A Sacred Journey into The Heart of Ireland Tours

As Druids we're often looking for deeper or transformational experiences in nature. A huge opportunity presents itself for those interested in a guided tour through some of Ireland's most mystical places that we often long to go home to. There are a few spaces left in the Sacred Journey Ireland Tours for May and July! 

Ireland has an iconic place in the worlds psyche, hearkening us back to an ancient spiritual connection with our own wild soul and pure nature. Those who visit Ireland feel embraced by a feeling of finally coming home, a soul retrieval across space and time. The wide open places of windswept beauty, the rugged wild shorelines, spectacular ancient sites, the green expanse of fields of grass open the hearts longing for connection. Ireland holds the keys to unlocking the door to an ancient memory that awakens our blueprint to be interconnected with nature and remember our ancestral belonging. This is not an average tour of beautiful places, but one that takes you deeper into the mysteries of Ireland's ancient past and present; a pilgrimage to your own Ancient Remembrance. 

The energy of Ireland is transformational. There is a reason why this land has more sacred sites than anywhere in the world! For thousands of years, Ireland was a renowned place of pilgrimage where people experienced divine communion with nature, the devas and sacred places of transcendence. Seasonal festivals worshiped the sun and its life giving powers which is today memorialized in hundreds of megalithic sites. These ancient sites hold great power. They were created to honor the ancestors and eternal life serving as portals to anchor celestial energy and knowledge in the earthly realm, "As Above, So Below". The indigenous Celtic and proto-Celtic tribes practiced an earth based spirituality which has now reincarnated in the form of modern Druidism and Celtic Shamanism.

The wild elements, nature spirits and Sidhe are still very much alive with a profound numinous energy that can awaken your spirit. Experience a life changing journey that will fill your soul with awe and steep you in connection to your own Divine Essence. Ireland is guaranteed to transform you, either in the most subtle or profound ways! On our journey we will walk through the portal of time and visit the most sacred landscapes used for ceremony and pilgrimage for thousands of years. We also have a deep connection to many unknown places that have special energy and beauty. We will guide you into the real hidden mysteries of this fabled land that exists in the multidimensional layers of ancient sites. The spirit guardians of sites have much to share with those who have the ears and hearts to listen.

We will guide you how to listen, hear and see the spirits of nature and the mythical Sidhe through shamanic and meditation techniques. We will listen to the voices of the elements through the four elements; earth, air, water and fire. The stones, holy wells, sun and wind carry ancient energetic signatures that enliven dormant codes for awakening the spirit. We will also reconnect with the wisdom of our ancient ancestors who once lived in harmony and reverence with the cycles of life learning how to anchor this wisdom within to take home and rejuvenate your life.

Your guides:

Cara Gardner recently lived in Ireland for four years studying shamanism, Irish archaeology and psychotherapy. She experienced a life changing initiation into the mysteries of Ireland and the healing arts of celtic shamanism and druidry.  She is now a spiritual counselor, celtic shamanic healer, druid and professional photographer practicing in California.

Mary O' Halloran is a renowned Transforming Cellular Memory and Bioenergy healer from Co. Clare, professional tour guide, archaeologist and folklore expert. 

Upcoming Ireland Journeys:

"A Sacred Journey into the Heart of Ireland"

May 12-19th, 2018
July 21-28th, 2018

And stay tuned for Cara's upcoming "Tree Spirit Journey" August 2018
"Sacred Sites and Ancient Trees of England" with special guest guide Druid Philip Carr Gomm

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Honoring Trees and Nature Through Wood Carving

"The trees know that you can be still and grow at the same time." -Chris McGeown

If you're looking for what sort of inspiration may come out of the mountainous woodland of Wales, look no further than craftsman and carver Giles Newman. With only his ax and chisel, he carves exquisitely detailed spoons and necklaces out of naturally fallen pieces of wood in the forest he tends. Newman has been practising his carving skills for many years but has only recently begun sharing his inspirational pieces with the world.   

