Chapter 5
The Three Realms: Land, Sea, and Sky
The Celts loved triplicates. We see patterns of threes throughout Celtic religion and spirituality, and the three realms of land, sea, and sky are no exception. They are the foundation of everything, all that impacts our lives each and every second of each and every day. It is part of the cosmology of the Druid tradition that helps us to connect with the world around us, to quest the awen, and to find our place in the ecosystem, wherever we are.
The Realm of the Land
This is the first part of the Druidic triad. The land is the foundation, the stabilising aspect that grounds us, providing a firm foothold on reality. We begin with our feet placed firmly on the ground, allowing the earth to nourish us body and soul.
Druids have a deep and abiding affection for the land. They understand that it provides us with the nourishment we need to survive. We must acknowledge this in our own lives, opening our eyes to what sustains us physically, mentally, and spiritually. We look within ourselves and see what our inner cycles are telling us to do and whether or not they are in tune with the natural environment around us.
We explore our connection to the earth, learning about acceptance and integrity. This is what relationship is all about. The earth teaches us about acceptance when it absorbs the heat of the sun or the waters of the rain. The earth does not discriminate. It provides nourishment in a legion of ways. We learn how to work with the earth so that we too can begin to learn about acceptance. Acceptance does not mean passivity. It does not mean “Oh well, there is nothing I can do.” Acceptance means seeing reality for what it really is and then working with it under no pretences and no illusions. It is sifting through the threads of our story to find out what is relevant and necessary, opposed to what we tell ourselves to keep ourselves comfortable. It is accepting the light and the dark in equal measure. In acceptance, we find the deep learning of how to work in the world with integrity. For only when we truly connect to and accept reality are we able to truly work with integrity.
Integrity is working for the benefit of the land and not just for our own personal benefit. When we take into consideration all that we do and all of the repercussions of our actions, then we are living with integrity. Integrity stems from the word “integration,” which is at the heart of the land’s teaching. Integration is where we allow our small selves to fall away in order to truly connect to the land. The land is so much bigger than we are. If we allow our pride and prejudices to fall away, if we are silent for a while and simply work with acceptance and integrity, then integration will occur. We will begin to hear the songs of the land over our own songs, which often drown out everything else. We begin to learn the silence of integration in the depths of winter, that soft blending of edges and landscapes even as snow blankets the land and makes everything smooth. We actually become an active member of an ecosystem. We work in that ecosystem with intention and integrity. We learn about true relationship.
Working with the land we can explore ancestral roots, those of blood and those of the land. We see that the land is made up of the ancestors, from the earth in our gardens to the air that we breathe. These are not just human ancestors, but the manifestation of all things that have gone before us. Their bones, their decayed leaves, their tears and blood, are all in the soil that provides us with food, nourishment, plants, and more. The ancestors are in the land, right here. They are not some ethereal beings wandering like ghosts; they are in the apple that you eat, in the very air that you breathe.
When we work with the land, we explore our senses. We take the time to really feel what we touch, to see what our eyes behold, to hear what our world sings to us, to smell life and death in all its manifestation, to taste life to its truest potential, whether that is the rain, a salad, or an awakening of deeper senses to the world around us.
The earth hums beneath our feet. There is an energy present, which we can become aware of in each and every moment. It helps us to deepen our connection to the earth, to the land, to the ancestors, and to the spirits of place. Those who have walked this land before, whose bones and blood, leaves and wood, stones and pebbles, make up this land—their energy is contained within. So too are the energies of wind and rain, of sunlight, starlight and moonlight shining down on us. We are hurling through space at infinite speeds, spinning in an endless cycle of birth and death. In that cosmic dance, there is energy, the push and pull of the planets and our nearest star, the dance of orbiting moons. Open yourself to this energy, let it wash through your soul and awaken your heart to the wonder of the world.
The energy of the land may differ depending on where we are in the world. Each land has its own unique signature, yet always contains similarities as well, for we share this planet, and deep at its core around a strong iron centre is a heart of fire that is the spark of awen, which we can tap into wherever we go.
Later we will work with the energies of the land in ritual and awaken ourselves to the land within and without.
The Realm of the Sea
The realm of the sea surrounds the land, flowing around it in the deep patterns of the tides. It is a place that is often connected to the Celtic Otherworld and the realm of the ancestors. It is the place of emotion and healing.
We connect with the realm of the sea through the times and tides of our own lives. We see the experiences, joys, and sorrows ebbing and flowing like the sea. The blood that runs through our veins, the tears that we shed; all the water in our bodies is a reminder of that connection. We need water to live. Without water, there is no life. We learn to be responsible for our own lives and for the impact that we have upon others, for we are ever-flowing with everything around us, all the time. We live in a shared existence, and we must work with integrity and honour. Coming to terms with our own emotions, our thoughts and fears, the highs and the lows, helps us to connect to the overarching realm of the sea.
