Celebrations

Spring - Imbolc -Spring Equinox

Summer - Bealtaine -Summer Solstice

Autumn - Lughnasadh - Autumn Equinox

Winter - Samhain -Winter Solstice

Note: Refer to arrangements announced for each Celebration.

The Irish divided their year into quarters. The four quarters were called Earrach - arragh - Spring, Samhradh - sowra - Summer, Foghmhar - fowar - Autumn, Geimhridh - gevrě - Winter and they began on the first days of February, May, August and November respectively. We have historical testimony that festivals with games were celebrated at the beginning of Summer Autumn and Winter but we have no account of any such celebrations at the beginning of Spring. These divisions of the year and the festivities by which they were ushered in originated with the Pagan Irish and were continued into Christian times. Social History of Ancient Ireland - P.W.Joyce

Tara Celebrations get-togethers are founded and anchored on 8 solar festivals. These mark an annual cycle through the year in the western European traditions - often, nowadays, talked of as the Celtic Year.

There have been many influences in Ireland, connecting to different aspects of the turning of the year. All are mainly based on the agrarian cycles, planting, growth and harvest, the life cycles of crops and animals.

The Lunar calendar is useful for planning one off events, but not for planning repetitive events. A calendar tied into the moon's phases does not coincide with the seasonal cycle of the natural world. You need something that synchronises with the vegetative cycle, and that is the solar cycle, because it is the sun's cycles that govern seasonal vegetative growth, death and change. The moon will give guidance when to plant, when to harvest etc. but the times are movable, not fixed to the same annual date.

We are not repeating the gatherings of the past, but our ancestors sought to bring access to and awareness of contemporary seasonal energies and that is modus operandi now. Use of these historic processes is valuable but not necessarily to be followed to the letter.

This is a holistic world view observing and honouring our lives on earth and all beings place in the wider universe. It realises that we are a vast network of inter-connected, interdependent, beings with conscious shared experiences.

Thomas Berry: “the Universe is a communion of subjects not a collection of objects”

Breathe a Day

The rhythm of rise and fall in the height of the overhead sun each day can be likened to the rise and fall of the breath. You will have a feel for working with the sun now, so you might like to try this one.

Be aware of your position on the earth and face northwards. Looking to your right, the east, breathe in, gently turning your head look up to the sky, straight above you at the deepest part of the breath, equating to noon. Then release the breath as your turn your head to the left, the west. Pause in your breath as you look down to the floor and rotate your head back to facing the right again, ready to repeat the cycle, or in solar terms, start a new day.

Sometimes, in Irish, the word for the festival day also refers to the whole month.

Eanáir - January	Feabhra - February	Márta - March	Aibreán - April
Bealtaine - May	Meitheamh - June	Iúil - July	Lúnasa - August
Meán Fómhair - September	Deireadh Fómhair - October	Samhain - November	Nollaig - December

The Seasons 24-11-'38 - From the School's Collection - Duchas.ie

Spring is the season of growth, all growing things awake. The hedges are covered over with tiny buds; the sap goes up to the top of the trees. Flocks of birds come flying across the seas. The frost melts away on account of the sunny days of spring. The plough tears through the brown earth, and the farmer sows his seeds.

In Summer we have long sunny days and short warm nights. The wheat and corn grow up tall. The potatoes are covered with blossoms. The cornfields are dotted with wild poppies, and all flowers are in bloom. There are wild raspberries in every ditch and yellow gooseberries.

In Autumn the golden corn is reaped. The leaves fall off the trees and cover the roads and fields with a yellow and golden colour. The farmer is heard reaping in the field, and the geese go rambling through the stubbles. The apples have a yellow and rosey colour.

In the season of Winter we have hard frost, snow and ice. The big turf fires would roast you. All people sit within beside the fire telling stores and playing games. The moon winks on the frost and ice. The nights are very long and days are very short.

Click here to read about Tara Celebrations and why we do what we do.

You want to join in a Celebration? Tourists and Visitors Information

You cannot attend in person? Read information on how you can join in Spiritual Wheel - Connect

Seasons --- All times are for Dublin, Ireland.

Geamhradh - Winter, Earrach - Spring, Samhradh - Summer, Foghar - Autumn.

