We invite you to join us for Celtic Camp 2019 to celebrate Lughnasa with warrior games and family fun. We've hosted these games since 2008 and we're very excited to present this year's line up of activities.

Fresh from her summer tour Bernadette D'Alton will bring us stories and more from Rath Croghan. In the roundhouse around the central fire listening to the great tales of old we will be transported back to a time when Maeb ruled Connaught.

This is a selection of Niall and Brenda's games which they bring to festivals and shows. They're a spin on classic old-styled toys and games.

Rachel from Fierce Fun Faces will paint you pretty or ferocious!

As last year's champion Niamh will be presenting this Celtic Style Sword to the champion of 2019...will it be you?

Dagda is the good god of Ireland's Tuatha de Dannan. For a long time now He has lived only in high stories around Celtic Camp fires but with guidance our Druí Daltaí will discover that He has started on His long awaited return journey to the Realm of Land. Dagda is our Ollathair meaning 'All-Father', He is a chieftain and a druid. He is bringing his cauldron 'Undry' which gives sustainable food and reincarnates warriors. He will carry 'Uaithne' a three string 4 corner living oak harp that plays the music of sorrow, of joy and of dreaming. He also brings his war club that can give or take life. Dagda has two marvellous swine - one always roasting, the other always growing - and ever-laden fruit trees.
We look at three times: past, present and future and we can see the first emergence of Dagda into view from Ourland about 6000 years ago. We will see how two thousand years ago He was called by other names – Cuchullain and Fionn McCumhaill. On our upcoming Slí an Druí Celtic Spirituality Weekend our Druí Daltaí learn where they can see and connect to Dagda, Undry, Uaithne, the war club and the abundance of the re-incarnating boar and ever-laden fruit trees...

In the world of the Celtic Druid there are Three Realms outside us and Three Cauldrons inside us. This reflects “as above so below” but there is a challenge for each seeker on a Celtic Path! While the Three Realms have their constant exchange and interaction the Three Cauldrons have to be arranged to be upright and full. These inner cauldrons are called 'An Coire Goriath' (Cauldron of Warming - belly), 'An Coire Ernmae' (Cauldron of Vocation - chest) and 'An Coire Sois' (Cauldron of Wisdom - head).

Usually, only the Cauldron of Warming is the right way up at birth, otherwise we could not sustain our life. The goal of the Druí Dalta (student druid) is to understand how to cleanse their three cauldrons, to fill them and to sustain all three in an upright position. This then allows the cauldrons to be filled and overflow and as each Druí becomes a better channel for Imbass we develop our connection to the Primordial Tradition.

On our upcoming Slí an Druí Celtic Spirituality Weekend our Druí Daltaí learn how to cleanse and fill all Three Cauldrons and how to cause them to overflow – then with dedication, practice and unrelenting focus each seeker becomes a stronger and stronger channel for the flow of Imbass.

Go Fund Me Fundraiser by Niamh Connor
We've planted a forest in the West of Ireland and now we are opening it up to the community. Trees give us so much. They are the foundation of our Culture. Co create and share the abundance of the Candlefield Community Forest. #celticforestnation

I reached the age of 16 without realising I had a choice. I questioned and resisted the common narrative with passion but it wasn’t until I was standing in the school line for 'catholic confession' when I thought to ask about choice. I directed the question to the teacher in charge of religious instruction and beyond all expectations she answered truthfully, that yes, I did have a choice. So I stepped out of the line and proceeded to tell each young woman that she too had a choice to go or not to go to confession with the priest in the mobile wooden confession box. I was the only one of 30 who stepped out and stayed out of that line.

When I was 18 I decided to leave Ireland for good, I felt that I could never be accepted in Ireland. My challenging questions and evolving concepts of the world seemed to confuse and bewilder the people around me. I was angry and I wanted change. So off I went in search of utopia. Some years later whilst sitting alone in a little apartment in South Korea I realised I still had a choice and that how I live and what I believe in will always be my choice.

So I came home to Ireland and embarked on an adventure into Freedom. When I actively peeled away the layers of preconditioned catholic guilt and shame I realised that the freedom to be me in every single breath is the most challenging and wonderful aspect of living. I still want change. I would love to share a life with people where creative passions are encouraged, where you keep the benefit of your own labour and share your abundance. I realise now that in order to create the loving world I wish for I cannot expect other people to make the changes to suit me. I create my own unique way of life.

On our 16 acres of Land in Éire, I watch trees grow, I help make space for them to grow and I make pathways between them. The birds and animals are moving in to this young forest. The bird song is loud and the evidence of wild animals throughout the forest is clear. Fungi have appeared. The foundation layers of abundance have been established. Our aim is to help reintroduce the human back into the forest by showing how valuable a resource it truly is.

