The ancient Celts did not have a written history or use written documents for even the most important of uses, including treaties, records or contracts. Instead, the spoken word was the only source of agreement or promise.
A tradition developed that honored not only the necessity of keeping promises but stamped an element of significance to the conclusion of the negotiations between people and tribes. It also was drawn from the Celtic belief in the four elements of nature:
- Fire
- Water
- Air
- Earth
Fire refers to the sun and all other fires that are a part of life, such as the bonfires of the season, fires in the hearth that warm the body and provide the heat needed for cooking, and fires that bring light to darkness and represent the intensity of feelings. Fire is good. It brings light and heat, but fire is also destructive because it can become uncontrolled and consume things needed and vital for life. All fires but the sun are transient and unpredictable, so they cannot offer the promise of being always present to remind me of the vow made to another. The sun is permanent, but it is not ours to hold and possess in place we can return to when we need to be reminded of our obligations.
A pledge that relies only on the air that carries the words from heart to mouth to ears and heart of another can be lost in the wind that can carry away words and scatter them across the geography. Air has no memory, only a form we cannot see or hold in our hands. When we close our fists on words, nothing remains when we open our hands.
Next comes the earth, which is made of stone and dust made from stone. Stones are the bottom of our geography, the foundation upon which we stand. Stone is solid; they offer permanence because it can only be intentionally destroyed. Left alone, stones are forever. Stones, unlike fire, water and air, have memory. They cannot fade, float, or be carried away by time alone. Stones represent what is unbreakable and unforgettable in our existence.
I will hold the oathing stone in my hand when I reach out to you to bind an agreement. If you hold fast to my hand with the stone between the palms of our hands, the stone will hear words spoken between us and remember them long after we have gone back to the earth.
Whenever I witness a marriage commitment, I ask the couple to hold an oathing stone between their palms. Then I place one hand on top and one the other hand below their hands so that the stone will hear them speak from the heart to each other and remember, the stone will listen to my words of solemnization as the witness to their commitment and remember my words.
Do you wonder if stone may have a memory? When you visit a church made of stone or brick, put your hand on the wall, close your eyes and listen. What you will hear sung back to you by the rocks will amaze you.
