Mother Earth is thriving.
Her abundance is nothing less than magnificent.
Everywhere on this land She thrives.
I have found a great many Cherry Trees She has seeded and grown over the past two years, but have remained hidden in the general mayhem of Spring and Summer, only to be discovered this year as Spring seemed to struggle and lag behind, so allowing me to see.
It is simply delightful to behold. The mother tree was planted by me a mere 13 yrs ago and already she has brought forth abundance.
This Field Maple is bearing fruit this year and the Bees are soaring around its topmost branches.
I know that I have posted this quote before, but it speaks loudly and will not be quietened…
“Wherever forests have not been mowed down, wherever the animal is recessed in their quiet protection, wherever the earth is not bereft of four-footed life – that to the white man is an ‘unbroken wilderness.’ 
But for us there was no wilderness, nature was not dangerous but hospitable, not forbidding but friendly. Our faith sought the harmony of man with his surroundings; the other sought the dominance of surroundings.
For us, the world was full of beauty; for the other, it was a place to be endured until he went to another world.
But we were wise. We knew that man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard.”
― Chief Luther Standing Bear
“Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle.
In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept us safe among them…
The animals had rights – the right of man’s protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man’s indebtedness.
This concept of life and its relations filled us with the joy and mystery of living; it gave us reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.”
― Chief Luther Standing Bear
And so wherever we allow Her, enable Her and protect Her, abundance flows…
It’s humbling to witness…
My Goddess helps me to keep in mind the great Life Force of the Great Mother, for I, as a human need symbols to ground me and remember that She is not just a life-force, but an intelligent sentient being.
Symbols have always resonated with us.
We possess an innate ability to read and understand symbols, for they transcend language and culture.
Yet even as I walk back along the veranda towards the door of the cottage, I see the abundance.
This time in a recently re-potted tree…lots of tiny Parsley seedlings. I have no idea where they have come from, except to add that I used home made compost and these are from the seed-heads of last Summer.
“A Cottage and Three Acres,” by Colette O’Neill
Please email Colette if you would like a particular inscription in your book. From a desolate cottage set in 3 acres of monoculture sadness, to a vibrant, thriving food forest of life…the journey back to Eden over 13 years… Bealtaine Books and Maps are printed in Ireland and posted from Ireland to support the people of Ireland.
€27.00
In Search of The Goddess Rising
This is the second book in the Goddess Permaculture series from Colette O’Neill at Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland. In this book I explore the ancient landscape, mythology, literature and life around Bealtaine Cottage… in search of the Great Goddess. The price of the book includes all postage and packing to wherever you live in the world! Bealtaine Books and Maps are printed in Ireland and posted from Ireland to support the people of Ireland.
€21.00
Bealtaine Cottage Guide to the Deep Midwinter
A little Yuletide book filled with colour photographs, recipes, reflections, lore, poetry and mirth to guide you through the wonderful days ahead. Fifty pages of sheer delight from Bealtaine Cottage to you. The book is fully bound and can be posted direct as a gift. Price includes P&P worldwide. Bealtaine Books and Maps are printed in Ireland and posted from Ireland to support the people of Ireland.
€15.00
Special Offer
In Search of the Goddess Rising and The Bealtaine Cottage Guide to the Deep Midwinter…both books normally cost €36.00 but can be purchased together for for €32.00 which includes P&P Worldwide. Bealtaine Books and Maps are printed in Ireland and posted from Ireland to support the people of Ireland.
€32.00
Magical Mythical Map of Bealtaine Cottage and Gardens
Beautiful map created by the artist David Gascoigne, especially for Bealtaine Cottage. The picture shows one side of the map…it is printed on both sides, see the photos on this page. The price includes all Postage and Packing to wherever you live in the world! Bealtaine Books and Maps are printed in Ireland and posted from Ireland to support the people of Ireland.