Many people come to visit us and whilst I guide them through the young forest I am perplexed by their questioning. They ask me questions about being a Celtic Druí and as they question me they miss the features of the walk. I try to explain that being a Celt and a Druí is a way of life, but this is not sufficient. They want me to compare my way of life to other religions or they make comparisons to some idealised version of what a Druid should be. This idealised version appears to come from a mix of books and films. Many appear disappointed that I don’t want to explain my way of life with words. Although we are physically beside each other it feels as if the inquisitor is not walking with me in the spirit of growth but rather they ask questions for their own entertainment under the category of educational. For me, to define what a Celt or Druid is, is to limit that definition to my personal opinion, and a definition immediately establishes a set of criteria with judgement and comparison following. I really disappoint visitors when I cannot quote from the Labor Gabhala or recite the Táin Bo Cuailigne. I like the old stories, I like hearing people’s theories on decoding them but I am not an academic nor do I speak old Irish. I find my ancestors in the landscape that surrounds me.

I regularly visit a sacred site quite close to our farm in Castlerea. It is called Rathra or Rathbarna as well as Mullaghdooey Hill. There has never been an archaeological dig there, it was briefly surveyed and its measurements recorded. As I walk the site I wonder what happened there in the past, I wonder who stood there before me, and each time I ask these questions I feel the important answer is not what happened there in the past but what can happen here and now. I believe this perspective is very important for our growth as a Celtic family.

Most of the people in the Celtic Homelands of today are dependent on industrial food production and are trapped within a system of debt. The government systems in all our homelands put State before People. These systems of oppression which dictate a certain way of life cannot be changed overnight. People daily renew their choice to participate in these systems. We cannot force or impose change on others. We can however lead by example by being happy, by shining brightly and by growing a strong new vibrant culture rooted in the Land upon which we live.
I believe our wisdom traditions are born from our direct experience with the Land, Sea and Sky. They are evolving and changing with every moment of growth. The traditions of our ancestors are not ours to blindly repeat, we are awake and interacting consciously with the world around us today. It is the task of those of us awake to relentlessly focus on this present moment of expression. To write a history, to define a belief system and impose structure is to risk getting lost in the intellectual realm, to dress up eight times a year and perform ceremony and go to sleep for the rest of the year is to risk getting lost in romanticism. Our lineage and culture come from our way of life and that way of life is determined by where we live and our interaction with Nature. When our bellies are being filled from the harvest of the locality we have the potential for full health. When we create this harvest together we have a better opportunity for sharing from the heart. When we as a people share from the heart we have a foundation upon which to collectively shape our culture and generate new living traditions. The wisdom of the Celt runs deep, our connection to our past and to our ancestors is in our heart. We do not need to prove we are Celts. We cannot reconstruct what a Celt or a Druid was in the past. We are Celts and we can choose to live as Celts by presenting ourselves with dignity and truth with the intention of nurturing a way of life that supports us. We need to create space for new growth and this involves sharing a life together. This will naturally happen when individuals make conscious effort to change their way of life, each individual will express their way of life uniquely but the commonality will exist in the deep respect and connection for and with Nature.
The key, I suggest, lies first in accepting the reality we are in, a war torn world where those who express freedom are a small minority. We do not need to be taught or trained to live in harmony. When there is no threat of harm, when there is no threat of insufficiency humans will naturally work together for food, fuel and shelter. We have not forgotten how to do this, instead we are been prevented from doing this. Force has been consistently used in many different guises to ensure that we cannot live without dependence on an administration system which seeks to profit from our labour.
Freedom is not taught, it is lived. You know in your heart what it means to be free, to be truly free to live your life with passion. You cannot plead or petition others for this, you claim it and actively renew it with every breath. We each have a Celtic seed within us, our role is not to indoctrinate this seed but to nurture it and actively seek ways to express our passion. We have a choice to co create a way of life that can sustain us as a family. Our family needs to be nourished, sheltered and protected from all enemies of Truth and Light. I believe that in order to provide this fertile space for our Celtic family to evolve we need to stay focused on co-creating abundance.

Our farm here in Éire is where we, Con and I chose to start. Our forest already provides abundance for the wildlife that lives in it and as it grows there will be a great harvest for us too. I constantly remind myself of the reality that no matter what we call ourselves no matter what we identify as, it is our actions that will inspire, encourage or distract. It is each of our individual actions that will co-create our family and our community.

The attached image is taken from “The Flame of Samhain Festival” fb pg and shows the actual size of the ground fire inside the monument on the 31st of October 2018.

