Imbolc:Triplicity, Comedy, Community and Creativity
4th Feb 2012, 3.00pm, Ravensdale forest Park
Imbolc is truly a liminal time of the year. It is the doorway we pass from the old winter to new spring. It is a birthing time in nature when the first of the flowers (Snowdrops) and buds come into bloom. It is a time associated with the goddess of the land expressing herself in pure form .
During our meditation to tune into the energies of this celebration we all seemed to tune into the idea of trees, thresholds, stones, rushes, cosmic order and bridges. We also saw how the idea of triplicity was a strong theme running through our planning.
The goddess is seen as either a virgin, maiden or crone. These may be described as her three main personas that change with the moon or season. The moon, for example, passes through 3 distinct phases from new, through crescent to full. The Celts had a wonderful system of triads eg. Three purposes for the return of souls to this world: to collect into the soul the properties of all being, to acquire knowledge of all things, to acquire the power to overcome chaos.
Imagine how surprised we were to then discover that on page 333 of a certain book was described a forest walk in Faughert (Where Brigit was born) over a bridge leading through trees to a stone circle -a place to monitor the cosmic order.
So why not join us to connect with the time of year, to tune into the cosmic wisdom of the goddess in a light hearted way and to earth that process by channelling that into the Brigit’s cross which, amongst other things, is a symbol for the cosmic cycle.
Outline of the Ceremony
Gathering at the car park we will pause 3 times on our way to the stone circle at three different types of gateways. The First is a bridge over flowing water representing the threshold of the past, inviting us to come into the present.
The Second is the threshold formed between the uprights of the forest trees that invites us to come into the present moment and the third gateway is the gateway of the stones in the stone circle inviting us to consider where we want to focus our growth for the coming year.
We will take the time to tune into the setting by listening to a story on Brigit and the birds.
As it is cold and to stimulate fun and joy at this formative time of the cycle we will play a simple ball game to raise the energies and keep warm.
This will be followed by a tripartite meditation with a structured lead in, a silent middle and a structured, grounding exit.
After expanding consciousness through meditation and meeting with the infinitely creative Brigit we will weave some Brigit’s crosses to use in the next part of the ceremony. And also to keep for the coming year as a source of constant inspiration and creativity.
The ritual of the triple blessing will be performed by each participant on their neighbour blessing them with Holy water from Brigit’s well (Faughert), blessing them with a piece of Brigit’s Cloth and blessing them with our Brigit’s cross.
Anyone with an open heart contribution is then invited to share their thoughts, music or whatever with the group. As Brigit is associated with certain types of food we will be sharing some traditional fare at the end of the ceremony.
If attending, you might like to bring a folding stool or ground cover to sit on during personal meditation time.
Those unable to attend may light a candle and tune in or better yet do your own ceremony and let us know how you faired.
Best wishes and bright Brigit Blessings.
Tara Celebrations Team
(who this week are: Nora, John, Bernie, Eileen, Martin)
The Mantle of Brighid about us,
The Memory of Brighid within us,
The Protection of Brighid keeping us
From harm, from ignorance, from heartlessness.
This day and night,
From dawn till dark,
Ó óich go híoch. .....from C. Mathews
http://www.taracelebrations.org/-_Imbolc/
Directions: On the M1 take the exit 18 for Carlingford R174 or R 132 depending on which maps you are using . The forest entrance is less than 2Km off the R174. Discovery map no 29, Grid Ref. J083 159. Meet in the car park for 3pm.
Poster for download available here
Please click the link above to download a .pdf and share with others a poster for this event.
Imbolc News
Meditation in Dunshaughlin – 1 February 2012
First Wednesday Meditation: Meditation and Healing Circle
Venue: Seomra Tara, Killeen Road, Dunshaughlin, Meath .First Wednesday of the Month. Theme for our get-together is the earthly and angelic Brigid. The evening will include Prayers and Blessings of Brigid, meditation focussing on our inheritance of Brigid's gift of light and enduring truth, a healing circle for ourselves, friends, relations and wider world issues. All will receive a Bhrat Bhride left out to collect Brigid's healing energies over the previous night. Cup of tea and biscuits. Finish prompt at 10pm. Donation of €5 for room hire and drinks. If you would like further information please contact Nora at email@taracelebrations.org.
