An Excerpt From DANANN to the Stonehaven Fireballs

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Now among the boxes and trunks up in the balcony is one of cedar. In it are a bunch of white clothes and robes or cloaks or some such.

Sidhelagh has Danann bring it down and they explain what these ‘dress whites’ are for.

As the white outfits hang all over the place, to get the wrinkles out, the family follows Sidhelagh to the hearth-circle.

‘You see,’ she says, ‘white is the color of the Mother. It represents Her Peace and Her Mercy. So we wear these dress whites in Her honor on special occasions – like the Winter Solstice that’s coming up. You call it Short Day and that’s as good a name as any I reckon. We’ll have a little Celebration in the Grove on that evening, and then ride – yes RIDE, so practice like crazy in the next couple of days because that’s all you’ve got and nobody better fall off in front of God and everybody in Stonehaven – yes, that’s where we’re riding to after our Celebration. They have something special planned and we’re going to be there for it.’

Brann jumps up like he’s suddenly realized he’s sitting on a tack.

‘Hey! Bard told me about that! Wait ‘til you see! Just wait!’

But he won’t tell them anything more about it no matter how they pester him to.

‘Nope. I promised not to,’ is all they get out of him.

And it just adds to their excitement.

The day of the Celebration is a quiet one.

Everybody finds a spot and spends the day thinking about a lot of stuff.

There’s plenty to think about, all things considered, and the day goes by quickly as they sort it all through in their minds.

By the time they’re in their dress whites, they’re calm and serene, at peace with themselves and with each other.

Mamm and Alaric lead the way and the couples follow by age order with the youngsters coming along behind, the eldest of them carrying the babies.

Sidhelagh and Danann are technically the oldest, but they want their own places back. They coach Mamm and Alaric about the weaving but aren’t really worried.

‘It will come to you,’ they say. ‘And we will be right behind you. This is the way it’s supposed to be; it will be fine.’

And so it is.

The Grove Celebration is relatively short, but very sweet as the Song of the Trinity weaves its medley and their Voices Sing in harmony.

Having saddled their mounts before getting in to their dress whites, it’s just a matter of getting up onto them with the long cloaks in the way.

Danann and Sidhelagh give them a hand and then it’s off to see what Stonehaven has in store for them.

I have to say they make an impressive sight as they clip clop into town.

People have already been gathering for quite a while and the crowd grows rapidly.

When Dunnottar arrives, there’s a hush as they slowly make their way through town. Dressed as they are, they seem to glow in the dark as they ride two by two with Mamm and Alaric in the lead.

Bard is going to head this special event, so it is to his house they ride.

‘Will you accompany me to the opening?’

‘Of course, if you want us to.’

‘I do.’

In the square of the town is where all gather to begin.

Bard’s Voice carries in the night air.

‘We have only just recently done battle against a foe of darkness and of cold. It was defeated by the warmth and light we helped to generate. So it’s fresh in your minds what this night is all about. Tonight we cleanse our town as we have recently helped to cleanse our world. Let us begin!’

In the center of the square a big fire suddenly springs to life.

Bard’s Voice rings.

‘The warmth and the light of this fire burns the things that have been just getting in our way!’

From out of the crowds come many with things to add to the fire.

Also from out of the crowd come others.

These are strong men and women from the town, representing all of the families, and there are quite a few of them. They have prepared packs of burnable items securely fastened into wire cages at the ends of chains. Together they form a circle around the central fire.

Bard turns to the family.

‘Who represents Dunnottar on this night?’

Everyone looks at Danann but Danann looks at Thann.

‘I’ll hold your cloak, Thann. Your ball and chain is right over there.’

Thann doesn’t bother arguing but goes to pick up the end of the chain. Gathering the length of it, he goes to stand with the others at the fire.

‘What am I supposed to do?’ he asks the man standing next to him.

‘Just do what I do,’ comes the answer. ‘We’ll light our fire-balls and then swing them, over our heads and all around about, through the town. They catch whatever bad might be in the air and take it into them as they burn. Then we heave the whole works into the harbour. It’s a cleansing of our town, getting rid of unwanted or dangerous things, giving us a clean fresh beginning.’

