Bright Visions: Faerie Beings in Irish Song, Poetry and Story
I have a life-long sense of intimacy with the natural world and a sensitivity to the Spirit Presence within it. Having learned to play the Celtic harp after long years of yearning to do so, I discovered the Irish traditions of the Sidhe as revealed in poetry, story and songs over the centuries. Working with the images found in these rich sources, and walking on the land in remote corners of Ireland to commune with the Presence of Spirit within the land, I came to understand the music, stories and songs as potential pathways into communion and communication with the Sidhe. Further long years of study with teachers such as David Spangler, RJ Stewart and Jeremy Berg provided confirmation and deepening of this communion and communication.
The larger context for these explorations is the work of my cosmologist uncle, Thomas Berry, whose main message is that the “Universe is not a collection of objects, it is a Communion of Subjects”. He further stated that the “Great Work of our Time” is to reinvent the human presence on the planet so that we have a mutually enhancing relationship with the other life forms and life systems with whom we share the Earth. In my mind and heart this reinvention and mutually enhancing human presence must include the Sidhe and the inhabitants of the Faery Realm in order to be truly authentic, complete and successful.
My wish is to share my experience of the Irish harp and its penetrating, enchanting music that can be a conduit for conscious connection to these subtle realms that interpenetrate the physical world. In 2007 I began publicly teaching workshops called “Bright Vision: Faerie Beings in Irish Song, Poetry and Story” as an introduction to the realms of Faerie and of the Sidhe. A decade ago I began leading an ongoing exploration called “Seedbearers ~ Living between the No Longer and Not Yet”, inspired by the vision of my uncle and all that I was learning and experiencing about connecting and communicating with the subtle realms of the natural world.*
Last September I accompanied the tour organized and led by Søren Hague and Jeremy Berg to Ireland. We visited the places that WB Yeats and AE (George William Russell) frequented and wrote about in recounting their own explorations and experiences communing with the Duine Sidhe.
A few times during the week I played in the evenings in our hotel and shared songs and poetry with the harp that recounted interactions of Irish poets with Sidhe Beings. My most astonishing experience with the harp happened outdoors in a large ancient stone circle, the Beltany Stone Circle in Donegal. Søren had requested that I play the harp as an introduction to a group meditation he planned to lead after we explored the stone circle on our own. During this independent exploration time, I experienced energy flowing across the stone circle and through me. It flowed out as a blessing into the larger rolling green landscape and through the landscape into the larger world. Experiencing this grace was palpable ─ both grounding and expansive. When the time came to bring out the harp from its case to play, something extraordinary happened. As soon as I lifted the harp out of its case all 30 strings began to vibrate at once! The harp was having its own resonant experience of the energy flowing across the stone circle and through it as a mediator. At a more mundane level, there was a slight but steady breeze blowing in just the right direction to set the strings of the harp vibrating in unison. I held the harp aloft in the breeze and the droning music continued for many minutes. I eventually set the harp down and plucked some strings in an improvisation for the meditation Søren was then leading.
Having had that experience, both the harp and I were deeply imbued with the magic of the place and our explorations of communing and communicating with the Sidhe. Sharing that magic by continuing to play the three harps I am privileged to have with listeners is a responsibility I carry forward in my work with the Seedbearers and in other contexts.
*The Seedbearers group is ongoing and newcomers are welcome to attend a session to experience it and see if it suits their needs and interests. If it does, they are welcome to attend the regular monthly sessions. For more details, contact me at peter.berry@live.com.
Listen to Peter playing his Celtic harp, Glorfindel ─ Peter & Aisling