Easter is a time of re-emergence, a time of joy and hope for what may emerge as the year unfolds. Easter is closely connected with the Spring Equinox, which in the northern hemisphere is around 21st March. It is Spring time and the earth is re-awakening after the dormancy of Winter.

In Ireland the coming of Spring is heralded and celebrated at Imbolc or la Fheile Bhride (February 1st ). This is the time when the earth begins to awaken and when the possibility of growth returns. This festival is associated with Brigid who represents the maiden form of the feminine energy. It is the energy of initiation and new beginnings. It is the primal creative energy that awakens in the earth and in us at this time. Now the influence of the Cailleach, whose energy ruled over the season of Samhain (November till February) has waned. Her task of regeneration through death is completed and her time is over. The gift of her reign leads us to new possibilities which arise from the depths of being. Once we have crossed over the threshold at Imbolc, the primal feminine energy of creativity exerts its influence and awakens the new life within us and all living beings. This is the resounding YES to new life in all its many forms!

As the year turns towards the Spring Equinox and Easter we notice the earth awakening more fully with green shoot of new life evident everywhere. A sense of anticipation for what will emerge during the coming time is more palpable. At this time the masculine energy of activity is rising within all living beings. Now it is time to take action to grow our gardens. It is also the time when we make decisions about which of our dreams and desires we will focus on for the coming period of time. This is a time of saying specific “Yeses”. In our gardens it is the choices of plants we sow. To the extent that we tend and nurture these plants they become our harvest later in the year. This is also true in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes I find myself saying a big yes to an inspiring project or idea but for several reasons I may not be able to proceed with it as the time.

In the period between Imbolc and the Spring Equinox many possibilities arise and the time of Spring Equinox is the time when we make out choice set out our priorities. We recommit to our life purpose as we rededicate ourselves to our unique calling in life. It is within this context that we make the choices of projects for the coming period. These choices may be inwardly or outwardly focused depending on where we are in our journey. In doing this we must sacrifice or die to other possibilities or to a smaller version of ourselves that they might drain the life force from what is longing to be lived through us at this time. We must, as Steve Covey recommends, “Put first things first”. And just like in our gardens, we are called to plant and nurture these seeds with no guarantees of a successful outcome. These are moments of faith which require courage.

The wisdom of the poet Rilke is needed at these times…

“You must trust your images… fear not the strangeness you feel

The future must enter into you long before it is born”

As you reflect on your own life with its unique circumstances ask yourself which dreams will you choose to focus conscious intention at this time? What is it that you are willing to say a resounding yes to at this time of new possibilities? I find encouragement in Brendan Kennelly’s poem Yes which acknowledges the struggle that is required to get to YES

“I love that word and hear its long struggle with no”

At this time of new life and new possibilities may we each hold powerful dreams for ourselves and our society and have the courage to say a resounding Yes to our hearts desire. And take courage from this Goethe couplet…

“Whatever you can do or dream you can begin it

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it “

Le beannachtai

Dolores

This year the actual New Year begins November 13^th on the new moon. In Ireland most people  celebrate Samhain, especially its  association with the ancestors, around October 31^st, November 1^st, the Feast of all Saints, and November 2^nd, the Feast of  all Souls. At this time of the year we humans are often more aware of and connected with our ancestors.

I recently came  across the article “Why we celebrate Samhain” by Celtic artist and performer Treasa O’Driscoll, written in 1991.

“The festival of Samhain was first celebrated by people  whose attention was directed to a supernatural world, to the Gods, to a world of productive,  generative, creative forces. The earthly world was seen as an expression of this other world, seasonal changes in nature reflecting spiritual changes in people’s inner life.  The Druids created rituals at the seasonal festivals that supported the connections between heaven and earth. Fundamental to this original Celtic view of life is the knowledge that when the material world withers the spirit awakens.” (1)

This implies that the season of  Samhain is an opportunity for us to align ourselves with the rhythm of the natural world and to draw our attention inwards towards the spiritual aspect of  ourselves.

Here in the northern hemisphere, as the days become shorter and the nights longer and with darkness and death visible everywhere in the natural world, reflecting and dreaming would be natural activities as we nurtured the seeds of the coming year’s possibilities deep within ourselves  – as the seeds of the natural world are nurtured deep within the earth.

The season of Samhain is a profoundly important season.

We humans must learn how to engage successfully with the energies of Samhain so that our journey through this season will result in transformation and new life.  Right now our western society is in a Samhain time.  However, personally and as a society we lack the essential knowledge of the challenges and the gifts of this  season, nor have we developed the skills needed to successfully negotiate this season.

