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…
And as the seasons come and go, here’s something you might like to know. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
The Tuatha de Danann, the people of the Goddess Danu, were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland. 
Ten O’Clock rings out as I take up my camera and head out into the warm evening. 
I have enjoyed visitors for much of the day, so stepping out into the evening allows me time to be quiet and absorb the ending of the day. 
“Be calm…calm as a calm lagoon, then you will look beautiful as a beautiful calm lagoon crowned by the Moon and sheltered by the brilliance of the stars reclaiming your royalty of regal life…”
The light lends an ethereal touch to everything. 
“When one tunes in into nature’s frequency, life becomes change, change becomes hope!”
The birds continue to fly to and fro their nestlings in a frenzy to keep them fed. 
Fortunately, Bealtaine Cottage can now support dozens of pairs of breeding birds and all from the plentiful supply of food in the gardens and food forest. 
“It was that time of dusk when there is a—deepening of the interior shadows. It is a melancholy time: all you need do is switch on one lamp and the inside and the outside will separate, held apart by the reflections in the glass, and evening will begin.”
As always at this time of evening, there is magic in the air. 
Flowers are dancing in billows of colour around the cottage. 
As I walk, snapping pictures here and there, I fancy my camera may capture an image of the other world that is veiled so very thinly at this time of day… 
I sense the watchers… 
and is gone in the blink of a lens.
