An Animist Retelling: The Dream Makers

A tale of Earth's dreams from the Isle of Skye, Scotland

This is a re-telling of a traditional folktale from the Isle of Skye. You can find my traditional telling of it on Celtic Medicine Stories. I have loved this tale since the moment I heard it. As I have dreamt with the story, it opened up into an expanded picture. I have also woven into this telling a few key words from the 5,000 year old Proto-Celtic language (see more in the footnotes). This is an invocation to my ancestors from this time, those who walked well with the earth.

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Ura, the great mother, she who's body gave us life, loves to dream.

As she spins around shinning Suli half of her grows towards that warm light into millions of life forms, and half of her dreams new ways of being.

As she spins, Ura listens attentively for the dreams of the ones to whom she has given life, she is especially tickled when they bring their dreams into form with parts of her.

In this way the dreams of her children feed her.

There are many special places on her body where Ura has stretched out her massive form to let her own dreams seep out into the world so those who know how to listen can pick them up.

In this way she feeds the world with her dreams.

There is one such thin place deep in the Cuillin Mountains in the land of the two-leggeds who call themselves the Gaels. Here the dreams of Ura bubble up from the depths and pool quietly in a dark cave.

There are two human-creatures who have been tending this pool most of their long lives. They sit listening to the dreams of Ura, the great Earth Mother, and feed those dreams to the other humans so they may take flight in the world.

One star-filled night Ura heard these two Struti, Elders, whisper a prayer to her. Their heartfelt plea captured her attention as she attuned to the truth they spoke.

"Galweyo, Ura, we call to you great Earth.
Molyeyo, naro bitu, praise to you, this blessed world.

We are concerned that the people forget how to dream. Many continue acting in the world, shaping your sacred form, without first listening for the dreams.

For this, Ura, we ask for your assistance.
Sirasto, for this we yearn with our hearts., Ura"

With that they poured an offering of deer milk into the pool and watched as it wound a white thread across the grey rock, out into the burn that cascaded over the cliff into the crashing sea.

Ura felt their plea. She came into the dreams of Mist, of Mountain and of Deer. These ones know how to listen for the dreams of Ura and they knew what to do.

One day, soon after that prayer had been made, the girls in the human village at the foot of the mountain were sent out by their Grandmothers to gather bleaberries in the foothills. The blaeberries jiggled with excitement, it was for them a great honor to become food and medicine for the human people. The Grandmothers reminded the girls to not go up into the forbidden mountains but stay on the pathways.

One girl, Merka, who had done this before, was sure she would be the one to gather the most bleaberries, she dreamed of being the best of all. She was so intent on gathering as many bleaberries as she could cram into her her creel that she didn't even notice as she headed further and further away from the group of girls.

Mist, who had been waiting around the mountain tops, saw the opportunity. They gently rolled down Mountain and gathered around Merka, thick enough that she could no longer see her friends.

Merka crouched over, frantically picking berries, suddenly felt the cool mist on her legs, raising herself up she realized she was alone and lost.

Trying to orient herself, she looked around but the mist was so think. As she wondered how to find her way back she saw a pair of eyes.

Deer had surrounded her in Mist. They knew that humans can startle easily so they approached gently. One hind drew closer to Merka who gasped as she came into view. Then another nudged her elbow as the rest started to move along the path, up into the mountains.

Merka couldn't see an alternative, so she heeded the nudges of the deer and followed them along the path, deeper into the forbidden mountains.

After some time, they arrived at a high meadow. The mist dissipated a little so they could find their way through the wildflowers that over grew the path. At the far end of the meadow, at the base of a steep cliff, Merka saw a blackness in the rock. The deer led her to the open mouth of a cave.

Trembling with fear, she stood on the threshold. Behind her Deer, Meadow and Mist, in front only darkness. One of the deer stepped forward and nudged her in the small of her back - she took the step across the threshold into the dark.

As her eyes adjusted she saw two very old humans sitting at the edge of a pool on the cave floor. She wondered if they were dead. They both looked so old and sat so still.

