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 On the night of the Full Moon on Tara at 8pm rising in the east we can see Cú and Crom following the Full Moon as it rises to its zenith. You could say the Full Moon is chasing Jupiter because both are shining bright like they want to be seen...but if you look a bit further to the South you'll see Betelgeuse as the bright star on the shoulder of Dagda and underneath Dagda - the three stars of his belt point us towards Sirius, the Dog star. Lets hope for a night with no clouds. Blessing to everybody on this Full Moon night.
Brigid's Day / Night is fast approaching. As daughter to Dagda she strengthens the triplicities of her father's belt of three stars. Brigid is the patroness of poetry with her Fires of Inspiration, she is the patroness of healing and fertility with her Fires of the Hearth and she is patroness of smithcraft and martial arts with her Fires of the Forge. She is the Lady of Aquarius long before she was hidden and then replaced by the Aquarian man, but Brigid lives on in Ireland and in the hearts of many who know and respect her magical healer skills. Brigid Abú  Brigid was born at the start of day to night as she travels into the Otherworld with her red eared cow and her bees seeking the sacred nectar of life. Brigid’s story is written in the other world of the stars for all to see and connect with. As a child Brigid was said to have been sustained by the milk of a white cow with red ears and this sacred cow also gave milk to all the poor people she encountered on her travels. This red eared cow is accompanied by bees and they all live in the apple orchard in the Otherworld beneath the horizon. It was Dagda, her father who made Brigid a guardian of this orchard and all that live in it. This apple orchard is today known as the Milky Way and in Gaeilge as ‘Bealach na Bó Finne’ meaning the Way of the White Cow.
It was in this apple orchard that Dagda, Brigid’s father kept his two pigs or boars, ‘one always growing and one always roasting’. Dagda was gifted these two Boars by Manannan. As daughter to Dagda she strengthens the triplicities of her father's belt of three white stars. She is the patroness of poetry with her Fires of Inspiration, she is the patroness of healing and fertility with her Fires of the Hearth and she is patroness of smithcraft and martial arts with her Fires of the Forge. She is the Lady of Aquarius long before she was hidden and then replaced by the Aquarian man, but Brigid lives on in Ireland and in the hearts of many who know her. Her name means ‘the Exalted One’, she is wife to Bres and their son was Ruadan, who was killed by Goibniu. Brigid holds respect as a goddess of healing, fertility, water, motherhood, childbirth and agriculture and fire, creativity, poetry, smithcraft and invention. When Brigid’s son Rúadán died she was in such grief that her cries could be heard for miles and this was the start of the ‘keening’ tradition in Ireland. In Irish - caoineadh means crying and is the source of the term ‘keening’, a woman’s ritual art form or ceromony sung at the wake or graveside when mourning the dead. Brigid invented a wooden whistle for women to use for night travel to call to each other preventing them from getting lost during the night. Brigid is revered as a goddess of the sun and fire and as the protectress of animals, mainly cattle and sheep. Irish people would leave offerings for Brigid at Imbolg asking her to protect their homes, animals and to help with good harvests. In the old books, such as ‘Lebor Gabála Érenn’ and ‘Cormac’s Glossary’, she is described as the ‘goddess of poets’ and as ‘a wise woman’ and ‘sage’. Brigid, Daughter of Dagda, lives in the Stars Imbolg 2026 is on the 18th of January, a Sunday. The Dark Moon is at -7* under the horizon at 16:56 on the 18th of January 2026 with the Sun, Venus, Mars and Mercury with Vespa following close by. The star Fomalhaut the we call Banríon Beacha (queen bee) is at +3* above the horizon. This creates conditions for the star to be visible in daylight conditions a very magical moment. This is the liminal time called dusk or twilight with the Sun below the horizon and the skies are still bright - look to 237*WSW. Happy Imbolg to everyone.   This is a craft afternoon celebrating Imbolg through making three legged Brigid's crosses with field rush. There are 6 places available but you must book in advance here. This is free of charge and held indoors in the warmth of the Hemp Hall at Celtic Druid Temple in North West Roscommon. Niamh will harvest the rush so you can wear normal house shoes - no wellies needed. It is not as complicated as you might think to make this spinning three legged cross but there are steps or stages in making this type of cross - the rush tie off will keep the entire Brigid's cross firm for a lot more than a year. A great tradition to re learn and to pass on in your own circles.
 We see this meteor shower as off the back of the great fire dragon - Draco. They can reach a rate of up to 110-120 meteors per hour. This year's peak dates are the 3rd and 4th of January but there is a Full Moon too so maybe the moonlight will hide many of the sparks. But clear skies are expected on Saturday night.
Image credit to its creator - if you know who created this image please let us know and it will be fixed to the image.  Our Winter Solstice newsletter is now live, you can read it at this link:
https://mailchi.mp/0419a87861bc/gaelicculture-21073233  The night sky over Tara at 8pm on the 3rd of January 2026 has an amazing cast of characters. Just rising in the SE (right) is Sirius - the brightest of all stars, above it the the Way of the White Cow, the Celtic goddess of the River Boyne, whose name means "White Cow" or "Graceful Bovine," symbolizing fertility, wisdom, and the river itself. Above this is Dagda, the good god, the great warrior himself. The Full Moon appears just above the head of Crom and to the right of Cú, Lugh's great magical wolfhound. The Full Moon ceremonies on Tara, on the Boyne and here at Celtic Druid Temple, Castlerea begin at 8pm in the evening. In Vienna, Austria - different timing is needed to synchronize with our ceremonies here in Ireland so make contact with Ard Druí /i\ Karl regarding the usual 7pm start time at http://www.cdtviennagrove.at/ At Tara we are on the gravel patch at the high end of the (so called) Banqueting Hall with Ard Druí /i\ Red John. For more info contact [email protected] To join Ard Druí /i\ Con and Ard Druí /i\ Niamh at Celtic Druid Temple, Castlerea it is necessary to prebook your place by contacting us at [email protected] Our ceremony for the 3rd of Jan 2026 is closed.  A magical giant boar, escaping from the cave of Oweynagat, is said to have trust it's tusks into the nearby landscape and created an impressive set of linear earthworks, known today as The Mucklaghs, Na Muclaig. Inspired by these ancient Irish tales, artist Orla Clogher and her team, have designed and created this impressive sculpture, currently residing at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre. Huge congratulations to Orla and to our sister project @farmingrathcroghan for their sponsorship of this piece. Quoted from https://www.facebook.com/Rathcroghan  The sunrise event at Brú na Boinne (aka Newgrange) is well known but it is also very important to recall that our ancestors calculated with the day / night cycle starting at dusk. High Noon at the Solstice is at 12:23 so True Midnight is at 00:23. Look due south at 00:23 and you'll see the stars as shown above - all of Ireland.  In the cutaway sketch above of the Brú you (from the right) see the Sun beam flavoured by Dublin's Lambay Volcano (dormant for 1000's of years) passing through the two quartz blocks in the roofbox on top of the entrance dolmen transforming into a rainbow of light. This linear multi coloured light beam bounces off the curved walls causing it to spin exponentially (faster and tighter) until it lands on the water in the central basin. Then a magical separation of light happens - the blue / ultra violet colours get separated and reflected into the end chamber and a golden glow fill the center chamber. The blue / ultra violet colours are the cool end of the visible light spectrum and are used to activate / switch on the Earth Energy Grid.  |
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