Fáilte go dtí Tara Celebrations - Celebrating the celtic year in ritual and meditation

WINTER SOLSTICE

'Silently Observant' - 20/21 December 2011

Grian stad an Geimhreadh sásta díobh! Happy winter solstice.

Winter solstice is the time of year when the sun reaches its most southern rising position and halts in its progress on 5 consecutive days so it appears to stall/die on the horizon. But it then seems to be reborn and starts to head north with each successive sunrise. It is of course our shortest day and longest night. The weather is appreciably colder and most of the plants have died back. This is the Dark Night of the Soul when on the surface all appears dead. However, deep within, life energy is gone deep and the tide of darkness is turning.. It is a productive time for being the silent observer, watching what is going on and where things are headed.

At Newgrange the morning sunrise shines through the spirit window/roof box and enters the inner chamber, originally illuminating the tri spiral in the back alcove. This narrow golden honey coloured beam of light is focused and appears in the chamber in a magical way that a privileged few witness every year. We feel that the light would have shone onto the ashes of the departed and acted like a sort of cosmic portal for the souls of the ancestors.

With this in mind we came up with a ceremony in 3 parts that honours; the dark, the light, observance and spirit. We are tying in the Dark Night of the Soul with the turning point of the year, with spirit release/healing  and observance of all of this with minimal input, simply observing.
 

Part 1 [Prelude] - 3pm Dec 20th Solstice eve. 

Our ancestors started the day at sunset, in the darkness of gestation – the night, personified by the babe in the womb and the seed rooting underground.   With that in mind we will gather the materials and energies for the following day.   We will collect water from  the ““Curley Hole” at Townley Hall. This is swirling deep pool of water within the River Boyne. The nearby road is an accident black spot which we think is a black ley sink for the Brú complex. Many people have died here and many have had accidents. The Battle of the Boyne took place near here in 1690 and the suffering and death energy still pervades the area. The water will be brought to the great mound of Dowth where it will be held up to the setting sun and placed in a black bag excluding all light.

 Above is the locaion of the Curley Hole on the Boyne, a deep dark,swirling pool of water with counter currents 

 Above: The water from the curley hole bound in the bottle and then being sealed in a dark cloth over night at the great mound of Dowth allowing the solstice eve energies to permeate the water.

I went back to grab 1 more picture of the curley hole and the picture above appeared 2 from the end of the session.... of the 70 pictures I took no other pictures taken 4 seconds before or after have anything like it! Could these be the ghosts of curley hole?
 

Part 2 [Silently Observant] - 8am Dec 21st.

spiral at solstice	The Ship of Souls Boat	glimpse of the sun in 2011

 

We will gather at the Newgrange interpretative centre and board a shuttle bus to Newgrange to await the sunrise at the standing stone near the road. This stone has a carving of a spiral on it and is  aligned with the rising sun and the passage of Newgrange and Fourknocks some 13Km distant. Standing on this point will allow us to be part of what is happening simultaneously  along the alignment line and in the chamber.

The highlight of the ceremony will be quietly observing the sunrise shine onto the water collected from the ““Curley Hole”” the evening before. We shall look on as the sun energises the “Curly Hole” water and ashes from a previous ceremony in this place of renewal.

The  ashes will be  placed in a spirit boat and set floating on the energised water.  The spirit boat symbolism revolves around the idea that the ancestors used a boat to cross the river to enter the heavenly realm. The boat represents the means that our own ancestors may use to enter the heavenly realm. We will all make paper spirit boats for sailing on the river Boyne in part 3, one of them will even have a 24 carat gold sail!

If time permits we may have a chance to quickly enter into Newgrange with the sunlight still in the passage once the guests leave. As it is expected to be cold we will adjourn for Breakfast  back in the interpretive centre.

 

Left: Image from Tarot of the Druids

 

 Right:Tiger Eye Crystal to represent the Sunbeams on the Cloudy Solstice Morning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: The standing stone at which we did our ceremony at Newgrange, The Tri Spiral in Newgrange chamber and the decorated side recess in Newgrange

Part 3 [Ship of Souls] - Dec 21st

the symbol	boats launched at Curley Hole	a red berry sail
boats launched at Curley Hole	Roses, berries & Ivy float downstream	Fire and water
Wreath to represent the circle of life offered into the river		Sky lantern to represent the release of spirit and symbol of hope

To finalise this tridum of events we will return to the ““Curley Hole”” before mid day, placing all the spirit boats on the water along with an evergreen wreath as well as return the transformed dawn energised water into the river for the highest good of all. This symbolises the release  into eternal time and place of all our spirits, allowing them and us to find the way back to God. Returning the water is a symbolic act of returning to source and includes our spirits returning to source as well as offering a healing medicine to the earth at this point, that is, water that was taken from a low energy environment returning energised and healed. 

