Pàganachd agus Págánacht

TEMATOETECOMO!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:47:43 GMT

Or, Raven's and my KILLYOUANDEATYOU! article, in Portuguese:

http://parahybapagan.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/tematoetecomo/

Divinity within Gaelic polytheism

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:30:55 GMT

This is a topic I've been thinking over for quite sometime now, and I have begun to formulate and articulate some ideas concerning it that I'd like to present to you all soon. However, I'm very interested in reading your insights regarding this topic as well.

What is divinity within a Gaelic polytheist context? What makes someone divine?

I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Greetings!

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:32:36 GMT

Placeholder! To be edited post-elementary school concert. Whee!

Journal of the Royal Irish Society of Antiquarians

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:36:13 GMT

I read in the archives of CELTIC-L that Kevin Danaher had an article published in the Journal of the Royal Irish Society of Antiquarians regarding Irish Sweat Houses, but no volume number was given. Does anyone know which this appears in? I happened to find a good many available through Internet Archive, but I can't download them all at the moment due to their size just for one article (alas, I still have dial-up). If anyone has any information I would be very grateful.

PS: here's the link to the page where I found them in case anyone else would like to download them to read.

x-posted to cr_r

Turning Point : Third Point : Gateway

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:53:21 GMT

Recent heated discussions in the online Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) communities have brought to the fore some issues central to who we are as a community and a movement. Veterans of any sort of social, religious or spiritual movement, or students of history, may see some common patterns here:
· Something starts out small and controlled. Doesn’t mean anyone is particularly trying to “control” it – usually there’s no one outside the movement who would perceive the group’s efforts at self-definition as anything but that: self-definition.
· After a period of time, the movement becomes popularised. It moves beyond the realm of the small handful of people who’ve developed and defined it, into something that a larger group of people identify with.
· Once a large group of people identify with it, they are also invested in helping define it, and in making sure that the movement reflects their individual personal experiences and goals.

At this point, the people who initially developed the movement, and those who popularised it, can have a variety of responses, often determined by personal temperament as well as how much of their time, work and identity they have invested in the tradition. This turning point has happened with Wicca, and Asatru, and it is now happening with CR. Opposing viewpoints are clashing… but also, a gateway is opening.

Whether you pinpoint the birth of the Celtic Reconstructionist movement to the early discussions and rituals with our groups in the mid-80’s; or to early 1992 when Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann first published about it – leading to exposure in the community at large; or to a few years later when successive waves of people came in once we got on the Internet; CR is now either a young adult or a teenager. I personally put the “birthtime” of CR in a liminal zone – somewhere in between the proto-CR rituals and discussions among my groups and friends in the mid-80s and the time when we began to speak of it to a larger audience (late 80s and early 90s) and it grew beyond a handful of us. Either way, the birth was not one moment in time; it was a process of streams converging until something new emerged.

CR did not emerge fully-formed from anyone’s head. It was a process of collaboration and experimentation. As a living tradition, that journey is never-ending. Yet at the same time there have been a series of turning points. This is one of them.

We are going through a growth process similar to adolescence – some surges forward are happening, internal conflicts are arising, and some factions are splitting off. This is a natural process, and one I feel we’d be better to name and accept rather than try to control.

I realize that some observers of, and participants in, the recent discussions probably see me as one of the people who is trying to be too controlling. Let me say this: For everyone, there is their first few years of CR – where they explore it, see how it does or doesn’t match up with their life, decide whether it is for them, decide whether they need to make any personal changes (or whether they should try to change the tradition to better suit them). My first years of CR consisted of a handful of people hanging out in my living room, or talking around the coffee at Pagan gatherings, or doing ritual experiments in the woods. Again, all of this happening with just a small handful of close friends. For years, whenever we tried to talk to others in the Pagan community, they didn't know what we were talking about or why we'd want to do it. We were outsiders to the Pagan community. After Kym started writing about it, and after we got online, more people picked up the name and ideas. I was surprised people picked up on our terminology, as "Celtic Reconstructionism" is an awkward name, but it happened. In the early years of expansion I think we were so happy to find others who were interested, or doing similar things, that we got along well; either most of us agreed on the core principles and goals of the movement, or I believed that we agreed. Starting from these small and very personal beginnings... this is the reason I have an attachment to what CR means, and what CR is. I am not its only mother, but I think it’s understandable that at times I feel like it’s my baby.

