On Thursday morning this week, an hour before sunrise in the east, the Moon, Jupiter and Mars will make a particularly pretty showing that’s like a scene from the story of the goddess Ethuan in The Celtic Wonder Tales, where she is turned into a little golden fly because she has grown so weary of all the worlds.
As a golden fly, Ethuan, whom we will imagine to be the golden waning Moon, is swept by the wind from the divine World of the Bright Shadow down to the World of the Dark Shadow that is Earth. There she slips into a cup of mead as its drunk by the queen, and afterwards, a child is born, the most beautiful child in the world. So beautiful, in fact, that all things wonderful pale by comparison~and this brings a certain sadness into the kingdom.
The child Ethuan grows, and eventually she is discovered by the high king of Ireland who marries her, but unbeknownst to him, she brings with her all her divine weariness so that there is no gladness in the land, because nothing can bring her joy.
And here’s where Jupiter and Mars come in, one of them the king, which we’ll imagine is Jupiter, and the other, the god Midyir, the red-maned~our Mars. Midyir shows up in disguise to win Ethuan back through a game of chess. And though he wins, Ethuan chooses to stay with the King, explaining:
There is no world of all the worlds my own, for I have never made a place for myself, but the high king has made a place for me and all the people have brought me gifts, and for the space of one year I will stay with them and bring them gladness.
It’s a perfect tale for the beginning of the new year, and for the beautiful apparition in the morning sky, which is like all the best resolutions~ to bring about joy, beauty and gladness for the space of one whole year.