Tending the Spear (9)

 The three or four of you that may read this somewhat regularly may already know that I'm a flame tender for Bridhe (via here, specifically).  I have of course, lost my log-in information, and I'm not 100% certain what my "number" is, but I programmed my calendar with it years ago, and get a reminder every 20 days, so....

AT some point, I wanted to honor other deities, those who I feel particularly devoted to.  I also became interested in being a bit more Celtic-focused in general, so was reading Celtic Recon stuff (the aforementioned Celtic Ritual/Apple Branch by Kondratiev was central).  I was (re) introduced to the four Celtic treasures: Sword of Nuada, Spear of Lugh, Cauldron of the Dagda, and Stone of Destiny.  I've set up our temple room with shrines in the four corners for each of these things; Morrigan's shrine is with my symbol of the Stone.  I'm going to cut the roughly five year tale of how I've thought of these things and cut to the way I'm doing it today.  In order to honor those four deities, PLUS Bridhe, I've used the magic of Outlook to organize a different deity every 4 days. Five deities, every four days, gets me a 20-day cycle.

Today (which began at sundown, what with Celtic-and-all) is my day to "Tend the Spear." Now, while I like Lugh, I'm more devoted to Odin/Wodan (more on that later, probably).  Given our limited space, Lugh and Odin just have to share the shrine. Spears figure prominently in both of their mythologies, and as I've often honored them together over the years, neither seems to mind.  Tending the spear is a little bit harder then tending Bridhe's flame; it's less tangible than lighting a candle (although I will do that too).  I do, however, like to do something OTHER than pray.  Because Lugh and Woden have MANY skills and roles, it's hard to focus on one thing for them, but I think I've narrowed it down to "knowlege-creation," so either focusing on my research-for-academia, or maybe even a study program in ADF.

The shrine has various spear symbols on it, mostly spear heads, including one that I made myself at Starwood.  It also serves as the "fire" elemental shrine, and it's in the West, but that's another post too. I've been trying to find a prayer to say and lo and behold the #prayeraday comes along....

I set this day aside to honor you, 

The Many-skilled one

Warrior and Scholar, Teacher and Trickster

Today I tend your spear

The spearhead forged in the light of knowledge and truth

I sharpen it as I sharpen my focus

I take aim as you would

For the knowledge and wisdom you sought

and shared with all

So too I will share mine.