Blessings from Brighid

Last night I celebrated the April New Moon. I performed a New Moon Rite to ask the Goddess for direction and guidance to reach my goals (successful completion of my GTP to reach Qualified Teacher Status, and finding a Job for September).

 I used my singing bowl to reach a state of peace and meditated properly for the first time in weeks! (Mundane life has been very hectic).

 My Spirit Guide Jacob joined me in my Astral Sacred Space, and we talked for a while about my connection to the Gods, and my role as a Priestess for Celtic Moon.

 I have felt a little weary of late, and haven't had much time to properly devote to time in Ritual.
 I know now that I need to maintain my Solitary practice to again feel confident as a Priestess.
 I have felt that I am not doing a good enough job as a leader at times, and recently there was a situation where I was left feeling quite exposed and vulnerable and it made me feel very inadequate as a Priestess.

Jacob as always told me to trust in my abilities and that I am far too self concious for my own good!
He can be a little know it all sometimes :)

 I spent time in my Astral Space and then I became aware that I was not alone.

 Brighid came forth to me beside a Waterfall. I knelt before her and she told me that I AM Her Priestess and Her Daughter, that I am experienced and wise and yet I am still an eternal student.

 She told me to have faith and confidence in my abilities- to know that I AM a good teacher and a guardian of the Old Ways.
 She told me that my own lone practice feeds and encourages my practice in the CM Community, and that I must trust myself and my own instincts to know what is right.

 Sometimes you just need the Lady Herself to remind you! I read my Tarot and Oracle cards again and felt comforted by the messages therein.

 I will certainly heed the words of my Guide and my Goddess, and most importantly to my Intuition!

 Bright Blessings!
Breaca
 xXx

Into the Well of Beauty: NOD assignment

Artwork by Esther Remmington
Brighid & Cernunnos

Into the Well of Beauty: Chapter 4 assignment

Reflect on your own relationship to the Sacred and/or Divinity.
How does it relate to this chapter of the NOD Bardic Text?

In a previous post I discussed how I came to be a Pagan. That I always believed in 'something', something within Nature that connects us all. I have likened it to the 'Force' described in Star Wars.

Our Celtic Ancestors were not known for anthropomorphising their Gods. That is, it was only with interaction with Rome that they came to see statues and figurines of humanized Gods.

Our Ancestors saw the Gods of Albion, Eire, Cymru etc as the Land itself or within the Trees and animals of Nature. The Hills were the shapely body of Danu, the Sun was the blazing light of Lugh and the Ravens were the sign of the Morrigan drawing close.

Many Celtic tribes had a totem animal that represented their connection to their Gods (the Bear, the Wolf, the Raven etc). Others connected through hot spots in the Land (Sacred Wells, Standing Stones, Hills and Burial Mounds.

But it is only really later that we began to personify our Gods in Human form.

For me, all Gods/Goddesses are one. They are the life force, Nature itself, that flows within each of us.
But just as I am a Daughter, I am also a Wife. I am a sister, an Auntie, a cousin, a friend, a Priestess, a Witch, a Druid, a Teacher, an Actress, a Student and a storyteller....
I am one but I am also many....and thus it is with the Gods.

The Spirit has both male and female energies within it (as do all humans)
This is personified as God and Goddess.

The Goddess then is taken and she too is split. Maiden, Mother, Crone. Goddess of the Earth, Goddess of the Moon, Goddess of the Sea, Goddess of Love, War, Sexuality, Peace, Animals, Childbirth, Fire, Forge, Water, Wells, Healing....

The God's energies are also divided. Son, Lover and Father. God of the Sun, Lord of the Sky, Lord of the Hunt, God of Animals, Stag God, Horned one, God of Lust, Protector, Hunter, Warrior, Leader, Guide, Guardian, Green Man, Lord of all that is wild and free...

We call upon different God/Goddesses for different things. We call on the aspect that we need. My Nephew will call on me as his Aunt, but my students will call on me as their teacher- I am the same.

