Fáilte go dtí Tara Celebrations - gathering to celebrate our lives and all life on earth

BEALTAINE

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5 May 2018 - Derravaragh, Westmeath - Blessings on Bealtaine

Lake Derravaragh (meet in car park past caravan park) at 1pm.   Bealtaine 5 May 2018 is at 13.13 - halfway between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice.

Bealtaine is a time of clearing the dark and of welcoming the warm sunshine of the season, into our lives. A time to celebrate the growing season, our creativity and blessings.

We will open the circle by calling in the directions.

 

We will "beat the bounds", a Celtic custom of walking the area around our land boundary to mend fences and relationships. We will imagine our own boundaries as we walk the land to clear and strengthen them. Using a small piece of a Yew tree dipped in the fresh waters of lough Derravaragh we will bless the land. Yew is associated with our ancestors and so will we call on them to aid our intentions.

 

Creative activity time: When we are all seated on the picnic blankets we will each make a flower wreath from Ivy, flowers and ribbon to wear or to hang within our homes over a door or window for protection during the coming year. We will use mainly yellow and green. Yellow to acknowledge the warmth and light of the sun. Green to symbolize plant life and our spirit self. We will bless the wreaths with the yew and water.

 

 

 

Picnic: It is time to celebrate our gathering together, the growing season and our own creativity. We will have a feast to eat of whatever we have brought to share with each other, including song, dance and stories. We will bless the feast with the Yew and water.

 

Closure: We will close off the directions with thanks and gratitude for all the blessings we have received this day.

What to bring: flowers, food/drink to share and your dancing shoes!

 

and after soul food, always feed the physical...

 

 

And what actually happened on the day as recounted by the Host, Bernadette -

 

The ceremony at Lough Derravagh started with a gentle breeze under a clear blue sky, it was 25 degrees and beautiful.

 

We had a peaceful secluded spot, surrounded by Beech, Holly and Oak trees, their newly sprouted leaves shining beautifully in the sunshine.

 

There was a sense of fun and mirth within the gathered group as the ceremony began. After we called in the directions and welcomed the spirit folk I cleansed all present with a piece of Yew tree that I had collected from the graveyard where my paternal family are resting and water from the Lough. We cleared our own boundaries and any relationships that we felt needed a little extra help by walking and meditating among the trees and plants.

 

 

 

We followed this by sitting on the picnic blanket and making a wreath. We used Ivy, berries, flowers and ribbon.

 

We took some photos of ourselves and our art work. This brought about lots of laughter, silliness and stories from our childhoods. This flowed into an open heart where one of the group generously sang a song they had composed themselves, "Circle of Sun". A song about nature,the seasons and the beauty of life.

 

We finished with a picnic of home made delicacies made lovingly by the talented Pat.

 

After closing the circle and giving thanks for a wonderful ceremony, we went to Weirs pub in Multyfarnham for some much needed nourishment and more chat and fun.

 

The chorus of "Circle of Sun"

For around it turns the wheel of the year,

Spring flowers fall, when the summer is near,

Circle of life, beauty-rebirth comes clear,

Join the light, when the blossoms appear.

 

You will find the full version of the song at Visions and Dreams - click here

 

Bealtaine blessings, Bernadette

 

in a circle (above and below) capturing the essence of the day

 

some joined in at a distance - it was sunny at Snowdon in North Wales as well

 

 

 

 

Click here to see the Issuu periodical for Bealtaine

 

The information is drawn from years of Tara Celebrations reports and information. Each TC ceremony is run in awareness of the dominating energies of the current cycle, leading to an accumulated wealth of experience. We observe the festivals and attune our lives to seasonal changes. We cannot avoid the fundamental reality that we are effected by the place at which we live on earth.

 

With each issue we shall journey through the wheel of the year,  Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn,  Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasadh,

informed within the two Solstices and Equinoxes.

 

Page last updated: 28th Nov 2018