The past eight days I have been joining Abbey of the Arts on a Nine Day Virtual Celtic Pilgrimage of Ireland. One of the Saints I have learned a bit more about is St. Ita. She was said to have been given three stones for direction. The third was her new name–Ita. I cannot even remember her original name and it does not really matter for this post. Those on the pilgrimage were asked to imagine we were given three stones and contemplate what they might be. The first two that came to me were “hold gently” and “trust”.
Having no knowledge of the traditional Irish language, I was at somewhat of a loss as to what my new Irish name could be. For fun, I decided to reach out to the group on Facebook to see if there might be anyone who could help me. A member of the group brought it to the attention of another member who studies the language. She reached out to me and I asked her if she might know an Irish word for “gentle.” She messaged me back that “Caoimhe” pronounced Keevah is an Irish name with that meaning. It also means “dear” or “noble”. At first I thought it might be presumptuous to take such a name, then I decided it might be something I would like to emulate or be. Most would have no idea what it means or even know how to pronounce it.
When I googled the name and found that it was considered the feminine form of Kevin, I had to smile. St. Kevin of Glendalough and the blackbird is one of my favorite Irish legends.
An abbreviated version of the story is that St. Kevin had his arm outstretched in prayer and a blackbird came and made a nest in it. For me, it symbolizes an extreme act of patience–the kind of patience I long for. As someone who has struggles with panic attacks, I have used the mantra “just let it be there” more than once. I imagine St. Kevin maybe saying that too as his arm ached.
Quite awhile ago, I found this decorative bird that I spray painted black. The only solid black birds we have around here are crows and ravens (both rather obnoxious in their calls.) We have blackbirds but they are red winged. To be true to the legend, I knew that blackbirds in Ireland are all black with a yellow-orange beak and eye. Today I finally painted the beak and eye on my little blackbird. Beside him or her, or maybe them, are my three stones. Without this rather long explanation, you might not have any idea how it all fits together, right?
With that I will leave this post here, but I will be writing more about this legend and black birds.
If you were given three stones for direction, what might they be?
