SUMMER SOLSTICE 20/6/2010, 3pm, St. Johns Well, Warrenstown
A Summer Solstice flower mandala with seasonal herbs and flowers. The Elements of Earth (Rock) in the north, Fire (Candle) in the south, Air (Feathers) in the East and Water (dish of water) in the West. Centre is represented by the Gold sun disk which connects the flower petals. The mandala sits on the coloured paper petals of a flower, made with sacred geometery which, if removed, magically makes a St. Johns cross......how appropriate for this Well (St. Johns and for the feast of St. John June 24th)
Detail of East with bright yellow rising sun colour and element Air, represented by the swan feathers.
The Mandala, beautiful as it was, was destroyed to release the beauty and creative force to the environment. The Flower petals close forming a complete circle of wholeness.
Flower petals were released into the stream to flow into the valley
Flotilla of flower petals making their way under the ancient bridge
One of the many statues at the well surrounded by orbs of bubbles.
Thanks to Bernadette for some of the wonderful photos. Thanks to all who came and sang and danced and enjoyed themselves.
Dolores sent the following poem which was in keeping with the meditation theme of the day:
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down,
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
~ Mary Oliver ~
Monday 21st June Summer Solstice on Tara
Fhéileacáin preparing for their number at the Tara Solstice celebration
Shane Taaffe mastering the tricky beast that is the Harp of Tara
Coscán raising the roof - find their Tara Jig at http://www.coscan.net/ or http://coscan.blip.tv/
Summer Solstice Sunrise - many thanks to Anne for this photo - one of the early birds....
Crowds witnessing Druids and others drumming at Summer Solstice Sunset
More crowds watching the last rays of summer solstice sun
Summer Solstice sunset 2010 from Tara
Happy Summer Solstice
Listening to the Soul of Summer
Dia daoibh, and Bright Summer Blessings to one and all!
And a happy WInter Solstice to everyone in the Southern Hemisphere.
Tara Celebrations Summer Solstice gathering will be a the lovely setting of this red well, dedicated to St. John and Mid-Summer. Our theme, Listening to the Summer Soul, is partly inspired by the sounds of the water and birdsong amongst the trees here.
Our activities are planned to include connecting to the elements, so full and abundant this year, and creating a flowery mandala (please bring flowers if you can). We will also gently dance with the earth. There will be time for personal meditation. Please bring along any poetry, prose, song or other heartfelt expressions of the season to share. If you cannot attend we shall be pleased to read out anything if you email it to us. There will be seasonal food and drink to end the celebrations.
Spout of St. John's well June 2010
Delicious cold water
21 June - St. Patrick's Church, Hill of Tara
7pm - Talk:
Journey through the Wheel of the Year by Tara Celebrations
Followed by Music:
Harp with Shane Taaffe and Traditional with Coscan and friends.
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Hill of Tara - Sunday 21 June 2009
Coming together on the Hill of Tara - 2009
The ceremony will be an open group gathering of spontaneous sharing of whatever arises for those present at the time. If you feel inspired to bring verse, song, dance, short meditation please do or just come to enjoy being on the Hill of Tara. With all the hill has been through over the past 10 years sure she would welcome one and all even if it is only to stand in silence.....which may may be more profound and meaningful than all the ceremony in the world.
There are no photographs of all the wonderful people who gathered at this ceremony,
as it simply did not feel right to photograph this event
Flowers, foliage, fruit and veg are combined in St. Patricks church for a beautiful display of the abundance of the earth at this time of the year.
The local Tara Brigin Guides have been busy with pens and paints and their colourful banners of this sunny season are also be displayed.
Bird's eye view of the church
Detail of some of the flowers
Some of the flowers with a beautiful backdrop
Artistic or mad?
Anne brought some beautiful Lillies
No your eyes do not deceive you, that is a spider on the back wall.....
Girl guide artistic flair brightening the church for visitors
St. Patrick's well of Tara was decorated too - with a beautiful solstice flower arrangement
The Tadpoles born in Spring now with back legs and arm buds
Shane Taffe, an extra ordinary talented harper plays for the packed church
Coscán ending the evening with a blend of emotive spiritual pieces from all over the world had people dancing in the isles
Sunrise 4.57am. Groups of local friends and visitors gathered at Teach Cormac. At sunset
Sean Gilmartin talked in the Visitor Centre on the Myths & Mystery of Tara relating to geomancy and astronomy..... Coscan and Shane Taffe played at the Visitor Centre.
A poem from Liz in Derbyshire
We are having a mixture of weather up in Derbyshire, very hot, then rain to follow, the gardens look lovely everywhere, havn't heard the cookoo round here now for the last two years, we've missed him, but the sparrows are back in my garden again, nice to see them. We have been lucky really with the bird life in my garden, we have lots of visitors even the shy wood pigeons who have paired up and have been around a long time,we sit and watch them with their young, its nice to see all the different feathered friends around, even the cat doesn't seem to mind them, think he is getting bit lazy nowerdays!
Old Fashioned Flowers
It's the old fashioned honeysuckle
The common hedgerow kind
That has the sweetest smell
And leaves a memory behind.
It's the old fashioned sweet peas
Like baby butterflies
That fill the room with fragrance
And entrance our waking eyes.
24 June 2009 - St. John's Midsummer Day
Thanks to Anne for this lovely evocation of summer....