Our baby is now a boisterous adolescent, and it often hates its parents more than anything else in the world.

Mathematically, we have reached a point where there are too many people who identify with the term “Celtic Reconstructionist” for us all to agree about what we believe, what we practice, what our boundaries are and, at times, even what the words “Celtic Reconstructionist” mean. Conversations of self-definition that happened decades ago, that I thought everyone was clear on, are being repeated recently and it’s all a bit surreal to me. Yet at the same time, I know this is natural in the growth process of a movement.

To backtrack a bit: After more people got online in the 1990s, many more people were drawn to CR than we had ever foreseen. But very quickly, this new influx turned the fledgling CR forums into places I did not want to be. We almost instantly switched over from arguing with the Wiccans who swore Wicca was Celtic, to creepy fights with newcomers who just wanted to yell about who had read the most books, and never discuss spiritual practices. I suspected most of these newcomers didn’t even have spiritual practices. I was disgusted, and I left all those forums for a few years. I considered no longer calling myself CR. I went back to just working with my in-person group and developing our own CR traditions – Nigheanan nan Caillechan, agus Pàganachd Bhandia.

In 2003, Kym got a handful of the old guard to join the brand-new cr_r forum on livejournal. I was sceptical, but I agreed to try. We dedicated ourselves to discussing actual practices, and a group of us got together to write the CR Essay. The CR Essay was written by whomever wanted to participate, which wound up being about a dozen people, and a handful of us did most of the writing. There are things I would change about that essay, as some of the phrasing was either too vague, or in more Neopagan terms, as opposed to terms more suited to discussions of traditional cultures. But we were writing it as something to post on WitchVox, so we oriented towards that audience.

Three years later, a slightly different group of us got together to write the FAQ, and we vetted all the answers with anyone who chose to participate on cr_r. Like with the CR Essay, we advertised it on all the major lists, and welcomed input. Those with a lot of input were invited to join the core group writing the text on the CeltiWiki. After the fact, some people complained that they weren’t invited, but we chose to invite those who were already contributing writing of some sort in the community – at the very least message board posts with some content to them, on one of the major forums. At this point, it was harder to work together, as there were already some pretty serious differences of opinion among a number of the contributors. But, with struggle and perseverance, we managed to come to consensus on some basic principles, despite our differences.

That moment is gone, and will not come again.

As noted earlier, the communities of people who self-identify as CR are now far too big for any individual, or small group of individuals, to completely agree on what and who is CR. We all have our opinions; we all believe we are right. Contrary to what recent events may have led some to believe, I don’t enjoy arguing about these things. I never have. I do it when I feel it needs to be done, for I am protective of those people and principles to whom and which I am committed. Some may feel I am overly protective of CR, but I hope that what I have touched on about my background helps explain this, as well as possibly explain the behaviour of many of us who identify as CR (or any tradition or group or movement).

With the FAQ, we have the basic principles we agreed to. Undoubtedly, some will want to debate interpretations of those principles. I don’t expect everyone to agree.

We have reached the point where the adolescent has not only left home, but we have realized the adolescent is actually a loose conglomeration of different groups, individuals and traditions. At this point, we need to acknowledge that “Celtic Reconstructionism” or “Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism” is not only an umbrella term, but it’s become so big that, beyond the basics we’ve agreed to in the FAQ, it’s barely more precise than saying “I’m a Wiccan.” What kind of CR are you? If you have a tradition, what is its name? Not the name someone else has come up with, but a name for your specific practice, which is a branch, or maybe a subset, or maybe an offshoot, of CR.

There is great power in naming. It is a spiritual journey that a group or individual needs to take to truly find their place, their identity, their spiritual power.

It’s time for those who are arguing about who gets to define or redefine CR to do some soul-searching, to look at the roots of their beliefs and practices, what those things are for them now, as well as where they are headed, and name it.

