Magical Wild Herbs and Other Things

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…

Mabon Moon

September 24, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine CottageTags: art · Bealtaine cottage · Beth Trepper · Clifden Arts Festival · enchantment · goddess · Ireland · Permaculture · photography · stone circle · west of Ireland · woodland garden7 Comments

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…

Observed by Consciousness

June 5, 2018 Categories: Bealtaine Cottage · Bloom · consciousness · Cottage · Country Living · Earth · food forest · forest gardens · GardenTags: A Cottage and Three Acres · art · Bealtaine cottage · Colette O'Neill · cottage · design · environment · goddess · Goddess-Permaculture · home · humanity · Ireland · life · Permaculture · physics · reality · women16 Comments

Reality only exists when it is observed… These are images I photographed yesterday…what I observed here in the woodland gardens and food forest that is now Bealtaine Cottage. Reality can only be observed by consciousness. Is this why we are here? Are we part of the consciousness of Mother Earth? I believe we shape the beauty around us with both our physical selves and our conscious minds. We often hear the statement, ‘seeing is believing.’ I say, believing is seeing. Belief in the sentient being that is Mother Earth has formed a major part of the energy that has manifested…

Morning

July 3, 2017July 3, 2017 Categories: Bealtaine Cottage · Books · care for the earth · Earth · Eco-Living · Ecology · Permaculture · photographyTags: art · Bealtaine cottage · book · Colette O'Neill · earth · ecology · environment · Girdhar Joshi · goddess · goddess rising · home · hope · humanity · Ireland · Lawren Leo · life · media · mosaic · Permaculture · reflections4 Comments

The first week of July and there’s a feint scent of Autumn in the air this morning. The morning brings a quiet and gentle beginning to the day, untouched by the continuing perplexities of man. “Man has drawn artificial lines on the chest of the Mother Earth, which have no significance, except for the sake of war and clashes between countries. The soil seems to be the same, the trees the same, the grass the same, and the fragrance of the air, the smell of the earth the same.” ~ Girdhar Joshi Yes it is…all the same…at most times hard…

The Art of Seduction

June 3, 2014April 26, 2015 Categories: Bealtaine Cottage · Inspiration · Ireland · Permaculture · Sustainable Living · ThriftTags: art · consumers · consumption · corporate · junk food · scarcity · seduction · system · unhappiness15 Comments

Rain falls softly as I type. The day has given way to evening and the sun sets in the west behind the trees. There is a chill in the air; I have lit the stove. Birds swoop low over the roof of the lodge; so low, I can hear the sound of their wings. Over recent weeks there has been much clearing out of sheds, cupboards and closets, as the energy of approaching Midsummer holds sway. Through all of this, I have been mindful of need; keeping up a steady flow of goods to charity shops. Ever mindful of human…

A Life in the Country ~ Today at Bealtaine Cottage

October 14, 2011 Categories: Animals · Art · Autumn · Cats · Cottage · Country Living · Ireland · photography · Trees · UncategorizedTags: 1950's rural Ireland · art · artist · Barbara Holland · beautiful old building · catless writer · Edna O'Brien · George Macaulay Trevelyan · herd of buffalo · Lough Key · Missy the cat · old family church · old stable · painting · Percy Bysshe Shelley · perverse taste · portcullis · Rod McKuen · typewriter keysLeave a comment

Missy. Staring wisely through her beautiful cat’s eyes. Such wisdom in that little head… Cats can work out mathematically the exact place to sit that will cause most inconvenience. ~Pam Brown (Indeed…sitting in my seat, I do believe)! A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It’s a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys. ~Barbara Holland I bought this painting recently, having been drawn towards it and…