Rainbow healings https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rainbow-Healings/146798562102283?sk=wall
Celebrating Brigid of Faughart at Imbolc Dundalk, Faughart and Ravensdale Co.Louth
Venue: various venues nr. Dundalk, Louth
The emphasis of this festival is to revisit and reclaim the richness of the traditions associated with Brigid of Faughart in ways which are relevant to our lives in 21st century. http://www.doloreswhelan.ie/ Jan 28-1st Feb
Imbolc Retreat with Dolores Whelan
Venue: Carlingford, Louth, Ireland
Imbolc Retreat weekend 3rd ---5th Feb 2012. This retreat is one of a series of four weekend retreats which create a journey through the seasons of the Celtic Year. http://www.doloreswhelan.ie/
Calling Macha Home Feb 17th
Venue: Navan Centre & Fort, Armagh Mythic History as horse goddess through to who is she now? Contact phone number: 028 37529644 www.navan.com
March 24th Tara Celebrations: SPRING EQUINOX CELEBRATION
Venue: to be advised .Time and place will be posted early March
11 February 2012 Pebbles for peace – give peace a chance – A SevenBells event: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002043248393 or http://www.taracelebrations.org/CALENDAR/?/2012/02/11/
If you have anything you would like to share with the e-mail list please send it to Nora@TaraCelebrations.org for inclusion for the next news letter before the end of April. If it fails to make the news letter we can simply place it as a calendar event on the web site.
Moving out of the Shadow into the Light - Tower of Lloyd - 5 February 2011
Imbolc 5 Feb 12:23pm , Tower of Lloyd, Kells, Co. Meath (signposted peoples park, on the Oldcastle road out of kells). Please assemble for 12:15.
Moving out of the Shadow and into the Light.
A chairde - at certain times you just know you are being led by spirit. Planning this ceremony and everyone thinking of the same time & odd location, we knew we were marching to the beat of a big drum! For the past two Imbolc celebrations we have been secure in the underground chamber of the Fourknocks, but this year we knew that it had to be on a hill, outside, like a bulb pushing its shoots above ground. We had to come out of the shadows and into the light! And this quickly became the theme and subtitle of the ceremony. Like the plant bulb it is a time for casting off the dark Samhain shell and standing naked (metaphorically, before anyone gets any ideas) in the world, growing skyward with the shoots and earthward with the roots. At this point in time we are choosing a high location and drawing down the greatest potential energy of the sun at this time of year. The tower of Lloyd is an enigmatic inland, light house. It is a symbol of hope and direction and is a site with a lot of radio antennae, symbolising communications on an etheric level. The odd starting time of 12:23 is a specific time and was arrived at by intuitive hits and the only sense we can make of it is that it closely approximates local noon.
Order of Ceremony: starting at 12:23pm
After the introduction the circle will be smudged to remove misqualified energies and mark sacred space. The Light will be passed around to remind participants that we are “beings of the light in the light”. The Directions are marked to orient oneself in sacred space. And then we introduce the Cailleach, the winter goddess who rules over Samhain and all that is dark. She will collect the darkness from each individual so that they may be unburdened and move into growth without baggage. The Cailleach gathers all the darkness in her cauldron and keens over it to acknowledge its passing. The baggage is then transformed by fire and turns into light.
With the shedding of the darkness we use a tai chi movement to draw down the sunlight and also bring nourishment from the earth roots to feed the plant arms which allows the plant to grow taller, which allows the plant to draw more nutrients and so on in a circular fashion. We will then ponder on the inspirational story of the King of the Birds and allow our spirits to rise into the ethers. A metaphor for growth. A metaphor for the times we live in.
We are then asking participants to share the meditations of their hearts in the form of poetry, prose or anything else that inspires them with our open heart contributions part. This is of course a welcome opportunity for absent celebrators’ to contribute to the celebration of the season.
To weave this all together in there will follow a simple dance with a weaving, snake like motion where those stood in a circle will be part of a weave . An ever growing line of people will weave in and out of the circle eventually absorbing and transforming the stationary circle into a living and dynamic force. The Directions will be “closed “ and we return to ordinary space, enriched to enjoy some home made food. We will put some pictures up after the event.