For me, naming the tradition “Celtic Reconstructionism” wasn’t the choice to name a tradition based on the above principles. It happened by accident. I said, “Well, Kym, based on what you’re saying, I’d say you’re a Celtic Reconstructionist.” Then she developed it and popularised it. I did my part of the developmental work, too, mainly in the ritual and trance-priestess department, along with Gaelic folkloric input from my family of origin, my background in comparative religion, and my years of experience as a ritual priestess. For the first few years of my contributions to the tradition, I didn’t think I’d read enough of the old Celtic texts to qualify as CR myself, even though I was one of the few people defining and building the tradition. As time passed I became more dedicated to the language work. This happened because I was visited by ancestors and deities in a series of key dreams. They spoke to me in Gaelic, so I had to learn Gaelic to understand what they wanted of me, to progress on the path, and to help build CR. I am still learning. It’s not easy. But you know what, it’s been the most rewarding thing for me. What is rewarding for you?

In an earlier post Paul Pigman spoke of how the language, music and folk practices that we preserve and continue forms the “bright cord of tradition” at the center of what we do, a link to our ancestors and Deities that transcends our individual lives and experiences. A couple others took exception, one even claiming the cord, if it exists at all, is "dingy." My question is: if you haven’t found that bright cord at the center of your spiritual practice, why are you doing it? And if that bright cord isn’t of a specific Celtic culture, why do you identify as CR?

I have named what we do Nigheanan nan Cailleachan, for my extended family are truly the Daughters of the Storm Hags. When we include the male members of the family, we are Clann nan Cailleachan – Children of the Storm Hags. In broader terms, our tradition is Pàganachd Bhandia – Gaelic Paganism of Goddesses. In broader terms, Pàganachd agus Págánacht – Traditional Gaelic Polytheism.

Who are you?

Kathryn Price NicDhàna
April 30, 2008
Taigh na h-Aibhne

May be linked to, reposted or quoted as long as text is unaltered and the above attribution is included. Copyright ©2008 Kathryn Price NicDhàna.

crossposted to caitriona_nnc, paganacht, cr_r, and Pàganachd Bhandia

Learn Irish with Liam Ó Maonlaí

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:57:58 GMT

The ever-fabulous Liam Ó Maonlaí recorded a beginner's Irish class last year for the Irish Independent, and it's now available online. It's designed so you can just listen and repeat phrases, but if you like, there are also PDF transcripts so you can see how all the words and phrases are spelled.

Learn Irish with Liam Ó Maonlaí

I haven't listened to the entire series yet, as my computer was having a bit of trouble with some of the sound files. However, I liked what I heard enough to buy the CDs - they were available free in that issue of the Independent (Good for them!). I also want to thank Liam for doing this course, and for all the great work he's been doing in the areas of trad music and Tara preservation.

Those of you who are not familiar with Liam's work in traditional Irish music may be familiar with his band Hothouse Flowers.

Some videos:

Liam Ó Maonlaí agus Hothouse Flowers as Gaeilge: "Cailleach an Airgid"

Liam Ó Maonlaí agus Hothouse Flowers as Béarla: "Don't Go"

Irish Voice Article: Celtic Reconstructionism, Part II

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:35:20 GMT

The article which caitriona_nnc mentioned in an earlier post ("Reconstructing Ireland at Home" by Andrew Nusca) is now available online at http://www.coveringreligion.org/2008/index.html under a slightly different title: "Celtic Pagans: Reconstructionists in America." The page is in frames so you have to click through story "2" in the cycling picture window. A pdf version showing exactly how it looked in the Irish Voice can be found here. Funny, my "trance-y" expression in the accompanying picture seems strangely reminiscent of seasickness. Guess I was stuck in the "sea" bit of "Land, Sea and Sky".

crossposted to paganacht and cr_r

Lisa Feeney update:

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:37:09 GMT

Muireann reports:

"I have just heard from Phil Cantwell, confirmed from the RL camp, that
Lisa has left the tunnel and has left in the company of her parents and
gardaí.
That is all I know as of now."

Irish Voice Article: Celtic Reconstructionism and the Fight to Save Tara

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:09:31 GMT

The current issue of The Irish Voice includes an article on CR and the Tara Preservation effort: "Reconstructing Ireland at Home - Andrew Nusca provides a fascinating look at a sect of paganism as practiced by Celtic Reconstructionists here in the U.S."

It's a full page article on page s-23 in the 2008 St. Patrick's Day supplement, included in the Vol. 22 No. 11 issue (Wed., March 12 - Tues., March 18, 2008). The cover has pictures of Hillary Clinton, Sean Hannity, Celtic Woman and, something I got a laugh out of: "Oh Danny Boy - Just Shut Up!" The Irish Voice is published in Manhattan and covers both Irish and Irish-American news.

