There was always understood to be a contract between the people and the land.
This reminder formed the words as I walked the woodland sanctuary, on this last day of November.
The leaf-covered earth I walked upon reminded me of that sacred contract, one long since forgotten by humankind.
From the sacred well flows the life-giving force of the Otherworld.
All the ancient races of the Earth understood this.
The contract was broken by those who nurtured a greed for more and more wealth.
This continues today and is the reason why Mother Earth has been brought to the edge of destruction all across Her land and seas.
The native pre-Christian mythology of Celtic Ireland is highly Goddess-centered.
This is in recognition of the understanding that the Earth is female and the force is that of the Creatrix.
Irish mythology, in particular, is filled with stories of powerful women.
These women, often revered and greatly honoured, were seen as incarnations of the ‘Sovereignty’ goddess.
On these mornings near Midwinter, the moon continues to move across the sky as the sun rises.
The land speaks.
The Goddess is imbued in the chalice and has become the sacred quest of folklore, that of the Holy Grail.
Here at Bealtaine Cottage she is the land Herself.
It is a most blessed time of the day, when the energy is rising.
My morning ritual is the same…I walk the land and listen, not just with my ears but with my whole being.
The energy of the Goddess flows out from the spring well and across the woodland…I listen.
I walk always in awareness of the Otherworld which influences my own.
I walk in service to the land.
This Goddess-centred land feels a part of me and I a part of Her.
The Otherworld is inextricably linked to the land I walk.
The Otherworld is not about the dead.
The Otherworld is referred to as the ‘land of the living’ in ancient lore.
The Goddess has a great propensity for shape-shifting…so as I walk the land it is oftentimes I am followed by birds.
Tomorrow marks the first day of December and the descent towards the Midwinter Solstice.
This will herald the return of the rise of the light, as we move towards Imbolc.
Yule begins on the Midwinter Solstice and continues until the first day of January.
The sacred walks of Winter continue…
The evening has drawn in without my noticing, a sure sign of Autumn quickening towards Samhain.
I have walked the woodland gardens this evening and made a video.
It’s so much easier to upload videos with my new laptop now that both phone and laptop are compatible.
I have missed the regular writing I do here on the website and was pondering on what to do in order to make the time for this?
This website was my very first and enduring foray into the world outside of Bealtaine Cottage.
I have decided to make this website a priority above FaceBook and Twitter…those who want to will find and subscribe here.
I may even get back to a daily journal of sorts…we shall see!
There are stories to be told and pictures to share…
For all of my life before I have dieted, lost weight and then, in the space of a month or two, put it all back on again!
This time, after losing a massive amount of weight over the course of 100 days, something amazing has happened…I have not gained a single pound back over the past 52 days of eating!
And a reminder of my weight problem and ensuing health problems from last year…
Now that I’m here, I’m never going back!
The year is tipping towards an end as Samhain marks the beginning of the new year… 
There has been much change here at Bealtaine Cottage as the canopy of trees has merged to form what is now truly a woodland.
This evolution has happened at just the right moment in time as we have witnessed a terrifyingly hot summer and drought…the woodland gardens have come through the worst unscathed…no loss on anything!
Beauty now lies between the stones of the great circle. I have flowers to plant here and many, many happy memories of this visiting soul who decided to spend time with us here at Bealtaine.
And so the wheel turns…
Much of my holiday was spent walking, something I love about being in the city!
Rain had fallen in my absence and the Spring Well was refreshed enough to send water to the cottage down the hill…the tank in the loft is now full and filling!
I expected to see much more leaf drop, but as you can see for yourself here in these photos, the trees have come through unscathed!
The forecast for Autumn seems very much as it should be and may prove to be quite a spectacular colour show!
This website is now approaching two million views…wonderful to imagine all those who have stopped by and perhaps taken a little inspiration into their lives, shaking off the old paradigm of what a garden should be…
The gardens at Bealtaine are all dedicated to the Great Mother and thus are charged with her energy.
The energy of earth is healing, both of herself and all her life upon.
As I walked with Jack around the cottage I was stopped in my tracks by this image…that of a woodland cottage, for this year has seen the manifestation of my heart’s desire from fourteen years ago, that of a cottage in the woods.
Butterflies were out in force today, in time for the sweet flowers of the Buddleia!
I uploaded a video shot this morning showing some of the Butterflies feasting on the flowers!
I want to say a special “Thanks and Blessings,” to all of you who sent condolences for Beauty…such kindness and compassion, Bless you XXX
There is the beautiful month of Lughnasadh to enjoy and appreciate the changes as summer merges into Autumn.
The stories of shape-shifting can be found in many cultures throughout the world, but none so prominently as that found in Celtic culture.
Within the near area of Bealtaine Cottage can be found a wealth of ancient history many thousands of years old.
The Tuatha Dé Danann, the people of the Goddess Danu, were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland.
These people who appeared to “land on top of a mountain”, Sliabh an Iarainn, a great brooding mass of sandstone rock and thin soil, visible from Bealtaine Cottage.
The ancient manuscript ‘The Annals of the Four Masters’, records that the Tuatha Dé Danann ruled Ireland from 1897 B.C. to 1700 B.C.
The Tuatha Dé Danann were eventually consigned to mythology, disappearing from the face of the Earth, but going underground, emerging later as ‘Aes sidhe’ (the people of the mound – fairy mounds)., now referred to simply as the Sidhe.
The people are known as “The Sidhe” or people of the mounds, or “The Lordly Ones” or “The Good People”.
Once consigned to the underworld the Tuatha Dé Danann engaged their powers of shape-shifting, emerging in many forms, even that of apparent human form.
In Irish mythology, we come across a number of stories about shape-shifting beings.
These shape-shifters are often goddesses, gods, magicians, witches, fairies and other supernatural creatures.
Shape-shifting is an important aspect of understanding the complexities of the influence of the Sidhe in contemporary Ireland, as it is believed this magic is employed to allow the Otherworld to communicate with humans.
A poem in the Lebor Gabála Érenn says of the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann:
“the truth was not known beneath the sky of stars,
Colette O’Neill is a writer and photographer living at Bealtaine Cottage in the west of Ireland.
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 here.
From the very first time I saw this place I envisioned a cottage in the woods, surrounded by the music of Nature and the beauty of life.
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.
“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.”
And so wherever we allow Her, enable Her and protect Her, abundance flows…
It’s humbling to witness…
Symbols have always resonated with us.
We possess an innate ability to read and understand symbols, for they transcend language and culture.
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.