If we need protection we may call on the protective aspects of the God or Goddess.
If we require Guidance then it is this aspect that we call upon. And so we call the Gods by their different names.

We also have Patron Gods and Goddesses who we may have a closer bond to.

For me, I have always been close to Brighid.
I found her many years ago. Red headed Irish Goddess of Fire & Forge. Of Healing Waters and Guiding Light. The Goddesses of many aspects. So Beloved that when Ireland became Christianized they had to make her a saint for she was not going to vanish with the Old Gods quietly!

For me she has been there through all trials and tribulations, through Joy and Abundance, forever guiding me and ensuring that I act upon my instincts.

I cannot describe the Love I feel for this aspect of the Great Spirit.
I honour her in Ritual and have dedicated my life to being her Priestess, and teaching others the way of Paganism and Celtic Witchcraft.

She was beside me when I worked as an Auxiliary Nurse, when I cared for those who were sick and dying, and when I tended the bodies of those who had passed. She is with me now as a Teacher of children.
She gives me the strength to be compassionate and kind, caring and patient.

She gives me the fire to spark my ideas, my creativity, my passions and my desires. She gives me the energy to be excited by life, and to be ever optimistic.

She is the force behind me unwavering belief that life is sacred, precious and should be lived the fullest with no regrets.

She is my inner strength and my guiding light.

The male aspect of Divinity came to me a little later. Some call him Cernunnos, but I find Herne befits him better. Herne has a gravitas and a heart warming feeling, whearas Cernunnos sounds too Classical for me!

However you call upon him, he is the Stag Horned God.
He is the Lover, the Protector, the Warrior and the Hunter.

He is the spark. He teaches me to enjoy my life. To live it truly to the maximum. To dance, to feed my passions, to enjoy the sensualities of life in all its forms (to feel, taste, touch, smell and hear the world around me) and to ACT rather than just REACT.

He teaches me to embrace all sides of my personality and to like who I am. He helps me when I don't feel confident. He is the nervous butterflies and hungry excitement before I step onto the stage. He encourages the fire, the anger, the laughter and the extroverted side of my personality.

I honour my Patron Gods and feel closest to them but I do also feel close to Morrigan, Dagda, Lugh and Danu.

These are the Gods whom I work most often with, though I have been known to work with Greek and Roman aspects of the Great Spirit if a spell, healing or other magickal practice requires it.

Chapter 4 of NOD discusses the connection we feel to the Gods.
It is individual for all, and will be different for everyone- even those following a similar path.

I don't see my Gods as beings floating in the heavens in humanised bodies that can interfere in our lives if they feel like it. But that is me.

They are a personification. They are a character that helps us relate to the energy that is made of the elements. They are present in Nature. They are the Standing Stones and the Flowing Wells.
They are the Sun in the Sky Above and the Moon at Night. They are the seasons. They are the dual sides of our personalities. They are within and around us always.

I may call my Goddess one name, but she is ALL names.

My relationship with my Gods builds each and every time I invoke them in Ritual. Or each time I hear a song written for them that makes me cry through Love for them.
When I go through a difficult time, I do no blame the Gods. I do not have anger at them. I find comfort in them and I accept that life must have a balance of good and bad, light and dark.

My relationship with the Gods and with Divinity is eternal, and is one that I gain much happiness, spirituality and peace with.

I leave you with two songs dedicated to my Patron Gods.
Brighid by Damh the Bard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAXuLcej3Ws
Herne by Clannad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Qo4vxXpC8


To you and to your Gods however you see them,
I give the Brightest of Blessings,
Breaca
)O(

Myth work 1: The Battle of Magh Tuireadh (NOD Assignment)

In this essay from my NOD course, I am looking at the Irish Myth the Battle of Magh Tuireadh and specifically at the way that the themes of Light Vs Dark are used within it. It also looks specifically at the Irish God Lugh, who is the Hero of the story. This image is an artist's depiction of this famous Celtic Sun God.

The Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh

How do the themes of Light Vs Dark, Order Vs Chaos feature into this story?

This beautiful Irish Legends asks us to look at the reality of life, and the Nature of reality: That everything has an opposite and a balance.
Just as there is man, there is woman, night and day, summer and winter, light and dark, order and chaos, war and peace, good and bad... the list of Balance goes on!

This Myth reflects that throughout its telling.
Firstly, you have the very clear divide:
The Tuatha De and the Formorians.

The Tuatha represent the Light, the Order and the 'Goodies' if you will.

You then have the Formorians... often Monstrous in their depiction, who represent the 'Dark Side' of the (Life) Force... the dark, the chaos and are the Villains of the piece.

They are the archetypes which represent these sides to life.
The Tuatha are the ordered, organised band of Irish Gods and their followers.
They have the 'Heroes' of Nuada, Dagda, Ogma and Lugh.

In the opposite corner you have who have Bres (both of Tuatha and Formorian ancestry, who ruled the Tuatha after Nuada lost his arm, but who was deposed for unfairly ruling his Kingdom) who runs to the Formorian King (his own Father Elatha) and demands that they help him to regain his power over the Tuatha De.
Elatha refuses and so enters the 'Big Bad' of the story, Balor of the Evil Eye!
Doesn't he just sound lovely?

So far, so Dark.

The Tuatha want to be ruled fairly by a just King, but the deposed Bres runs off to the Formorians and raises a huge army.

Meanwhile... Nuada has his arm grown back for him (by the son of the Physician God Dian Cecht, who gets so jealous of his son's healing gifts he kills him...several times...) and becomes King once more. At Nuada's court, a young man arrives, possessed with every single possible gift, skill and talent. This young man is Lugh.

Lugh, like Bres, is of both Tuatha De and Formorian descent. But he chooses to align himself with the Tuatha De Danann.

To liken it to a modern myth, Lugh is Jedi and Balor is Darth Vader.

Within the Tuatha they have warriors who represent Good. The Dagda represents strength, and is known as the 'Good God', Ogma is athletic and brings wisdom (the Ogham alphabet was said to be invented by him) and Lugh is skilled in EVERYTHING.

Together, with the added Magic of Morrigan, they represent a force for 'Good' fighting against tyranny, chaos and evil.

Lugh eventually kills Balor of the Evil Eye, and the Tuatha De Danann are victorious.

Lugh who is both Tuatha and Fomoire.

By having the overall Hero of the piece being an amalgamation of both good and bad, evil and good (again think Skywalker and Vadar) there is a very clear message within the Myth.

The message is that in order for us to truly understand ourselves... for us to truly live a life of balance... for us to truly understand our very Nature... we MUST address the dark and light that exists within all of us.

We all have positive and negative aspects of our personalities. We are all capable of good AND bad deeds.

By acknowledging this, and understanding it, we can come to a greater understanding of our Souls, and choose to live our lives the way we want to.

By coming to terms with the 'ugly' or 'formorian' sides of our personalities, we can come to accept them...we can take responsibility for the decisions we make, and we can live a truly more enlightened life.

If we deny, repress, ignore or 'feed' this side of ourselves, we will find only unhappiness.

To truly be victorious, to truly live our lives as we want to live them we must see the dark side of ourselves and make changes.

Like Lugh, we must take action and use the light to fight the dark- the order to fight the chaos.

If we cannot acknowledge the darker aspects of our personalities, and make action to move beyond them, then we won't learn!

Or at least, that is what I have taken from this Myth.
I truly believe that these kinds of Legends hold up a Mirror for you to look within and get a better understanding of your own personality, your own soul, and your life.

Nature has Balance throughout it, and this Legend is reflecting that balance... showing us that ultimately the Good guys DO win, but only if they can embrace and understand their dark sides but then use the light to overcome them! Just Like Lugh!