The article is very pro-Tara and gives a positive portrayal of CR. Andrew Nusca interviewed a handful of us involved in the preservation efforts, and quotes two of us who are CR, along with quotes from a Wiccan of Irish heritage and a more secular activist from Ireland. It features a picture of three of us leading a Págánacht/Pàganachd Bhandia ritual at a Celtic festival.

As someone with a history of being misquoted in interviews, I am pretty pleased with how it came out. I would have framed some of it slightly differently, but all in all I think he did a very good job. The only place I am noticeably misquoted is where I think I said, "It's through these sacred sites that you can make connections with the otherworld..." Which appears in the article as "sacred areas that you can make connections with the underworld..." Still, not a major change. I'm sure since we were talking about tombs and burial mounds at that point in the discussion he just misheard me. Hopefully the Christians won't think I'm talking about Hell ;-)

The issue also includes a letter from Maireid Sullivan, on p. 33 of the outer section, addressing some things we can to do to keep Tara in people's awareness. Many Irish politicians are currently abroad, appearing at St. Pat's functions. She asks us all to bring up Tara with them, even if it's just yelling out, "Save Tara!" She also suggests dancers put "Save Tara!" on their sashes, and that anyone performing or marching in parades fly banners, or wear T-shirts with these words.

Andrew says the article will also appear online, but I don't think it's up yet. I'll post a note when it's available. In the meantime, the hardcopy version is available on newsstands now.

The Irish independent is running a poll about the situation at Rath Lugh: "M3 stand-off: Does it bother you that the building of the M3 may be affecting a site of archaeological importance?" The poll is down a bit past the middle of the main page, on the right.

In Lisa Feeney news (she is the amazing young woman locked in the tunnel at Rath Lugh), last I heard she is in good spirits and holding out. The media attention from her risking her life for Tara has brought wide media coverage (Google "Lisa Feeney" and Tara or "Rath Lugh"), and yesterday a hundred new protesters showed up at the site. Rath Lugha Abu! Tara Abu! Lisa Feeney Abu!

crossposted to paganacht, cr_r, and my lj

The Historical Importance of Rath Lugh...

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:07:06 GMT

... and its relevance to us now.

"One of the physical features in the area of the Gabhra Valley that they could have imagined as being the “great Rath” and commemorative mound of the dead Fianna is the present-day Rath Lugh."

from "The Tara Skryne (Gabhra) Valley in Early Irish Literature"
by Dr. Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin

As Dr. Ní Bhrolcháin explains in the linked article, it is sometimes difficult to find written references to Rath Lugh in the mythology. I tend to concur with her position that this is due to name shifts over the centuries, and that Rath Lugh (more correctly "Rath Lugha") plays a crucial role in mythology, history and the current metaphysical lay of the land.

The current road plans intend to pave over at least one of the holy wells of Rath Lugh, and pave over or bulldoze into the tombs. The outer edge of the Rath and the forest around it have already been badly damaged. Anyone with the slightest interest in Irish history and Irish mythology must realize the importance of this sacred site, and protect it.

The Battle of Rath Lugh

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:24:29 GMT

Today the Gardaí stormed and dismantled the camp at Rath Lugh. Protestors say the Gardaí are being "vicious." At least three people have been arrested, two of them dragged down the unstable esker. Five more have cemented their arms to the fence. It is unclear whether they have cut off the power and, hence, the air supply to Squeak, the brave young woman we saw interviewed in the tunnel video.

Squeak on the ramparts at Rath Lugh, before entering the tunnels below the proposed roadway

The Gardaí and Road Crew first told the media they would not try to remove our warriors from the tunnels. But last update has the fire brigade arriving en masse. Squeak is now locked by the neck to the jack holding up the roof. If they attempt to pull her out, the tunnel will collapse. She may already be fighting for her life, if they have cut off her air supply. They are risking her life to build an illegal, unnecessary road that no one really wants. Either they don't understand, or they don't care, that Tara is important enough that these brave Irishwomen and Irishmen are willing to die to prevent further desecration to our sacred sites. Would they bulldoze Delphi to shave ten minutes off their commute?

