Celtic Wheel Of The Year | The heART of Ritual

The heART of Ritual

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A selection of articles, poetry, prose, videos, and tutorials that journey the natural cycles, seasons, elements, and archetypes in Irish tradition, and the Celtic Wheel of the Year.

Blúiríní Béaloidis 05: The Threshold Of Plenty - Harvest Customs In Irish Tradition

The arrival of the harvest was for our forebears a time of great celebration, for it marked the point at which the lean months of June...

Sage Advice on how to see the Fae Folk

"The condition favourable to the belief that Fairies are being seen would seem to be that the right type of person should be in an...

Dark Bealtaine Folklore and The Fairy Queen

Depending on where you live on this beautiful planet, astronomical Bealtaine will take place on either May 5th or 6th this year. The dark...

Bealtaine, Fairies, and the Pleiades

In a previous post I wrote about the connection between our concepts of the similar patterns which appear throughout the universe,...

Spring Equinox & The Fairy Hunt

"And beyond them, almost hidden by the moon shadows, were the Lords of the Ever-Living Ones: the antlered helmets of the Wild Hunt, the...

St Brigid: Dove Among Birds, Vine Among Trees, Sun Among Stars

Starting next year, we’ve been given a new National Holiday! It falls on Feb 1, which is celebrated as St Brigid’s Day in Ireland. (Also...

Blúiríní Béaloidis 18 - Brigid In Folk Tradition

St. Brigid’s Day falls on the first of February, and is traditionally understood as marking the beginning of spring in Irish custom....

Brigid: The Pagan Goddess(es) of Ireland?

Imbolc is a celebration of the returning light and Brigid herself is believed to be an incarnation of a Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess,...

The Winter Solstice and the Birth of Sol

We have almost arrived at the winter solstice, the moment when the most northern point of the earth is tilted furthest away from the...

Mothers Night: The Ancient Pagan Origins of Santa?

An ancient winter festival which stems from at least the Iron Age is Mothers Night or Modraniht. This celebration took place on what is...

Blúiríní Béaloidis 09 - Christmas Customs & Traditions

For this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon set out to take a critical look at traditional...

Traditional Plants of the Winter Solstice

History shows that the seasonal botanicals gathered were those thriving in the landscape around us. For us here in Europe, symbolic...

On the Path of Wholeness

I've been working alot with Hawthorn lately, the Celtic tree of Bealtaine. This old photo is of a West Cork Hawthorn, recorded just...

Wreaths, Cycles, and the Winter Solstice

Wreaths: (From the Middle English wrethe, a twisted garland or ring of leaves and flowers) have been used ceremonially for centuries to...

The Ancient Midwinter Deer Mother Goddess

Female reindeer are unique with regard to other deer species in that they grow and shed antlers. This attribute is part of the mythology...

Ancient Irish Star Lore: The Pleiades, Fairies and the Ancestral Dead

When it comes to ancient Ireland, star lore is conspicuous by its absence. There are some theories that the Celtic stories of Gods,...

The Time of the Cailleach

It is again a time of seasonal change and the Cailleach has stepped through the veil and into our world. The fields are bare and the wind...

The Turn of the Seasons

I was reading about a white stag shot by police in England today and I was reminded of both this image by Vexim and the almost archaic...

Taboo Folklore in the Irish Record: Sex, Death, and Dark Magic

Recently, I read posts from two different people arguing for opposing views of how Irish folklore should be treated. The first person was...

Warding Against Evil and Irish Folk-Magic Protection

Andrew Michael Hurley's novel, The Loney, is a tale of folk-magic and superstition, as well as a dark coming of age story. One of the...

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