to visitors here. I intend to write and publish my version of this story in my upcoming 'Tales From The Labyrinth' book..
For now, within this first story vision, I strongly express the Birch as being the protector of women, but lads, do not feel cast aside. You get your turn through the next story poem of The Rowan :-) .
The next story vision flows into an imagery of me speaking through the eyes of Ogma as if he was one of the first scribes that came to Erin. We are told that these scribes came to Erin with their scribing craft and stories from the Middle East, and even from Eden itself.
In this second story vision, Ogma approaches a fallen Birch tree and discovers that it is easy to scribe clearly onto its thin bark. It seems as if Ogma believes that his scribing regenerates new life into the remains of this tree so that his stories, his teachings, and his discoveries will live on and will never be forgotten.
The third and completing story vision here is my memory of my son, Holly, who loved, and still loves, to climb trees, without fear. He has had this passion since he was four years old.
I remember him crawling up a trunk of a coppiced Birch tree when its young trunks are very flexible. The higher he climbed, the lower the tree branch would bend to return him back nearer to the ground again ... and he was not amused by his lack of progress towards the sky.
Bringing these three visions together I am attempting to illustrate our reactions when we indulge in our first experiences.
I believe that the outcomes of our first experiences, when we dare to follow our sense of wonder, do sculpture our identity, our discovery of who we are, and what our place is in this world.
to read about to grow and care for your own Birch trees, please click here