On halloween 2018 a wiccan witch cult burned a large Celtic Sun Wheel on the ground inside an ancient monument that is under the Guardianship of the Irish State. This deliberate attack on our indigenous spiritual traditions at a temple sacred to the Goddess Tlachtga was a premeditated religious hate crime. The fire damage to the ground inside Teampall Tlachtga was funded with taxpayers money organised by Meath Cllr David Gilroy, Chairman of Boyne Valley Tourism. Over 200 wiccan witches including Healers Spiral graduates, Moon Mná facilitators and Sli an Chroi wearing xmas lights over gaudy costumes actively supported a black magic hate crime ritual led by Gemma McGowan, Karen Ward, Patsy Preston, retired Cllr Deirdre Wadding and John Cantwell. Cllr Gilroy has said that the event - "was never meant to have any spiritual content". The damaging of our ancient temples recalls the desecration by the roman church, the vikings, the normans and by cromwell who all attacked our indigenous temples with fire! The wiccan witch cult must not be allowed to continue with their hate crimes of grant aided vandalism by fire at Ireland’s Sacred Sites. The Celtic Druid Temple strongly condemns this carefully planned act of fire vandalism against our heritage, the attack on our indigenous spiritual traditions and our sacred symbols and is deeply concerned that taxpayers money was so easily used to support this religious hate crime.

Questions
a) Does the Taoiseach know how much taxpayers money was given in grant aid to those who fire damaged Tlachtga, a national monument that is under guardianship of the state? Costs must currently include; application for Ministerial Consent, the lease of the land, the application for and implementation of road closures, recording, editing and production of the video, photographic marketing of the event, the safety lighting, the fire tender, ambulance and stewards, presenter fees, make-up, costumes with xmas lights, pageantry, props and lighting, the willow-work, sound engineer and equipment etc., TG4 presentation. Will the Taoiseach show the full financial report from Boyne Valley Tourism for this event to the taxpayer?

b) Does he know how much taxpayers money is needed to scientifically investigate the true cost of the damage and the full costs for the restoration and preservation of this important monument that is under guardianship of the state?

c) Does he know if Meath Tourism applied for and received Ministerial Consent for the planned fire that would damage the ground inside the ancient monument that is known as Tlachtga, the Hill of Ward in Co Meath on Halloween on the 31st of October 2018? Will Meath Tourism be allowed to use and promote the video of the fire destruction of national monuments? Will Cllr David Gilroy be immediately sacked from serving as Chairperson of Boyne Valley Tourism?

d) Will the Taioseach instruct the DPP to investigate, identify and prosecute the perpetrators who deliberately planned to damage by fire the ground inside a National Monument under state care? Will the cost of this investigation and all other associated costs be demanded from convicted perpetrators?

e) Will the Taoiseach condemn the hate crime by the Wiccan Witch Cult against our Indigenous Celtic Spiritual Traditions, our sacred symbols and our temples?

f) Can the Taoiseach confirm that no more taxpayers money will be used to promote the hate crimes of the Wiccan Witch Cult.

/|\ Ard Drui Con Connor
Senior Ard Drui, Celtic Druid Temple
celticdruidtemple.com
Duty Guardian, Celtic Druid Alliance

Background Notes
1) The Celtic Sun Wheel is an ancient symbol of the Eightfold Sun Year that represents the Eight Sun Festivals of the European Celtic Pagan Tradition. The deliberate burning of our ancient symbols at our sacred sites by a wiccan witch cult is a public hate crime. Although Ireland has no ‘hate crime’ legislation and no ‘blasphemy law’  it does not mean that there are no victims of religious hatred. The Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission says Ireland has a responsibility to ensure that hate crime is not tolerated in society. The Chief Commissioner says “Hate Crime has a real-world, oppressive and damaging effect on those who fall victim to it. Hate Crime can cause people to withdraw from society and avoid expressing their identity.”
This hate crime vandalism was filmed and shown on TG4 on Sunday 4th November. Video on fb at ‘The Flame of Samhain Festival’.
2) The Celtic Druid Temple has honoured Samhain at Tlachtga since 2003 leaving ‘no trace’.
3) Teampall Tlachtga is officially known as Hill of Ward Earthworks Wardstown Meath National Monument Number 150 RMP NUMBER ME030-00. Formal guardianship by the state.
4) The Celtic Druid Temple is the state recognised Indigenous Spiritual Tradition of Ireland. RCN 20106003 CHY 20684 https://www.celticdruidtemple.com
5) Deliberate destruction of or damage to ancient monuments is prohibited by Section 14 of the National Monuments Act 1930 (as amended). Damage by fire inside national monuments destroys artifacts and archaeological dating techniques like Carbon 14(C) assays, Thermoluminescence because of refiring,  Archeomagnetism confusing electron orientation and the Dendrochronology data reservoir by destroying ancient wood remains. Other damage is from multiple spikes for lighting and multiple poles for banners that were thrust into the ground inside the temple.
6) Dr Stephen Davis is the senior archaeologist for the recent excavations at the Tlachtga, Hill of Ward Project that is supported by the Heritage Council, Office of Public Works (OPW), Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and Meath County Council. 01 716 8534. stephen.davis@ucd.ie