Go Deeper
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Index of Blog Posts
  • Readings
  • Shop
    • Chapbooks >
      • Credne's Hand
      • The Fiery Wheel
      • The Fifth Branch
      • Four Essays
      • Land Songs
      • Lugh Lleu
      • Master Jack
      • My ears are keen
      • Mythology
      • Poems for Imbolc
      • Tadg son of Cian
      • A Tale of Manawydan
      • Urien of Rheged
    • P & M
  • Online Classes
  • Shapeshifters
  • Events

Is sovereignty still meaningful?

3/2/2021

0 Comments

 
I had an interesting question/comment from one of the students on my current Celtic Horse Goddesses course, where we have been talking a great deal about sovereignty and sovereignty goddesses.
Picture
Picture
The question was: “I sometimes wonder if sovereignty is the correct word, though it is certainly the word used in the literature. It may be that the word sovereignty is being tainted by its use in England by isolationists and the far right. The ‘ownership’ denoted by the word sovereignty seems wrong.”

I understand their concern, and would add that it’s not just England. In 2018, the US president was banging on about US sovereignty in a speech at the United Nations, and that wasn’t the only time.

There is a danger in treating words as “tainted” too readily, though. It forces us to look for new vocabulary, often less precise vocabulary, and this will, in turn, create confusion later about every use of the original word in older pieces of writing. I think it’s always worth trying to hang onto useful words by keeping their true, clear meaning in the public conversation. If we can’t do that with sovereignty, then perhaps we can at least keep it as a specialist word within the sphere of Celtic studies and Celtic Paganism.

As for the original question, I think sovereignty is exactly the right word, in spite of the recent taint. Sovereignty is the opposite of ownership, in a way. Ownership of land is actually a relatively modern idea, in the long sweep of history. To this day, we talk about "landholders" a lot, in British English. I think landholder is a more accurate word for what should be going on, and how things were viewed in Celtic societies.

Holding land implies responsibilities to the people who live on the land, and to the land itself. Sovereignty, in the sense of kingship, requires the virtues of strength, good judgement, fairness, and respect for the goddess who has conferred it. That goddess is inextricably linked with the land and if she/the land/the people are not respected by the holder of the sovereignty, things will get out of balance, and this will become increasingly obvious. In a well-working system of appointing leaders, the holder of sovereignty will then have to be replaced. I suspect that this was easier to maintain in smaller units of government, such as a kin-group, tribe, or a smaller geographical region.

The kind of sovereignty implied by the question, above, is actually something other than sovereignty as I would use the word in Celtic studies or Celtic Paganism. What’s often being implied by modern politicians is a kind of exceptionalist “It’s a free country and you can’t make me do anything I don’t want to do,” attitude. Or, perhaps, “It’s a free market.” It’s forgetting that everything is inextricably linked. It’s refusing to acknowledge that what you do has repercussions for others and for nature, and forgetting that therefore your actions will rebound on your land and your people.

We are feeling the consequences of choosing leaders who have ignored this for decades. For centuries. Now we have a climate crisis and a pandemic. I don’t think the sovereignty goddesses went away when we stopped calling ourselves farmers and got rid of our kings. I believe that they are still here, and that one reason some of us are called to honour them again is precisely because they are tied to the health of the land, to the sacredness of the natural world.

Picture
I'm offering a storytelling and discussion series called The Trouble with Kings, starting on February 24th. It will feature stories of kings, goddesses and heroes, and how they find their way through some tricky times.

To find out more, go to this link.


    Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss a blog post. In return, I promise to limit newsletters to one per month, and of course, never to share your details!

Subscribe to Newsletter
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    About me

    Kris Hughes - writer, hedge teacher,  pony lover, cartomancer,
    cat whisperer.


    Support my work.
    Buy me a cuppa!

    Picture
    Picture
    LIVESTREAM LINK

    You might like my new facebook group called
    CELTIC MYTHOLOGY

    Archives

    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2016
    December 2015
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012


    Categories

    All
    Ancestors
    Animals
    Birds
    Books
    Brigid
    Cailleach
    Depression
    Epona
    Equinox
    Folklore
    Folk Traditions
    Go Deeper Oracle Cards
    Guest Blogs
    Herbs
    Holy Wells
    Horses
    Imbolc
    John Moriarty
    Lugh
    Lughnasadh
    Manannán Mac Lir
    Meditation
    Meditation Cards
    Midsummer
    Moon
    Music
    Mysticism And Visions
    Mythology
    Poetry
    Prayer
    Prayer Cards
    Readings
    Ritual
    Samhuinn
    Shamanism
    Southeast Colorado
    Storytelling
    Trees
    Videos
    Visualisation
    Water


    Blogroll
    Clas Merdin
    From Penverdant
    Gorsedd Arberth

    Stone of Destiny
    The
    White Deer Blog

Proudly powered by Weebly