camera – Bealtaine Cottage, Ireland

ancient Ireland, celebrations, Celtic Mythology, Celts, Garden, magic, midsummer, Shakespeare, Spirituality

Midsummer Vigil

Posted on June 20, 2016June 20, 2016 by Colette O'Neill

The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,
Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,
And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled
Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.
~Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

And as the seasons come and go, here’s something you might like to know.

There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day.

So listen, touch, and look around — in the air and on the ground.

And if you watch all nature’s things, you might just see a fairy’s wing.

~Author Unknown

I often walk the gardens in the early morning, taking my tea or coffee with me…and always my camera.

It is often in the early morn or at dusk that I find myself in a strange little corner of the gardens, which stretch to three acres and I attempt to capture the moment through the lens.

For my part, I believe in the Sidhe and have often felt their presence.

This morning there appeared to be a humidity in places which made it’s presence felt in some of the photographs I took.

You may make of them what you will.

Bealtaine Cottage is quite alive at all times and especially today, Midsummer, 20th day of June 2016.

The veil is thin…

This is of very special meaning to me and heralds the presence of my Mother, for this is her Angel sitting by a plant which was dedicated to her.

My daughter bought this pot and plant as a reminder for me of my Mother and her Grandmother…it sits near my seat by the veranda, just outside the back door.

The Realm of the Sidhe is a shadow land, carved out by the Tuatha de Danann following the defeat of the tribe in their last great battle.

Many of the sacred places in Ireland are also home to the Sidhe lying just beyond the fields we know.

The Tuatha de Danann, the people of the Goddess Danu, were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland.

The important manuscript ‘The Annals of the Four Masters’, records that they ruled Ireland from 1897 B.C. to 1700 B.C

Bealtaine Cottage appears to be alive with ancestors.

Midsummer Blessings to All XXX

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Bealtaine Cottage, Blessing, Climate, Country Living, Food, Garden, Inspiration, Life, Organic Garden, Permaculture, Spirituality

As Long As The Earth…

Posted on April 2, 2014October 22, 2015 by Colette O'Neill

As long as the Earth can make a spring every year, I can. As long as the Earth can flower and produce nurturing fruit, I can, because I’m the Earth. I won’t give up until the Earth gives up.
Alice Walker

I’m writing this between lighting the stove, going in and out to the barn chopping wood and getting my breakfast together.

Much of the wood I save and stack in the barn is collected from the ground beneath trees after a storm…it’s amazing how much timber for the stove can be foraged in this way.

I’m so delighted with this lovely gift from friends…

Thank you my friends Nick and Danielle for this funky new birdbox, created by Nick from driftwood!

Steps have been taken to avoid the one big bill, from the one mains service, coming into the cottage…electricity!

This is a Pay-As-You-Go-Meter, that also monitors usage and allows one more control over the utility.

I have managed to keep this week’s usage to just under ten euros!

I would recommend this as a way of taking more responsibility for one’s little bit of Earth.

It was free to install!

I’m weather-proofing all the wood around the cottage…with a selection of colours, some donated, some bought and mixed with leftovers, so Bealtaine Cottage will take on a different, more interesting hue!

Lavender is the colour of the day…with blue here and there.

One of the great things about cottage life is the simplicity of design…if it’s made from natural materials, then it doesn’t look out of place.

I love colour!

It seems a natural decorating choice for cottage living…one lovely eclectic mix of whatever it is one scavenges!

Blossom is out on the Ornamental Plum…

The sickly little Peach tree in the tunnel shows blossom for the first time ever…it has taken me four years to nurse this little gem back to life.

It was rescued from the rubbish skip at Lidl, where it had been dumped after being snapped in half.

This is a new bed I wanted to share with you…it’s another one of my experiments here at bealtaine Cottage.

The tyres are protecting the bed from the East and North , allowing the solar energy to be kept in the bed.

As the land is on a north-facing slope, any rain runs off the tyres downhill towards the north, thus leaving the bed clear from any run-off.

The tyres are well-weathered and already covered with mould.

This was a compost heap from last year.

I shall keep you updated as the growing season progresses.

And finally, a reminder of the thin soil that made up this land ten years ago…this is how close the bedrock is to the surface in many places all over the land here.

Tree-planting here has ensured a future unrealized before now…everything is possible! I cannot stress enough the importance of a Nursery Bed like the one seen here…grow, grow, grow! Then plant, plant plant!

“Husband the earth.

Protect
her from greed and violence.

Build
humbly, plant trees, grow flowers and clothe her
with dignity.

Respect all her creatures.

Honour her
natural laws and the universe which cradles her.
Above all, heartily worship the Source of All that is.

This world needs secret heroes!

Be brave, speak the truth,
heal the sick, make peace.

Be strong, serve patiently, love
generously, live simply.

Enjoy fellowship, eat and drink modestly,
celebrate the festivals.

Breathe deeply, sing and make music,
walk often, cycle and recycle.

Be thrifty, prefer cashflow to
possession, give good measure.

Let your work be your prayer.

Put on the whole armour of light!

Unearth the beauty in
everything.

Inhale the Spirit of Goodness.

Kindle kindness,
especially toward yourself, embracing the sweet
silence of your own soul.

Fear nothing.

Accept
what you are and — while you have
breath — give thanks.”
~John Rogers

celebrations, Celtic Mythology, Celts, Folklore, Inspiration, Ireland, Life, Nature, New Year, Spirituality, Thoughts

The Consciousness of All Things

Posted on October 28, 2012January 16, 2015 by Colette O'Neill

There is a stillness in the air tonight…a preamble towards Imbolc.