"With a background in photography and graphic design but a lifelong love of woodlands and wilderness, I started wood carving in early 2015 as a way to spend more time in the small woodland that I manage in the mountains of North Wales. Using only the tools that I already had for looking after the woodland, my axe and a knife, I began carving wooden spoons from wind fallen trees and branches that I would find and forage for on the woodland floor. After twelve months I abandoned my life as a designer and photographer to pursue my wood carving full time.

My work is created from and inspired by the woodlands that surround me. Often a reflection of the passing seasons, my carvings are personal observations and interpretations of natural beauty and celebrate the momentary minutiae that serve as markers of time in nature. I seek to carve intricate, organic and fleetingly fragile subjects that contrast the characteristics of rigid strength and longevity with which wood, as a material, is imbued. In the form of a spoon, the sculptural nature of my work contradicts the principle that the shape of a tool must be defined by its function and challenges the viewer to question the form of objects that are at once fundamental to our everyday lives, but most often seen as mundane and given little regard." -Giles Newman

There is something spectacular about creating something beautiful from fallen wood albeit, a small piece. It's as if its essence has been carried on or been at the very least, honored. It's as if through Giles, the tree has gone on to inspire more people to love and appreciate trees. 

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Full Moon Tidbits and Ways to Celebrate

This month, on January 31st there is a particularly interesting moon occurring in which we have a full super moon, blue moon and lunar eclipse! It is the "Ice" moon according to the Coligny calendar! 

"To our ancestors' unaided perception both sun and moon appeared the same size in the skies. The path of the sun expanded and contracted, its power increasing and diminishing through the year, while the moon waxed to a perfect silver white circle, then waned until it disappeared into the darkness. Little is known of how the ancient Druids worked with the moon's cycles, though there is evidence that their calendars were moon orientated. Pliny tells of Druids cutting mistletoe on the sixth day of the waxing moon. There is mention, too, of other herbs, of the moon phases and the moon being a source of healing. There is imagery of gods and priests with crescent shapes assumed to be lunar symbols.  For those practising Druidry today, the moon is equal in importance to the sun and as many rites are held at night, in the flickering light of the fire, as are held during the daytime." -Emma Restall Orr

While we know practically nothing about actual celebrations or rituals the Celts might have participated in during the varying cycles of the moon we do have historic written accounts of their knowledge of its cycle and its effect on earth, the tides and us. We know that they performed certain rituals or picked specific herbs during particular phases of the moon. The Coligny Calendar was based on both the lunar and solar cycle. Many stone circles are aligned with the moon cycles and even rare lunar events. The Stenness standing stones on Orkney Scotland are aligned with a lunar phenomenon occurring every 18.6 years. 

While these sites were built by Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures, the original inhabitants of the British Isles, they are equally a part of Pagan and British Isle culture and we can assume passed their knowledge and possibly rituals in usage of the stones to the Celts and Druids upon inhabiting their land. The Celts and the culture that followed may have likely been the descendants of the builders themselves. We know they held the moon in high regard, at least equally to the sun but maybe even more so as they started their days with the rising of the moon verses the sun. This reverence has persisted among locals on the British Isles and has been revitalized in paganism today all around the world. 

Did you know it takes the moon approximately 29.5 days to revolve around the earth? Coincidently, a woman's period cycle is on average 28-30 days and as a result women are intimately connected to the moon. The sun is typically associated with the masculine and the moon, the feminine. By honoring and celebrating the moon, we celebrate the divine feminine energy and connectedness in everything and our importance in continuing, nurturing and celebrating the cycle of birth and life on our earth. The full moon is said to be the time when our intuition and "powers" for cleansing or ritual are at their highest. We celebrate the masculine, the sun, equally in depth what it lacks in breadth with the solstices and equinoxes! 

