BLESSED NONA

The Valley Spirit is deathless,

 It is called the Dark Mare.

The door of the Dark Mare,

Is called the root of Heaven and Earth.

Tao Te Ching  6

Before Dewi Sant and his illuminated deeds

Earned him the patron-saintship of Cymru

There was wild Nona   the blessed mother

Taken in lust who laboured in a cave of choice

And became the darkness of the womb.

 

And in the conceiving meadow she

Clasped a Welsh stone   excruciatingly

Imprinting eight finger-channels

In the benign and yielding rock   while

On her shoulder   a callow dove settled.

 

Once this son tilled the ground   his own

Pale hands raised a mound on which to stand.

His homilies were lost in sea-breezes until

He stood above and miracled the wind

To impart his words and images.

 

And so he ferries the spirits of the dying

To a safe harbour while she in small acts

Observes stag   salmon   and scented bees

And dreams him safe within her Mystery

As she did before his longed-for nativity.

 

Forthcoming in In Praise of Darkness

 

NOTES: 

The Valley Spirit and the Dark Mare are both symbols of fertility and indicate that Tao is the female creative power.  David was the son of a King Sandde of Ceredigion, (an ancient principality of Wales),  and a woman, Non or Nona who was raped after he saw her one day when he was out walking and  hadn’t yet learned the message that “No means No!!!”  Non was devastated so went to live in a cave (womb image) on the hillside where she gave birth to her son alone.  Among heroic mythical figures conception is often accompanied by an Otherworldly (liminal)  spirit, and having an absent father is almost a requirement for sainthood.  Non was a strong and capable woman and raised her son well.   She later became a nun and was a saint in her own right.  David is best known in West Wales but also did missionary work in Ireland. He founded ten monasteries. St David celebrated his life as an austere and miracle-producing saint.  He drank only water  and encouraged his monks to do likewise and was given the nickname  “Aquaticus.”  March 1, 588 is believed to be his death date and is now the day for celebrating him in Wales as the patron saint.  The site at St David’s in South Wales has been a Christian settlement since the 14^th century and was called Hebllan.   Non also has a chapel dedicated to her.  David is said to also have founded a settlement at Glastonbury.    “Behind every good man is a good woman.”

 

Beryl Baigent

Ontario