…or, how I wound up here. It’s all his fault, you know, and he’s pleased as punch.
My first contact with Mannannán Mac Lir was a hijacked meditation to Helios. It was a group, led Meditation for one of the High Days, led by the Wiccan group I’m studying with (I can’t remember which Day it was). Well, I’m sure everyone else met Helios and managed to go to the Sun – Mr. Mac Lir in HIS chariot whisked me in quite a different direction, although for this first contact, I don’t recall much. I remember the shock and surprise factor, however. Helios never did show, although Manannán was gentlemanly enough to deposit me where I was supposed to be at the end of the meditation, so I could join properly in the ritual after.
My second contact with him went just as, er, swimmingly, shall we say; since I just finished my last Deity Focus essay for the aforementioned College, I put out the intention into the Universe and requested that any God or Goddess who wished to work with me for this next focus to make themselves known – the first thing I got, right after I spoke this aloud, was a pair of blue eyes so close to mine I couldn’t tell who it was – just big, staring eyes right into mine that took up my whole line of vision. So, troll that I am, I said cattily, ‘if you’re going to get that close, I can’t tell who the heck you are. How is that going to help?’ Turned out, yet again, it was Manannán Mac Lir. He’s a tricky one. Fortunately, he has a huge sense of humour, at least in my experience. As he was leaving, he poked me with a trident and said, ‘get to work on that crane bag’. Oh boy.
The next contact was during the essay and research process itself – I kept having visions of him, which have continued, actually. I had already been poked in the rear from Him; and it during this research process that I had come to suspect that he is my patron God. When I made that realisation, I could see his blue eyes, about 1 inch from mine, and hear a ‘tsk tsk, you’ve not made your bloody crane bag yet’. That’s what I like about him – his sly sense of humour and his unpredictability, combined with his very real wisdom and great power.
What finally pushed me over the edge into joining ADF was Himself; actually, I had been thinking of trying to work with my mentors at OBOD and petition for Druid Grade, but in studying some ADF material online, I saw how connected many members were to Mr. Mac Lir – and how he is often called as Gatekeeper in Ritual. I had also been on various and sundry websites in researching this Deity for the Wiccan College, and well, felt right at home. I did a divination spread, one that I developed for my Oracle deck I’m illustrating — and after seeing the results, I had a vision. I asked Him, ‘How may I serve you?’ and He replied, ‘Now you’re asking the right questions!’ HA. I also asked, ‘Joining ADF feels right to me… is putting aside OBOD for ADF a beneficial thing for me to do at this time?’ And he replied, ‘ You already know the answer to that.’ And off he went.
I joined the next day – today, actually. I’m awaiting my packet even now, as I type.