Please note that there is a Height restriction of 2.1m, anybody with big heads or transit vans will have to limbo under the gate.
The Location:
Kells or Ceanannas Mór from Ceann Laois translates as the head fort (headford). Kells gave its name to the Book of Kells in which it was associated strongly. In 1152 Irish monasticism was changed to diocessan church. In 1690 a force of Willimates camped on what is now lloyd hill under Thomas Lloyd of Enniskillen. 100 years later Lloyd spire was erected by the Thomas Taylor in memory of his father. The site is alsoreached by a Mass path which is now part of the Ringfort walk.
image from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KellsFol007vMadonnaChild_V2.jpg
A page from the book of Kells circa 800AD shows the virgin and child. However, hidden in the folds of her garments the figure displays her breasts. Brigid was modeled on the Virgin Mary as part of her medieval make over but even in this image the virility innate in each of us is given expression. It was an image used in our ceremony to help us connect with our heritage and deep wisdom. If the book of Kells were indeed written in Kells then this image is all the more apt.
Brigid was keeper of the sacred flame. Similarly, this lantern stayed lit on Tara whilst we were in Kells.
The King of the Birds story and photos shared by Anne
Fado fado, when the world was young the birds of the air had a big gathering to decide who was King of the Birds. As they couldn't agree they decided to ask owl, the wise bird, for her advice. She suggested a competition to see who could fly the highest. They thought this was a wonderful idea so all agree to have the competition the next day at sunrise. Sure enough, as the sun rose so did the birds. The first to drop out was the blue tit, then the robin, the dunnock. the chaffinch. One by one the birds flew high until they could go no further and had to return to earth. The raven soared high and thought , "I've won". But then he heard the skylark singing above him. The skylark sang with joy, but then realised the buzzard was high above him. The buzzard thought , "I am king, I am the highest soaring here on the thermals". But high above him he heard the honk of the goose. the goose thought . "I 'll win 'coz i have to fly high to get long distances". But high above them all, the eagle soared on and on towards the sun. He flew until he could fly no higher and declared, "I am king" and he started to descend. Just then a little wren, who had been hiding in his soft feather fly higher and higher, saying look at me " I am King of the Birds" And that is how the clever little wren became King of the Birds.
And that is how the story was told
to me when i was young.
However, in the past week i have heard two alternate endings to the story. Another ending: The eagle landed and complained that the wren hadn't flow all the way. After a lot of arguing , the birds asked the Wise Owl. She thought about it and said. "the wren did not fly all the way, so he cheated. the Eagle is King of the Birds. " And from that day on, the little wren had to hide her shame and flit around on the ground in the shrubs.
An third ending: the eagle, realising that the wren had one, lost his temper and grabbed the wren and flung him down to earth. the wren hit the ground hard and lay there. the other birds gathered round. the wren survived but broke her tail. From that day to this, the little wren has a short tail, but sings the sweetest song as she was the victorious King of the Birds.
A week after the celebration the snowdrops are still where we left them
The spire was turned bright green for St. Patricks day and today(23/3/11) an announcement that the area will be planted with €230,000 worth of broad leaved trees creating eco trails and eventually an attractive woodland.
Brigid Update 2010
Following the Autum
n Equinox gathering at Dowth Brigid moved to sunnier climes in Girona, Spain, with ELyn and Gary - http://www.powerfulplaces.com/ .
Crossing the Atlantic with her friends to the States Elyn says Brigid had many wanderings and circuitous travels and is now at Denver in Colorado. http://honeybunnyandbrownbear.blogspot.com/
20 December 2010
February 2010 - Samhain Brigid arrives at Fourknocks to find the door closed
Are you dancing? ...... Are you asking?
Oh, the uncertainty of the dance! Our dance of life is familiar in the turning seasons as the year does its own circle dance. But we feel that the energies of this year seem to be stirring with an air of the unknown, a certain amount of uncertainty, a belief we see reflected in the massive challenges courting our country and our world. The shifting magnetic poles, the earthquake in Haiti, the confusion of traditional seasonal boundaries.
