Of Myth & Music

Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world.
Geoffrey Latham

If the Irish had a creation myth it was long ago burned or drowned. And, unlike other indigenous cultures, there is no surviving creation myth passed down through history. celtic knotPerhaps within a cosmological view of no beginning and no end, like a Celtic knot, there was no place for creation mythology. This does not mean, however, that there is no story. As Frank MacEowen writes, It isn’t a story printed in an ancient text somewhere, nor is it a sacred tale that has been passed down from generation to generation orally. …it is a living story – a story that waits for each of to remember it.

The Irish may not have the myth, but they have the music. They have the song. The Great Song, the Oran Mór. Indeed the primordial myth common to all people around the globe tells of a mighty melody, the breath and word of the sacred, the divine creative energy that calls all life into being. As Frank Mills writes, The Oran Mór is the numinous music – energy – that sings Creation into existence, and becomes the holy, mystical song of Life sung in the seasonal festivals and rituals of sovereignty of the people. It is the holy song of Creation that fills humankind and gives meaning to history…

It lives still in Ireland. It lives in the land. It fills all of creation with its divine harmony. And it continues today, for those who listen.