It means ‘bull feast’. FYI.
“A bull-feast is gathered by the men of Erin, in order to determine their future king; that is, a bull used to be killed by them and thereof one man would eat his fill and drink its broth, and a spell of truth was chanted over him in his bed. Whosoever he would see in his sleep would be king, and the sleeper would perish if he uttered a falsehood.”
{From “The Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel”, translated by Whitely Stokes in 1910.}
A bull was killed. A seer would eat his fill of the flesh, and drink the broth (the liquid in which the meat had been cooked, probably with some blood added in too), and lie down for a sleep.
A truth spell was chanted over him as he lay in his bed, and he would dream of the person who would be the true king. In this manner was Conaire Mór chosen as King of Tara.
Prionsias MacCana writes that there were four druids doing the chanting, and Miranda Green echoes this. I’ve not found the reference for that, but I have no reason to believe they were telling fibs.
These days, there’s probably not going to be much sacrificing of bulls for divination purposes. For most of us, at least. We can adapt the Tarbh Feis to our own purposes however, and utilise it’s power.
First, we need the flesh of a bull. A few packets of frozen beef burgers from the local supermarket aren’t really going to cut it on this one.
Locally reared, organically kept, freshly (humanely) killed prime bullock would be the best option; happy meat.
Visit small local butcher shops, ask them where they get their beef, how it has been kept, and how long they hang it for. If you can find one who does his/her own slaughter, all the better. Buy the best cut you can afford, about one pound in weight.
The best way to consume it is in stew, unless you want to just boil it up, drink the broth and eat the flesh plain (this can be done over a ritual fire outdoors if you have a pot. And the facility for an outdoor cooking fire, of course).
If you prefer to actually make a meal of your ritual, then a stew (broth included) is the best way to go. It could be made a part of a solo or group Samhain ritual, particularly relevant as part of the divination and feasting.
Ingest the stew or meat and broth during the latter part of your ritual or working, when any seasonal work you do has already been accomplished.
Your “spell of truth” should be short and simple, so it can be chanted repetitively.
No, I am not going to write it for you! Use your imagination, and make it relevant to when, where, and who you are, and what you wish to achieve or see the truth of.
In a group setting, one should be chosen (probably the one among you who is usually most prophetic) and the others chant over him or her.
It is possible to all take part, but those who take the flesh and broth should be sleeping that night at the location where the ritual has been held. On waking, take careful note of any dreams, write them down in great detail before you do anything else. Don’t trust to your memory!
There are lots of methods for making Irish Beef stew available, any Internet search or library cookbook should give you recipe options. Most will include the addition of Guinness, a black Irish stout drink, which does make it taste lovely, but don’t add too much or it gets quite metallic… and for a ritual meal, perhaps supporting a familiy of colonisers isn’t the best way to go, energetically speaking.
I usually just make one up with a pound of beef, some barley (pearl barley is freely available in supermarkets), carrots, cubed potatoes, peas, onions, black pepper and butter mixed to a paste with flour to season and thicken. All in one big pot, easy and delicious.
If anybody out there happens to find out who should be the right and proper royal ruler of Ireland while using this method, please do let us know?!
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So only the Tuatha used Lia Fail?