Updates are coming in so quickly, I can hardly keep up. This is a very tense situation, a turning point in the campaign, a moment when probabilities and possibilities shift. Can we take advantage of this to save Tara and Rath Lugh? Get there if humanly possible (see my earlier posts for more on that). If you can't get there, please do whatever you can. Spread the word, send supplies, call and write, pray and work magic.

As usual, keep an eye on Irish IndyMedia (put "Tara" or "Rath Lugh" in the search box) and the activist lists, Sábháil Teamhair (Save Tara) and Hill of Tara. If you are in Ireland, you may have already seen the coverage on RTÉ news. If nothing else, this has finally motivated the mainstream media to get involved. Let's just hope it won't also take martyrdom to save the Tara Skryne.

Some stories so far today:
* All out Emergency - The Battle of Rath Lugh (Indymedia)
* Rath Lugh Front Line Eviction - Eviction in Progress (Indymedia)
* Injunction to stop Rath Lugh work refused (RTÉ)

Edited to Add: More from Indymedia
The situation 3 minutes ago
author Muireann Ni Bhrolchain publication date Thu Mar 13, 2008 14:53

A protester has been arrested - she has been released. She is not the same woman as that in the tunnel.
Straight from the protest site: things have calmed down. The Fire Brigade are well gone, will not make any attempt to remove the girl from the tunnel.
A tent will be erected at the entrance so that one other protester can communicate with her.
No effort was or will be made to remove her.
There are still 5 other people locked on with cement.
There is a small digger and steam roller as well as 18 jeeps at the site.
Nothing is driving on the esker.
They are tripping over media and cameras!
There are flood lights being brought in.
Court case being heard again at 2pm.

So, it looks like despite the hell the protesters have gone through today, due to the bravery of our tunnel pixies, we finally have mainstream media taking notice. Hopefully this will stall the illegal diggers and steamrollers long enough for the injunctions to finally be enforced.
From original post at http://nicdhana.blogspot.com/2008/03/all-out-emergency-battle-of-rath-lugh.html

and crossposted a bit

The Courageous and Beautiful Pixies in the Tunnels of Rath Lugh

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:47:56 GMT

Interview from within Rath Lugh Tunnel

I go into more detail about the current situation, and include up to date contact info, in my most recent post on Pàganachd Bhandia. The protesters at Tara are putting their bodies on the line, and they need our support: funding, supplies, words of encouragement, energy, and more bodies to help hold the line. http://nicdhana.blogspot.com/2008/03/brilliance-and-bravery-at-rath-lugh.html

The situation at Tara is critical. If you've ever thought of going, now is the time.

PS - I have created a feed for TaraPixie's Videos from the Front Lines. Subscribe to tarapixievideos for the latest footage from protesters struggling to hold the line against the road crews.

Also, keep an eye on her page here: http://www.livevideo.com/tarapixie for more suggestions on coming to the camp and supplies they need. Such as:

COME TO TARA AND JOIN THE PROTESTS

Show your support by being present at the sites. Any amount of time you can give is very welcome. Although some have, many protesters have experienced no violence from security or Gardai. But if you are not comfortable with direct action there are other things you can do; become a legal observer - This is a very responsible position as direct action is not a spectator sport. Bring your camcorder or camera. It is important to show our side of the story.

The Camp always needs food, financial, moral and spiritual support. We also need mobiles, car phone chargers, flasks, batteries, rain-proof clothing, chains and locks.

Chicago parade - Save Tara contingent

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:54:08 GMT

Chicago's Irish Freedom Committee is inviting all those who want to protest the destruction of Tara to march with them in Saturday's Downtown Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade.

More Info

If I were in the city for this, I'd make an exception to my usual avoidance of the parade. Go Chicago Celts! And if anyone knows of similar events at other parades, please post them.

crossposted a bit

Tara pilgrimages - first hand accounts needed

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 01:34:49 GMT

Would any of you who have made the pilgrimage to Tara, or who are planning to go, and who would be open to talking to a friendly reporter about their feelings about the site, and what it means to them as a CR (or Celtic Pagan, or just a person of Irish heritage) please email me promptly?