 

!  Beaut Bah Hum Dog wishes everyone a very happy Christmas  !

Knitted nativity from a Festival of Angels in All Saints Parish Church, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England in 2011 - many thanks to Linda for the photos.

 

Snowflakes - 2010

Dia diobh.  Its the time of harsh mid winter and the time when the Winter Solstice rising sun enters the 5000 year old inner sanctuary of Newgrange and for those in the southern hemisphere it is summer solstice.

I think you will agree that the arctic conditions here in Ireland are having a profound impact on our daily lives with lots of activities being killed off.  It is the way it is, cold stark reality and no getting away from it. Winter has us in its icy grip.  Even the Irish economy has gone into its winter period with plummeting employment and dysfunctional frigidity at the core of national sovereignty. On the surface of it all there doesn’t seem to be a reason to celebrate at all, in fact it would be incongruent to affirm we love the cold and chaos. Get real ! But what is the learning in all of this?  

[At this point you might like to read the story of the Crocodile, the boy and the rabbit as told by Fr. Anthony de Mello by clicking here.]

Well winter is here and it’s brutally cold. Fact.

The economy is in tatters and things look like they are getting worse. Fact.

For inspiration we look to see how nature adapts to harsh conditions. For instance shy birds that don’t normally come close to the house will have to face their fears to eat from the window sill. Plants drop their leaves and live off reserves they have stored and some animals go into hibernation to conserve energy. Some plants even require a deathly cold snap to stir the seed into life.

Below: Some of the crowd gathered on a cold and Snowy morning outside Newgrange for the winter solstice 2010

 

So it seems that nature has survival strategies to cope with harsh conditions by choosing a suitable course of action, so who do you choose to be in the face of winter, in the face of economic chaos?

I choose to react to winter by acknowledging what is, dressing warm, driving carefully, walking slowly and planning ahead.  

We can rant and rave about economic chaos or we can recognise ”what is” and could choose to be innovative, creative or resourceful . We can adopt strategies that will allow us to weather the storm.  Like certain plants and animals we can draw on our reserves and on the wisdom of our past.  We may then realise that the problems in the world are not problems, they are challenges that we may choose to deal with.

Taking all this on board we have decided to be innovative and creative with this years Solstice Ceremony.  As its too cold and dangerous to ask people to drive on icy roads what we are doing is putting the outline of our suggested ritual on the web and asking you do it in your own way.  We are asking you to take a picture and send it to this address and we will make a collage of all the participants and display them on the site.

Grian-stad an  geamhraidh  sásta agus Nollaig shona daoibh.

The Tara Celebrations Team

 

Tuesday 21^st December 2010, 8.00pm

1. Pause and become aware of the world around you with you at the centre

2. Light a candle in the dark, as a reminder of spirit in your life remembering that the Solstice is a time of the rebirth of the longer days and a promise of more benign conditions.

3. Light some incense (Frankincense) allowing it to carry your prayer for life into the heavens.

4. Recite a poem or verse that inspires you about hope, love and light, there are great examples on the Visions and Dreams section of the web site.

5. Pause, like the sun pauses at the solstice and acknowledge what is.

6. Meditate on this!

The obstacles and problems in our lives are like the great megaliths. Solid hulking, stone, massive   & unmovable. However, in the moment of sunrise when the sun is aligned with the megaliths the fresh light transforms the stones in an astonishingly beautiful way. We will one day see that it is these stones that add the extraordinary beauty to our lives. Consider Newgrange and how the light goes within transforming nothing physically. Visit the inner sanctum of your inner Newgrange. Be with yourself. Bask in the light. Know that this is a turning point.

