Celtic Christianity and Divination by Bre Geier

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

The most extraordinary example of divination among Celtic people is found in the writing of Alexander Carmichael. Traveling throughout the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands of Scotland as a civil servant in the late nineteenth century, he lovingly recorded the prayers, songs, and practices of the cotters and crofters. Carmichael notes that divination or augury was commonly practiced among the people, though hidden from the clergy, who were fiercely opposed to the practice. Divination concerned revealing the whereabouts and condition of people and animals who were absent and could not be seen or known about by ordinary means. The gift of augury, like second sight or seeing into the faery realms, was inherited, though often was known to skip a generation and pass to one family member and not another. Carmichael wrote:

The augury was made on the first Monday of the quarter and immediately before sunrise. The augurer, fasting, and with bare feet, bare head, and closed eyes went to the doorstep and placed a hand on each jamb. Mentally beseeching the God of the unseen to show him his quest and to grant him his augury, the augurer opened his eyes and looked steadfastly straight in front of him. From the nature and position of the objects within his sight, he drew his conclusions.3

The signs are many and varied. [For Example,] A man standing or a beast rising, indicates that the person who is the object of the quest is casting off the sickness from which he had been suffering�A man lying down indicates sickness�A beast lying down indicates death. A woman, in particular a fair, brown, or black woman, is fortunate, and a woman standing is very good. .. A cock coming or looking towards the seer is excellent. A bird approaching indicates news�Fowls without a cock�especially if approaching�are harmful. Still worse is the raven, especially if approaching: it is a sign of death. 4

According to the traditions recorded by Alexander Carmichael, auguries were dedicated to either the Virgin Mary or St. Brigit (also known as the Bride). When the young Jesus was nowhere to be found, Mary made an augury by making a tube with the palms of her hands and looking through them saw Jesus in the temple disputing with the elders. 5 when Jesus was again absent, Mary asked Brigit to make an augury in order to find him. As Mary did earlier, she made a tube with her hands and looking through them saw Jesus sitting beside a well. 6 Therefore, divination was known in old Scotland as the Augury of Mary or the Augury of Brigit. Along with the augurers of Outer Hebrides, you might like to say this simple prayer of invocation before casting your oracle:

Augury of Mary

God over me, God under me,

God before me, God behind me,

I on Thy path, O God

Thou, O God, in my steps.

The augury made of Mary to her Son,

The offering made of Bride through her palm,

Savest Thou it, King of Life? �

Said the King of Life that He saw.

The augury made by Mary for her own off spring,

When He was for a space amissing,

Knowledge of truth, not knowledge of falsehood,

That I shall truly see all my quest

Son of beauteous Mary, King of Life

Give Thou me eyes to see all my quest,

With grace that shall never fail, before me,

That shall never quench nor dim. 7