"Mistletoe rarely grows on oaks, but is sought with reverence and cut only on the sixth day of the moon."  -Pliny The Younger (Rome)

"Some authors assert that the Gallaicans are atheists whereas the Celtiberians and the neighboring peoples of the North dance and revel all night long by their homes, with their families, during the full moon, in order to honor an anonymous god." -Strabo (Greek)

"While Attalus was encamped on the Macistus, an eclipse of the moon took place, which the Galli took to be an unfavorable sign; and they were also wearied of moving about with their wives and children who followed in the carts. Accordingly, they refused to march on." -Polybius (Greek)

Ways to Celebrate:

•Altar: Designate a space in your altar for the moon, honoring the divine feminine and goddess energy. This could be a feminine type statue, a specific crystal like moonstone or even a picture. It could be anything at all really that represents the moon to you!

•Moon gazing: Take time to gaze at the moon as often as you like! Try laying down and truly taking the time to soak in it's cleansing and energizing energy. Take this time to meditate and think on important issues. Use the moon's strength to empower your sense of self, confidence and decision making. Some prefer to lay out nude if weather permits.

•Create: Use moon gazing time to write and create! Use it as a reminder to write in your journal or grimoire. Create a piece of art or craft such as a painting, wreath, jewelry piece, candle, soap, bath bomb etc. etc. etc.

•Bonfire: Have a bonfire for yourself, family or friends. Get outside and enjoy the night! Start a drum circle! It's up to you!

•Relax: Many times life gets in the way of setting aside even the shortest of moments for ourselves. Take the full moon as a reminder and excuse to take a relaxing bath surrounded by your crystals, candles and relaxing music. Get a massage, pedicure, manicure or new hair cut! 

•Tarot reading:  Have yours read by someone else or get your own set and do your own! Close your eyes and focus your intent. Shuffle the cards 5 times representing air, water, earth, fire, spirit. You could also do seven times incorporating the "underworld" and "upperworld" in druid culture on top of those five. Once shuffling is completed, choose 3 cards at random. Designate what each card will mean before you pull the cards. Example: Card 1- What challenges am I facing? Card 2- What awareness will help manifest my desires? Card 3- What should I focus on until the next full moon? These can be whatever you want but whatever they are is what you're focusing on while shuffling your cards.

•Ritual divination: Along with cleansing yourself by laying out and gazing at the moon, the full moon would be the time to "mentally" cleanse your altar, tools, home, pets, family... etc. This ritual would entail anything your creative mind can come up with that has meaning to you! One common way is to simply smudge the house or tools using various herbs and then laying them out in the direct moonlight.

•Swimming: The full moon is a perfect time to take a dip in any natural body of water or your own swimming pool or jacuzzi! Water was considered both physically, mentally and spiritually “cleansing”. 

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Winter Solstice and Ways to Celebrate

Winter Solstice or Alban Arthur marks the beginning of winter and usually falls sometime between December 21st through the 22nd. This year it falls on the 21st.

There is very little evidence, if any that the Celts or Druids celebrated the Winter Solstice. However we know they were very in tune with nature's cycles and in spirit of that knowledge, many Druids celebrate the occasion! The Winter Solstice is essentially the day or moment when the days are at the very shortest and the nights, the longest. Adorning the house in lights and bringing in greenery are meant to represent continued hope through the literal and metaphorical darkest of times. 

Ways to Celebrate: 

Christmas and New Years: Most pagans do not celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense of what it represents being Christ's birth. However, many still see it as a time to come together with family that do celebrate, and buy modest or homemade gifts as a reminder of the love felt for them all year long. Of course, it's almost impossible to not celebrate the traditional New Year's with the rest of the world and it's incredible fun, so why not?! We can still recognize the Celtic New Year at Samhain and there is much happiness and meaning in celebrating both. 

Create: Make something representative of the season! Make your own advent calendar, wreath or holiday craft!