We now enter the season of Imbolc, Spring. Leaving behind the Samhain period of death, mourning and conception, we are at the threshold of promised things to come. And yet... when will winter end? This year it has been a hard, ice-cold time, maybe it is not finished yet? Maybe we should not go into the garden and sow just yet, maybe we should keep those packets of seed unopened a little longer? Maybe the earth is not quite ready?
And in our own lives it is time to put plans into action, to catch the fresh energy of Spring or should we wait a little longer? As the sun climbs higher in the sky and the days lengthen we long to get going, to change job, move house, our thoughts and desires are stirring, and yet we are not sure whether to cross the threshold into our futures... Life seems to be changing and yet there are delays, uncertainty and confusions. Brigid, nature personified at this time, is the Goddess of Smithcraft. She shows us that, in the warmth of Spring, as we melt down to our component parts, we can be reshaped and redefined into new patterns. We have choices. We now have to decide how we want to shape the base metal of our lives and personalities for the coming year.
Order of the Day
There will be lunch in Maguires followed by last minute directions to the place of ceremony. When we arrive we will create sacred space by smudging misqualified energies from ourselves and also the surrounding atmosphere. Then we orient ourselves in our environment by being mindful of the different types of sponsoring energies we wish to align with for the ceremony. Participants will be challenged with a riddle and blessed with a spiral of water on the third eye, with water from the 'Well of the Dark Eye of Tara'.
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After creating a sacred space, we will stand in silence, actively listening to the earth. Starting with silence, with listening, we are responding to the quietness of this time of year.
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Then we will breath; inspiration, warmth and energy into the earth, through a candle, in order to 'breathe life' into Gaia. To wake her up from her winter hibernation.
Candle light symbolically warming up the earth and ourselves
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We return into the silent void. Listening intently.
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A heartbeat is the most physical indentifiable statement of intangible life. We will have a heartbeat drum beat to help shift the energies from hibernation to wakefulness and listen with our whole bodies to the waking energy.
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We return to the silent void. Listening intently.
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Societies the world over have encoded deep seated spiritual beliefs into dance and so we will be using rhythmic rattling and simple movements to help externalise the deeper rhythm of life. We will dance with the earth and with each other.
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Following that we will have an open heart contribution where participants are invited to support the energy with a song, poem or other meaningful thought, act or deed.
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This will be a magical, mystery tour of uncertainty. We are not revealing where the ceremony will be held until the day. Numbers are limited so please get in touch now if you want to be part of the Imbolc gathering, celebrating the intrepid returning life force to earth.
Weaving the new Brigid's crosses
Imbolc - preparing for Spring and Summer abundance -
Native red deer shed their antlers and Samhain Brigid casts off her winter darkness
The door is opened... but how did Samhain Brigid transform?
with a little help from her friends....
Brigid's cloak was made with intuition and instinct. It is veil like. Coincidentally, the gathering was held on St. Mels day and it was St. Mel that 'veiled' Brigid when she was ordained. The sheep's wool was gathered from Tara and Loughcrew - Sliabh na Callaigh - and this is, of course, lambing time.
Woven in the veil fabric is birch bark. This came from a birch tree in RTE grounds in Dublin - RTE has Brigid's cross as a logo. Traditions suggest that birch bark represents new beginnings, poetry and inspiration. The red felt pieces symbolise Brigid in her smith aspect, representing the red hot hearth and the perpetual sacred flame at Kildare. Strips of red felt from Kildare were gifted at the opening of Sil and Chroi (Way of the Heart) and was put out on Brigid's Eve as a Bhrat Bhride.
The blue tie reminds us of St. Brigid's well, and the healing waters of purification.
One small swan's feather represents the connections suggested between Fourknocks and the constellation of the Swan, that travels on the Milky Way. Swan is said to be the dreamkeeper.Waiting for Brigid - 31 January / 1 February 2010
Bhrat Og cloth is blessed by the moon whilst waiting for dawn on Tara - we shall be sharing pieces with everyone at the Imbolc gathering
Frogs are a powerful symbol for this time of year. They suddenly emerge from their sleeping darkness, croaking loudly, laying spawn and jumping into new life.