€12.00
I have finally given away my hens…as I no longer eat eggs and there was a lovely home ready and waiting for them where they would be more useful, as they are good layers and their eggs will be anticipated and appreciated where there is a family of people to eat them. 
I shall miss them, but as with life at Bealtaine Cottage, the void is quickly filled and the hen-house will be re-purposed and appreciated further. 
In the past, their manure was a part of developing the fertility of the land at Bealtaine, but this is no longer needed. 
Seed production is well under way, with some of the harvest already collected and much more coming to fruition. 
We are now one week away from Midsummer, as evidenced in the lush growth seen here! 
We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body. ~Thich Nhat Hanh 
The fruit trees and bushes were pruned back quite hard over the course of last Autumn and Winter and they are happily producing yet another bumper harvest.
…no matter how complex or affluent, human societies are nothing but subsystems of the biosphere, the Earth’s thin veneer of life, which is ultimately run by bacteria, fungi and green plants. 
Your deepest roots are in nature. No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of life you lead, you remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation. 
Ten O’Clock rings out as I take up my camera and head out into the warm evening. 
I have enjoyed visitors for much of the day, so stepping out into the evening allows me time to be quiet and absorb the ending of the day. 
“Be calm…calm as a calm lagoon, then you will look beautiful as a beautiful calm lagoon crowned by the Moon and sheltered by the brilliance of the stars reclaiming your royalty of regal life…”
The light lends an ethereal touch to everything. 
“When one tunes in into nature’s frequency, life becomes change, change becomes hope!”
The birds continue to fly to and fro their nestlings in a frenzy to keep them fed. 
Fortunately, Bealtaine Cottage can now support dozens of pairs of breeding birds and all from the plentiful supply of food in the gardens and food forest. 
“It was that time of dusk when there is a—deepening of the interior shadows. It is a melancholy time: all you need do is switch on one lamp and the inside and the outside will separate, held apart by the reflections in the glass, and evening will begin.”
As always at this time of evening, there is magic in the air. 
Flowers are dancing in billows of colour around the cottage. 
As I walk, snapping pictures here and there, I fancy my camera may capture an image of the other world that is veiled so very thinly at this time of day… 
I sense the watchers… 
and is gone in the blink of a lens.
Half light and shadows as the morning comes into view. 
Reflections and sunlight as the day rises. 
The silent beauty of the morning is a template for us all to follow into day…quiet simplicity. 
Gazing around the cottage as I follow through on early morning rituals. 
Checking where Sammy-Bear spent the night, opening the door for Jack to go out… 
Lighting the stove to boil the kettle…
Looking for where I put my camera last evening, for I should record this ethereal beauty of the early morning… 
Finally, making my pot of coffee and stepping out to embrace the day… 
The morning, the blessed morning…where all is possible. 
May the Goddess of the morning touch your heart with delight. 
May you be released into day, free from negativity and matters you do not control. 
Embrace your day…it’s a blessing! 
I have snapped these minutes ago and come straight in to upload and write this blog…taking time en route to give Jack a cracker treat. 
Thanks and blessings to my dear friends and supporters of the Bealtaine Cottage project.
There was enough rain overnight to half-fill the water barrels and all is looking lush this morning! 
Aquilegia is in full bloom and has grown well from an extra scattering of seeds I did last Autumn. 
Here is the perennial Yellow Poppy. 
I’ve moved potted seedlings and more robust plants out of the tunnel. 
The symbolism of the Goddess is not a parallel structure to the symbolism of God the Father.
The Permaculture design and planting at Bealtaine is not just inspired by the Goddess, but is the Goddess manifest…as natural and intuitive as the energy that flows from Mother Earth herself. 
This is the difference between Permaculture and Goddess-inspired Permaculture. 
Hawthorn has opened…
Garden paths become enclosed, dark, shady places…
The Spindle bush sits covered with blossom yet to open…
“I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer. My bank of wild grass is majestic
To meet it — nameless as it is —
Lilac is open…
“That beautiful season the Summer!
“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me,
“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most
