We concluded
our Scotland trip last month by visiting two western islands, each magical in
its own way.
The Isle of
Skye is probably the most famous of all the islands in Scotland, and a popular place for the locals to vacation. And then there was Iona, a tiny jewel in the crown of the Inner Hebrides, known as the seat of all
religions worshiped in this country.
In fact, a
common past time is called “Munro Bagging,” which consists of
hillwalking/hiking to the top of all 282 Scottish summits over 3,000 feet. When
you summit, you’ve bagged a Munro.
The beauty
of wanting to bag all 282 is that in committing to do so, you open up the
opportunity to see an incredible breadth of Scotland’s dramatic landscape, most
of it away from the populated areas. Many of the Munros are located in Skye, so
it’s a popular place for mountaineers.
Once you’ve
bagged all the Munros, you’re considered a Munroist, and you start getting a
lot of knowing nods, kudos and respect. Our laird friend, John McKenzie, told
us he’d bagged the Munros when we visited him at the beginning of our trip, but
I didn’t know just what an accomplishment that was until I saw the rugged landscape
at Isle of Skye!
We
took a relaxing hike to the magical Fairy Pools at the foot of the Black
Cuillins, complete with stepping stone water crossings, and crystal clear, icy
cold water for those who wanted to swim.
I put my feet in, and they were tingling with cold in less than 30 seconds, but two women in our party were much braver and actually swam!
One of
several small islands off the western coast of Scotland, Iona can seem remote
from mainland life. But in the old days when most people traveled by sea, Iona
was central to life on the entire west coast.
It’s known
as a ‘sacred isle’ because of its pagan and then Christian spiritual activity
through the ages. Persecuted druid
priests came here for sanctuary to escape the persecution of Rome. Iona’s
Gaelic name, Innis-nam Druidbneach means
‘Island of the Druids. Unlike so many of the other western islands, however,
Iona shows no trace of megalithic structures. This may indicate that the island
was indeed considered sacred.
Iona feels old. The air, the ground, the contours of
the land seem saturated with ancient memories. It’s said the island is made of
quartz and marble, formed under vast heat and pressure when the first oceans
were condensing on the blistering hot surface of the earth. The land contains no fossils, for, as far as
is known, no living creatures yet existed in the waters of this primeval land.
There is a Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only
three feet apart, but in the thin places that distance is even smaller. The
veil is definitely thin on Iona, and this ‘otherworld’ has a soft doorway, so
everyone treads lightly.
The mystical druids were said to have founded a
library here. But the displaced Irish priest, St. Columba, fought off the powerful
druid elders in 563 AD to claim Iona as his own, and converted most of Scotland
and northern England to Christianity.
Not much is left of St. Columba’s original compound,
but there is part of a 13th century Nunnery and a beautiful abbey.
A lintel over one arched window on the Nunnery has a
worn ancient carving of Sheela-na-Gig, a fertility Mother Goddess.
These ancient and crude fertility carvings used to be quite common around the world, but most of them have disintegrated over time. This is the first preserved one I've seen.
I found it interesting that it was mounted on the wall of a nunnery.
I spent an hour leafing through the bibles
displayed inside the Abbey, collected from at least 80 different countries.
The Abbey Museum houses impressive
remains from the early Celtic period, include 14-foot-tall crosses dating from
the middle or late 8th century.
When Columba first
settled in Iona, he and his followers created a scriptorium. Imagine hooded
monks sitting in rows copying ancient manuscripts and creating new sacred
texts. The best surviving example is the famed Book of Kells.
The island became a
place of pilgrimage and royal burial as its fame as a center of learning
spread.
When the Vikings
invaded Iona in the eighth century, the Book of Kells was secreted off the
island to Ireland. It’s now housed at Trinity College Library in Dublin.
Known graves here include 48 Scottish kings
including Macbeth, 8 Norwegian, 1 French and 4 Irish, as well as numerous clan
chiefs. Templar knight gravestones reveal their presence on the island.
Megalithic remains suggest it was a prehistoric burial site too. But why? Why
did so many royal people come here, to this tiny island, to prepare for their
final journey? Some say it’s because Iona is a borderland between life and
death.
There is no denying that Iona is mysterious. The
light is more translucent, more heavenly and less earthy, often filled with
swirling mist. The water is blue, unlike the black waters in most of Scotland.
And the beaches are littered with beautiful green stones, Iona green marble. The island is famous for it, and the crystals have been collected as talismans for centuries.
Legend tells of a lonely monk who fell in love with
a mermaid. When she was banished, she shed tears that can be found today, the
small green tear-shaped crystals along Iona’s beaches.
There are also legends about magical “green eggs,”
called Druid’s Eggs or Serpent’s Eggs. Which brings me around to that other
tantalizing legend – the Druid’s library.
Could it be that Columba’s monks copied not only old
Christian manuscripts, but the Druid writings they found on Iona as well? What
happened to all that work?
It’s never been found, although modern historian
Ashley Cowie, host of the TV series Legend Quest, swears he’s found the
entrance to the lost library in a secret chamber under Iona Abbey.
Yes, Iona is chock-full of intriguing questions and
mystery. And you can be sure I’ll be following Cowie’s investigation with
interest. Wouldn’t an ancient Druid Chamber of Secrets would be an exciting way
to conclude my Ancient Magic series?
--------------------------------
Hi. I’m Sandy Wright. I live in Arizona
with my husband, a super-smart Border Collie/Aussie mix named Teak, and two
huge black panther cats (18 pounds each), named Salem and Shadow Moon. Their
daddy, Magick, was even bigger! He's featured in my debut novel, Song of the Ancients, the first book in
my paranormal suspense series, Ancient
Magic.
They say write what you know, and I'm Wiccan, so my debut novel
involves witchcraft and Native American medicine magic. It's set in the
energy-laden town of Sedona, Arizona. It
was interesting to introduce the concept of witchcraft, seen through the eyes
of an ordinary, non-magical woman, and go through her reactions and disbelief
along with her. While I did a lot of research for this book, most of the
magical stuff I drew from my own Wiccan background and practice.
Sedona is but one earth "power site" in
the world. The Ancient Magic series will take Samantha and Nicholas, as well as
a few secondary characters, to adventures at other sacred sites. The second
book, tentatively titled Stones of the Ancients, will take us to the ancient
standing stones of Scotland, where I get to trace my own heritage while
researching the book. The series continues to Hawaii to learn about Pele, the
Goddess of fire and volcanos. The series will conclude somewhere along the
ancient icy land bridge of the First People, maybe Alaska or Siberia.
Book One – Song of the Ancients is available now on Amazon, in
both print and ebook.
Book Two, Stones of the Ancients, will be available in early 2018.
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