Taking time to become aware of the self is a large part of the modern Pagan movement. In many of the traditions over the last twenty years, exploring the psychological aspect has been as important as the metaphysical and the spiritual work. Many have done this as part of a training course or in their own deep learning, but perhaps subsequently allowing it to fall by the wayside; once it’s been studied, that’s it, let’s move on. Being aware of your emotions and behaviour is a never-ending quest in self-awareness. In order to live and work in the Druid tradition, it should be a lifelong exercise —to ensure that we are living honourably and respectfully within nature and the natural cycle.
Indeed, it is our responsibility to be aware of what we put out into the world, emotionally and physically, as Druids. We know that we are a part of a greater web, therefore when one strand is tugged, the others shiver all the way down to the core. We need to be able to see when we have failed to act with honour, in our human relationships, in our relationships with the natural world, in our relationship with the gods and the ancestors. And in doing so, we can work to make amends, to reweave those threads that have been pulled apart.
Sometimes the damage is so great that we need to start again, especially in human relationships, and that is perfectly acceptable. When there is no possibility of working with another human without losing that sense of honour, when there is no respect, then we can walk away calmly and begin again, focusing our energy on creating the world we wish to live in that benefits the whole. We can still try to understand the situation, working with compassion, but we don’t have to participate in it any longer, especially when the relationship becomes abusive.
We face many challenges in our modern world, some of which we shared with our ancestors, some not. Alienation, isolation, war, climate change, technology: all these we have shared previously with those who have gone before. How we respond to it makes all the difference. Former Head of the Druid Network, Emma Restall Orr remarks on the environmental crisis and how to respond gracefully as a Pagan:
Primarily, allowing nature to be our teacher, we must be wakeful to our human nature: to the surges and floods of our emotions, their forces, drives and weight and to the beliefs that are hidden in the shadows of awareness. Only then can we learn how to ride the emotional energies, using their power positively instead of letting them batter and break us. Many traditions are slack in this teaching, even though playing in our own emotional mess is essentially selfish, often leading us to antagonize others and cause unnecessary harm. Yet the luxury of emotional indiscipline becomes less available as the reality of crisis increases.3
As Druids, we are gifted with the opportunity to explore our emotions and behaviour to really find some insight into the workings of our mind through connecting with the realm of the sea. I see it as our duty to be aware of how we are in the world, how we are able to respond, and our own personal responsibility in the world. Allowing our emotions to rule us, resulting in bad behaviour, war, genocide, and environmental obliteration (to name a few), will only hasten the process of our own self-destruction. We live at a time when perhaps things have gone too far, but we can still do damage control. It is our duty toward our descendants. If we allow fear, apathy, or other emotions to control us, we will never achieve what we want to achieve.
The realm of the sea surrounds and holds us. It is fluid and ever-changing, holding the firmness of rock and the stability of the land. Like the times and tides of life, emotion and ancestral experience form patterns that we can follow or alter in order to live with integrity. Flowing with the deep waters of emotional responsibility and working with compassion, we learn how best to work with the realm of the sea. Later we will perform a ritual to raft the currents of emotion and to connect with the energy of the realm of the sea.
The Realm of the Sky
The realm of the sky is very different from the realms of land and sea. Air is invisible, except when connecting with other elements such as water. As such, we take it for granted most of our lives. Yet without it we simply could not survive.
We only really notice air when the wind is blowing, sometimes blowing “a hoolie” (Scottish term for super windy) as it does often in the spring where I live. Though invisible, it is a powerful force that we often only recognise when it is creating damage. We also recognise the necessity and need for air when we are unable to breathe and a real visceral panic sets in. But what of all the other times? What of air right now?
Take a moment and simply sit, sensing the air around you. Open up your awareness to the air, feel it upon your face, upon your skin. Whether indoors or out, you can open up your awareness to air, be it still or breezy, cool or warm. It is something that is always surrounding you, something that defines you. Where you “end” is where air “begins” in a very basic material sense, though tiny molecules are passing through us all the time.
Take a moment and feel air; connect with it.
There is a Zen saying: The material form of the vase is not what makes it functional; it is the emptiness within where we find its use. In this regard, we see that the supposed emptiness is really all about potential. Working with air, working with the realm of the sky is just that: potential.
Let’s begin by exploring the more physical aspects of air. We sense air and experience it through our breath. We experience air when we are standing in a stiff breeze, when a chill blows over our warm-blooded bodies. We need air to survive; we cannot take it in from any other source other than breath. Air is essential to our functioning. We are blessed to have a planet with an atmosphere that can support and sustain life. Yet, with our technological progress, we threaten the very things that sustain us, such as air. We pollute the skies with industry and with our very way of life: by our consumerism, by the flights we take to foreign lands, by the burning of petroleum-based candles in ritual. Some of the effects are unavoidable. Some of them are carbon-neutral. Some of them we can offset. However, the sheer numbers of human beings on this planet are what makes air so tenuous at this point in our history. We stand at the edge of a precipice, and if we don’t act accordingly, we will plummet over the edge from where we cannot step back.