Decorate: Decorate your home or space with seasonal symbols and colors of nature. Common decorations are reindeer, evergreen wreaths & boughs, oak tree, mistletoe, holly, ivy and colors green, white and red. Search for unique display items that have strong symbology for you. Set up your dresser or altar accordingly. Set up a Winter Solstice tree. I keep my decorations simple and nature based, using many natural or animal ornaments or items that have special meaning for me and my family. Decorate your house with candles or lights, keeping hope and joy alive during the darkest of seasons. 

Connect: Connect with others. Prepare a Winter Solstice dinner. Listen to relaxing holiday music. Burn a yule log in the fire. Typically it's a yule log that has been gifted or is from one's own yard or land. Light candles. Some common dishes are roasted turkey, salmon, sweet veggies, gingerbread cookies and scones. Enjoy your family and friends. Cook something different you've never tried before or try a new wine! Go out to a restaurant you've never been too. Call up and meet friends or family you haven't seen in a while to encourage meaningful and new conversation. Being adventurous in the littlest of ways will help stave off the winter "blues"! Attend a pagan social event. Mark this season with something unique to make it feel like more of a special occasion.

Reflect: The winter and darker season is a good time to look inward to yourself, your closest family and friends for comfort. Reflect on your past year, the ups and downs. Think about the best and the worst parts. How can you improve from here? Did anything positive come out of a negative experience? If there was a death or other personal relationship loss, what steps can you take to continue moving forward? If there was a goal you didn't accomplish, what will help make it happen this coming year? Take this time to write in your journal.

Relax: Digress from the busy life of the holiday season. Take some time for yourself, even if only for an hour. When you take care of yourself even in the tiniest of ways, you are astoundingly more capable of helping and being there for others. Take a warm bath with candles. Get a massage. Do whatever you need to do to relax, process and move forward in a positive direction into the new year with as clean of an emotional slate as possible.

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15 Signs it's Time to Unplug from Technology

You know it's time to unplug from technology if...

1. You check your phone incessantly. 

2. You enjoy spending more time on your phone than with your spouse, kids, friends or family. (at least your actions say that you do) 

3. You take your phone everywhere (even the bathroom) and panic when it's not with you. 

4. You're constantly comparing your life and your self worth to others.

5. You're not productive.

6. You haven't participated in your favorite hobbies recently, maybe for months.

7. You're not present. 

8. You crave validation and feel the need to share everything about your life. 

9. You can't get a good night's sleep or truly ever feel recharged.

10. You have more frequent back, neck or headaches. 

11. You feel chronically stressed, lonely or envious.

12. You're working after hours. (constantly sharing posts for your business or answering emails) 

13. You've become overly dependent on phone apps like google maps.

14. You're hearing phantom phone rings or vibrations.

15. You check your email first thing in the morning and before you go to bed. 

If you were nodding as you were reading this and internally acknowledged that you do some or most of this, it may be time for a break! Put down your phone. Dance in your living room. Give someone a hug and tell them something nice. Eat a meal without taking a picture of it. Go on an outing or to a restaurant without sharing about it. It might be challenging but you can do it! Your inner self will thank you! 

We know excessive technology or phone time is bad for us. We read the scientific and psychological studies. We might even readily recognize the personal negative consequences of too much screen time. Despite all of this, we each tend to get pulled back in repeatedly. Even if we have to set alarms or create lock out settings to force us to take time to be present in our life, it's important more than ever to take a break. We each need time to unplug, relax, recharge and gain perspective on our life in any given day or week. When we get to the end of our lives, the last thing we will be relishing in or thankful for, is all the time we spent online! 

Lovely artistic video by Charlene DeGuzman subtly highlighting the heartbreak of society's dependence on technology... 