These last days of the Winter in the Celtic Cycle are a time of reflection…

Spirals fascinate me, as they fascinate so many people.

We are drawn towards them.

They mean something to us, something we have forgotten.

My Celtic ancestors carved Sacred Spirals on stones…and so they appear to us today, a message from the past, but we have lost the key to understand their meanings.

They, too, would have gazed up at the night sky and tried to understand their world.

They, too, would have intuited a connectivity in all life…we continue to subconsciously embrace all life, yet we struggle against great odds, for we have been told for millennia that we are superior, and so removed from that life force.

And so we try to make our way back to where we can, once more, connect to life.

For we now know, on a deeply spiritual, non-religious level, that we are one.

We are one, as the spiral depicts an eternal connection, we are one.

Spirals are full of symbolism.

The spiral is found all over the natural world and indeed is also the symbol of life itself, as represented in the famous double helix, the molecular structure of life.

The belief among the Celts, was that communication with nature was the chief priority in their lives, and the sound, immovable belief in the consciousness of all things.

They did not fear death as we do in this present time.

Everything was connected, there was no beginning and no end.

Every single thing upon and in the earth had a consciousness and was a part of, a fragment of, the one cosmic entity.

The sacred spiral, I believe, was a representation of this belief.

Stones were considered to be old before time itself…a fascinating thought and a manifestation of a deep spiritual understanding, if not connection.

The Winter is almost at a close…just another fifteen days left.

The joy of Spring awaits to be welcomed in on the first day of February…Imbolc!

As in the nature of the Sacred Spiral, we move inexorably along the path of our life, but not alone, for we are one with the Universe…

We now know we are made of that oneness, stardust itself!

The Celts recognized the great sight held by someone who was physically blind.

That person had the greatest sight…inner sight.

Perhaps it’s time for us to connect with our own inner sight and begin to see with our intuition.

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Midsummer Vigil

Like this:

As Long As The Earth…

Like this:

The Consciousness of All Things

There is a stillness in the air tonight…a preamble towards Imbolc.

These last days of the Winter in the Celtic Cycle are a time of reflection…

Spirals fascinate me, as they fascinate so many people.

We are drawn towards them.

They mean something to us, something we have forgotten.

My Celtic ancestors carved Sacred Spirals on stones…and so they appear to us today, a message from the past, but we have lost the key to understand their meanings.

They, too, would have gazed up at the night sky and tried to understand their world.

They, too, would have intuited a connectivity in all life…we continue to subconsciously embrace all life, yet we struggle against great odds, for we have been told for millennia that we are superior, and so removed from that life force.

And so we try to make our way back to where we can, once more, connect to life.

For we now know, on a deeply spiritual, non-religious level, that we are one.

We are one, as the spiral depicts an eternal connection, we are one.

Spirals are full of symbolism.

The spiral is found all over the natural world and indeed is also the symbol of life itself, as represented in the famous double helix, the molecular structure of life.

The belief among the Celts, was that communication with nature was the chief priority in their lives, and the sound, immovable belief in the consciousness of all things.

They did not fear death as we do in this present time.

Everything was connected, there was no beginning and no end.

Every single thing upon and in the earth had a consciousness and was a part of, a fragment of, the one cosmic entity.

The sacred spiral, I believe, was a representation of this belief.

Stones were considered to be old before time itself…a fascinating thought and a manifestation of a deep spiritual understanding, if not connection.

The Winter is almost at a close…just another fifteen days left.

The joy of Spring awaits to be welcomed in on the first day of February…Imbolc!

As in the nature of the Sacred Spiral, we move inexorably along the path of our life, but not alone, for we are one with the Universe…

We now know we are made of that oneness, stardust itself!

The Celts recognized the great sight held by someone who was physically blind.

That person had the greatest sight…inner sight.

Perhaps it’s time for us to connect with our own inner sight and begin to see with our intuition.

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

There is a stillness in the air tonight…a preamble towards Imbolc.

These last days of the Winter in the Celtic Cycle are a time of reflection…

Spirals fascinate me, as they fascinate so many people.

We are drawn towards them.

They mean something to us, something we have forgotten.

My Celtic ancestors carved Sacred Spirals on stones…and so they appear to us today, a message from the past, but we have lost the key to understand their meanings.

They, too, would have gazed up at the night sky and tried to understand their world.

They, too, would have intuited a connectivity in all life…we continue to subconsciously embrace all life, yet we struggle against great odds, for we have been told for millennia that we are superior, and so removed from that life force.

And so we try to make our way back to where we can, once more, connect to life.

For we now know, on a deeply spiritual, non-religious level, that we are one.

Spirals are full of symbolism.

The spiral is found all over the natural world and indeed is also the symbol of life itself, as represented in the famous double helix, the molecular structure of life.

They did not fear death as we do in this present time.

Everything was connected, there was no beginning and no end.

The sacred spiral, I believe, was a representation of this belief.

The Winter is almost at a close…just another fifteen days left.

The joy of Spring awaits to be welcomed in on the first day of February…Imbolc!

As in the nature of the Sacred Spiral, we move inexorably along the path of our life, but not alone, for we are one with the Universe…

We now know we are made of that oneness, stardust itself!

The Celts recognized the great sight held by someone who was physically blind.

That person had the greatest sight…inner sight.

Perhaps it’s time for us to connect with our own inner sight and begin to see with our intuition.

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