“Magic birds were dancing in the mystic marsh. The grass swayed with them, and the shallow waters, and the earth fluttered under them. The earth was dancing with the cranes, and the low sun, and the wind and sky.”
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Most druids have a Crane Bag. Mine is the place where I carry all of my ritual tools. Ask a dozen druids what is in their Crane bags, and you get as many different answers. The contents of mine can change seasonally, or with location, or by type of ritual, so it is really impossible to list a kit of tools so to speak. My Crane Bag is unique to me and to how I conduct my rituals. These tools guide me to deeper levels of understanding within my practice. What are the roots of this tradition?
Well they begin with a woman of course, the much maligned Aoife who’s name means ‘radiance.’ She is cited often in our mythical tales and has many incarnations. Daughter of Ailill who became Queen Maeve’s fourth husband and owner of Finnbennach the White-horned Bull. Step-Daughter to Bodhbh Dearg, the Dagda’s eldest son, who offered her as a consolation wife to Lir and step mother to his children. Wife to Lir. Step Mother to the Children of Lir, Fionnuala, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn whom she turned into swans. Warrior sister to Scáthach the legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher. Lover of Cú Chulainn and mother of his son Connla who’s father kills him with the infamous Gáe Bulg spear. Lover of Manannán mac Lir’s son Ilbhreac and rival of Luchra the daughter of Abhartach for his affections. It is Luchra who finally charted her doom and turned her into a Crane to live with Manannán mac Lir for two hundred years. When she died, Manannán used her feathery skin to make the bag in which he kept all his treasures. Crane Bags are essentially holders of knowledge, and this knowledge was given to men. Knowledge that was held in the Crane skin of a woman Aoife that is given to men. This tradition is carried on by the druids to this day.
Manannán mac Lir stands head and shoulders above all of the Gods in the Irish mythical sagas. His origins stretch back through the mists of time. Akin to Neptune and Poseidon, Manannán was our sea god and guardian of the Otherworld. He had many treasures at his disposal not least of which was the one fashioned by his own hand, known as the Corr Bolg or Crane Bag. This bag was sacred, charged with enormous power and potential within itself, but in turn contained many treasures, including Ogham writing and human language. Manannán fashioned this bag from the skin of Aoife (a woman who was precious to him) after she died in Crane form and was only visible to a select few under a distinct set of circumstances e.g., in the sea at high tide. This bag has been put at the disposal of a number of our Irish heroes including Lugh, Cumhaill and Fionn.
This bottomless bag held all that was treasured by Manannán. Amongst the treasures were his knife and shirt, the shears of the King of Scotland, the helmet of the King of Lochlainn, the bones of Asal’s swine, a girdle of a great white whale’s back, birds, hounds, the belt and smith’s hook of Goibniu and other things. Asal for example, was the King of the Golden Pillars in Irish mythology. He owned seven immortal swine, who were killed and eaten every night, yet found alive every morning.
Aoife who was first and foremost a warrior that could match the skill set of any of the greatest heroes of the sagas. She spends 200 years in Manannán’s house after being transformed into a Crane by Luchra her most jealous love rival. Aoife and Luchra loved the same man, Manannán’ s son, Ilbhreac of many beauties. Both women were deadly warriors and skilled in the art of combat. Luchra determined to win her man, beguiled Aoife to go swimming with her and in the process changed her into a Crane. Aoife demanded to know what was to be her fate. This account from Dunaire Finn – The Poem-Book of Finn, gives us the following,
’How long am I to be in this form, woman, beautiful breast-white Luchra?’
‘The term I will fix will not be short for thee, Aoife of the slow-glancing eyes: thou shalt be two hundred white years in the noble house of Manannán.’
‘Thou shalt be always in that house with everyone mocking thee, a crane that does not visit every land: thou shalt not reach any land.’
‘A good vessel of treasures will be made of thy skin — no small event: its name shall be, I do not lie, in distant times the Crane-bag.’
Manannán is thought to have loved Aoife as deeply as a daughter and was aware of her most magical qualities, her potent power. Consequently, when she died, he set to transforming her essence and being into a hold all for all of his treasures.
