Thunderous Surf

Am fuaim mara (Irish Gaelic)
Om foo-am mar-ah (Phonetic)

“I am the thunderous surf.”

~Amergin

This is the third line in Amergin’s epic spell-poem. Surf is the foam produced by waves crashing on the seashore. The ancient Celts were fascinated by things in between, the Time Between Time (the threshold between day and night that we call twilight or the eight holy days which mark transitions between the seasons), and also the Space Between Spaces (boundaries between kingdoms, or the forest edge which supports both creatures of the wood and of the field). The shore is one such place, as it is neither land nor sea, but by its nature contains something of both. What all of these “between” places and times have in common is a mindfully heightened perception of the ever-changing moment. At or during such a between state, possibilities are manifold and the veil between our world and Otherworld is thin or drawn back entirely.

Following upon the previous lines of Amergin’s poem: I am the wind on the sea,” and, “I am the tidal wave,” we see a process now coming to fruition. What began as the primal power of wind, the Swift Sure Hand of the gods sweeping across the vast oceans created a tidal wave, a titanic but temporal movement of power and grace, which now crashed in a thunderous cacophony upon the land. The wave passes from this world, but not before leaving its mark by sculpting the shore. The wave is possibility, and the shore is the ever-adapting moment. We are all the thundering surf.

What changes will we bring as the possibilities of our life manifest in the world?