In preparing for the season of Yule, I follow the age old traditions of all the women who have gone before me.
Preparation is everything.
This begins in the home and involves casting an eye over all that will be of importance during this sacred time of gathering.
I am driven with the desire to instil a sense of order upon Bealtaine Cottage as the Midwinter festivities approach.
There is a history to this festival that precedes the usual image we hold as the collective ideal…that of a more recent celebration, Christmas.
The Winter Solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years.
It was celebrated by my Great Grandmother who lived in the cottage above.
Indeed, Newgrange here in Ireland, was constructed five thousand years ago, as a homage to the Midwinter Solstice, so this festival of Yule was immensely important to our ancestors.
This was because communities were not certain of living through the winter, and had to be prepared during the previous nine months.
Food and wine was ready to eat and drink ,as fruit fermented and animals were slaughtered as feed stocks dwindled.
Even during the morning, parts of the interior of this Irish cottage can be dim during the months of Midwinter.
Light is what our seasons are measured in.
Light was and remains the important aspect of winter and our ancestors realised the connection this had to all life.
That connection, that sense of knowing the elemental forces that governed their lives, was so important to them, that many monuments were erected to this end.
Here in Ireland, Newgrange is the most important, monumental reminder we have of this elemental connection.
So today has been a day of tidying and ordering…cleaning the area around the cottage, sorting wool, and listening to gentle music as I go.
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In Ireland, because of its close association with the goddess Brigit, it became Saint Brigid’s Day.
Yuletide continues to be marked at Bealtaine Cottage through to it’s end on the first day of January. A time of great hope and lifting of one’s head towards the ascending sun.
Equinox is all about balance…the balance of equal day and night, of dark and light. 
I await the first light of morning with great anticipation, aware that the light grows more and more precious, to be cherished. 
We are creatures of the light!
We are poised at the turning time and the descent towards Samhain. 
The Celts only recognised two parts of the year in terms of life, and that was Summer and Winter, for Samhain, despite falling on the 31st of October, meant “Summer’s End.”
The sun is casting long shadows…we grow evermore closer to the turning. 
In the night sky, Fomalhaut – the Autumn Star – is making its way across the heavens each night. 
The equinoxes and solstices formed an important part of ancient rituals here in Ireland. 
This Autumn Equinox is also referred to as Mabon.
Mabon is a good time to look at the ancient Greek legend of Persephone and Demeter.
“The breezes taste
Departing summer hath assumed
Stone monuments were built here in Ireland and aligned to witness the light on these days.
One can still view the illumination of these chambers in ancient cairns, at sunrise, on important celestial days. 
It just remains for me to wish you all a Happy Equinox on this beautiful evening at Bealtaine Cottage.
