Celtic Druid Temple Blog

Brigid's Day Cross Making Festival, Saturday 28th January 2017

17/1/2017

This year we will celebrate Brigid, daughter of Dagda on Saturday 28th of January. We host an open and free ceremony for Imbolg at 1:30pm followed by our traditional Brigid's Cross making afternoon. Special designs such as three legged and spinning weave will be demonstrated and taught by Ard Druí Red John.

The ceremony and workshop will be held in the comfort of the Hemp Hall. Places are limited so forward booking is important to secure your place - contact us at celticdruidtemple@gmail.com Some people are unsure about variations on the 4 legged version so we took some pictures in the Armagh Museum and the Ballina Festival to show the wide variations that exist.

The crosses above with the blue background are on a display board seen at the Ballina Salmon Festival - they are copies of the Brigid's Crosses on display at the National Museum for Country Living in Co Mayo. The crosses below (cream background) are on show in the Armagh Museum in Co Armagh, Ireland.

The white table cloth below shows what we made here at the Celtic Druid Temple last year.

Attending our ceremony for Imbolg at 1:30pm followed by our traditional Brigid's Cross making afternoon is open and free of charge - but as places are limited = you must make prior contact at celticdruidtemple@gmail.com

Pics from Samhain 2016

9/11/2016

From Tlachtga to Tara to Sliabh na Callai and Rath Croghan. A new fire for the New Year. Happy New Year.

Ceremony Dates

6/10/2016

Full Moon
Sunday 16th October- 8pm - Tara Co. Meath, Open to all
                                     Temple Crom Co. Roscommon, Open to all
                                     Denver, Colorado, USA - Invite only
                                     Vienna, Austria - Invite only

Solar Samhain 2nd November - Noon- Temple Crom, co. Roscommon -Members only

Lunar Samhain Celtic New Year- 30th and 31st October - Triple Ceremony - Tlachtga, Tara and Sliabh na Cailliagh - Invitation Only

Celtic Camp Lughnasa Games

4/7/2016

Celtic Warrior Fun For All the Family

The Celtic Camp Lughnasa Annual Games combine storytelling, the skills of the warrior, a tournament and the spirit of our Celtic ancestry in a two day event over the Bank Holiday weekend every August! Come to our 16-acre farm in our purpose built medieval fort and ceremonial enclosures to enjoy an incredible and unique experience

More Info and How to Book Here:

Celtic Camp.com

Summer Solstice 2016

25/6/2016

Croagh Crom

Suns Shining and we're ready!

Lough na Corra

After Ceremony,on the south side of Croagh Crom, at the Stone Dragon looking out to Corra

Full Moon, Pilgrimage and Weekend of Celtic Spirituality

12/5/2016

At 8pm on May 21st we'll be celebrating the full moon both here in Temple Crom and on Tara. We celebrate every moonth, so if you can't make this one, maybe we'll see you at another. Also if you live too far away we always have a healing circle where we send some energy out, so just email me your name and we'll send some light your way during the ceremony.

Off Grid Celtic Spirituality 28th and 29th May
A weekend of magical connection to the ancestors, learn new techniques of higher awareness through the indigenous spiritual wisdom tradition of Celtic Druid Temple.

We have one place left for this weekend and will be taking bookings for this place up to Tuesday the 24th.
Cost:€200 inclusive of organic tasty food, accommodation and tuition.
This weekend is open to all those seeking an Irish Celtic spiritual path, one that is rooted in it's connection to this beautiful land we live on. Over the weekend Con and Niamh will introduce you to the basics of Celtic Druidism, and the elements that define it.

Read More and Book Here

Some lovely feedback from Druí Daltaí (student druids) -
1) I'm already missing those peaceful and transforming days! I just want to thank you for everything, it was a life changing experience, and I hope to come back to you in the future!
2) Thank you both for your kindness and care,that date will suit me better and I will definitely be attending
3) I just want to thank you both for a really wonderful weekend.
Your hospitality was wonderful and heartwarming and the course was exactly what I needed to reconnect with myself and the earth. I feel very nurtured and full in many ways.
4) I'd like to thank you for having me over the weekend. I enjoyed it very much and learned a lot as well. Go raibh míle maith agat. I am already looking forward to the Land Weekend.

Sky Weekend Smiles, Con and Niamh with participants on the sky weekend in April.

Advance notice of Summer Solstice Pilgrimage: On June 21st we will be traveling together on Pilgrimage to walk the Holy Mountain, you can read more here

Grá
Niamh
celticdruidtemple.com
ps. if your considering becoming a member check out our membership options here

Celebrate Spring With Us

13/3/2016

Thursday March 17th - Spring Equinox Ceremony 12pm at Temple Crom

Saturday 19th March Mindfulness in Nature Afternoon 2pm-5pm At Temple Crom

Wednesday March 23rd Full Moon Ceremony 8pm at Temple Crom and at Tara

Spring is a magic time of year, it reminds us of the life force of Nature all around us. The sap is rising, the birds are singing and the days are getting longer.On Thursday 17th at noon we will gather in circle at the Temple and connect to the cycle of time just as our ancestors have done for thousands of years. These ceremonies are simple and help to reaffirm our connection to Nature and the progress of Time. This celebration is free and open to members of Celtic Druid Temple

On Saturday 19th from 2pm-5pm we're hosting an afternoon of mindfulness in Nature and your welcome to join us. Relax, unwind and connect as Ard Druí Niamh guides you through some simple Nature meditations. We'll go for a Nature walk (bring your wellies and coats) and on the way we'll harvest nettle and gorse to make spring tea of natural spring zest. This is free and open to all.

