How knowledge settles for ya
September 2026 (Free Post)
"one of several hymns and charms cited in one of the medieval Irish metrical tracts as to be learned in a student fili's twelfth and final year." - from Celtic Curses by Bernard Mees
12 years learning things by heart, that means!
September is a learning month (in relatively recent times at least), not because anything suddenly gets easier but because the attention shifts, with the heat easing off and the pace slowing just enough that the mind will stay with one thing instead of skimming past it in a summer rush.
In Irish tradition knowledge was never rushed. Our learned folk - druids and poets - trained for years on end, building memory through repetition, correction, and plain oul endurance.
Charms, poems and law were all carried in the mind, body, and soul, rather than glanced at once and set down, so learning something properly meant giving it time and letting it shape you while you did.
That kind of learning asks for patience and for a bit o humility alongside it, because you don't rush the work and you don't claim mastery before it arrives. You stay present long enough for the knowledge to settle.
This simple Irish spell is for focus and steadiness in learning, whether you're starting something new or going deeper into what you already know.
You'll need a small object that sits easily in your hand while you're working, a stone, a bead, a feather or a coin, just something you can touch to bring your attention back when it drifts.
Hold the object and name, quietly or out loud, the one thing you're learning right now, sticking to the single piece of work that asks for your attention over time rather than the whole list of what you'd like to know.
Yeah, I have those lists too... let it go for now! Pick one thing you're learning, or want to learn. When you're ready, say:
I give time to what must be learned.
I hold steady with what unfolds slowly.
What I carry, I carry well.
Beir Bua. (Pron. bare BOO-ah)
Put the object somewhere you'll see it again today, or carry it with you for a while, and each time you notice it let it call you back to patience rather than urgency.
That's the work.
If you want more grounded thinking around learning, memory, and practice within Irish tradition, you'll find it on the Living Irish Witchcraft Podcast. Check out the full playlist on YouTube [HERE].
Slán go fóill
Lora
PS
If learning feels slow just now, that's not like, a problem to be solved, it's usually the sign that you've stopped collecting information and started building skill. Practice is still learning, as per the three pillars: learn, experience, integrate.
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