The Stone Circle here at Bealtaine Cottage is infused with early morning light.
A wild wind blows in from the West carrying energy and a sense of renewal as it blows Hawthorn flowers in front of it.
The morning is defined by change and renewal.
Stillness pervades the air at the back of the cottage where shelter holds sway…
Nearby a new sculpture of a Hare holds pride of place in one of the Potager beds…
The Celts believed in the magical strength of the Hare.
The Hare belonged in essence to the Celtic goddess Eostre.
It was her most favoured animal, representing love, fertility and growth.
In Celtic mythology the Hare was associated with the Moon, dawn and the belief in the transmigration of the soul. (I have written about this in a previous blog and can be accessed by typing Transmigration of the Soul into the search bar on this page).
Eostre was reputed to have changed into a Hare at the full Moon.
The poet Robert Graves referred to the Hare as sacred to the White Goddess, the Earth Mother, being regarded as, and considered to be, a royal animal.
“…language of poetic myth anciently current in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe was a magical language bound up with popular religious ceremonies in honour of the Moon-goddess, or Muse, some of them dating from the Old Stone Age, and that this remains the language of true poetry…” ~ Robert Graves
Boudicca, the Queen of the Celtic tribe of Iceni in England, was said to have released a Hare as a good omen before each battle.
The Druids were said to have been able to divine the outcome of battle by the hare’s movements.
In some parts of Ireland hares continue to be celebrated, such as the legendary ‘White Hare of Creggan’, a sculpture of which can be seen at the “An Creagan” Visitor Centre in County Tyrone.
Even in the local community, its white silhouette continues to adorn homes.