Wednesday March 23rd we're celebrating the Full moon at 8pm at Celtic Druid Temple in Castlerea and at 8pm on The Hill of Tara. All welcome.

Any questions or if you'd like to book your place simply send me an email using this link here

Family Open Days

1/3/2016

An open day at the Temple is a time for just having a look and maybe asking a few questions, it's a chance to chill out with us for a couple of hours.

We start in the car park, sitting by the newly planted mallow beds and wait for every one to arrive. Once everyone has their coats and boots on we start the guided tour. On our tour we visit the Power House........that's what the post man calls it...........it's where our turbine and solar panels feed into a bank of batteries and supply the house and sheds with electricity.

After the Power House, we move on to the Fort, this is a large enclosure which during the Summer months hosts our Medieval Camp, we'll tell you all about it on the day!

Through the west gate into our developing Blackthorn i.e. Sloe Orchard, a quick stop to admire our mini Quartz Dolmen, then on to the first of many Nature Corridors. When we first moved here the farm had been left idle for many years, the hedges had started to move in on the fields, which had been used for grazing cattle, since we're not cattle farmers we thought we'd help Nature along by increasing the width of the hedgerows. Can you hear the birds?

On to the Native forest, approx 9,000 Native trees were planted in Jan 2014. Here you'll see lots of young trees with maybe some quartz egg rocks at their base, this where the local school have visited and each child picked a stone and placed it at a tree, they come back every year to check on it's growth.

After checking out the Trees we make our way along the tree line and up past the willow circle, it's one of many willow experiments around the farm, when we go to the Reed Bed system you'll see the Willow Fedge.....the Reed Beds are where all our waste water from the sinks, showers and toilets go.....it's actually quite pretty, with yellow flag iris, reeds and ten foot tall willow growing in the ponds.........anyway back to the willow circle......who knows what it might be when you arrive.... a cave, a dome......

We finish the tour in the Round House. This is our Temple, built by volunteer labour and materials. It seats about thirty and currently has one little wren nesting in the last years swallows nest.

In the Round House we'll give you a brief introduction to Celtic Spirituality and how we live our every day lives Spiritually focused. We'll also tell you a bit about the different ceremonies that we facilitate both in the Temple and all around the country.

Hopefully you'll have enjoyed the talk, the walk in Nature, the relaxed space that we hold and you never know you might just visit us again. See you soon......

Open Days: Sat 7th May, Sat 9th July and Sat 1st Oct. These days are free and open to all, membership is not required. Open at 3pm, guided tour at 3.30pm--- all welcome (no pets please.....this is in respect for the animals already living here)

Email us to book your place.

Woodland Meitheal

8/2/2016

Sat 13 Feb 2016 10am to 4pm

We are stewards of 16.5 acres in North West Roscommon. The lands and buildings are being developed to permaculture designs and the 10,000 native woodland trees are the core of a Forest Garden. We do not use chemical sprays and rely instead on manual weed suppressing. We are in a remote and peaceful location. The air is clean and sweet. We live in harmony with nature and seek to comprehend and cooperate with the land and all around us. We are heading towards sustainability, self sufficiency, off grid living as we practice the principals of the Celtic Druid Tradition

We need your help.

The 'no chemical' method means we simply hold the top of the tree and fold weeds away from the young trees by the careful use of the boot, giving breathing space for the young tree spirit to grow. It's quite a relaxing and enjoyable process, you develop a rhythm working your way through the young forest spiraling around the trees as you help to give them the space they need to grow. If you can't join us but still want to help us with this project you can use the donate button at the end of this blog to help in a different and much need way. Your donations will buy stakes for trees, protective gloves for volunteers and other items that make the job safer and easier for all (including the trees :)

Volunteering with us is open to all subscribed members Membership Subscription here. We provide our Volunteers with the best local organic food and holy water and provide accommodation in our 4 bed dormitory for each night and in our medieval tent village during the warm season. If you join us just for one day, start at 10am and end around 4pm we will give you a full midday meal - there is no contribution required.

However, if you prefer to stay over night and then lend a hand on the tree farm we will give you a bed, b/fast, lunch and dinner and a contribution of E10 per person per day is appreciated. No one will be asked to do any work that they are not able for or uncomfortable with - you are expected to enjoy working at the Temple! More FAQ on volunteering with us here

Membership Options

Imbolg Ceremony and Crafternoon

5/1/2016

Saturday January 30th. Noon-5pm
Free- Members Only Event
Celtic Druid Temple, Roscommon
We will have ceremony at noon in the Round House, then we will retire to the main Hemp Hall and make our new Brigid's crosses from rushes collected on our land.
This is a family friendly event.
Not a member already.....you can join on the day or subscribe here

Imbolg means “in the bag” but is understood as “in the belly” and refers to the coming of milk and the sheep carrying lambs. It is also the availability of lamb meat during the cold season. Many celebrate Imbolg today without awareness to its significance in the past because they are disconnected. Today, our refrigerators protect us and a multitude of shops are open 24/7... But just imagine that there are no shops and its windy, dark, wet and cold and the only foods you have are the seeds for the next years crop / harvest and all the time you know that there are a multitude of young lambs “in the belly” and the importance of this cross-quarter day become real.

Imbolg is also called Imbolc, Oimelc, Candlemas, Feast of Lights, Groundhog Day (in USA) and Brigit's Day and this is so because the original connection to the daughter of the Dagda (Bríd) was displaced by succeeding religions that today honour St Brigid.