7. Create a paper snowflake (ask an adult to help you) take a picture and e-mail it to us (ask a child to help you). Simple snowflake or Complex snowflake

8. Write a one word secret wish on your beautiful snowflake, something you would like to see transformed for the new year) and burn it carefully releasing the wish into the world with the symbol of fire that transforms all it touches. Maybe you can play some inspirational music at this point or hum . How about "When you wish upon a star" or "sugar plum fairy"

9. Offer up a prayer for life, a poem, an inspiration extinguish the candle and clap your hands. 

10.  Sin sin

Solstice Notice board:

• Dawn, Dec 21^st at Newgrange, the general public are welcome to stand outside the chamber and watch the sun come up (Its a magical experience) but it is weather dependent and the OPW are advising people to go to the Visitors centre and use the shuttle bus.

• Modern day contender for the Bile Tortain is split by lightning: Irish Times story here  

• Tara Celebrations are looking for a cosy woodland setting for celebrating some of the seasonal ceremonies. If you would like help to facilitate a celebration or know of a great location for one please let us know.

• Our dates for celebrations for 2011 are on the web site.

• If there is anything you think we should know about then please let us know for inclusion in future seasonal updates

21 December 2010 - Sunrise at Regensdorft, Switzerland, at about 7.30am  and at Bakewell, Derbyshire, England at about 8.30am

Many thanks to Marta for sharing her photograph of Switzerland

   

No sign of the sun at Newgrange for the winter solstice 2010.

Quartzite facade at Newgrange

K52 at Newgrange, opposide the entrance stone.

Snow covers the tri spiral at Newgrange during the winter solstice 2010

Anne Sends in this one of Feltrim where legend has it the last wolf in Ireland was killed

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The Snowflakes feed the soil
The soil feeds the seed
The seed feeds the flower
Who brings the Spring
                                                  ............Kerrensdottir

 

Krish made a fine snow flake! Well done!

Below: Various pictures of mad martin I guess I sub consciously made a snowflake resembling my center piece, a crystal skull.

 

Thanks to David who sent in this inticate creation and you will find more of his work here www.simply-stained.co.uk

 

Nora sent in the following thoughts: 

yellow came in a lot made 12 stars Meditation of a frozen lake beside newgrange with the sun melting the ice and going into the water, then dispersing into thousands of sparkling lights, mirroring the stars above.

 

 Anne and Tom were busy with the following. 

1	2
3	4
5	6
7	8
9	10

 

Bernadette lit this red candle in a snow covered part of her garden where she communes with Nature on a regular basis

Solstice Celebration in Brunssum, the Netherlands  As part of a larger ritual we all wrote the 'negative' subconscious
patterning onto a huge snowflake (which I cut out from an enormous piece  of paper) releasing it from our subconscious mind and in doing so also
releasing it from humanity's subconscious patterning. The snowflake symbolised the 'frozenness' and 'non-movement' of the grip which
fear-based patterning has on us. By burning the snowflake on a bonfire, the transforming fire cleansed these obstacles so we may rise like
phoenixes and melting the frozenness into moving forward with the light
of insight.A Blessed Yule to all. Love, Nathascha

and from Louise in Sandbach, Cheshire, is her snowflake and The Gop, in Flintshire, Wales

  

Marta and Dana sent a photo of Newgrange during the winter solstice 2008 and those of you with a keen eye might spot an orb or two or three.

 

On Christmas eve a few of us braved the elements and met on the Hill of Tara. Annette took some fantastic pictures:

Snow coral as captured by Annettes kean eye

Some of the hardy individuals that braved the elements

The freezing conditions at the well

a snow angel  at the well !

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Winter Solstice 2009

Twice in 2009 we planned to hold the Winter Solstice Ceremony - we postponed the 21 December, thwarted by the snowy, icy and downright treacherous travel conditions, to 28 December.  But it was not to be. The weather stayed and we could not risk suggesting people came out.  We had the outline in our hearts and minds, had trialled the fire with different coloured flames, and were eventually frustrated by Mother Nature. 

Entrance to Sacred Space

A sacred space is a space which has been prepared to allow participants step out of the mundane world into the extraordinary. It is a space in which meaningful acts can be carried out to express things in a way in which each act is packed full of the power of intent.

We will be entering into a sacred space through an archway of Holly and Oak. These archetypal trees are both in their most extreme states of being. The Oak (summer king of the forest) seems dead while the Holly (Winter king of the forest) is resplendent with life and fruit. However this is the turning point for both where the Holly will relinquish its authority to the Oak and the Oak will start to accrue its powers for summer. An endless swirling dance repeated at summer solstice where the roles are reversed.

