Harpers For Tara: Paddy Moloney (video)

I video recorded the entire Harpers for Tara event outside The Dail, Dublin with the idea of putting as much as I can online

I’m still quite a novice with the YouTube medium with its challenge of getting the best video and sound within narrow specs, especially its maximum 10 minutes length.

At last, the first video clip is online via You Tube.

Here is a clip of Paddy Moloney, of the Chieftains, his arrival at the event, his speech of protest against the M3 project, and a lively spontaneous tune.

I like the sound but would like to improve the video visuals. Any ideas? See how it plays for you. This clip is a treasure.

Our New Tour Vacations

New Tour Vacations from Celtic Ways

I now have two new tour itineraries for 2007 that have evolved from requests by tour organizers. I feel honoured and thrilled that people have taken quite a bit of time to explain to me what they would like to see and do in Ireland in relation to services that can see we provide.

Both tours are week long vacation but anyone can request to join in for part of the tour, even for just a day or part of a day. Day tours will no longer be advertised because our vacation offers are proving to be popular before I even get them onto my web site.

"Veil Between Two Worlds"

A tour that follows much of my book to be published this year. This is a vacation in Ireland that is more than a touring visit but includes a journey through ancient Celtic traditions. This vacation tour is available for most weeks of the year.

Previous travellers that joined us shared their experiences and explained how our tours and retreats restored, revitalized and rekindled new fires into their lives. Our "Veil Between Worlds" vacation now combines visits to sacred spaces, such as stone passage cairns and sacred wells, with ancient stories and introduction to the wisdom and paths of the ancient Celtic shamans.

During the daytime our travellers enjoy exhilirating views from little known hills, valleys, lakes and rivers. Travel is moderated and relaxed because we also spend quality sanctuary time in ancient sacred spaces for reflection, thanksgiving and even healing.

Evenings are shared with words from bards, music meditations and lively traditional ceilis around turf fires. You will be welcome to share your music, story and writing talents.

As we are not aligned to any religion or doctrine you will find yourself feeling free to be yourself with your own faith. You will also be accompanied by fellow travellers who you will feel are "your kind of people".

Please explore our "Veil Between Two Worlds" itinerary

"Ancient Temples Of Ireland"

Recently, a couple of group leaders told me that their groups wanted to see as many ancient sites all around ireland that I could pack into a week. They were not interested in spending time doing meditations, writing, chanting, firewalking and other things we do.

Their requests created our new wonderful "Ancient Temples Of ireland" vacation. This is a tour that travels a circle around Ireland and introduces any visitor to many of Ireland's ancient sacred sites as well as providing quite a complete experience of Ireland's landscapes and people.

You may not have heard of many of the sites we visit because they are not found in Ireland's guide books and brochures. Many of these hidden sites are along narrow lanes where visitors can enjoy a taste of real Ireland amongst its most stunning scenery.

Starting at Shannon Airport, we visit The Burren, Cliffs Of Moher, Galway, Ancient Royal Site of Connaught (The Tain), Carrowkeel Passage Cairns, Keash Caves, Markree Castle, Labby Rock, Brighid Stones, Shannon Pot, Loughcrew Passage Cairns & Ancient Art, Kells High Crosses, Tara Hill, Dublin Museums and Book Of Kells, Glendalough, Wicklow Gap, Piper's Stone Circle, Rock Of Cashel, Stone Circles Of Beara (Kerry). You can take the whole vacation or part of it.

We also provide plenty of time for joining in traditional Irish craics, ceilis and for doing your gift shopping and postcard mailing.

If you have never been to Ireland and prefer active adventure amongst Ireland's ancient sites rather than relaxation and spiritual pilgrimage this is the right vacation in Ireland for you. Note that instead of starting at Dublin we start and finish at Shannon Airport which is very convenient for most visitors from North America.

Please explore our "Ancient Temples Of Ireland" itinerary

"Two Worlds Passage"

I said two new vacations for 2007, but here's a third. This third vacation is due to commence during 2008 but we will have one vacation date, last week of July, in 2007 where we will be presenting this itinerary under another name where our guides will be Heather Ash Amara and Raven Smith. I'll explain this in a later blog.

