This is a special offer which will be in place until the end of November. Both offers are designed to make up a special YuleTide gift package for a special person. I am happy to include a message of your choice…simply email it to me when making your purchase.
Fourteen years ago at the beginning of the Bealtaine Project, I had no contact with anyone in the US. My perception of American people was very much decided by all things Hollywood and the news broadcasts that informed me of all that was negative. It’s shocking how our view of the world lies in the power of so few! As the years here at Bealtaine Cottage have passed and the great work of planting so many hundreds of trees has changed the land and fortified the future, I have blogged and vlogged the journey to anyone who was interested. In…
Hawthorn is one of the sacred Ogham trees of Ireland. It goes by the name Huath in Irish, being the tree that symbolises Bealtaine, the merry month of May! This is also a wonderful, magical herb of abundant medicine. Hawthorn, or whitethorn, is easily identifiable during this time as her creamy blossoms brighten hedgerows, stone walls, fields and sacred sites. Hawthorn is also known as the fairy tree for it is believed, especially a solo tree in a field, that it is a place that fairies would stop to rest (or party!) as they traversed across the land. There was…
My birthday has passed. It was a wonderful day and here I am in a new year of my life, another journey around the sun! It’s been an extraordinary journey so far and, as usual, it’s been a wonderful time for casting the occasional, cursory glance over my shoulder to the past. To this end, I have recalled many aspects of my relationship with my parents, especially in my younger years, realising more and more just how wonderful they both were! When one is in the thick of it all it’s sometimes very hard to see the people behind the…
The virtual world of social media appears to be taking over much of what people refer to as “life!” I challenge this assertion, for having spent the past few years on the most virulent form of social media, FaceBook, I have concluded that much of what passes for interaction is little more than soapbox spouting, increasingly dictatorial shouting at others and re-posting stuff! That is not to say that there are many friends there, but I have made the decision to walk away from it. To this end I’m no longer posting on the FB platform. However I have to…
Every now and then I feel the need to recharge my batteries. This is one of those times. I have, once again, over-stretched myself across social media platforms, as well as working every day in the gardens and continuing to refresh and update the interior of Bealtaine Cottage…and all my own work, unaided. My main work should be focused on writing, as this is my income, but, more often than not, I allow my energies to flow in too many directions. So, for the next month, I am away from social media, concentrating my efforts on this website and YouTube…
Morning at Bealtaine, infused with tasks and rituals as the hands on the clock move towards midday on this last Thursday of September. There was a full moon last night. This was the true Mabon or Equinox moon, casting light through the trees that surround the cottage, illuminating the landscape, lighting the way. The air remains still and warm, much the same as when I walked through the woodland gardens at twilight last night, making a video as I went. The cottage is immersed in quiet contemplation as I write…yes, these walls are alive and incubate the vibrations of life…
Much of the day has been spent in the garden, working, head down, cutting back and meditating as I chop and drop. It’s been a long day and tiredness has forced me indoors. This is the first day of a seven day Juice Fast and, as always, my energy levels are high. Working hard enables me to sleep deeply and restoratively. There is something incredibly magical about working in the garden during Autumn. It is the scents arising from the earth that trigger memories and feelings. Then the hot tea, so well earned after hours of work. There is also…
I have returned home from my friends Terri and Lol in Clifden, Connemara. The Arts Festival was in full swing in the town, with a real buzz in the air! Staying with my friends whose house is outside of the town near the ocean was a calm and reviving experience. This is one of their beautiful cats in the garden. Driving home through the landscape of this beautiful part of Ireland was a holiday in itself. The road from Clifden to Westport is the stuff made of legends, with mountains that rear up in front of one and water reflecting…
