Sacred Ireland

Shooting up in a beam of light, I see three circles of light go out into the the world as I ascend.  I go through to sky to the tree of life, where I land on the top of the tree and realize that all the leaves are different and separated for from one another, as we modern humans seem to be.  I descend the tree and where the branches meet we are all one again, deep inside the tree of life.  There is great wisdom by going in and accessing this unity, we all hold within.

A beam of light engulfs me and I am off again flying to the middle world where I come to pristine field.  Here I see the sacred masculine and the divine feminine join in a long kiss.  As they kiss and kiss and kiss, an infinity sign of energy forms, crossing at their hearts and ending at their crown and root chakras.  

In this land watching this union is the lion and lamb lying side by side as male and female, strength and tenderness join as one.  

This was a global vision received next to an altar that I had early visioned as the sacred meeting place where the union of the male and female energies came together to honor the earth.  The next day I was in the pristine field of Uisneach, a sacred site in the exact center of Ireland, where the divine energies meet we held a Beltraine ceremony with a masculine and feminine fire that we walk through to celebrate this union that is brought forth by the spring.

It is amazing to me how this journey has evolved from a personal healing journey into a global one, where I now journey for the collective. The pieces have fell into place and the work that I am doing continues to put me in the places that I need to be in at the time I need to be there.  

This is the first international fire vigil and when I heard that it was in Ireland I knew that I would be there for I have a special love with the land, and the people who I have the pleasure to meet and hold ceremony with.  As usual I was not disappointed.

We opened our ceremony with a journey in the cairne at Dunderry Park.  It was a home coming for I had received the ninth right of the Munay Ki, for the first time in this very caire.  I can still remember the feeling of rebirth as I emerged and saw the stars for the first time as a child of light.  

In this cairne and journeyed and I was very clearly aware of the head of an eagle and a enchanted village, my journey, envisioning the how we my thrive in connection with the earth.  We emerged this night and I felt home, again.

The next day we headed to Tara to visit the sacred well, the faery tree, Lia Fa’il, Stone of Destiny, and the si’le na gig, the stone of the divine feminine. After a quick tour we gathered at the Faery Tree and ran around the tree dancing and laughing as we fed and connected with the faeries of the land.

Under the Faery tree, we journeyed in threes.  My journey took me up the tree of life and journeyed over an altar that was in the earth in a series three of squares that was meant to be covered.  This altar was for the sacred union of the divine feminine and masculine in honor and celebration of the Earth.  

After the journey, I worked back and had ceremony with the Stone of Destiny to work for my destiny in this life.  This was done by connecting with the stone at the heart and walking around it with eyes shut three times.  This was the stone that where the Kings of Ireland where crowned.  

After, I mediated on top of a cairne that held the ashes of the some of the ancient inhabits of this land.  Next up, was the stone of the divine feminine to connect with her energy as this union is vital for the healing of the Earth.

Cleansed and refreshed we returned for a keening ceremony that night.

I first heard of keening at a family funeral, my father joked that he wanted to have an “Irish Wailer” at his funeral.  Traditionally, there we three woman in long black veils, who would mourn for the deceased so the family could celebrate their life.  The keeners would gather in a corner to cry and wail as the family celebrated by having the decease  favorite foods and drinks and I am guessing, if it was a good looking corpse, that this include lots of fried foods and whiskey.  

As we enter the cairne I was without anything to mourn about.  My tears have all been shed.  Once in the carine it occurred to me that I could mourn for the state of the Earth.  This came as an energetic release that felt like a weight off my shoulders.  I have read that despair work is important to be able to open up to the healing of the Earth.  Without the despair work it is too overwhelming and many can not accept the consequence of their actions and their effect on the Earth.  

After keening the mood was way too somber for me and we ending up forming a drum circle and finding bliss and joy in the process beating the shit out of the available drums.  The grieving was completed.  

The next day we went to Loughcrew, Sliabh na Cailli, to connect with the wild feminine.  Yeah!  She was happy to see us, the weather was wonderful and the site was inviting.  We had been warned that it could be extremely wicked on the hill, but we where held sweetly.  My feeling is was one of play in engaging her.  The old girl still like as good night out with dancing and a good “rumpy bumpy” at the end of the night.  

We returned to find two big piles of wood on the place of where the sacred fire was to be that next day.  As we talked about the day it was announced that we would be able for fire walk that evening.  Well, the shit eating grin spread across my face at this surprise.  I had said once that if I ever got the chance to walk fire I would have to go first to have the full effect.   Once I saw someone else do it then it would not be the same to me.  I was both excited and nervous as we prepared.

We prepared ourselves with breath work, ecstatic dance and drumming, working ourselves into a state of ecstasy.  When the time came I was first in line and set my intent to walk to live to my higher purpose in spite of myself and I was off.  What a feeling of rebirth after walking fire.  

Then came the fire vigil.  

We switched altar, made the map and prepared the fire.  The spark was lit by our Irish hosts, Karen and John and carried out by representatives of the four directions, Canada, Iceland, Africa and Ireland.  We marched to the fire and it was off.   

That night we received the faery rites.  This was “so fucking awesome”.  These rites we devised by the si’ folk of Ireland and presented to us by the side of the faery lake.  We painted our faces and once the rites where received, we played and danced and danced and played.  Play is such a powerful way to heal the Earth.  Our laughter and smiles energize the Earth.   And playing connects us to the Earth.  We ended the night with stories, songs and jokes around the fire.

With the luck of good fortune and good friends, I ended up getting my preferred spot at the fire, 2 to 4 AM.   For me this is dream time, it time of the faery folk and the best time to be holding a vigil.  My fire mate, Lisa, David, who we were to hand the fire to and I, armed with a bottle of whiskey headed to the fire.  We offered our prayer, whiskey, tobacco and incense to the fire and got it burn with the intensity in which we held our love for the earth.  Our fire burned bright.  It was here I saw my first faery.  The ball of light appeared and hovered around to to check us out and was gone.  But, not without a little mischief that involved a gazebo and an electric fence.   That, however, is another story.

Saturday we mostly gather by the fire.  It burned differently with each pair of fire tenders, some sweet, others intense and all with honor.  At night we went on a journey on boat ride to the three worlds.  In each realm, I received gifts for the collective.  Mine were a golden book to answer any question, a lamp to light any darkness and a golden guitar and book of poems. 

More fun around the fire and then some sleep.  Around 10 in the morning we stopped feeding the fire and let it expire a natural death.  Our work completed.  

The next morning we got up and when on our road trip to Ireland sacred sites.  We visited Carrowkeel where three cairnes remained and open to the public.  Here the theme of play was strong.  For this was a trip to play and recapture my youthful sense of life as I embrace my sage self.

The next day we went to Carrowmore and here I shot up into a beam of light.