2023 Imbolc - 1 February Spring Equinox - 20 March - 21.24 Bealtaine - 1 May Summer Solstice - 21 June - 15.57 - IST Lughnasadh - 1 August Autumn Equinox - 23 September - 07.49 IST Samhain - 1 November Winter Solstice - 22 December - 03.27

2024 Imbolc - 1 February Spring Equinox - 20 March - 03.06 Bealtaine - 1 May Summer Solstice - 20 June - 21.50 - IST Lughnasadh - 1 August Autumn Equinox - 22 September - 13.43 IST Samhain - 1 November Winter Solstice - 21 December - 09.20

Many take the cross-quarter days as the 1st of the month, set every year, or a similar set date depending on the tradition.

However, others also take the day as the mid-point between the adjacent solstice / equinox, eg. Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox with Imbolc inbetween.

Around the world others, either in community or individually, also celebrate the eight-fold year. We draw on and gain inspiration from them and all cultures celebrating our lives on earth. Your spirit is welcome to join with us. If you cannot attend in person you are invited to light a candle and link in spiritually.

Seasonal names - Etymology of Irish words is complicated. Words may be Old or Modern Irish, the latter being standardised as the Caighdeán Oifigiúil in the 1950s and 60s. Often there is no simple translation between the Irish and English words as Irish is a much more descriptive language than English.

Lughnasadh – there seems to be no direct translation to English but the season and particularly 1 August is associated with the god Lugh.

Samhain – usually translated from the Irish as Summer's End. The Leabhar Breac - Speckled Book - and Leabhar Buidhe Lecain - Yellow Book of Lecan, both written in medieval times, comprise two of the manuscripts of the Sanas Cormaic, known as Cormac's Glossary. In this Samhain is also called Féile Moingfhinne, that is Festival of Mongfhionn, a goddess of Samhain.

Imbolc – comes from the Old Irish for 'in the belly'.

Bealtaine – often taken as meaning 'bright fire'.

Looking at the eastern horizon we notice that each day the sun rises in a different place, slowly moving up and down from the extremes of the solstices...

.... and at mid-day the sun is low in the sky at winter solstice moving to be high and above us in the summer.

Southern Hemisphere

We are fortunate in this part of the world to experience a seasonal cycle of extended daylight and extended darkness. There are no seasons at the Equator as the sunlight arrives onto the earth at about the same angle every day. At the North and South Pole extremes rule the day - in the Northern summer there is all day sunlight and all is darkness in the winter. These differences are caused by the tilt of the earth.

And, of course, we are based in the Northern Hemisphere of earth. When the sun is low in the sky and rising in the south east, our winter time, those in the southern lands are basking in the hot days of the summer.

South-Western Australia is the home of the Noongar people who have lived there for over 45,000 years. They experience six seasons, aligned to changes in the weather and knowledge and understanding of the environment.

Through this ancient wisdom, the Noongar people (sometimes spelled Nyoongar or Nyungar) live across the south-west of Western Australia, moving with the availability of various food sources, weather patterns and cultural habits.

The six Noongar Aboriginal Seasons are:

• Birak (December-January) Bunuru (February-March) Djeran (April-May) Makuru (June-July) Djilba (August-September) Kambarang (October-November)

For example: Djeran – April/May brings cooler days, a time for building or repairing mia-mias (tents) in preparation for colder weather. Kangaroos were hunted for food and skins. The skins were turned into valuable coats and rugs. With the Emu In The Sky constellation clearly seen within the band of the Milky Way, this signifies the time to search for emu eggs as a prime source of food. Many red flowering gums are in bloom and seeds picked from the Zamia Palm last season and treated, are eaten, along with root bulbs from Bullrushes, frogs, turtles and fish. Thanks to astrotourismwa.com.au for this information

Thus the 8 celebrations focus on the effect of the sun's movement as changes in the landscape. We notice how the bare trees of winter sprout their vibrant spring foliage, become lush and green in summer, hiding bird's nests and providing shelter for hot sheep. Then, as the sun moves south, the land cools, shadows lengthen and fruits form from summer's abundant flowers. We gather a harvest, ready for the return to the bareness and bleak cold of winter.

Living in tune with our local natural world often leads to a better understanding of what is occuring in our own physical, emotional, mental and spiritual life. As we move through the seasons, experiencing their rhythms and qualities, we come to understand the challenges and joys of our own lives.

The energies of the dawn, east, spring and our infant projects.

The energies of noon, south, summer and our growing projects.

The energies of the sunset, west, autumn and our mature projects.

The energies of the night, north, winter and our completed projects, our births and rebirths on the spiralling cycle of our lives.

A note on actual timings of celebrations:

Together we set out on our journey through the seasons of the year, starting at the first of four transformational Fire Festivals, Samhain.