I am helping a reporter who is writing about the spiritual aspects of the Tara preservation effort, and specifically what the site means to Pagans/Polytheists. He would especially like some first-person accounts from those who have been there and felt the spiritual importance of the site. The visit to Tara doesn't have to have been recent. He is experienced in writing about religious and spiritual matters, has interviewed a variety of Pagans before, as well as people of other religions, and promises not to bite ;-) I enjoyed speaking with him.

I think that helping people understand the spiritual/religious, as well as the historical, importance of the place is an important part of swaying public opinion. The most recent poll shows Irish support for preserving Tara is now up to 80%.

I can be reached at kathryn ( at ) bandia ( dot ) net, or this screen name at livejournal dot com. You could also comment here, if you prefer, with a way for me to contact you. His deadline is Sunday, so prompt responses are needed.

NOTE Those living elsewhere than America who would want to discuss this, also feel free to contact me. I'm sure voices from other countries would be welcome, as well.

cross-posted to my lj, paganacht, and cr_r

MPH

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:06:14 GMT

I've noticed that the Multicultural Politheistic Hearth forum went off-line, probably for the long inactivity period. Anyone knows if anyone made an archive of the topics it contained? It's a pity to loose all that information (maybe i'm just a wako who would backup the internet if i could, afraid of situations like that :P)....

Irish classes, Northampton Massachusetts

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:37:41 GMT

While classes in the Boston, Worcester and Springfield areas of Western MA (usa) have been an option for a long time, those in the Northampton area will now have the option of a more local class.

We'll be having a weekly class, for a ten-week session, meeting in Northampton. The teacher is affiliated with Daltaí na Gaeilge. If you're interested, drop me a line here with your email address, or email me at this screen name at livejournal d0t com.

There's also interest in doing a Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig) class at some point, so if that's your preference, let me know.

Oh, for the record, this is not a CR or Pagan-oriented class. Personal religious orientations have nothing to do with it, and there won't be any more Pagans at the classes than folks of other religions, or no religion at all.

Tara - Samhain 2007 aftermath

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:05:54 GMT

We've been hearing from participants all over the world about their experiences with the Tara ritual.

Some of the accounts are in locked posts, but here are some of the public ones:

* Our correspondent Carmel, who was one of the main organizers of the ritual fires in Ireland, and at Tara itself for the ritual, has posted a report, complete with great pictures. It's fantastic to see the faces of the people, the land, and the fires we were sending energy to, at the moment it was all happening: http://www.tarataratara.net/Tara_photos_SacredFire.htm

* My report (made while really tired, but still), plus reports from a handful of folks: http://caitriona-nnc.livejournal.com/183232.html

We've heard from groups and individuals in fourteen countries, twenty-one US states, and nineteen areas of Ireland who participated. Our oldest participant that we know of was eighty, and the youngest an infant in his mother's arms.

I know I've got other public accounts bookmarked, so I'll try to add them here later. If you want to add your account, feel free to post or link it here!

Samhain Tara ritual coordination

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 06:48:58 GMT

For interested participants, the site for caitriona_nnc's and my "I Stand With Tara" ritual is now complete; we've got HTML and printable PDF versions of the ritual, explanatory briefing, and optional additions all up at http://www.paganachd.com/tara for your viewing pleasure, as well as the awesome original "Tara's Dancers" art that _graywolf_ created in honor of the effort.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented with support and participation! We've been just floored by the response. As of this writing, we have folks in ten countries and fifteen US states committed to participating.

Countries: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Russia, Canada and the United States
US States: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington

The Irish coordinators we're working with have so far received fire-lighting pledges from four countries and nineteen areas of Ireland:

Areas of Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Cork, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, and West Meath
Countries: Canada, the US, Wales and New Zealand

Needless to say, we're delighted. If you don't see your area on the list and are planning on participating in the ritual, please drop us a comment here or a line at the address on our site so we can add your location to the list. The full list will be archived online at the "I Stand With Tara" community & networking section. Again, thank you all so much for your assistance, and we're looking forward to Samhain!

I Stand with Tara - Samhain Ritual

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:43:08 GMT

On Samhain night, Oct. 31 2007, people all over the world will be uniting in a ritual to help protect and preserve one of the most sacred sites in Ireland, and indeed the world: The Hill of Tara and the surrounding Skryne Valley, in County Meath, Ireland.