So what are these skills? They include a willingness to become still, to listen deep within, and to develop the feminine qualities of being, of surrender and active waiting for subtle signs. In this season letting go of what no longer serves us is another essential task.

This is beautifully described in  the following section of  the poem ‘Brigit’s Well’ by Richard Kearney.

“I will rest now at the bottom of Brigits Well

I will follow the crow’s way/Footprint by footprint

In the mud down here./I will not come up

Until I am calmed down

And the earth dries beneath me

And I have paced the caked ground

Until smooth all over

It can echo a deeper voice

Mirror a longer shadow”

To follow the path suggested in this poem can be very challenging for those of us who constantly want to be active and DO and be in control!

However the energy of the Cailleach (or the hag) aspect of the Divine Feminine that is dominant within this season insists that we allow her to guide us as we move deeper into the void until we reach the place of surrender and stillness at the winter solstice (Dec 21st). Only when we arrive at this point can the new possibility present itself to us because at this time of immense darkness begins the birth of the new light and the new life and new possibilities, as is expressed later in this poem…

“Then the fire may come again

Beneath me this time

Rising beyond me No Narcissus – flinted spark

Behind closed eyes

But a burning bush

A fire that always burns away

But is never burnt out “(2)

My prayer for myself, for you and for each person on the planet at this auspicious time is that we enter and engage with this time in a transformative way.

May we each have the courage to allow ourselves to sink into that deep creative place, where transformation and new life are to be found.

May the blessings of Samhain be with you.

Le gra agus beannachtai

Dolores

(1) Why we celebrate Samhain, Treasa O’Driscoll, the Celtic Connection, November 1991

(2) Richard Kearney, “The Irish soul in Dialogue”, Stephen J.  Costello, p. 147

In earlier times in Ireland, Lughnasadh was a gathering time for communities and Meithals were common occurances as people gathered to save the harvest together. When the harvest was saved people gathered to celebrate the fruitfulness of the earth and the successful journey of the community with their land. During these gatherings people also shared their personal gifts and talents, especially those that had come to fruition over the previous year.  It was a time of gratitude and celebration for all that had been achieved during the period from Samhain (November) until Lughnasadh. It was a joyful time with much singing and dancing and fun.

As always life and death are never too far apart, so at Lughnasadh flowers were buried to indicate the end of summer and the death of fertility for that season.  For us modern humans, Lughnasadh is an opportunity for us to celebrate all that has come to fruition within ourselves, our gardens and our communities. Each Lughnasadh the harvest will be different and will be a consequence of our particular circumstances that year!

So take a moment to reflect on what you are harvestings this Lughnasadh. What new talents have you discovered and fostered?  What qualities are you honing this year? What friendships, what projects are you harvesting this Lughnasadh?

It was customary for the tribes to gather and reconnect at this time, so who and where are your tribe and how well are you connected with them? In the present world the tribe we belong to may not be limited to people who live around us. Our tribe may be a mixture of local and global  friends, people with whom we can be ourselves and with whom we feel comfortable. Connecting with our tribe supports us in our journey!

For me Lughnasadh is about gratitude for the abundance in our lives. Meister Eckhart, the  14^th century Christian mystic, once remarked  that “if the only prayer you said in your life was thank you it would be enough.”

Gratitude opens the heart to receive more of the gifts given so freely by the universe to those open to receive!  How much abundance are you open to receive?

Le gra agus beannachtai 

Dolores

... the sun meets the water at sunrise at Bealtaine

Dear friends, Greetings.  Bealtaine has finally come to Ireland!

Bealtaine, the second most important festival of the Celtic calendar after Samhain, marks the passing from the dark inwardly focused to the bright outwardly focused half of the year.

There is something almost primal in my love of Bealtaine or May-time.Sometimes I wonder what is it that is so special about May time in Ireland? Is it the longer evenings? Is it the millions of wildflowers, primroses, wild garlic, bluebells and dandelions that grace the hedgerows? Or is it the burst of colour in the gardens or window-boxes? Is it that special almost translucent quality of greenness which is only present in May or the blanket of whiteness created by the ubiquitous Hawthorn?

Perhaps it is all of these together that allows the world around us to take on a larger dimension and allows us see so clearly and so vividly the new life bursting forth after the restrictive darkness and coldness of winter. And perhaps the sense of the sap rising within ourselves adds to our capacity to see the world anew. It is as if both the soul of the earth and our own souls have awakened and are seeing the world as if for the first time.