The sun rose gloriously golden this morning sending the misty clouds scurrying below the horizon.
The sky was reflected in the still estuary waters which was occasionally broken by shoals of early insect hunting fish. The heron stood silently watching, waiting for an unsuspecting fish to come close. Nearby the little egret searched for his breakfast in the shallower water. Out on the island the swans and ducks sunned them selves in the warming sun, stretching wings as they did their morning yoga. An attentive mother duck rounds up her offspring as she heads towards the reeds, wary of a possible pike attack. The swallows swoop and dive hoovering up insects on the wing. Near the elderberry laden hedgerow the thrush hammers his fresh caught snail on his stone anvil in anticipation of the juicy morsel inside. Above her a daring snail clings to the flower-head eating a late breakfast oblivious to the danger below. The robin sits in the willow serenading all who can hear him. And I was there with the camera. Heaven on earth. I headed along the sea-lapped, lichen bedecked wall with its clinging mallows, past the small birch trees, the tall ash towards the sea marsh. Met a fellow soul food seeker on the way and heard that the kingfisher is back on the river. Maybe this summer I'll be lucky enough to take his picture. Further along the seawall another heron waited for breakfast to arrive. A single hare stood listening in the cornfield and sped away at the sound of the shutter click as i took his picture. A cloud of pigeons scattered to the four directions at the sound of a gunshot. The pheasant called from the meadow but the grasses are too tall for me to spot him. The skylark sings his praise from high above me and then drops from the sky to his nest. i wondered what else is hiding in the field, watching me from their hiding place. i headed back to the car, back towards the noisy, busy world and, as a plover whirls around the reeds, I give thanks for these precious moments that are my soulfood and think, At moments like this, it's so good to be alive.
Copyright © 2009 Anne Newman
SATURDAY 21st JUNE 2008
At Summer Solstice the sun pauses on its yearly route through the heavens giving us the shortest night and longest day. This is a turning point, a time for celebration and abundance. Like the sun we also pause for thought to reflect on abundance and the impact of its shadow in our world. Last year we created a symbolic Mandala of the Heart with flowers to connect with our spiritual selves.
Then we lit a candle for Adge who loved this place with all his heart.
Sunrise behind the Church, Lia Fáil in foreground.
Some of the Crowd gathered to drum up the sun.
Part of our Tara Celebration this year was to decorate the church with donated flowers.
Some of the detail on our Tara Summer Solstice Floral display
And some more beautiful flowers in our Tara Summer Solstice Display
Now beautiful as the church was we had to conduct our blessing of water ceremony in the spills of rain. Its always a bad sign when even the cattle are taking shelter!!!
Our ceremony at 3.00pm was themed "Abundance and Shadow". Here we considered how we have a shadow side. Often when chasing after our spiritual truths we focus on the light which can blind us to our own imperfections. We considered what impacts our shadow has on our world at this time. The summer doesn't last forever and it is the first hint to see what we are creating in our winter reserves. We created a healing heart mandala of flower pettals.
After the creation of the mandala came its ritual destruction.
The destruction of the mandala releases the healing intent it was infused with in our ceremony.
Mandala petals were spread skyward...
Some of the petals were poured into the stream to bring the healing into the valley... Here some of the petals are seen in the water. Note the HEART shape white petal...
Focus for the evening switched to the church where the crowd was delighted by the music of Coscán supported by the Shane and Ciara Taffe on harps.
...and the line up - Coscán: David Nevin, John Shankey, Harry Long and Gerry Doggett
Coscán: David Nevin, John Shankey, Harry Long and (Gerry Doggett )
Finally Tara and the weather relent and reward the evening visitors with a bright white sun set on the shortest night of the year
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Many come just to enjoy the views, to stroll or have a picnic. Others join with friends to celebrate the longest day of the year in their own way. Some prefer to be private, whilst others share the special experience that is the Hill of Tara, making new friends along the way. The following gives an idea of the wide-range of folk you may come across and join in with.It all starts at Sunset on Solstice Eve, 20th June, when the sun sets at about 9.50pm. The optimists go up to stand around the Lia Fail at this time, looking westwards towards the legendary underworld lands of Mag Mell and Tir na nOg hoping for the beautiful colours of sundown.At Sunrise on the 21st we return to greet the new day.Drumming the sun around the Hill - 4am following the ceremonial entrance onto Tara at the Banqueting Hall up to the Lia Fail to watch sunrise. Then every 4 hours during the day.7.30am Water ceremony at Holy Well. At 3pm the group, who meet at the eight festival times of the year, join with those who are out celebrating the day.The church will be decorated with flowers around the outside and maybe inside.Weather permitting someone will outline a Labryrinth in flour, near the Banqueting Hall.In the evening there will be music by Coscan and friends in the church.
Whatever you decide to do,
and however you spend the day,
we wish everyone a wonderful
! Happy Solstice !
Previous Years Summer Solstice Events on Tara
The coming of Lugh: Annette Yamann, AnneMarie, Martin, Adge Summer Solstice 2005
A damp and misty start to the summer solstice on Tara 2005
Gathering on Solstice Eve at the Banqueting Hall
Mandala of the Harp, Tara Summer Solstice 2005
Seeds shared at Imbolc on Tara flower across the 'Big Pond' at Summer Solstice 2007
Page last updated: 19th Jul 2010