Samhain History and Modern Ways to Celebrate

Samhain takes place the night of October 31st through November 1st and is representative of our ancestors, nostalgia, perseverance and balance

 The word Samhain can be translated to "summer's end"

History: 

The Celtic year began with Samhain. It marked the "end" of the lighter half of the year and thus was considered the beginning. Vegetation started dying and "death" was literally in the air. It was a time when the veil between this world and the otherworld was thought to be at its thinnest. The dead could return to the land of the living and likewise, some of the living, especially poets were able to enter the otherworld through the doorways of the "sidhe", holes in the ground covered by a large stone like Poulnabrone Dolmen or neolithic burial chambers like Maeshowe in Scotland and The Hill of Tara in Ireland. The Hill of Tara is specifically aligned with the Samhain sunrise. 

Their deities known as the Sidhe or Aos Si or "people of the mounds" were thought to be especially active. It's easy to see why this time of year was considered so special as many describe fall as a time when there is an intangible feeling of magic and nostalgia in the air. Samhain, along with it's opposite "light" festival Beltane, were considered the most magical of their celebrations as they signified the beginning of each, the dark and light halves of the year.

Samhain is the only celebration that doesn't have substantial evidence of being associated with one specific deity more than others however, many people speculate it could have been The Morrigan. This would make sense considering the darker elements of her persona and being associated with death or the journey to the afterlife. 

Halloween is another name for Samhain and a tradition that masses of Irish immigrants brought with them to America, especially during the potato famine when it really gained traction as a mainstream family tradition. Without a doubt, one of the most prominent symbols of present day Halloween are Jack O'Lanterns and trick or treating. Originally, the Irish would use turnips and gourds as well as lay out milk for their ancestors to welcome them or give as an offering to their deities. They laid out milk, possibly for the Kellas cats or Cat Sith. These were black cats thought to be witches that had the ability to turn into a cat nine times. If you left an offering of milk they would likely bless your home verses curse it if there was none. This is also likely where the folklore of a cat having nine lives came from. When the Irish came to America, they transitioned to pumpkin carving simply because they were readily available here, bigger and easier to carve. Traditionally, a feast would be prepared and the family would leave a chair or multiple chairs out for their deceased loved ones who were thought to be visiting. Family may have frequented their ancestors grave sites and left offerings there as well. If you had to go out on the town, you wore a "costume" which could have been as simple as a shirt over your head in order to blend in with the ghosts and ghouls roaming about. This evolved as well into full out dressing in costume and going house to house to ask for an "offering" of candy. 

Ways to Celebrate: 

Halloween: Participate in Halloween, the modern version of Samhain! Dress up, attend a party, go trick or treating with your children, friend's children or nieces and nephews! Pass out candy to children if you live in a neighborhood. 

Ancestry: Visit and tend to the gravesite of a loved one. Decorate their gravesite with a fall inspired offering of flowers or dried herbs. Find a quiet place and think of your favored memories with them. Look through old pictures. Allow yourself to take this time to feel, remember and appreciate their existence and continued importance in your life and memories. This can be extended to an actual ancestors alter made of photographs, heirlooms, candles and favorite bits of other memorabilia on a dresser or alter table. Take some time to research your ancestry or pay a visit to your elders to hear their stories of your family or family history you may have never heard before. 

Nature walk and meditation: Take a meditative walk through nature enjoying the last days of warmer weather and greenery. Take notice to the ever changing beautiful details of fall. If so desired, collect natural objects to build crafts at home, add to a fall inspired altar or make a temporary nature mandala during your outing. Take walks as needed to reconnect.

Decorate: Decorate your home or space with seasonal symbols and colors of nature. Common decorations are the cauldron, apples, nuts, berries, turnips, photos of ancestors or deceased loved ones and the colors black, orange and red. Sometimes less is more. Focus on quality decorations verses quantity. Find those unique items that have a stronger meaning for you. Set up your dresser or altar accordingly. 