Many of us who grew up in Ireland in the 50’s and 60’s have cherished memories of the Bealtine / May time celebrations that took place in towns and villages all over Ireland. Joyful events like the May procession when we children dressed up in our Communion dresses or best Sunday outfits and walked through the streets where flowers decked the doors of the houses. We sang “Oh Mary, we crown thee with Blossoms today Queen of the angels and Queen of the May,” celebrating the union of heaven and earth and the fecundity of the mother and announcing the arrival of summertime.

Many people created a May altar in their homes with wild flowers and a picture of Mary the mother of God to celebrate Bealtaine.
We sang “Thuagamar fhein an samhradh linn” ( We bring the summer with us or into us) reminding us that summer is not only a season happening in the land it is also a quality that we can embody in ourselves.

Perhaps what is most striking for me about the festival of Bealtaine, is that it holds a great sense of anticipation and possibility. This new season has arrived, one that promises long days, perhaps even sunny ones. And who can know what will unfold during this time?

Some of the ancient customs associated with the festival of Bealtaine (at the time of the full moon in May) are still practised by some of us e.g. the ritual of going to a high and sacred place before sunrise to wait and greet the first rays of sun on the morning of La Bealtaine and bring water from a Holy well and allow those first rays of sun to strike the water; enacting the ancient ritual of the masculine and feminine energies uniting and empowering each other. (See the photographs on this blog as an illustration of the power of these forces.)

At Bealtaine, the masculine energy take becomes the dominant energy. This energy is necessary to ensure the flowering, ripening and harvesting of the seeds sown in winter and spring.
The masculine energy acts in the service of the feminine energy that has nurtured these seeds… It is wonderful to see how the wisdom contained in the Celtic calendar understands and honours the importance of the balance of masculine and feminine energies from which all life emerges.

Gratitude and abundance are qualities that I associate with May-time because abundance is reflected everywhere at this time. It is difficult not be grateful in the month of May!!

For me Bealtaine is also a state of mind. It is a space where I can risk bringing something new out into the world of form so that it can blossom into its fullness. It is a place in me where I step boldly into the world, like all of nature does in May-time, regardless of what lies ahead. To know your own May-time requires a deep and sensitive listening to yourself and a willingness to be true to your process. I have often tried to force May-times in my life, to force a piece of work out of its inner space before it was ready, or to force myself to be in May-time because some aspect of my ego thought I should be. What I have learned is that when I do that to myself nothing blossoms!

... the golden light of the Bealtaine sunrise at Deerpark Court Cairn, Co Sligo, May 6 2012

I am also learning to recognise the many Bealtaine moments that are available in my life every day. These opportunities that happen at unexpected times are moments when I say yes to my life as it is this moment, and allow the moment to blossom into its fullness.

So today let us give thanks for the beauty of Bealtaine in the world around us and for the blossoming energy of Bealtaine wherever it is within ourselves.
Let us also honour the journey which began at Samhain and moved through each of the seasons until it reached Bealtaine, because I have found that, in truth, there can be no Bealtaine without Samhain.

Le gra and beannachtai

Dolores

Brigid, as both Goddess and Christian saint stands at the heart of the Celtic spiritual tradition.  Brigid is greatly loved and revered all over Ireland and as each year passes has an increasing following world-wide. Brigid often described as “breathing life into the mouth of dead winter” is associated with inspiration, new ideas, and new possibilities.

Two festivals honour Brigid in Ireland at this time– the Brigid of Faughart festival in the Dundalk area and Fheile Bhride in Kildare town. In the Brigid of Faughart festival we celebrate, not only the ancient heritage of Brigid of Faughart, but we ask the following questions:  “What does Brigid represent in modern Ireland,”  “What qualities does she embody that would serve us in our world today?” and, “How can Brigid and what she represents  inspire us humans to live wisely amidst the change, the turmoil and the uncertainty that is so much a part of our lives in 21st  century Ireland?”

When we read the stories associated with Brigid we learn that she was a woman who trusted completely in God and life to provide what was needed in each moment. She was renowned for her generosity to everyone, which I believe was born out of  her trust in the abundance of the universe.  She was a woman who courageously challenged the status quo and what was seen as possible. She made bold choices in her life; choices that were life-enhancing.

Now, more than ever, we need not only to call on her to support or heal us, but we need to go one step further. We must develop within ourselves those qualities that distinguished Brigid in her day, so that in doing this we ourselves become  catalysts for change in today’s world, as she was in her time.

So at this time we invoke her energy and guidance in becoming alive again to all the new possibilities present in the midst of the darkness and doom and gloom which pervades our reality.  We ask her to support us to say YES to our dream of what else might be possible within our life!

Brigid of the sunrise
Rising in the morning  
Rising with the springtime
Greening all the land

In this springtime if each of us chooses to include one new possibility within our lives and develop these possibilities through our decisions and choices, what a wonderful world it will become!
We invoke Brigid to bless and protect us and our dreams.