They are at home equally on land and in water suggestive of mediumship and they jump from one state of consciousness to another easily.
Their spawn is a very obvious sign of spring and its appearance reminds us to be preparing for new growth in the future.
There is lore which states frogs can predict the summer weather by the position of their spawning clumps. If the clumps are found in deep water the frogs are expecting a dry summer so move to deeper water to ensure supplies for the tadpoles. If they expect wet weather they will spawn close to the edge of the pool ! Apparently!
This shy bullfinch is waiting for Spring 2010 in a garden in Peak District, Derbyshire, England
Snowdrops the victory of Brigid and the return of life/light over darkness/death
Below are a selection of rush crosses and 2 different coloured Bhrat Bríde as well as the tri spiral
Imbolc-St. Bridgits day 2009....
... saw us journey to the ancient site of the Fourknocks with invited guests. This was a stunningly beautiful ceremony based on Irish traditions which saw the crone of winter / caileach circle the monument three times before entering as Bridgit (one of her alter egos) with the light to represent the return of the sun.
The old dross of negativity and all that no longer serves was transformed by the Crone bringing it to the light. The assembled crowd chanted Ohm, the primordial sound of creation to invigorate the imbolc energies in the land at this ancient power spot criss crosed with ley lines, water lines and blind springs. Bridgits healing mantle (Bhrat Bríde), candles and warm soup were then shared to bring our ritual to a close. All this in the ancient magical chamber of the Fourknocks.
Imbolc is often referred to in Irish as the stirring in the belly. It is a way of describing the fertility process of pregnancy. Imbolc is a fire festival that recognises that after the darkness and void that is Samhain comes the dynamism of Yin and Yang, female and male. The polarisation of these two opposites creates a third dynamic, that of the child.
Imbolc is thus associated within the human as the first invisible trimester of pregnancy or in the greater world as fecundity in general. On a personal or spiritual level it reminds us to link in with our inspiration and ideas as these have the potential to grow to maturity and change our world for ever.
The Irish deity associated with this is the Shela na gig who emphasises the dark opening of the womb from which all life comes.
This has been sanitised somewhat and St. Brigid is our modern day Christian counterpart of the yin energy of Imbolc, whilst St. Patrick represents the Yang at the other end of the season of Imbolc.
These two forces come together to give us the overt fertility of Bealtaine.
Treasured memories of Tara on a winter's day 2008
Jackie Queally recorded the events of a cold, but enjoyable, February afternoon
During part of our Ritual Meditation the old winter crone dressed in black took off her cloak to reveal the young and virginal Bridgit, following the ancient tradition of an Brídóg.
The Brídóg sits under the St. bridgits cross made on the hill during the meditation and also the Blue Cloth to her right is another ancient tradition of the Bhrat Bríde.
The Bhrat was left out on the eve of St. bridgit where tradition says she passes over the country leaving her healing essence behind in the dew. The Bhrat is then used to treat illness over the following year.
Our Bhrat is surrounding our healing box with the intentions placed there by the meditation group.
Imbolc
Feathers ruffled to keep warm
when icy winds blow,
The birds wait patiently
to pick the crumbs we throw.
Thanks to Beth Kirkham for this lovely verse... she celebrated Imbolc in Derbyshire, England
...we managed to celebrate Imbolc,the snow came and covered the snowdrops in our garden, but they poked through again to catch the light,,,the birds have started to collect twigs already...
Brigids cross travels from the Hill of Tara to Roslin in Scotland
Jackie Queally, who joined in the Imbolc celebration on Sunday, returned home and placed her cross outside the crypt window of Roslin Chapel. Thanks Jackie for your presence and for these photos of the cross in situ and the view it has looking out over Roslin Glen.
Brigits Cross travels across the Atlantic to Asheville, North Carolina
I was inspired to bring one of the St. Brigids crosses on a surprise holiday to America. (I was going on holiday, not the cross).
When I reached Asheville the energies seemed incredibly disturbed as the land which was important to the Cherokee had been "developed". There were many troubled souls in the area with the near by hotel famous for its ghosts. The energy of the land was trí na céile so I was inspired to put the cross here for the native americans who were killed in this area. We will be linking in with this area to calm the land using the cross as an anchor and a focus for the Brigidine healing energies.