We will also be entering into our ritual space via candle light and Frankincense/Myrrh incense. Frankincense a sweet smelling fragrance representing the infant divinity within and the Myrrh, a bitter smelling resin reminds of the fact that life is often painful. And the candle light is a symbol of light, spirit and hope. People can take on this meaning to the level of understanding that suits them at the time.

Directions

Once in sacred space we call in the directions. Our ancestors understood that by creating a microcosm of the macrocosm that they would be more in tune with creation. We do this today by calling in the directions whereby we become centered and mindful of the different energies in the world. For example, the South was associated with warmth as the hot sun is most obvious in the south, it is associated with abundance and peak performance, with passion, brightness and activity. And so calling in the directions is to be mindful of this type of energy in the participant. It is a recognition that the universe is within as much as without and we are part of it as much as it is part of us. It is an expression of the unity of all creation.

Yule log

It is a tradition that the new fire be seeded by a spark from the old so that there is a continuity of tradition. We will be burning last years Yule log and lighting a new one to mark the season. The Yule log is of course a symbol of life and emphasising life’s existence at this time of the year when Nature seems most barren. It is a symbol of hope.

Tara at Night with the Plough constellation over Navan

 

Gifts

This year we will be collecting a small hand sized inexpensive gift from each participant. The gift you bring to the group should have a large clear label on it with a single word such as Love, Peace, Joy, Hope, etc etc. {This is not a demonstration of richness, generosity, power or prestige, so please put thought into your offering so that it carries that energy}. Your token gift should be the embodiment of the sentiment on the label.

The idea is that you will bring the gift of “Joy” to the group and say

“I give the gift of “Joy” (or whatever) to the group” and put it in a Santa bag. Then a little later you will reach into the Santa bag and root out a gift saying

“ I accept the gift of “Joy” (or whatever), on behalf of the group”. Whatever you root out is yours to keep on behalf of the group.

Blessing

We will be performing a blessing on each other in accordance with the season and we will be passing around a bowl of warm water, heated by stones from the fire. You will be asked to give a short, meaningful heart felt blessing to the person next to you -with the water -something along the lines of wishing them a warm winter, peace, comfort joy etc.

Wassail

This will be followed by a traditional wassail to warm the insides and complement the warm water on the outsides. Participants will be offered a non alcoholic warm wassail drink which will be tipped in libation towards the earth and also drunk to warm the insides.

Open heart contributions

There is always a space for participants to make an open hearted contribution to the circle if desired. It has usually been a song, poem, music, shared insights, thoughts, and from our distance celebrators via e-mail we have read out their thoughts.  

 

21 December 2009 Winter Solstice Sunrise

A chairde, beannachtaí geal sa bhlian nua. 

Bright blessings for the new (pre)Celtic year. At Samhain we entered the dark winter season and now we are mid way through that part of our journey together. At Winter or Samhain Solstice the sun rises roughly in the same position for a week on the horizon looking like it is standing still -Sol-stice.  However, after this pause, this death, the sun starts to move again in a northerly direction along the horizon and every day it reaches a little higher into the sky giving us more light and warmth. It is a cause for celebrating the re-emergence of the light both as a practical reality but also on an inner level where we can realise that all tides turn, all situations change and nothing oppressive lasts for ever, it has its season and moves on.

Just as at Newgrange where the sun enters the tiny aperture above the doorway at mid winter, we too can experience flashes of inspiration and sense the energies of this season.   Huge blocks of stone which seem randomly placed may be likened to huge issues we have in our own lives, issues that always seem to be rooted and stand in the way.......however, given a certain time of year the huge stones subtly craft the beam of sunlight and refine it, mould it, sculpt it until it becomes a miracle to behold deep within the chamber of the cairn. It is only in the perspective of the morning sun that the genius of the ancestors becomes profoundly meaningful. Our own blocks are like this sculpting us to become more than we ever dreamed possible.  It may be painful but there is always a greater purpose at work, always an opportunity to be exploited and a situation to be resolved.

 Hundreds gather for the winter solstice sunrise at Newgrange in the hope of seeing the sun entering the roofbox

The alignment of the roof box with the vertical line on K1 and the stone in the field near the ditch and the four knocks passage grave 13 miles away is continued through the back of the mound of Newgrange through K52

The sun rose, of course it did, but not to the eyes of the watching humans - its visibility cloaked in a swathe of mist.

Mound of the Hostages viewed from the Rath of the Synods

  

from Beaut - the web mutt Just my dog When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace.   (extract from Gene Hill)

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