Then the old women by the pool raised her head to look at the girl,

"Ah! There y'are! Come on in. Sit ye down lass."

She motioned to a patch of rock by the pool.

"Oh hello! I'm glad to see you here. Can you please tell me how I can get home?"

"Oh aye! We will tell you how to get home for sure, but first we need your help. Stay with us for a year and a day and then you'll find your way."

And so it was. She agreed to stay and help.

Over the following days the old woman showed Merka how they feed the dreams of Ura to the human people. She learned how to pick the right plants to feed the deer people. How to milk the deer and turn their offerings into cheese.

As the sun begin to set in the west she sat with the two Struti by the pool and watched. As they settled she saw the old man take the cheese and form it into shapes, figures and symbols. As the darkness thickened around them she started to see in the pool images swirling. She noticed that the old man was watching the pool as he shaped the cheese then placed it into two baskets.

"Come on! I'll show you how we send the dreams out to the people." he said as he beckoned her to follow. Scrambling behind the old man who moved surprisingly quickly up the rocky path to the top of the cliff she could hear the waves crashing below.

As Ura dreamed the old man began to call out in an ancient language, the words tumbling off his tongue, as they took flight into the crisp, night air.

He held up above his head one of the cheese figures and they heard the swoop of wings as Falcon picked up the cheese and headed out to sea.

"These are the dreams of love, those sent to open us, those of Belonging, Generosity and Compassion" he told Merka.

As soon as he said so they heard the caw of Raven. The old man quickly held up another cheese figure and the feathered one carried it off over the sea.

"These are the dreams of fear, those sent to contract us, those of Monsters, Greed and Self-Righteousness"

This went on for hours as bird after bird took flight with the dreams of Ura, crafted from the gifts of Deer, Meadow and Heart.

One morning, deep into the summer, the old woman said to Merka,

"it's time for you to go, it's been a year and a day - you're ready. Deer will take you."

She gathered the few things she had made for herself, gave tearful hugs to the old ones and headed out into the meadow with the herd. They lead her over the pass onto the paths that wound down the side of the mountain towards the coast. But instead of turning south to the village they headed north along the beach. She noticed and followed.

At some point they all stopped to look out across the sea. There she saw a small coracle, a skin boat, coming towards them. As it got closer she saw it was steered by just one man. As it got closer still she saw that he was very handsome and he wore a golden torc at his neck.

He pulled his boat up on the sand and approached her,

"My love! I have dreamt of you every night for a year and a day. With each encounter I have fallen more and more in love with you. The dreams told me you would be here on this day.

My people have forgotten how to dream. I have come to ask you to marry me, return to our land and teach the people the ways of dreaming."

She turned to Deer who silently loved her with their eyes.

To him, she said,

"I hear the kindness and the longing in your request. I see the honesty in your eyes. And I trust the dreams you have received. But they were not my dreams."

She noticed him contract, deflate a little, before she carried on,

"I have dreamed of a place where the Dreams of Ura flow easily from the land, where the people drink daily from the well so that the hearts and hands that shape the world are nourished by the Dreams of Ura.

I will come with you. We will spend a year and and a day learning about each others dreams before we decide to marry. If we don't, you will bring me right back to this very beach."

And so it was agreed. She turned to whisper her gratitudes to Deer, to Mist and to Mountain and took his hand to climb into the coracle.

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Proto-Celtic Words

These I borrow with much gratitude from Carolyn Hillyer who has breathed life back into these old words.

Ûrâ - Earth

Sûli - Sun

Struti - Respected Elder

Galweyo - Call, Call out, Invoke

Molyeyo - Praise, Prayer, Inovcation

Nâro - Noble, Great-Hearted, Gracious

Bitu - World, Life

Merka - Daughter, Girl, Maiden, Young Woman

Scottish Gaelic Words

Blaeberries - little blue berries, related to blueberries and heather

Creel - woven basket

Coracle - skin boat

Torc - horseshoe shaped neck ornament worn by the ancient Celts