Hmmm. I have found it very interesting to deconstruct this Myth And I hope my waffling makes sense!!

Brightest Blessings,
Breaca
x

The Growing Full Moon

Tonight for the 'Growing' Full Moon I will be celebrating with a Ritual, a Blessing of Thanks and with some Magical work. I have several spells that I wish to cast and as Hubby will be out, it will give me the perfect chance to have some magical 'me' time.

I think that it is important that even though I work magically with my husband, and with my fellow Celtic Mooners in Ritual, that I maintain my own solitary practices as well.

My way of working alone is very different to how I work with a group, and is an important way of honouring my bond to my specific deities Herne and Brighid.

Usually for a Full Moon Rite I will work Skyclad, which I do not do in group ritual. This is because for me working Skyclad is a private rite and in Celtic Moon one of our founding principles is that we would not work in this way...but each to their own :)

Here are some Correspondences for the April Full Moon:

Otherwise known as the Pink Moon, Seed Moon and Planting Moon.
Nature Spirits- Plant Faeries
Herbs- Basil, Chives, Dragons Blood and Thistle
Colours- Crimson Red, Gold
Flowers- Daisy, Sweet Pea
Scents- Pine, Bay, Bergamot &
Patchouli
Stones- Ruby, Garnet
Trees- Pine, Bay & Hazel
Animals- Bear, Wolf
Deities- Kali, Hathor, Anahita, Ceres, Ishtar, Venus and Bast

A ring around this moon means Rain or Snow on the way!

Tonight, whatever Magick you make, may it be Blessed by the Gods and may your Growing Moon Seeds blossom and come to successful fruition!
Blessings,
Breaca

Bodrifty Roundhouse

As well as our wonderful Handfasting which Hubby and I are both very excited for, we are also very much looking forward to getting back to Cornwall for our Honeymoon!

We will be staying in the same lovely Holiday park as we did when we got engaged for 7 days, but for the three days preceding this we will be staying in the GORGEOUS Bodrifty Iron Age Roundhouse!!!
No Electricity, No People, No Noise, No Mundane!
Just us! An open fire, the gorgeous starry nights and utter peace and tranquility!
A few feet away we have a lovely little out building with all the modern necessities (Bathroom, Stove etc) so we won't be truly following in the Ancestor's footsteps... but I cannot explain to you how much I am looking forward to it!

It has been a tough couple of years since we were last in Cornwall (Work wise for both of us anyway) and our Handfasting and Honeymoon will be a fantastic way to celebrate the completion of my teacher training, and all of the hard work that I am putting in to my work, as well as taking some much needed time for 'us' to just be!

I truly, truly, truly cannot wait!
So many wonderful things to look forward to this year!

Breaca
)O(

The Celtic Moon Pagan Pilgrimmage

This year, I am embarking on a Spiritual Pilgrimage with the Celtic Moon Druid's Grove & three members of the Celtic Moon Pagan Circle.

For me, the journey will be about connecting to the land of my Ancestors, celebrating my beliefs and honouring my connection to the Gods.

We will be visiting the sites of Avebury- where I have been several times and I must say that I find the energies there truly Beautiful- we will be Celebrating at Stonehenge during an early morning Ritual where we will be allowed within the Stone Circle itself... something I have always dreamed of doing, and we will be visiting Glastonbury (Chalice Well, the Tor, the Goddess Temple).

For me, this trip will be about more than just seeing some Pagan sites and spending time with friends... though that will of course be lovely!
For me, it is a Spiritual journey and I intend to spend some time in contemplation, in meditation and connecting with the energies of each place.

For me, it will truly be a Pilgrimage. A Spiritual journey that I wish to return from having been changed in some way.

It will be a Magickal break from the Mundane, and I intend to leave as much of the Mundane behind as possible!

Five weeks to go, and I cannot wait!

Blessings,
Breaca