Crane Magic or Corrghuineacht was the magical practice of the druids. They delivered blessings and curses on others by adopting the stance of a Crane, standing on one leg with one eye closed as if a Crane standing in water, it was called the glám dícenn – satire of ruin. Cranes also dance in circle and take nine steps before flight akin to the druids in the magical ring. The Corrghuineacht in particular denoted knowledge of Ogham. This practice continued into the early Christian era where priests with a high level of knowledge were known as the Crane clerics. Columba of Iona was once such Crane cleric.
The mythic Crane is most associated with the Irish Goddess Aoife . She was said to have been turned into a sky demon (Crane) by Lir when she turned his children into swans. Crane power is often associated with that of the Crone, and like the Crone, Cranes can be seen as ugly and difficult. Cranes live a long time, a solitary Crane is said to live on Inis Kea (An island of the coast of Co. Mayo, Ireland where there are the remains of a number of Neolithic Tombs) that is older than time and thus are considered wise. Ogma is thought to have created ogham writing from watching how crane’s legs crossed to form patterns. There is a school of thought that believes the treasures contained within the Crane Bag are symbols of the Ogham Alphabet and were used as tools of divination. Druids were the Poet Warriors and had their own magic known as the Imbas Forosnaí or the illumination of inspiration.
The bag was passed from Manannán to Lugh, then to Cumhaill and finally to Fionn. Lugh was a practitioner of the Corrghuineacht or Crane Magic and is said to have used it against the evil Fomorians at the second battle of Maig Tuired. The bag was handed down through generations until it came to Cumhaill, father of Fionn. When Cumhaill was killed by Goll mac Morna, the bag was stolen and given to Lia, a chieftain of Connacht. Fionn avenging his father’s death killed Lia and killed Lia and took back Crane Bag.
All of the Irish myths and sagas are laced with symbolism and metaphor and are best interpreted this way and not taken literally. Cranes of course are no longer native to Ireland and the Heron is often used to replace them symbolically. The first recorded birth of Crane chicks in over three hundred years took place on peatlands in the midlands of Ireland in 2021. This is a wonderous development and sets out the tantalising possibility that these elusive birds will make their home amongst us again.
My Crane Bag is handmade by me from a recycled dress depicting Cranes, it has two shoulder straps. I have it to the ready by the door and it practically goes everywhere with me. It looks for all intents and purpose like any other carry all bag, except of course it isn’t. To share the contents would be to share my secrets. I do not carry Whale bones about with me for example, but there are a few items including tealights, matches, some sacred water, whiskey, a compass, a whistle, and altar cloth that I don’t mind sharing.
The one open eye of the Crane stance enabled one to see into the Otherworld, while standing on one foot allows you to walk between worlds, just as the Crane steps between earth, water and sky with ease. I have never used Crane Magic in the same way as the ancients did, I’m not so sure footed that I could balance long on one foot for example and I’m too short sighted to be closing an eye. My crane bag however, helps to keep me on my path as I work with nature, it keeps me rooted in place and reminds me to live in peace with all beings. Cranes symbolise land, sea and sky, the three realms.
Aoife lived in Crane form for hundreds of years and in many incarnations, daughter, warrior, sister, wife, step mother, spurned lover. There is no more fitting a metaphor to encompass all of the wisdom she gleaned in her many trials. She immortalises all of the tools required for transformation, a feat only achievable by a Goddess and holds forever that secret knowledge. It is there yet though, on the edges and the margins and in the liminal places. There is a mixing and a melding, of air and earth and lessons to be gleaned in the depths. Crane wisdom only ever comes with patience and in questioning all that we know. When you know it, use it, for that is your secret power, use it well.
Further Reading
Mawie Barrett
Mawie Barrett is a Druid who grew up in the Comeragh Mountains in Co Waterford, Ireland. She defines herself as a mountain woman. She believes that there is a language in landscape that seeps into her by osmosis and fires her imagination. Her work is sprinkled with metaphor; the ordinary everyday event trickles out of her subconscious and tells the deeper story. Her forte thusfar is history, which she expresses in fiction and nonfiction. Writing brings Mawie great joy and expression, it is the place where she channels her insights and reflections. Nature, people and travel are her major influences. She blogs too, and you can read more about her here and discover more of her work at www.druidscribe.com.
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