The Dísablót is held in the Nordic Countries around the time of the Celtic Imbolc.
Picture by August Malmström
Many thanks to Thomas Eriksson, Motala, Östergötland, Sweden for this article. Thomas participated in the Tara celebrations/ritual meditations whilst living in Ireland. He liked what he saw, made a connection with his homeland in Sweden and has drawn parallels between the two cultures.
What I do know is that the Dísablót was celebrated in honor of the Dísir, which translates into "ladies", and were the Norse goddesses. Also the valkyries and norns were Dísir. I assume you know of the valkyries, who were responisble for bringing fallen warriors to Valhalla. The norns were goddesses of fate, the most famous being Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld. Who you might known as "The Wyrd Sisters" or "The Weird Sisters", "Wyrd" being an old English word for Urðr, meaning "Fate".
The Three Norns The Goddesses Urth, Verthandi and Skuld. The Norns stand at the base of the World Tree.
The main goddess for the Dísablót was Freyja (some times known as Vanadís), who was the leader of the dísir and the goddess of fertility. The blót was mainly held to insure a good harves for the coming year.
The symbols for Freyja include: the falcon (which was her shape-shifted form), the boar (she and her twin brother/husband Freyr both owned a magical boar), her necklace (made of golden and amber and forged by the three most skilled dwarven smiths and traded to her with a night in bed for each of them), her cloak (made of falcon feathers and allowed her to change into any kind of bird) and a chariot pulled by cats.
One source (Hervarar saga) leads us to belive that the Dísablót was held solemny by women, but another one (Heimskringla) says that it was led by the high priest of Uppsala, who was also the king of Sweden.
The first of these sources say that the doughter of the elven king was kidnapped while preparing the hörgr (an altar made with piled stones) with blood. The second one tells us that the king Aðils, who supposedly ruled Sweden during the 6th century, died when falling of his horse and splitting his skull while riding around the shrine.
The Disting, or "Disæþing" as it was called in the old nordic tongue, was a big fair held in Uppsala in conjunction with the Dísablót. It was sometime called the "Ting of all Swedes" (ting being an political assembly), because so many people assembled from all around Sweden (or what was Sweden at the time), or at least Svealand, to meet and trade with each other. The fair lasted for about a week and was abolished in 1895. This is from Snorri Sturlusons saga Heimskringla:
"In Svithjod it was the old custom, as long as heathenism prevailed, that the chief sacrifice took place in Goe month at Upsala. Then sacrifice was offered for peace, and victory to the king; and thither came people from all parts of Svithjod. All the Things of the Swedes, also, were held there, and markets, and meetings for buying, which continued for a week: and after Christianity was introduced into Svithjod, the Things and fairs were held there as before. After Christianity had taken root in Svithjod, and the kings would no longer dwell in Upsala, the market-time was moved to Candlemas, and it has since continued so, and it lasts only three days."
Goe month means February and Svithjod is Svealand (which I have mentioned earlier) and that was the northenmost part of Sweden at the time, before the big part in the north was incorporated (parts of which was stolen from Norway and Finland). Svealand is the part of Sweden that actually gave it its current name.
Some more Imbolc photographs and.....
Some strange Brigit Facts
I bet you didnt know Brigit was an Ice queen six feet tall with a magic snow leopard cat thing and that she frequently is fond of a few stiff bevys and has just come out of rehab!
Thats Brigit the 6 foot ice queen and her magic ice panther type dog type thingy.
And Below you see the mysterious brigit writing .... answers on the back of a post card please.
And yes Snuggles the cat does know a magic snow panther dog type thingy and looks suitably shocked. Snuggles is recovering with TLC next door.
And this is Brigid before Rehab.......................................................................................and Brigid after Rehab
Little robin red breast said he was delighted about Brigits recovery.
But later that night...... It wasnt long before brigit was back to her old ways and getting down to Limbo
This can only end in one way..............
Brigid continues to defy the law of gravity
Page last updated: 1st Feb 2012
