The name Amergin invokes something endless and primordial in me. As I pick up the sound and feel it's qualities, I find myself simultaneously tasting the salty spray of the wild Atlantic and breathing into the stillness of an Irish lough.
My shoulders relax, I remember I have feet, I become lucid and aware of the present. I smell the forest floor after a summer rain. I'm here but there, I'm outside in and somehow everything makes sense. Amergin has taken me out of my sense of individuality in a suburban apartment and reconnected me to some vital sense of collective communion with the world around me.
My bones are now stone in the deep earth, the English language a redundant tool to communicate. This is the gift of Amergin and his song connects us to all there is. It is from this place the Chieftaintrees project was birthed, a desire to re-invoke the life force of the wild.
During this time of stillness and introspection during a global pandemic there is an opportunity to take stock of our relationships with the broader world. How much waste are we producing? Do we really need to buy new clothes nobody will see? We are part of a global supply chain and to have more here we need to take more from somewhere else, creating waste and imbalance in the process.
So I ask you to listen to Amergin, assess your relationship with the totality of the world and how you might help restore it to balance. You don't need to be a druid to do this, just be honest with yourself.
The invocation of Amergin
Irish Gaelic
Am gaeth i m-muir,
Am tond trethan,
Am fuaim mara,
Am dam secht ndirend,
Am séig i n-aill,
Am dér gréne,
Am cain lubai,
Am torc ar gail,
Am he i l-lind,
Am loch i m-maig,
Am brí a ndai,
Am bri danae,
Am bri i fodb fras feochtu,
Am dé delbas do chind codnu,
Cia on co tagair aesa éscai?
Cia du i l-laig fuiniud gréne?
English
I am a stag of seven tines,
I am a flood across a plain,
I am a wind on a deep lake,
I am a tear the Sun lets fall,
I am a hawk above the cliff,
I am a thorn beneath the nail,
I am a wonder among flowers,
I am a wizard who but I
Sets the cool head aflame with smoke?
I am a spear that roars for blood,
I am a salmon in a pool,
I am a lure from paradise,
I am a hill where poets walk,
I am a boar ruthless and red,
I am a breaker threatening doom,
I am a tide that drags to death,
I am an infant who but I
Peeps from the unhewn dolmen, arch?
I am the womb of every holt,
I am the blaze on every hill,
I am the queen of every hive,
I am the shield for every head,
I am the tomb of every hope.
Who was Amergin?
Amergin Glúingel, also spelled Amhairghin Glúngheal was a druid, bard and judge in Irish Mythology. Along with his 6 brothers he took part in the Milesian invasion of Ireland and was appointed Chief Ollam of the land, the highest rank among ancient druids.
It was Amergin who chose to give the name Eiru to the island, in celebration of the most beautiful of the three indigenous goddesses. It is from Eiru that the irish word for the country Eire is formed and the anglicised Ire-land.
The legacy of Amergin and the druids continue to this day as druidic fire festivals such as Samhain, Lughnasadh, Beltaine, and Imbolc are carried into the modern Halloween, May day, and St Brigids day. Some even believe the famous WB Yeats to be a modern day bard and carrier of a druidic lineage and tradition. We will carry the legacy by dedicating our first rewilding project to Amergin and the five sacred trees of Ireland.