“The mantle of Brigid about us
The memory of Brigid within us
The protection of Brigid keeping us from harm,
From ignorance, from heartlessness
This day and night from dawn till dark.”

Dolores Whelan,  Imbolc  2012

In this deep dark season that is the stillness of mid-winter, a new light is born.  This light is fragile, and needs to be protected and nurtured, so that it can grow and blossom later in the year. For 5000 years, this mystery has been observed and honoured consciously and unconsciously in the wonderful monument in Newgrange Ireland whose older name in Irish is Uaimh Na Greinne (the womb of the sun).  See http://www.newgrange.com/winter_solstice.htm. At sunrise on 5 consecutive mornings around the time of Winter Solstice from Dec18^th until Dec 22^nd people gather inside and outside this monument and watch and wait as the sun travels up the narrow passage and impregnates the dark and empty chamber filling it with light and transforming the darkness! In the Christian tradition, the birth of the Christ child represents an evolution of this ancient mystery. The birth of the Christ-child represents the birth of a new consciousness, the Christ consciousness of unconditional Love.

This is a time when we connect with each other in a way that is different and unique. In doing so, we are remembering and re-living a custom from earlier times when the reality of winter and darkness were physically more challenging. People came together to support each other though the darkest time of the year by exchanging gifts and sharing food together. Now more than ever we need to come together to support each other as we come through the dark times in which we find ourselves. So at this time of uncertainty, as we enter 2012, may we each trust the new light that is emerging within us  and nurture it  in ourselves and in others and

“May the Love and Light of the Christ Consciousness Be born again in your heart this Solstice and Christmas time and may it radiate out into the world around you Transforming everything it touches”

Le gra agus Beannachtai

Dolores Whelan

Blog for website Samhain 2011.

My name is Dolores Whelan and I want to welcome you to my first ever blog.  This feels like an exciting new adventure for me one I hope that you will also enjoy. Welcome to the Celtic New Year which begins with the Season of Samhain. The festival of Samhain which is celebrated from Oct 31st till Nov 2nd represents the space between the old and New Year.  20 years ago I celebrated the festival of Samhain for the first time.

Since then I have studied the season, the festivals and the ritual practises associated with the festivals of the Celtic year. During this period the festivals have come alive in me and have become a significant part of my lived reality… In Ever Ancient Ever New (2006/ 2011) I wrote extensively about the Celtic year and the significance of reclaiming it wisdom in 21st century. In 2007 I created an audio CD “A Journey through the Celtic Year “which also explores the many different layers and aspects of the Celtic calendar and the sophisticated mindset of the people who created and lived by this calendar. This year I have collaborated with Cynthai Matyi (www.matyiart.com) an American artist whose work specialises in modern interpretations of Celtic designs. Together we have co-created a Perpetual Celtic calendar using reproductions of Cynthia’s paintings and insights about the seasons of the Celtic year from my work. We are both delighted with the beauty and the wisdom present in this piece of sacred work. The calendar is available through both of our websites. So why all this focus on the Celtic Year? I believe that held within this calendar are many of the essential teachings of the Celtic and pre- Celtic peoples that have endured throughout the Millennia.

The Celtic year begins with the season of Samhain where in the northern hemisphere the days become shorter and the nights longer… Darkness and death is visible everywhere in the natural world.  This is a time for inwardly focused activity and for reflecting and dreaming. It is a time when the seeds of the coming year’s possibilities are nurtured deep with the earth… The season of Samhain is a profoundly important season, not only because of what happens in the earth but also within the human journey. Right now we, as a society, are in a Samhain season.  In order to engage with the energies of Samhain in a way that will bring  transformation  and new life, we need to learn about this season, Its gifts and its challenges, we need to  know the skills that are needed to successfully negotiate this season. So what are these skills?  They include a willingness to become still, to listen deep within, and to develop the feminine qualities of being, of surrender and active waiting for subtle signs. In this season letting go of what no longer serves us is another essential task. This can be very challenging for those of us who constantly want to be active and DO and be in control! The Cailleach (or the hag) aspect of the Divine Feminine is the dominant energy that operates within this season. This energy insists that we allow her to guide us as we move deeper into the void until we reach the place of surrender and stillness at the winter solstice (Dec 21st). Only when we arrive at this point can the new possibility present itself to us. It is only at this time of immense darkness that the birth of the new light, new life, new possibilities begins.

I wish you every blessing in your journey during this Samhain season. May you have the courage to allow yourself to sink into that deep creative place, where transformation and new life are to be found?