As many of you know, the site is still threatened with destruction. We are working together with activists in Ireland to help stop this, both with this-world activism and with a ritual we've written to help support the activists spiritually.

In the time of our ancestors, Tara was the center of a ritual complex, where signal fires were lit to mark the holy day, and whose light spread out from hilltop to hilltop across the land. Now, the center has been neglected, so much so that some think it is no matter to desecrate it. So we meet on Samhain to add our energy and prayers to revitalise and resacralise Tara.

In the past, the signal and sacred flames were taken from Tara; but on Samhain we will all unite to send the power and blessings back to Tara, to rebuild the source. We will light our individual fires on hilltops and in fields, and in homes around the world. We will have people climbing the surrounding hills all across Ireland, and in many countries the world around. We will unite our flames with the center. We will unite to protect Tara.

Read more at http://www.paganachd.com/tara

At the end of the pre-ritual briefing we've posted information on how to help physically - by writing letters, sending money, calling with moral support, or going and standing in front of bulldozers. Our other offering is this ritual, which I wrote together with thewronghands, after we both got some heavy requests from the spirits.

Note - I will be adding more graphics and smoothing out the visuals of the site a bit more in the coming days, but all the info should be there. We welcome your feedback! If you plan on participating in the ritual, please consider letting us know. We may be posting a list of participants on the site. If you write us, let us know how you'd like to be named. We suggest using one of the formats in the ritual, explained in under the "Introduce yourself (threefold) and Lighting the Signal Fires For Tara" instructions on the pre-ritual briefing page (http://www.paganachd.com/tara/pre-ritual.html).

cross-posted to caitriona_nnc, paganacht, and a handful of other places. feel free to re-post this message and link to the ritual on the website

KILLYOUANDEATYOU article published

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:23:02 GMT

caitriona_nnc and I are pleased to announce the publication of our new article, KILLYOUANDEATYOU! Or, A Well-Intentioned Celt's Guide to Non-Celtic Bioregions. This is a companion piece and forerunner to our upcoming ritual to help protect Tara and the Skryne Valley. In KILLYOUANDEATYOU, we discuss different methods for trying to establish a relationship with the land, and the various results and experiences we've had while trying these things in wildly varying geographic locations. We hope that it will be useful not just to people connecting with their localities for the Tara ritual (which will be published tomorrow or the next day), but also for anyone interested in exploring such a connection in their particular locality. At the least, we hope you get some enjoyment out of it; in the process of learning how to do this, we've had spectacular trainwrecks as well as spectacular successes, and some of them *are* funny in retrospect.

We welcome comments and feedback. Thanks for reading, and we hope to publish the Tara ritual Real Soon Now. [grin] We'd also like to thank paul_hamish for his helpful efforts in web-wrangling and codemonkeying, without which this whole thing would have taken much longer.

(Cross-posted to paganacht, cr_r, and our personal journals.)

Samhain Ritual for the Hill of Tara (and the Tara Skryne Valley)

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:38:04 GMT

In a few days thewronghands and I will be posting a CR Samhain ritual we've written for the protection of Tara. We were hoping to have this live on paganachd.com before the weekend, but we're still putting the finishing touches on it. We weren't going to announce it until it was done, but today we found out a few other people have also come up with a very similar idea, using the same imagery. Major Shared Gnosis is at work here! We were already co-ordinating efforts with folks on the ground in Ireland, but now it seems there's going to be lots more of us.

The idea is for people all over the world to re-light the signal fires for Tara, but this time we are sending the energy back - focusing the light and protection back at Tara, from wherever we are in the world.

There's been a bit of synchronistic discussion about it here: http://community.livejournal.com/cr_r/254906.html and now some folks are going big-media with the concept, as seen here: http://tarawatch.org/?p=536

We'll post again when the ritual is live. It will probably be at http://paganachd.com/tara Hope to "see" you on Samhain!

Western MA Pagan Pride Day

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 18:47:15 GMT

Western MA Pagan Pride Day is tomorrow, Sat. the 13th, in the Student
Union Ballroom at UMass Amherst. Weather permitting, some of it will
also be outside on the... um... troubled land by the pond.