We must regard air as precious. We must not take it for granted; it is as precious as the land and sea. We see the land, we see the sea, we can connect with them on a more physical level because we can see them with our own eyes. But the air—the air we often forget. We are reminded with the flight of the buzzard keening overhead or when we sit in an airplane being thrown around by turbulence. We need to reconnect to this ethereal realm more deeply, to make it as substantial in our hearts and minds as the realms of sea and land.
What about the spiritual aspects of air? The realm of the sky can be a place where we confront our deepest fears. How many of us have a fear of heights or a fear of flying? Being away from the grounding, comforting, solid realm of earth and the supporting realm of water that holds us, when we step out into air, we are literally stepping out into nothing: or so it seems. When we connect on a soul level with the realm of the sky, we are facing our fears of lack of control. We are looking deeply at our desires to escape. We experience a complete lack of being held back when we allow ourselves to spread our wings, the breeze lifting us from the earth out into the vast realms of open spaces.
We can begin by acknowledging and affirming air as breath. The air that we breathe is the air our ancestors breathed. It is the mutual exchange with all life forms on this planet, from algae in the sea to trees in our backyards. We work in symbiosis, releasing carbon dioxide from our lungs and taking in the oxygen that plants breathe out into the world. Air is a great connecter, a great pathway to soul-deep relationships. Right now, in this very instant, all breathing creatures are breathing the same air, sharing the air, sharing in each other.
We then acknowledge the power of air through sound and vibrational energy. We are creatures of language. We communicate with words, with our vocal chords vibrating, creating sound due to the atmosphere that surrounds our planet. Without atmosphere, there is no sound. No one can hear you scream in space. Yes, we can communicate through body language. We can communicate with sign language, for instance. But for the most part, we are verbal creatures. The power of voice, the vibration of sound, can be a deep and meaningful way to connect with air. Words do have power. The old saying about “sticks and stones” is really not entirely true: words can hurt us. Yet we have the power to use words to heal, to reconnect us to the lost threads, the threads that we have dropped in the creation of our tapestry of life.
Sound can heal. Vibrations can heal. Explore the ways in which healing works with these techniques. Shamanic drumming often has the power through vibration to take us on journeys to other realms, to the Otherworld. Chanting is used in traditions all over the world to do the same. Mantras and prayers are sung with not only the power of words being expressed but the sounds themselves having a healing or connecting effect with the world, with divinity, with life itself.
With the realm of the sky we not only come across healing through vibration and sound, but also through facing some of our deepest fears. When we have nothing to hold on to, once we have let go and allowed our feet to leave the solid earth beneath us, then we are truly on a great adventure. Let the excitement of air and the adventure that awaits you fill you with enchantment and potential. The realm of the sky is the realm of potential.
Awaken to the energy of air. Awaken to the realm of the sky. Feel it upon your body, feel it within your heart. Allow the energy to take you on great adventures, to free you of fears and ride with the wind. Later in this book, we will find a ritual/meditation to connect with the realm of the sky.
The three realms of land, sea, and sky are often invoked in ritual, to bring our awareness of them into being, to bring them to the fore of physical manifestation. We honour them in ritual as realms that exist around us and also within us. Working with the three realms of land, sea, and sky helps us not only to understand the natural world around us, but also to understand our own inner workings. We see ourselves reflected in the world around us and carry the world around us within our own very being. We have the land within us, the sea and the sky, even as we reach out and connect with those realms in our practice. For the Hedge Druid, there is no one there to do it for us, so we must do it ourselves. We must take responsibility for our practice and for the work that we put into it. We may walk alongside others for a while, but ultimately the work is ours to do and the benefits, the highs and lows, are for us to experience. May we be the awen!
She stands at the shoreline on a small cliff-face that is slowly crumbling into the sea with every passing storm. Here the Hedge Druid stands between the realms of land, sea, and sky. Here is the liminal place where she works her potent magic, where she receives the awen in great abundance. The cold wind whips her hair across her face, tugging at her scarf and coat. She raises her arms toward the sea and calls out to the three realms for inspiration. After making her call, she sits down and meditates, waiting for an answer. The cries of the gulls pierce the clouds overhead, the waves crash upon the sandy beach below. She listens and watches in silence, listening to the land, sea, and sky, within and without. They will know what to do.
3. Emma Restall Orr, “Honing Our Relationships with Our Gods: Emotional Discipline in a Time of Climate Crisis,” Patheos.com, accessed September 29, 2017 http://www.patheos.com/topics/2014-religious-trends/pagan/honing-our-relationships-with-our-gods-emma-restall-orr-072314.