‘That sounds like something we all need to do now and then.’

‘That it is, but few do it. Get ready, we’re soon to start. When the Bells Sound their Voices, we’ll light our fires. People throughout the town are going to be yelling and screaming so don’t be shocked by them. They’re chasing things for the fire-balls to catch. Now listen, Thann. Listen for the Voices of the Bells.’

In a very short time every Bell in town starts ringing, tolling, striking, clanging, booming … whether there’s anyone to attend them or not, the Voices of the Bells ring out. It is Winter Solstice and the turning of the darkness.

And the fire-balls are lit while the people yell and scream like banshees.

Thann follows his new friend, but not too closely, through the streets assigned, swinging the fire-ball at the end of its chain around his head, around his body, spinning with it at times, dancing aside if it gets too close. When one arm gets tired, he switches to the other. When both get tired, he uses both for a time.

‘Whew! Glad I didn’t try this before we built that roundhouse!’

After what seems forever, they make their way to the harbour, and fire glows over the water as the balls of flame are cast into the deep and extinguished with a lot of hissing and steaming.

The screams and yells of the people turn to cheers that sound kind of hoarse – this night’s event has been as hard on their Voices as the swinging of the fire-balls has been on the bodies of those who carried them.

Danann comes to find Thann, easily seen as he is taller than everyone and dressed in white.

Thann goes to him and slides his smoky sooty self into the white of his cloak.

‘What now?’

‘Now the bonfires. All around the edges of the town are fires just lighting now, like the one in the square. People are getting rid of rubbish they don’t want any more – and it’s symbolic of getting rid of any bad feelings or whatever from inside of themselves. It all goes up in smoke, you see. We’ll start at the nearest one and make our way all the way around the town. Some people bring along things to put into each fire as they go, but we’re pretty much spectators tonight.’

‘Speak for yourself, spectator! You weren’t the one swinging that ball of fire all over the place! My arms are never going to be the same, nor the rest of me, either.’

‘It’s good for you. Wait until you see what you get to swing in the smithy!’

‘Oh goody. I’m so excited.’

Danann laughs.

‘Here are the others, and here’s your mount. You can ride and rest for a while. Each fire will want us to stop for a moment. They have warm drinks to share with us. Take them, but I warn you, sip sparingly from each. They’re potent, I tell you – and there are a lot of fires surrounding this town on this night.’

‘What about the kids?’

‘They’ll get spiced cider or hot fruit drinks of different kinds. Ours have been warned to sip sparingly as well; they’ll get belly aches if they don’t – and spend half the night having to pee.’

Now Thann’s laughter rings in the night, adding his Voice to the many who are also laughing and singing.

‘And after the round of fires?’

‘After that, we all go back to the square and make a big circle.’

‘Like the one on Northwest, I bet. What a great way to finish cleansing your town!’

‘Yes, it is. It wraps it all up. Now you know why we spend the daytime of this night quietly.’

‘If I’d known we’d be doing all this, I’d have spent it sleeping!’

Danann’s Voice grows deeper but Thann can still hear him clearly through the on-going din.

‘Stonehaven does itself proud on this night, Thann. The people, they are just doing what they do, but they are blessed. They have kept what the rest of the world has for too long been sadly lacking. They don’t realize how special they are … or maybe they do.’

‘I think they know, Danann. I think they know. Else they wouldn’t do what they do, right?’

...

Danann is for Stonehaven

And the Fireballs

Who Protect and Preserve

Things that matter

You have gifted me this book

I gift it to you in return

With respect

And admiration

Thank you Stonehaven.

Here's a link to the event that sparked DANANN - the 2015 Fireballs ...
a time lapse from the webcam - things really start moving at about five and a half minutes into the video ... :) It covers nine hours in seven minutes or so ... stonehavenfireballs.co.uk will take you to some great photos and YouTube vids. Flickr also has some terrific photos, along with scads you'll get with a simple search for them!

Here's just one:

Here's a link to another preview of DANANN, one that has a bit more of the 'story line' ... enjoy!