Fionn MacCumhaill (Finn MacCool for us Americans) is like Hercules for Irish people. The story goes that he gained his powers when he happened upon a Druid, a poet named Finnegas, that had been searching for the perfect salmon to catch and eat. This salmon had through some mystical connection with hazelnuts, that it had digested in the Well of Wisdom, gained all knowledge in the World. He did not have YouTube yet, unfortunately, so he needed to seek this special fish. As the story goes, Fionn (the hero) showed up right at the moment that Finnegas had finally caught the magical fish. Finnegas asked Fionn to cook the fish, you see Fionn was an adept hunter and explorer. Finnegas made him swear that he would not eat first of this fish for any reason. He made the promise and cooked the fish. However, when the fish was cooked, Fionn tested the meat with his finger only to get slightly burned. He quickly lifted his thumb to his mouth to relieve the pain and in that moment tasted of the salmon. He gained all the knowledge of the salmon at that moment. From then on, whenever he needed knowledge, all he would have to do is bite his thumb.
Symbolic Act #1 – Bite Your Thumb
However, Fionn was not yet the mythological leader that he would become. He needed to defeat evil and gain his band of followers first. So on Halloween night, actually it is called the Samhain Feast, Fionn encountered a group of Irish settlers being haunted by a fire breathing fairy called Aillen. You see, on Samhain (Halloween) the veil between the Fae world and our world gets very thin. This fairy would come to these people on the night of celebration and put them to sleep with music. Then the fairy would burn them and everything around to the ground. This had been going on for many years and one night Fionn came upon them as they were preparing for the festival. When the fairy came, Fionn (blessed with knowledge) understood immediately what was going on with the fairy’s music. To resist falling asleep, he stabbed himself in the forehead with a spear. That caused so much pain that it kept him awake. The fairy, in shock, was not ready to dodge that same spear that ended the fairy’s Halloween Night taunting of the Irish people. It was that night that Fionn became legend, the great leader and his band of the Fianna would follow him unto many tales of legend.
Symbolic Act #2 – Stab Yourself with a Spear
There are many stories of Fionn, and many of them occur during the Samhain feast. My favorite is the legend of how the formations of rocks occur on the Ireland and Scottish coasts. You see Fionn became large in stature and was very bold. He taunted a giant that was living on the coast of Scotland. The giant was very mad and after building a bridge between the two islands, came to teach Fionn a lesson. Fionn realized how big this dude really was. So he got his wife to cook some pancakes. One set with iron buried in them and one without. Fionn dressed up a like a small baby. When the giant came to the house, his wife, being a good Irish woman and hostess offered him pancakes. He tried to eat them, but because they had iron in them could not chew them and had to spit them out. She fed the other pancakes to her “baby”, who easily ate them quickly. She said her husband would be home shortly and they could resolve their differences man to man. The giant freaked out. If his baby son could chew rock laden pancakes and he was as big as he was, just imagine what his father would be life. The giant fled Ireland and on his way destroyed the rock bridge.
Symbolic Act #3 – Eat Pancakes!
Ha! That was a joke. I have no idea what the symbolic act of that story is. My point of this is that there are many symbolic acts in mythology that we remember and are passed down to generations. I think we lose the meaning and the value of these acts over time. However, they are indeed powerful and have been a tool used by humankind for centuries. What kind of symbolic acts do you or your family have to remind you of your values, your commitments and your history? Symbolic acts can really help remind you of what it is you committed to, to what your intent was when you made the commitment. Give it a shot, think of some small thing you can do that will prompt you to recall what your goal, passion and commitments area. Well, maybe something a little less painful then sticking a spear in your forehead. We will leave that to the Irish.
Guy Reams
