Òran na Mara – Song of the Sea

What comes to your mind when you think of song of the sea? For some people it might be the noise, the tide, the storms of the calm lapping of the waves on to the beach. For other people it might be the mystical calling of the sea, how we can stand for hours on a nice day staring at it and listening.

Before the days of caring for the environment it was fairly common for children in rural area to write letters, put them in a bottle and throw the bottles into the sea, hoping somebody would see it and read it. There are stories of friendships and even marriages which started that way.

For me it reminds me of Catholic devotions to the Virgin Mary (Moire in Gaelic) like the Star of the Sea or the the Song of Bernadette, the Divine Female who brings peace to our unconcious, especially if we see the sea as giving birth to nature and feeding the planet.

A few questions:

What is your song?

How would you describe Òran na Mara – Song of the Sea? What does it mean to you? It is religious or something more mystical and unexplainable?

Try to find 10 Gaelic adjectives that might help define it.

Tighinn an latha (Dawn, Coming of the Day)

For Gaelic people, the beliefs of the “old people” sit amongst us, alongside Christianity. My Grandmother was very much at peace with her declaration that the Banshee ( Bean Sídhe, Fairy woman mourning in Irish and Scottish folklore) was outside the window in the darkened night, yet reaching for her Rosary at bedtime and at dawn and attending Mass every week. There was no separation or need to choose one belief over the other.

These days we are told that we need to choose – we are not comfortable with things just “being”. We live in a world of absolutes where “right” and “wrong” dominate us both politically and personally. The idea of Spirit being in control is negated – we are supposed to decide what is right, rather than watching a spiritual value evolve into existence.

Try to write or find ways in which your life is divided between two things, or two opposites, how much do you feel the weight of those ideas pulling you in different directions. How do you think you could bring them together.

  1. The Gaelic word for Unity is aonachd, what does the word unity mean to you?
  2. How do you just “be” in the middle of different ideas coming to you?
  3. Where do you get your news from – is it often conflicted?
  4. How can you stay principled and loving at the same time?
  5. Can you really say if something is good or bad? How does that equate to believing in some kind of Higher Power which might simply “be”.

Try to find what the words in Gaelic are for good and bad.