AUTUMN EQUINOX
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Hill of Tara - 20 September 2009
Thanks to the Mother
A Chairde,
Thank you for being with us on the Journey throughout the year. I hope it has been a year full of growth and learning as it has been for us at Tara Celebrations. Within the past 13 moons we have visited Mullameen forest and built diva temples, Fourknocks to intone the primordial sound, Tara saw us decorate the church with help from the girl guides, and the beach to inscribe a magical labyrinth.
We also did ceremony for the gathering of the ancestors, fulfilled ancient prophecy by melting the ice in the heart of man, we even burnt a bundle of money! We have also seen the departure of beloved Mary , Des and Yamann from the design group. (Best of luck guys). Without their input we would not have gotten into the amount of devilment that we have done over the last 5 years!
Autumn
As I write this last TaraCelebrations bulletin for the end of the (pre-Celtic) year the autumnal sun is beating down (at long last).
We are planning a ceremony based around "Thanks to the mother", a ceremony designed to honour the bounty that we have been provided with by our mother earth.
Its autumn equinox, a time when the days and nights move into balance and marks the end of the harvest season. From now on we will be depending on the reserves we have been nurturing and dropping that which no longer serves. This is enacted in nature by the apple who must say farewell to the security of the tree, the apple then falls and decays in order to release the vital seed. If we similarly do not die to that which no longer serves we too may become stagnated.
Deleting E-Mail list -
On an energy level to release the past year I will be deleting the contact list to make room for a healthy new beginning. We did this last year and it seems to have been a great success. So if you wish to be kept informed of our activity on the hill and surrounds you must send me an e-mail to be put onto the new list. TaraHeritage@iolfree.ie
Order of activity
Below the leafy center of our autumn mandalla, each stick representing a spoke in the 8 fold year. We placed each stick remembering the previous productive year.
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Sunday 20th September 2pm, Sacred Tour of the Hill, €5 (This is optional extra to the ceremony)
We will meet at the main car park gate on Sunday 20th September at 3.00pm.
Then we will walk to the woodland (western side of the hill).
Collect coloured leaves
create the sacred space
Walk in balance with Brigid and her opposite the Caileach
Drumming for the mother
leaf blessing
Open Heart contributions (songs, poems, dance, stories)
Farewell to the year
The Churn (The seasonal food celebration after the toil of harvest)
Below: From John's Leaf Blessing
The Symbol
I suppose we were inspired to create this symbol of the equinox during our planning meeting. It can be read at many different levels and represents:
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The Sickle of Autumnal harvest cutting the corn
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Waxing, waning new and full moons ( We are holding the ceremony on a new moon)
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Healing hands and the creative/healing space inside
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Look deeply and you will also see 2 hands holding a heart
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Its also 2 hands beating a drum
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2 hands holding the sun, moon, earth, the atom, a flower blossom
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2 intersecting Vesica Pices door way to the sacred
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The open eye
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Balance
Other mid Lughnasadh news
Every Monday Night at 8.00pm sharp in An Tobar we have a meditation and healing evening, guarnteed to be different every week. This year we plan to have a series of monthly talks on subjects from astronomy to egyptology.
for full details please click on :
http://www.taracelebrations.org/EVENTS_CALENDAR/
Oct 1st Spirit of the Land course starts
Oct 10th Fire Walking, Tyrone
Oct 23-26 Tara Symposium, UCD
Nov 8th Mound Builders of America and archaeo astronomy
Best wishes this equinox
Nora and MartinBelow: We had a "Churn" after the ceremony eating what nature and Tom and Anne provided us. This Lady Bird was joining in too. (visit http://cailleach.ning.com/group/autumnequinox for information shared since the ceremony on the qualities and uses of elderberries)
Below the magnificant setting of our Autumn Equinox ceremony 2009
Some feedback from Anne:
Held on 20 09 2009 !!! 2+9+2+2 = 22 Master number
[master builder number: operates for the good of others, brings spirit into matter, creates for higher good, sensitive to subtle vibrations, highly intuitive, turns dreams into reality, successful outcomes, ]
Here we go again At a time of balance it made us think about it 'cause we had to balance ourselves on the slope!
8th Ceremony 8 sideways is like a scale and balance. - equinox
Loved the setting - 8 trees from the Ogham list stood around us. Elder, Pine, Oak, Hawthorn, Gorse, Blackberry, Wildrose, Ash. ---- * and the horsechestnut makes the Celtic sacred number 9
The Mandala looked great. 8 sections - and the sickles for balance - looked almost like a see-saw. (or sickle and ploughshare)
The Swallows swooping over head like sickles. (isn't it late for them?)
A butterfly kept flying in and out of the circle over the afternoon- tranformation and change
We all turned over a new(old) leaf!! :-)
The smudge reminded me of the autumn fires. the smoke rising in the air.
I love the way the chestnut tree has the conkers, the new buds and the old leaves
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Equal day and equal night, the wheel turns 'round. The dark half of the year calls The harvests safe and sound. Long nights by the fire, inside warm cosy walls Anne |
Below: one of the magical pine trees clearing the ley lines near our ceremony
Celebrating the finale of the celtic year before its rebirth at Samhain
Sacred native corn rich in colour grown from seeds used in out Tara Ceremonies. 100% organic and as native to Ireland as the humble spud!
Equinox is the end of the Celtic year when day and night are experienced in equal measure, a time to take a deep breath before diving into the darkness of winter. It is a time for considering the polarities in life such as; light and dark, poverty and abundance, living and dying, lofty ideals and grounding reality. Even the trees, who all summer moved sap up into the leaves, change, and start to pump it down into their roots. This date is a cardinal marker for the year and was considered sacred as far back as 5000 years ago when our Neolithic ancestors constructed solar aligned monuments (Cairn T Loughcrew) to mark the precise moment in time when the earth was in balance. The Greeks also had an understanding of the yearly cycles. They left us the legacy of Libra (the scales/balance), the constellation the sun moves into at this time of the year.
It is also a time of year when we are conscious of the travails of harvest and the work that people do to bring foods, goods and services to fruition. They are developing the resources we need to survive during the lean of winter.
September 2009 and a few days sun in which the late flowers and fruits glow and the insects share nectar - then a misty Michaelmas day & spiders webs appear
Below: Gráinneog or Hedgehog in Nobber
and yet we know....
the weather is noticeably getting colder and although not severe it is a firm reminder to prepare, that winter is on its way.
Harvest thanks giving 2008
Our ritualised meditation/ceremony on the Hill in 2008 honoured these principals through, meditation, reflection, and symbolic gestures.
The underlying energy is one of balance; retreating within and building resources,planning ahead and thanks for what has been, actively harvesting in the outer world whilst slowing down to dream a new world on the inner. We enjoyed a beautiful sunny day which will bring bright memories in the dark of winter
We gifted two gorse bushes to the hedge around the well
Update Spring Equinox 2010 - the southerly plant has died but the northerly one thrives
and sunset at the well brought a surprise when the photo was scanned
Page last updated: 16th Apr 2010
