Danu's Cauldron: Wisewoman's Ways, and Wild Fey Magic

Living in a sacred landscape, walking between the worlds in the veil of Avalon Glastonbury. Where the old gods roam the hills, and the sidhe dance beneath the moon...wander into the mists with me and let us see what we may find...

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Danu Forest

Danu Forest

Danu Forest is a wisewoman in the Celtic Bean Feasa tradition of her Irish ancestors. You could call her many things- witch, seer, walker between the worlds, healer, druid, priestess, teacher, writer, gardener, herbwife, stargazer, faery friend, tree planter, poet, and wild woman. Danu lives in a cottage near Glastonbury Tor in the midst of the Avalon lakes, in the southwest of England. Exploring the Celtic mysteries for over 25 years, and noted for her quality research, practical experience, as well as her deep love of the land, Danu writes for numerous national and international magazines and is the author of several books including Wild Magic, The Druid Shaman, Celtic Tree Magic, Gwyn ap Nudd and The Magical Year'. She teaches regular workshops and online courses and is available for consultations, including healings readings and other ceremonies.

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

a1sx2_Thumbnail1_knocknarea.jpgThis Beltane I returned to one of the homes of my heart. I embarked upon a simple quest once more to feel my own soul strong within me, and spent some time on retreat in Sligo, Ireland. Not a long journey from where I live really, especially in these modern times, but a great distance travelled within, in the heart and mind. Furthest west, to the waters and the waves....No phones, no internet, no TV; a peat fire and the sound of the sea roaring beneath our little cottage.....and just beyond our garden, ours alone to visit, an ancient barrow mound, untouched but for the shaggy brown bull that munched on the rich grass that grew upon it.

On Beltane eve as dusk gathered, turning the sky to turquoise and the low hillsides to emerald velvet, I gathered my shawl around me and looked out at Sliabh Gamh the Ox Mountains, sacred to the goddess Aine, encircling me with an ancient and warm embrace. Ahead, Knocknarea stood tall and proud as Queen Medb herself, who is said to lie in the cairn upon its summit, and to the west, foaming around her toes was the wild grey Atlantic. This was an ancestral Beltane for me, one where I felt my roots grow deep and nourished by the very earth herself, where the wind and the rain and the crackling of the fire stirred up the very fibres of my being and made me anew in her bubbling cauldron.  In this place, at Beltane, the old gods, the Tuatha de Danann, the children of the goddess Danu, came to the mortal world.

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  • Danu Forest
    Danu Forest says #
    Thanks Ted and Danielle! x
  • Danielle Blackwood
    Danielle Blackwood says #
    Absoloutly enchanting, deep and wise Danu. Thank you.
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Thank you so much for this beautifully written, evocative piece. You carry us there with you, we who cannot yet make the journey a
  • Danu Forest
    Danu Forest says #
    Thanks Bless you Lesa! its a very special part of the world!
  • Lesa Bentley
    Lesa Bentley says #
    As I was reading your Beltane walk I could feel and see everything you were describing! Thank you! Even though I am far from "Hom

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
The Blood Well

I followed the flight of the heron through the willows, the wide blue sky above. Skirting my way around the little town, I made my way between the hills, between the greening orchards and down the leafy Well House Lane, the glorious lush green belly of Glastonbury Tor above me bright in the sunshine. I have walked this road a million times, in rain and summer heat, in winter shadows and sleet, in the utter darkness of a Samhain waning moon...it knows me well, and every time my feet tread this path I feel blessed to live in such a sacred landscape. I greet the tree spirits I have worked with over the years, the hidden springs, one a deep secret, another a mere boggy patch in the meadow upon such a day as this...

Turning the corner I enter the gardens of Chalice Well, and the hush of the day becomes somehow more refined as I make my way past the manicured flower beds and beneath the rose archway, passed 'the chakra border', a rainbow of blossoms unfurling. The sense of wholeness I have gathered to me all the way builds now, my body finds comfort in the serenity of the garden, as I make my way along the worn stone pathway to take my seat beside the well. Aching feet find ease upon the cool damp stone. There is the sound of distant drums beating upon the Tor, but all is still here, all is quiet. I am blessed with solitude, but I am not alone. As my stillness gathers, I feel the presence of this place all around me. The spirit of the well, the ancient goddess envelops me. Without words or ceremony, Her presence both warm and bright rises from the waters, and I sit in quiet communion, my spirit drinking in all She may offer. Her daughter, Her pupil, Her priestess.

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  • Jill Swift
    Jill Swift says #
    Truly Beautiful! Blessings!
  • Carol P. Christ
    Carol P. Christ says #
    "all that we have suffered, all that we have lost, and all that we know." Susan Griffin, Woman and Nature

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