Our last trailblazing experience of the decade: Solstice at Orlagh House on Dec 22.

“And we are Righting the Wrongs
by Rewriting the Rites
and find ourselves Strong
in these bigger Fights
where Shaman is Doctor
Ritual is Medicine
and for to heal the sick
faith is everything
so believe
that we are more than we think
that we can restore what is extinct...

Siobhan De Paor

Winter Solstice Guide December 2019

Dear Friends

Our Winter Solstice gathering in the Dublin Mountains is drawing close. We will soon gather together to welcome the return of the light. The term solstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, which means sun standing still. On this day, the sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn and then reverses its direction when it reaches its southernmost position as seen from the earth. We are delighted to be marking this celestial event at the beautiful Orlagh House where we gathered to celebrate the Summer Solstice in June. We have a very few places left so if you are feeling the pull then jump - we will catch you on the other side.

One of our illuminating Solstice guides is the mighty Siobhan de Paor - a writer, activist, performance poet and Irish-language ambassador for the now age. She runs Wild Irish Retreats in West Kerry, with her partner Diarmuid, guiding participants on a creative adventure through nature, ritual and the Irish language. We asked her to share some ideas on Ritual as Medicine in advance of our time together on Sunday.

“The mystic Dagara tribe of Burkino Faso in West Africa believe all sickness originates with a spiritual break. If a villager is sick, she will go first to the local shaman to ask what ritual must be performed to address the spiritual break. Only after this has been done, will she prepare herbs and natural cures for her physical body. Ritual is their medicine. But cures are everywhere what’s missing is the people sufficiently empowered to avail of those cures. Because in our capitalist worldview people are powerless to affect the course of events unless of considerable social and financial means. But in a traditional nature-centred worldview where thoughts become things, the power of the Otherworld, the un-manifest can be invoked by any man in ritual. Ritual thus empowers a person.
The natural next question then is which of the rich rituals of indigenous minority habituals might we borrow to burrow into our harrowing sorrow? At this point, ladies and gentlemen of the West, I give you here Alexei Kondratiev, a man with the gift of languages who used his gift to invoke and evoke a living history of the Celts.
Our history; our proud history is that of the warrior Celt. Independent working under his own authority in a community bonded together by shared experience (experience stored in our native language but that's another article). A community in which status was derived from valour and skill and in which these champions fought for the land herself. We come from a long line of eco-warriors. For the Celt’s worldview was one in which the Tribe’s welfare was dependent on its relationship with the Land. The king has his authority conferred on him by Goddess of the Land in a symbolic marriage to her; vowing to love, honour and obey. The success of his reign depended on his attention to that marriage, to those vows. And the primary way of tending to that relationship was in ritual. The four earth rituals, the four sun rituals, the moon rituals and the rest.For the Celts, where thoughts become reality, the power of focussed thought such as that formalised in ritual could affect and alter the course of major events. Thus each man became a force to be reckoned with.
We live in an age of massive and unprecedented environmental degradation. The problems we face are so huge as to discourage the most valiant of modern eco-warriors. Ritual provides us with a starting point to visualise and manifest alternative realities and fuel them by tapping into the energy sources personified in Celtic deities and feast days. It is not a panacea. Magic alone won't save us. We will still need to pick every piece of rubbish out of the sea and restore diversity to the soil. We will still need to plant the native seed and restore the native breeds. We will still need to withdraw our support from every corporate entity and re-locate our resources to ethical economies. The list of what we need to do is a very long one.
But knowing where to start is key. And ritual is a starting point…”

What to do?
When the need is so great
And the wound is so deep
Will the grief ever wake?
the hound from his sleep?
to serve the King
and swallow the ball
to become Cú Chulainn
by risking the small

Tisn't a policy change
but a paradigm shift
not a broader range
just one simple fit
to get to the root of the rot
return the loot,
take your lot
and walk naked to Tara
and sunburned to Uisneach
to draw there a circle
and invoke ye the misneach
that is your heritage
ye old time heretics
and resurrected martyrs
in circles drawn and quartered
The Celtic Wheel
around Celtic Cross
will meet the need
restore the loss....

SdP

Siobhan will be leading us through ritual as medicine for the Winter Solstice on Sunday. We look forward to welcoming you all. You can watch some of our Summer Solstice adventures below…

Amidst acres of winter wonderland we intend to unwind, attune to the rhythms of the natural world and surrender to mythic time. We will be nourished by delicious warming foods, hot spiced drinks, candlelight rituals, story-sharing, live music and blazing fires under the roof of our favourite rambling Georgian mansion. Our informal faculty includes Liam Ó Maonlaí, { Musician, Singer, Songwriter}, Anna Mieke {Musician & Songwriter}, Carol McInerney {Movement therapist & Dance Teacher}, Chloe McHugh {Sonas Sound Therapy}, Diarmuid Lyng {Father, Hurler, Campaigner), Laura Murphy {Artist , Writer & Creator of IMBAS}, Patrick O'Laoghaire {Artist & Musician} Siobhan de Paor {Poet, Activist & Performance Artist}

If you are feeling the pull into Dreamtime, these are the Solstice Experiences in store for you…..