35. The Centre / An Mheadhan

You are the centre of your reality, co-creating your experience = making your world.
You hold the power to decide what everything means in your life. Everything = making your world.
You are always making meaning - even when you’re not aware of doing it. BE CONSCIOUS of what you are making it all mean.

An Mheadhan

The “centre” is very big in Gàidhlig worldview (Sealladh nan Gàidheal). The centre of the island of Ireland was the seat of the High Kings. The centre of the palace held the throne of the king.

The Hill of Tara is “one of the 5 centres of Meath” (which is in the middle of Ireland - not technically the centre - but close enough for the Ancient Gaels) where the High Kings were coronated and ritually “married” to the Sovereignty Goddess of the Land.

Uisneach is considered the "Sacred Centre of Ireland"

The Goddess marriage was the avenue to legitimacy for a king, without which the Land would be laid to ruin and the bodily sacrifice of the King was required to restore fertility and harmony to the land.

There is a whole chapter on “The Centre” in Celtic Heritage by the Alwyn and Brinlee Rees. Multiscalar and fractal, the centre is reflected in all aspects of internal and external Celtic cosmology and governance.

The Brú na Bóinne (also in Meath) is the entrance to the centre of the Earth, and the centre was where all of life arose. The centre at Brú na Bóinne was the nexxus of the cycle of life and death.

To Ancient Celts - you were the centre of your own life experience and the model of directions points to this and is a central tenet of world view. In addition to the cardinal points; north, south, east and west, there was also above, below, within, without and moving through.

You are the centre experiencing your life. You are the world within - not outside the world as an observer. The map is from the lived, embodied centre, not as an observer outside.

Celtic worldview requires a balancing of different worlds from the centre: the Seen and the Unseen, Land and Spirit, the 9 directions, 9 dùile and the 3 Cauldrons.

The Seen + Unseen

Things we can see with our physical senses.
Things we can feel with our heart.

Land + Spirit

Tìr agus Anam Fite Fuaite Gu Bràth.
Land + Spirit are woven and sewn together forever.

The 9 Dùile (Elements):

Rock, Earth, Plants,
Water, Wind, Cloud,
Moon, Sun, Sky

The 9 Celtic Directions:

North, South, East, West,
Above, Below
Inner, Outer and
Moving Through…

The centre requires balancing scale and Place; the self, intimate relationships, immediate family, extended family, community, region, nation, world, cosmos… all scales are happening within the centre and all scales are functioning within relationship.

You are the centre of all these worlds and you are in the position of permission at deciding what it actually means.

Your interrelationships on a daily basis impact and scale up into the cosmos.

“According to Indigenous (Nishnaabeg) world view nothing changes in the physical world until the change has taken place in Spirit. ”

— Paraphrasing Vine Deloria Jr. in "Ways of Being in the World"

The Michi Saagiig: Your Place in the Circle

You are exactly who you need to be to become the whole and highest vision of yourself.

You are the centre of your own world.

You are the creator of your own dream.

You are the portal to the direct experience of your life.

You are the primary intersection of Land + Spirit.

You are a unique and never before seen expression of Spirit in the world.

You are a place in the Circle that has never existed before and will never exist again - not ever in exactly the same way. No on can tell you what your experience is like from your place in the circle and no one can tell you what your experience means to you.

No one can tell your story from your place in the circle, except you.

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We are ALL part of the Circle.

We are in relationship to all things, all beings, human and non-human, Seen and Unseen. This is an infinitely changing Universe. We are in relationship with all things, on all scales, all times, simultaneously.

The European Enlightenment went “all in” on the individual and gave unprecedented credit, agency and wisdom to white, educated, wealthy men.

This was a release from the blind obedience expected from institutions like Church and Lord, and also corresponded with an explosion of scientific advancements discovered through individual, “hobbyist” research and investigation.

This paradigm shift from the socio-political-spiritual institution, a top-down regulation of ethics and belief, to the individual as the source of meaning and morality (but only white, cis, European, educated, wealthy men) squandered the unity of community.

This paradigm shift moved human systems into increased individual dominance and squeezed the circle of community into a triangle.

We are returning to the circle.

Aanjigone: Non-Interferance

Gitchi Manito

Calling ‘all the everything’ “The Great Mystery” is my favourite.

Indigenous land-based tribal knowledge, has never strayed from the circle-relationship model of being. Aanjigone is the Nishnaabeg ethic of “non-interference”. It is the balance of power in a community that honours the individual and the collective.

Aanjigone says that you are the only one who can determine the path you walk in your life. Others can offer guidance and feedback, but no one can judge you or decide for you what is the right way to live your life.

That’s between you and The Great Mystery.

According to Michi Saagiig worldview, all spirits come here whole and with consenting to be here. All. Every spirit comes with gifts to share for this time and this place. Fulfilling purpose on Earth is being who you were created to be.

You are Soul Sovereign.

You decide what is a meaningful way to approach and live your life.

The one caveat is that you are expected to maintain a relationship with and follow the guidance of Land + Spirit. You are also to use your gifts and meaning for the benefit of the collective. We are not given anything that enriches only our individual self. All gifts and talents and meaning are for the benefit of the whole circle.

The path we follow and the place in the circle that we occupy are based in a reflected life in balance with all the ways of being: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Having only one or two of those wisdoms represented is not living in balance and will result in harm.

No one can tell you how to be in relationship with Land + Spirit. You have to find your own way. We can offer each other ceremony and guidance, but those are just suggestions for how to feel your way back home with all of your senses.

We can often spot other people’s gifts. Our own gifts are often hidden in activities that come easily, joyfully and we don’t think are that big a deal.

Sharing from the Centre

This part is always a shock to me. From my own Elders and from Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, I learn over and over again that we are expected to share our wisdom, share our perspective from our place in the circle, as best as we can. This is our obligation and responsibility as members of the circle. We are obligated and responsible for making meaning in our own place in the circle and sharing that wisdom with the community.

Oh right, I forgot

Lol, learning the same things again and again, but from a different place.

Our gifts and talents and meaning-making do not belong to us until we share them with the world. Only then are those gifts and talents and meaning able to return and root within us.

Obligation and responsibility. All places in the circle are valuable and needed and wanted and no one else in all of Creation can share your place in the circle like you can. We all lose if even a single person isn’t rooted into authentic experience and sharing of self with the world.

There is only one song and we have to practice singing our part. We are reEnchanting the world and everyone is singing their own note in their own way.

What’s yours?