Connect: Connect with others. Prepare a Samhain dinner. Listen to appropriate seasonal music. Light candles. Some common dishes are boxty cakes, cheesy potatoes, potato or pumpkin pie, spice or Irish cakes and chocolate apples or another apple related treat. Some prepare a favored dish of their deceased loved one. If you're a stickler for tradition, leave a seat open for your deceased loved one(s) as well. Tradition would also be to dine in silence and reflect on your ancestors. Some prefer to tell stories of the deceased and like most dinners, have it filled with easy conversation and laughter instead of silence. It's up to you! Attend a pagan social event.

Offering: Prepare a basket of seasonal items or a small seasonal gift to give to someone in need , your neighbor, your child's teacher, a community leader or the mail carrier. Buy someone's coffee or meal behind you at the drive in. Give back to nature by donating to a charity or participate in a community, park or coastal clean up program. Put out bird seed or a basket of fruit, berries or nuts for local wildlife. Be creative in your offering and method of "giving back". 

Bonfire: Kindle a bonfire outside if possible, although indoors is fine as well. Reflect on your life past and present keeping a positive mind frame. Samhain is also about perseverance. Internalize that getting through tougher or scarier times can ultimately shape us into a better, more stronger person with the right mind set. Write down a negative habit or vice you would like to end this year and throw the paper into the flames when you are ready as you imagine release. You can meditate looking into the fire, or sit with your eyes closed imagining a better "you" coming into fruition. If you feel like moving, you can meditate while moving around the fire clockwise. When you encounter problems later with your issue, imagine the fire and the literal and symbolic end of your issue to strengthen your resolve and promote your continued success. A drum circle would also be a fun activity if possible with family or friends! Many people write a list of their goals or wishes for the coming season, then ceremoniously burn it in the fire sending those wishes into the otherworld. 

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Autumn Equinox and Ways to Celebrate

Autumn Equinox or Alban Elfed marks the official end of the summer and usually falls sometime between September 21st through the 23nd. This year it falls on the 22nd.

There is very little evidence, if any that the Celts or Druids celebrated the Autumn Equinox. However we know they were very in tune with nature's cycles and in spirit of that knowledge, many Druids celebrate the occasion! The Autumn Equinox is essentially the day or moment when the plane of the earth's equator passes through the center of the sun's disk and there is equal duration of day and night. So begins the slow journey towards the colder half of the year for the northern hemisphere and the warmer half for the southern hemisphere. 

Ways to Celebrate: 

Harvest: This time of the year was when final harvests and winter storage preparations were being made. It's time to do a final outdoor cleaning and putting things away in a safe place for the winter. Buy extra food goods to store away and batten down the hatchets.

Create: Make something representative of the season! Make a fall inspired wreath, leaf art or bouquet. Create a cornucopia! 

Decorate: Decorate your home or space with seasonal symbols and colors of nature. Common decorations are  the cornucopia, apples, leaves, pine cones, acorns or other nuts and the colors brown, black and yellow. Sometimes less is more. Focus on quality decorations verses quantity. Find those unique items that have a stronger meaning for you. Set up your dresser or altar accordingly.

Connect: Connect with others. Prepare a Fall Equinox dinner. Listen to appropriate seasonal music. Light candles. Some common dishes are turkey meatballs and pasta, broccoli casserole, harvest ratatouille, squash and carrot or ginger muffins or cake. Enjoy your family and friends. Cook something different you've never tried before or try a new wine! Go out to a restaurant you'e never been too. Call up and meet friends or family you haven't seen in a while to encourage meaningful and new conversation. Attend a pagan social event. Mark this season with something unique to make it feel like more of a special occasion.

Reflect: The Autumn Equinox is about bounty and gratitude. Reflect on and be grateful for all that you have! Put your priorities in order and make sure you’re continuing to keep things in perspective and take things in stride. Take this time to write in your journal.

Relax: Take a meditative walk through nature! If so desired, collect natural objects to build crafts at home, add to a fall inspired altar or make a temporary nature mandala during your outing. Visit a farm, orchard or pumpkin patch! Have a bonfire! Take walks as needed to reconnect.

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