However, "Two Worlds Passage" goes more into learning ancient based traditions and less on visiting sites compared to our "Veil Between Two Worlds" itinerary. This vacation will include firewalking, sweat house cleansing, labyrinth meditations, sound healing, orgone energy recharging, wild food gathering and cooking, introduction to herbalism and additional ancient traditions and wisdom.

We welcome your enquiries for last week of July and all through 2008

Kindling The Celtic Spirit

What to do on the holidays

From now until Imbolc, the three months of Celtic winter when the ancestors, angels and swans guard, guide and protect us, as the traditions tell, my enquiry emails are more about what traditions can be followed. I receive interesting enquiries about rituals, decor, food recipes, more than enquiries about visiting Ireland. I still do tours through winter, though.

Its Samhain season now, which is not just reflecting on the year past or even dreading the winter to come. In Europe we tend to look to Christmas as our time of "gathering the tribe" the time of getting together with family, inviting the neighbours and having a "sacred" feast. In the USA this is more important at Thanksgiving, a bit closer to Samhain.

Create Your Own Feis

Its occurred to me that really this is the best time to for gatherings, our own little "Feis Of Tara", or own cleaning of the hearth and re-kindling the flame and lighting new candles. It is also the time for Kindling the Celtic Spirit. During my brief spell as a market gardener, years ago, I remember this as being a time when the nursery seed catalogues arrived and we planned for the growing season of the next year and even ordered our seeds now, before the best ones were sold. After the seed order was the time to build things, rockeries, pools, and walls. Its what led to my years as a stone mason.

This is truly a time of conception and plans. By meeting our family, neighbours and friends its a wonderful time to heal wounds of disputes and trade to form treaties to plan a better peace ahead, just like they did in the High King's court at Tara, Our home is our Tara

One thing we do not have any more is the local priest or minister delivering us a flame from a sacred place for our fire. Some places do have bonfires at sacred places where we could take our carved turnip or pumpkin and pick up our blessed fire. So where is your local Tlachtga?

At Christmas we give presents but Samhain was a time of sacrifice, not of the Hammer Horror vision but as gifts from what was abundant from our harvest and our year. Today its a bit of money or something we don't use any more as few of us farm or fish so we cannot tithe a portion of our yields. A bag or two of coal, peat or wood is a good and appropriate gift.

Another loving tradition that seems to have long gone, though we did it when I was a child, was to say prayers of prayer to blend into objects we held, objects that were related to the person of the prayer and then cast the object to the fire. Prayers were also said and writing onto cloth or paper, also put into the fire. For some this might seem demonistic, occultish and even voodoo but prayers need to have sincerity to be powerful and passage to the flame at this time of year seems to enhance that essential healing power of prayer.

This is surely the time of beginnings, kindling new dreams, and commencing projects we've promised to start. Its an ideal time to start new routines that start with plans, writings and construction indoors to prepare for the outdoor creations ahead.

Apple Magic

How about ducking, "dooking", for apples at your "feis"?.. At the heart of the celtic otherworld is an apple tree. Legends say that the reason the first people arrived in Ireland from the west was news of the apple tree of life being here. Ducking for apples is a re-enactment of crossing the sea for that magic apple tree.

Baking them in foil in your hearth coated in brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg is good too and then taken from the hearth with a hazel or rowan stick to eat your apple from. This is said to bless you with the healing flame of Brighid to protect you from the snake.

Oh, before you light your fire fetch three stones from the nearest natural water source to where you live, a stream, brook, bubbling well, each for your mind, body and spirit. Circle them in your hearth to get hot, and that is where you place your apple. As you eat your hot, spicy, sticky apple and as it warms you inside say a quiet prayer for guidance or solution to problems, and somehow, before the apple is fully eaten, a solution will be brought to you. A wonderful way to Kindle The Celtic Spirit.

The Book

Once day I should write a book of all of this lore I collect but while I think of it there is a nice easy read out there by another traveller, Mara Freeman, that is rich in lore and recipes for all of the Celtic celebrations and seasons ..............

This book is an easy read compendium sharing stories, recipes, poetry, symbols, and Gaelic expressions that go with each of the Celtic festivals and celebrations. She sets this out month by month. Very useful is the February chapter covering Brighid, Brigit, and Imbolc. Samhain is very well covered with spooky stories and poems plus how to carve turnip lanterns, using a large rutabaga (swede)  You can read more about Kindling the Celtic Spirit here, and order worldwide arriving in time to prepare for Yule and Imbolc.