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THE STORY OF THE OLD ONES

 This is the myth written by Tony Kelly for the Pagan Movement. It was the basis of the rites and records the names of the gods as they were used in the rites. The basic myth recorded here was developed over the years as a result of doing the rites, but this is the basis of the Movement's mythos.

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   Mabh, who we love, was walking in the ferns and she came to a grove of willows, and in their midst was a pool whose waters flowed from eternal springs.  But the light in the Virgin's eyes was low for in all her land she was alone.  And she came to the water's edge and looked in the face of the pool and there in the pool she saw a maid whose beauty was like her own.  Her eyes shone bright and the maid's eyes sparkled bright to Mabh and the pool was lit in a silver radiance.  The water danced to the heart of Mabh and the maiden danced to the water.  "Who lives in the water with the sparkling eyes?" asked Mabh to the winds but the winds sighed and sang "Ask us not that our Mabh; all things we bring to you from afar and afar we sing of your love, but there is one place where we are still and in that place the maiden lives."  Then spoke Mabh to the willows: "Who lives in the pool and dances with the water?"  And the willows said "Mabh of the shining eyes is she; Mabh lives in the water; Mabh is the maid of the pool."  And Mabh loved the willows for it was not untruth they spoke.  But again she put her question and she spoke to the silver pool.  "Tell me, All of Love, who is the maid in your watery arms?"  And the pool said to Mabh "She is the maid of song and of poetry, of beauty and of magic and her name is Mab."  And Mabh's heart went out to Mab and she bent over the pool and stretched out her right hand to her and Mab stretched out her arm to Mabh, and where the water kissed the winds, there held Mabh the hand of Mab.  And Mab rose from the pool and the winds embraced her and combed her hair and carried the name of Mab to the four regions.

   But a sadness came in the pool and she was ugly as Mab was beautiful and as dark as Mab was shining and the water darkened and moved without motion on the place where Mab rose and the sadness wailed with a broken heart and the willows wept in the pool and the eyes of Mabh grew dark with grief.  And the sadness screeched "No one will love Maghu for love has gone away; Maghu is a hag and an emptiness; Maghu is a shadow on the lonely road; poor, miserable Maghu!"  And you would pity Maghu but that she was ugly as the barren seed and ruthless as the blight and she had neither love nor pity for any save for her beloved Mab.  And a dark fog fell on the pool and Maghu devoured the water and it filled her sad eyes with sorrows deep as wells, and she gathered the fog as a cloak about her.  And Mabh's heart went out to Maghu and she entered the slime and stretched out her left arm to her and Maghu stretched out her arm to Mabh and where before the water kissed the earth, they parted one from the other and Maghu went into the lonely mountains.

   Now the womb of Mabh bore fruit and she called her child Brirn and he was beautiful and brown as the hazel nut.  He grew in beauty and skilled in the ways of magic.  He was big as Yr Wyddfa, and small as the the heart of a fire-fly, wide as the ocean, as slender as the cotton-grass down, as tall as the fir and small as the moss, hard as the granite rocks and soft as the mist, younger than seed and older than fruit, child of all children and old to the wise.  Mabh loved him with all her heart and Brirn gave Mabh all of love.

   Now a second time the womb of Mabh bore fruit and the child was white as the rain bearers and dazzling bright and Mabh called her child Pahh for he was mighty.  He was smaller than Yr Wyddfa and the fire-fly smaller than him, narrower than the ocean and the cotton-grass down more slender than him, smaller than the fir and the moss smaller than him, softer than the granite rocks and the mist softer than him, older than seed and younger than fruit, father of all children and he sat on Brirn's knee.  Mabh loved him with all her heart and Pahh gave Mabh all of love.

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