Spring | The heART of Ritual

The heART of Ritual

musings

Welcome to the MUSINGS room in our digital nest! Here you will find an extensive selection of articles, poetry, prose, videos, recipes, and tutorials that journey the natural cycles, seasons, elements, and archetypes in the Celtic Wheel of the Year, as well as our Irish indigenous festivals, folklore, and customs.

This is lovingly provided as a free community resource, however it is copyrighted content. As such, we respectfully ask that if you share this content outside of this dedicated space, either in whole, in part, or paraphrased, that you credit the author and source. Thank you.

The ancient roots of 'Valentine's Day'

Although the heart is probably the symbol most associate with Valentines Day, it might surprise people that the wolf can also lay claim...

Spring, the Air Element, and the Silent Extinction of Words

Imbolc marks the first day of Spring in Ireland and the Celtic Wheel of the Year. The principal element of Spring is Air, and this...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'A Morning Offering', by John O'Donoghue

I bless the night that nourished my heart To set the ghosts of longing free Into the flow and figure of dream That went to harvest from...

The Elf Stone

"The 'Elf-stone' (aka Elf-shot) is described as sharp, and with many corners and points, so that whichever way it falls it inflicts a...

Bluebell Folklore

The bluebell thrives at the start of the warmer weather but will die off from mid-June, when the trees have their full compliment of...

Spring Equinox & The Fairy Hunt

"And beyond them, almost hidden by the moon shadows, were the Lords of the Ever-Living Ones: the antlered helmets of the Wild Hunt, the...

The Fairy Wind

Some believe that the Good People travel within a 'Fairy Wind' to move from one place to another, this is why must never interfere with a...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Darkling Thrush', by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter's dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled...

The Sheela na Gig - An Ancient Fertility Goddess?

Sheela na Gig’s are stone carvings of women exposing their genitals which are found mostly on church buildings associated with the...

The Folklore of Daffodils and the Return of Spring

I noticed that the first daffodils are beginning to emerge on our local fairy fort, Rathvilly moat, so I wonder if this is a sign of...

The Secret Fairy-Paths of the Air

In previous posts I wrote about the argument that a person today is so embedded in contemporary life that they have little chance of a...

An insightful description of the Leprechaun

The Leprechauns are merry, industrious, tricksy little sprites, who do all the shoemaker’s work and the tailor’s and the cobblers for the...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Man who Trod on Sleeping Grass', by Dora Sigerson Shorter

In a field by Cahirconlish ⁠I stood on sleeping grass, No cry I made to Heaven ⁠From my dumb lips would pass. Three days, three nights I...

A Faerie Horse?

"Long ago there lived in the townland of Doon a man named Harty. He had a farm of land near the Shannon. Every morning Harty used to find...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Dream-Song', by Walter De La Mare

Sunlight, moonlight, Twilight, starlight— Gloaming at the close of day, And an owl calling, Cool dews falling In a wood of oak and may. ...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Fairy Tea', by D. K. Stevens

‘Twas very, very long ago, in days no longer sung, when giant stood about so high, and pixies all were young. The Queen of Fairies said...

Birds can see Earth's magnetic fields, and now we know how that's possible

The mystery behind how birds navigate might finally be solved: it's not the iron in their beaks providing a magnetic compass, but a...

Welsh folklore; the 'Aderyn y Corph'

Did you know... the 'Aderyn y Corph' is a bird from Wales which chirps at the door of the person who is about to die, and makes a noise...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Message of the Rain', by Norman H. Russell

When i was a child i was a squirrel a bluejay a fox and spoke with them in their tongues climbed their trees dug their dens and knew the...

Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Feed The Birds', by Sylvia Spencer

Birds of Britain, I watch them fly high beautiful birds as they wing to the sky. They are a star studded spangle of gracious charm. A...