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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Celtic

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Spring Ahead Like the Bold Ram You Are

As we move out of sensitive Pisces, I feel my own fiery sun sign of Aries begin to kick its strong hooves into gear. I love when the sun first enters the sign of Aries at the time of the Spring Equinox/Ostara. I’m all about new beginnings, new projects, fresh starts, and creative approaches to problem-solving. When coupled with the always optimistic, first glimmers of spring, one can’t help but lean hard on the side of hope. I appreciate the dreamy, sweet side of Pisces, and know that I have some in my chart, due to the close proximity of where my birthdate falls (the 23rd). This being said, I also welcome my fighting, brave, adventurous side just around the corner. I look forward to ushering it in with verve and gusto. I’ve had to employ some of this especially recently when it comes to standing up for myself. Often I’d prefer to avoid unpleasant confrontation, preferring flight instead of fight mode.

Justice for All

One thing about we Aries types though, we have a particularly strong sense of defending against anything unjust—whether behavior done to ourselves or our loved ones. So that doesn’t really allow for hiding away from saying what needs to be said or done. This can be applied in the workplace, setting firm boundaries with those who are apt to bring you down, or simply calling out a particularly rough new hygienist in the dentist’s office. Sure we could just lay back and grimace through the pain. But is it really doing anyone any good, especially if the rudeness if pretty over-the -op and the perp isn’t aware, or doesn’t think there are any consequences for their behavior?

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Samhain, the Gaelic name for Halloween, is on the 31st of October, also known as Nos Calan Gaeaf in Wales- literally meaning ‘the night before the beginning of winter’.  Astrologically Samhain is a cross quarter festival- falling in between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice and for this reason dates to celebrate can vary- from the 31st to the 7th of November- which is its astrological date this year. This is a special time, where spirits abound to wreak havoc or visit their loved ones, for solace or revenge, where the spirits of nature remind us of their wild and untamed ways and for a while the ordinary way of things in the mortal world is upended. 

Now is a perfect time to honour our ancestors and do some ancestral healing- this frees us up from the patterns of the past, ways of being handed down from parents to children often going back generations that are often unconscious and overlooked, to say what we didn’t say or to resolve and forgive any misdeeds.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Planetary Protection Charms

Planting three red flowers in the new moon will keep trespassers off property and allow the land to return to a wild well-being. I suggest penstemon, wild roses, geraniums or nasturtiums.

To heal and guard an ailing or endangered tree, an old Celtic custom involves tying a red ribbon around the trunk and chanting:

Red for the sap-blood inside this spirit-tree,
Every Full Moon,
I will retie a cord of magic around thee.
So mote it be!
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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 The Alignments of Carnac Stones, France - Archeology

 

Is there any land more pagan than Brittany? Armorica, Land by the Sea, where Druids dance, Little Britain, home to Carnac and ten thousand Standing Stones?

Come walk with me among the serried ranks of Marching Stones, my friend, and let us speak of What Might Have Been...

 

The Armorican Revolution

 

The United States of Armorica

 

Gods Bless Armorica

Gods bless Armorica, my home sweet home.....”

 

As Armorican as apple pie.”

Britanny is widely known for its apple orchards.

 

Armoricana

A collection of things relating to the history, geography, or folklore of Brittany.”

 

Armoricanize

 

Armoricanization

 

Armorica the Beautiful

Armorica, Armorica, gods shed their grace on thee....”

 

AFL (Armorican Federation of Labor)

Why do Druids love acronyms so much?

 

The Armorican Legion

 

Armorica (song from West Side Story)

I like to be in Armorica,

OK by me in Armorica,

Everything's free in Armorica,

For a small fee in Armorica.

 

Armorica's Cup

 

And, of course....

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

Recently I’ve been weaving water magic, and taking brief pilgrimages in search of depth. In the Celtic traditions, bodies of water, lakes, rivers and wells hold special positions as liminal places, where the realms of spirit may be easier to access, and where healing and wisdom can be sought. In the Irish tradition the otherworld and the gods are often found by journeying over bodies of water or on mysterious islands off to sea, as well as at the many holy wells and springs that are found across the country. In Wales it is similar, with lakes also holding this sacred significance, and the Welsh word for the otherworld, Annwn, or its older spelling, Annwfn, literally means ‘the deep place.’ Seeking depth, physically, in the dark ever renewing stillness of wells and wild waters, and the bright flowing of waterfalls on mountainsides I find my mind and my whole being refreshed and cleared of strain. I’ve found the stillness within which may allow new thoughts, new ideas, new insights to arise. The deep isn’t only to be found in the earth, or under water, it needs to be found in our hearts and minds as well, for transformation to come, for a new way of being to be born. So I’ve made a commitment to sit in silent communion near water and to place my feet in rivers and streams at least once a week, to seek healing, renewal, and new vision in these difficult times. To access the source of my soul and the soul of the land, and physically hold that connection in my body.

Meditating near bodies of water is always a special and useful practice. There is something in the sounds of water that helps us to change our consciousness even for a while, and gain access to those deeper parts within…making friends with the water in our bodies too, by drinking more water, and undertaking cleansing rituals that use water magically for change are also powerful. Try adding seasalt to your baths, and using vibrational essences, as well as making space for your emotions to be felt and honoured, with regular time set aside to keep in contact with yourself and your feelings. This is essential especially when life gets tough. Honouring the waters of the world with offerings is also good practice; sing to your rivers and streams, read them poetry, take time to pick up rubbish and get involved defending them from pollution. Buy green products that don’t pollute, walk your talk. But most of all, love them, spend time with them, build relationship with them, and healing will flow naturally. Honouring the waters, and seeking our own deep places, has its own simple magic, and sometimes that is the strongest kind of all.

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My spiritual and magical life has always been very much tied to the land. I’m very fortunate to have been able to explore some wonderful truly wild places, and to have made pilgrimages a great many times to a large proportion of Britain and Irelands sacred megalithic sites. These sacred monuments and enclosures were constructed thousands of years ago by our Neolithic, bronze age and later Iron age ancestors. Visiting and taking extended vigils at some of our most revered as well as some of our lesser known sacred ancestral sites has been central to my magical and spiritual training since I was a teenager.  To me, working and communing with the powers of place, the spiritual guardians of these places, has provided the most potent aspects of my instruction and I feel I have built up a close relationship with many ancient sites that are as personal and dear to my heart as my relationships with my fellow humans. Many of these places are small, lesser known sites well off the beaten track, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to foster a deep relationship with some of our better known and even famous megalithic sites, having spent time there and held ceremony within their enclosures for many years now. One of the most often misunderstood of these is also the most famous- Stonehenge.  I’ve been fortunate to have been able to have private access to Stonehenge a few times a year for quite a long time, more often than I have ever visited as a tourist. I feel blessed that it is so. During the heady days around the summer solstice I might well visit the stones more than once, and this year when the site is closed, I’m feeling a real sadness that my regular pilgrimage cannot take place. Visiting when you have private access is very different than the huge open public solstice gatherings, that are so famous, when thousands of party goers get to climb all over the stones and unfortunately leave a lot of rubbish behind. Equally, when visiting as a tourist, one is lead around a circular path and are able to only see the stones from afar, as it if were a circus attraction, or a paining in a gallery. Sadly, these two extremes are how many people see Stonehenge; as a place of wild revelry, from a distance on a paid tour, or saddest of all, from the window of a car on the A303 road, stuck in traffic, choking the air of this sacred place with petrol fumes.   

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