And immediately we are faced with a conundrum. When pre-planning for a celebration one of the choices is whether to hold it on the 'old' or 'new' date. The background to this is Pope Gregory XIII 's decision,in 1582, to introduce a new calendar.

The outcome being that since1752 most of Europe and subsequently the world, has measured the days by this Gregorian system. Hence, two calendar days might be attached to festivals, the 'old' Julian date and the 'new' Gregorian. For instance:

Samhain Eve is generally accepted as 31 October, yet many recognise 11 November, St. Martin's Day, as the correct date.

Gregory really liked to stir things up and another major change was that the start of the year moved to 1January from 'old' Julian25 March. Another was that, in 1752, 10 days were taken out of that year.

Time and again, we celebrate these changes in our environment. We notice that our lives often reflect change happening in a cycle. As I mature I think, I have been in this situation before. I look back and see the pattern of my life. Humans love finding patterns.

Many thanks to Anne for sharing these cards she drew on 27th October 2019 - the day of the New Moon in Scorpio. They are from the Earth Magic deck by Stephen D. Farmer.

Perfect cards as we change from Summer time to Winter time and a reminder of the ebb and flow between two solstices. Perfect depiction of the concept of the waxing and waning of the apparent changing strength of the sun in it's annual cycle.

Bri and Bua Land Energy

The terms often used to describe land energy in the Western traditions (Eastern traditions use words such as chi or qi) are Bri and Bua.

My understanding is that Bri is generally felt as freedom in the 'wild' places – it is the natural energy contained within everything. We feel invigorated and challenged when visiting these places. It is high and strong in the relatively untouched and isolated places, such as Donegal.

Bua energy is felt at those places where there has been human interaction, those areas modified by man or events. Which is much of earth now! Bua energy can over-ride the basic Bri energy of a place. The area around the rocks on the Achill shoreline will have high Bri energy. If it was quarried, shaped and put into a wall of a building the inherent Bri energy would be affected by these actions and the building would be described as having more Bua energy. With Bua there is an element of containment and safety, a haven of comfort.

The difference between Bri and Bua may be sensed by comparing wild flowers and shop bought cultivated flowers, or between the lion resting under a tree in Africa and the domestic cat by the fireside at home. Each is beautiful. Being a busy holiday destination, and yet in a remote part of County Mayo, Achill expresses these two different energies. There are the tourist shops and restaurants in the town of Keel. There are the rugged steep slopes of Croaghaun, virtually inaccessible to humans. The Atlantic Ocean crashes against these cliffs which are the highest in Ireland at 668 metres (2,192 feet)

Creating an energy symbol

Obtain two items – one wild and one 'tamed' to represent Bri and Bua energies. Maybe they could be an uncut rock or crystal and one that has been cut and shaped.

Light a candle. Orientate yourself on earth by becoming aware of which direction is East from where you are sitting. This is the place of the rising sun. Then work out where South is, and the high noon sun. Likewise link to the setting sun in the West and the North representing the night-time dark. Be aware that you are at the centre, these four directions in a circle around you.

RTE television plays the Angelus bell before the 6 o'clock evening news. You stop what you are doing for a minute of quiet contemplation before you watch/listen to what is happening in the world. RTE television plays the Angelus bell before the 6 o'clock evening news. You stop what you are doing for a minute of quiet contemplation before you watch/listen to what is happening in the world.

You might like to meditate linking to the energies of the land, starting and ending by ringing a bell. In Buddhist teachings the bell has a specific symbolism. The bell, the feminine, wisdom and Buddha body, is rung by the vajra, the masculine, compassion and Buddha mind. The sound is the Buddha dharma - the teachings and earthly living experience.

Hold first the Bri object. Sense it's energies. Sometimes the energy of the land will express itself in a symbol. As our aim is to discover the underlying, ancient, energies – the spirit of the land - we link to this Bri place.

Remember the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words? Have ready beside you a clean sheet of paper and pens, pencils, paint brushes, whatever medium you would like to use to create a symbol. When ready draw the symbol. You may have no idea what the land your Bri object comes from actually looks like. This does not matter. In your visualisation picture what they might look like and ask that the rocks show you their energy. If you do not feel comfortable with this leave it until another day – or maybe it is not yours to do at all.

If you are happy that you can continue, spend some time scanning the mental picture. Imagine touching it with your fingers. As you do this breath in / out deeply three times. Now cup your hands into a bowl shape. Imagine holding the land in this bowl. Again take three deep breaths.

Then hold the Bua object and feel it's energies and repeat the process.

Reconnect to the directions, bringing your attention to North, West, South and East. Close your ceremony by stretching and walking around. Drink and eat.