AISTIR

 

Aistir is a word coined to describe our own household 'An Charraig', and other possible households like it. 'An Charraig' has been created as a spiritual centre in the Celtic tradition.

I want to coin a new word

The word is AISTIR

It has its roots in MAINISTIR
And its branches in AISLING
And, spelt differently, it means JOURNEY.

An AISTIR is
An Irish
Spiritual
Peopled
Place.

When there are plenty of these places
They become
Nodes
On a criss-cross
Of pilgrim paths.

An AISTIR is a

'Tobar na Beatha'

Discovered
Imagined
Created
Unfolded

By the people
Who are of it.

It is their life
In place
In time
In context
In balance
In right relationship.

The trees of the AISTIR
Have Celtic roots
Drawing life
From the richly composted soil
of Irish heritage.

The waters of the AISTIR
Are purified
By the filters
Of a prayerful,
Disciplined
And wholesome lifestyle.


The people of the AISTIR
Offer hospitality
To pilgrims on their journeys:

A bowl to wash one's feet
Fresh straw for a bed
A candle for the night
Food for the body and soul
And the company of friends.

They break their bread
Share their eucharist
Live their lives
With those who come.

An AISTIR faces out
To distant horizons
To visions of far-off lands
To hopes of what might be
To transformations
Within
And without.

May there be many
such AISTREACHA
Toibreacha na Beatha
On this sacred land
Again
As before
Scattered
Like grass-seed
On the landscape
From East to West
And from North to South.

May Pilgrim Paths
Tóchair
That make connections
With our ancestors
With our dreams
Open up
New ways
Old ways
And make holy
Again
The ground
On which we live.

Dara Molloy July 1995

Tobar na Beatha = Well of Life
Aisling = dream
Mainistir = monastery

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