This month, as I went to journey to Na Morrigna for the Dark Moon, I took my usual path, but instead of taking me to the usual cauldron outside a small house, the path swung left and continued until it emerged out of the forest, and led to a broad road. Beside this road, a horse stood waiting for me, and I swung on as I heard riders approaching from my left. I saw Macha, on a red mare, riding at the front, and her two sisters flanking her, one on either side. I joined the company of riders, and we rode together on further, across a plain and then up a large hill to a fort with impressively tall walls. We were hailed, and then let inside, festooned with ribbons and silk flowers on our way, through the winding streets to a large hill on the far side of the fort. Everywhere there were decorations, and I knew instinctively they had been made both in preparation for our coming and in preparation for the festival. As we dismounted and got our horses settled into the stables, we each made our own way into the large hall. Inside, there was food to eat, mead to drink, and much talking and laughing and even some gambling. As the night went on, however, the merriment gave way to more serious conversations and strategizing, preparation for the coming season. Always we must look onward, keep preparing for the next season, the next battle, but there is still time for celebration.
My vision then shifted forward in time, and I saw the warriors I had ridden in with defending the fort from the walls, making repairs, and keeping a watchful eye out across the plain, which was laid out before us on all sides, as the fort was on a lone hill. Another shift – and now a large force had been spotted coming towards the fort, and our warriors were preparing to go and meet the challenge, the most energetic and fierce preparing to engage in battle outside the walls, while others planned to shoot arrows and offer other support from behind the walls. “Two things are needed,” I was told, “to defend a fort soundly: blood-frenzied warriors, and stout walls.” This then, is the lesson I was meant to impart to my community, the advice for the coming months when I will not be journeying to meet Na Morrigna at the Dark Moon: we must continue to defend our walls.