At least a few of us will be there, doing our CR thang. We've asked
that our table be next to the Asatruar, but I don't know if they're
assigning spaces ahead of time. We'll be selling books (The new CR
FAQ book), talking to people about Gaelic classes and some upcoming
rituals and activist events. Look for the blue or purple Celtic
banners, and probably some tartan here and there.

*Disclaimer* I am not one of the organizers of this event, and don't
really know who will be there or where they're at spiritually or
politically. But we're going to provide a CR presence, and hopefully
some of the folks who come will be looking for what we have to offer.
We know we're rather different than many of the groups who will be
there. Hopefully it will go well.

Right now we're just planning on staffing the table and hanging out
with whoever shows up. But if there's enough interest we can do a
more structured talk/workshop/whatever. If folks want to do a ritual
outside, you might want to check this out first:
http://www.bandia.net/crones/dcHeal.html (yes, the last few panels are
set at UMass). Last I checked, the land at UMass was in need of the
Psychic Ambulance and Guerilla Astral cleanup squad. And every time I
go there we wind up having to do some sort of mopping.

Anyway, the Asatruar are leading the main ritual, an Ancestors Blot.
The band Incus will be performing, and there will be some discussions
or panel type things.

For more info, as it were: http://www.sismoon.com/content/ppd.html

Slàinte Mhath!

-Kathryn

Help needed to get Gaelic Film to Oscars

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:23:35 GMT

Following up on the gaidhlig post about the Gaelic-language film Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle.

The film makers also have a MySpace page, here: http://www.myspace.com/seachd with info on where you can see the film.

This is from their blog:

PLEASE REPOST

It's working! BAFTA are coming under pressure from all sides. The Director and Producer of Seachd appeared on news programmes on TV and radio last week, questions have been raised in the Scottish Parliament and hundreds of individuals have begun to petition BAFTA to overturn their decision to neglect to put foward any non-English British films for the the Best Foreign Language category of the Oscars.

WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE PETITION IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY

Here are a few articles published around the world in the past couple of days: Variety, The Guardian, The Sunday Herald, Scotland On Sunday

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS SENT AN EMAIL REGISTERING YOUR DISAPPROVAL AT BAFTAs DECISION...

Of 18 Western European countries invited by the Academy to put non-English language films forward for the Oscars, the UK is the only one to fail to do so.

BAFTAs decision is sensless and really could not have been made on some measure of the "quality" of the film, given the strong early reviews we have had (“excellent” The Sunday Times, “breathtaking” BBC, “tender, graceful…gorgeously-realised” The Herald, “worth shouting about” The Scotsman, “dramatic, funny and spectacular” The List, and “an astonishing production” Eye For Film). And surely they wouldn't have put forward such obviously English language turkeys as they have in recent years if quality really was the issue?

BAFTA is an institution designed to promote British film - in whatever language - and their decision feels dangerously close to censorship and it will mean - ultimately - that less people will get to see the film in the UK internationally.

YOU CAN HELP CHANGE THAT...

We have been able to gather a great deal of support to help overturn their decision within the film industry in the UK, and also from the Academy who have written to BAFTA asking for an explanation. And we have just learned that this issue is on the agenda to be debated in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday this week.

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP...

Finola Dwyer is the Chair of the BAFTA committee that neglected to put any non-English language British films forward. Her email address is: finola@finoladwyerproductions.co.uk

Amanda Berry is the Chief Exceutive in BAFTA. Her email address is: amandab@bafta.org

We invite you to email Finola and Amanda to let them know IN YOUR OWN WORDS what you think of BAFTAs decision not to any non-English British film forward for the Oscars.

I have received many emails asking when the film will be on release in America, Canada, Europe, Australia and all over the world. If you are able to email, we'll have a far greater chance of getting to you!

MORAN TAING (MANY THANKS) IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP!

The cast and crew of Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle

cross-posted to gaidhlig, paganacht agus Pàganachd Bhandia

Priestess dwellings

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 06:20:32 GMT

"Elements of the Dúile"?

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:05:44 GMT

I've seen this article on a number of websites, but no version I've seen has any sort of references. So, I was curious how accurate it is. Admittedly I haven't read enough to make that judgment call, which is why I ask the opinion of those in the community who are more well read than I. =)

http://www.witchscauldron.net/cauldron/duile.htm

(Note that this isn't the original site, it's just the easiest to read. Other sites have eye-straining color schemes).

Thank you =)