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 the light that seeps into the trees and plants during Autumn. I stood outside last night and watched the full moon shine like a bright lamp onto the trees. This was a Mabon Moon, special, magical, conjuring otherworldliness among the woods that now surround the cottage.
And the colours…oh, the colours!
The Stone Circle seemed a fitting place to sit and drink my tea…there is an enchantment within…
…and without.
Indoors there are some of the most magical photographs I have ever seen, framed and ready to hang on the walls. I am pondering the best way to exhibit them. This is all the work of Beth Trepper. I made a video of her work at the Clifden Arts Festival…you may have seen it on the Bealtaine Cottage YouTube channel…
Calendars continue to be available…the link is at the top of this page.
Blessings to all XXX
Colette
Driving home through the landscape of this beautiful part of Ireland was a holiday in itself. The road from Clifden to Westport is the stuff made of legends, with mountains that rear up in front of one and water reflecting the ever-changing sky.
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.
Outside the birdsong carries vibrant energy over the land.
On this, the longest day of the year, the Earth in the northern hemisphere basks in the glow of seemingly eternal light.
The shades of green seem endless, a patchwork of effervescence with splashes of outrageous colour.
As fast as flowers open they turn to seed and the future summers to come.
The hard work of the winter, creating the Lughnasadh Garden, has paid such rewards as could only have been imagined.
Midsummer marks the year in glorious technicolour and song, as befits Mother Earth. It’s like a birthday for her!
I have run out of space on this land…there is little room for more…yet more grows and arrives as gifts.
The workshop on July 1st covers aspects of co-creating a garden with Mother Earth, creating micro-climates, incorporating fruit and vegetables and the no-dig method of establishing, building and maintaining a regenerative Eden.
Aspects of seed saving will be part of the day.
A full walk and talk of the gardens will also be included.
You are welcome to take photographs and ask all the questions you may want.
Please allow for the weather in your outdoor clothing considerations…and footwear.
The day begins at 11am and finishes at 5pm.
Morning and afternoon tea and vegan cakes are included.
A vegan lunch, also included, is served at 1.30pm.
As of this posting there are two spaces left.
The candle is lit in the kitchen window, a soft light to welcome the night, while on the far side of the room a small lamp illuminates the dark. 
“I love to watch the fine mist of the night come on,
The Blackbird has sung out the day and in the night, as it flies around it’s territory, marking out it’s boundary in song.
“Inhale and hold the evening in your lungs.”
“Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
The time between blue and black is quiet, almost timeless. 
There is an ethereal glow that conjures night. 
And slowly, slowly, the hush becomes night. 
Goodnight from Bealtaine Cottage…goodnight.
