When we open our eyes to our inner universe with its hopes, its dreams, its fears, its gods and demons (which we now call psychological complexes), and we then open our eyes to the outer universe with its grass and trees and animals and stars and galaxies, we find that we are a gateway between the two. We are a gate between the inner and the outer universe.
Read MoreIt seems simple enough. “Hallowe’en” (and I’ll use the traditional spelling here) is a contraction of “All Hallows Eve.” It is the evening before “All Hallows Day” (hallow meaning holy) which is ye olde English name for All Saints Day, the first of November, when the holy dead in Heaven are commemorated by the Church. Hallowe’en begins a short cycle of Holy Days which ends on November second with prayers for the not-so-holy dead, the poor souls in Purgatory as my Irish grandmother referred to them, on All Souls Day. Thus I was taught by the Sisters of Saint Dominic in my suburban parochial school fifty years ago. Hallowe’en was Catholic. It was, even better; it was Irish Catholic!
Read MoreLike many other indigenous societies, Celtic society was structured and organized; everyone knew who they were because of the place they held within that structure. Our own society has structures that are just firm, but we barely notice them because they are so much a part of the lens through which we see reality.
Read MoreAt Samhain, the Celts honored and feasted their ancestors, not as the dead but as the living spirits of loved ones, the long line of kin who guarded the root-wisdom of the tribe. Samhain’s Eve was the night to remember and toast these beloved ones, for the veil between the living and the dead was thought to be thin, and communication was possible. These Celtic celebrations in many ways resembled the Day of the Dead festivities celebrated by Mexican Americans and other Hispanic groups—not a somber festival but a celebration, a joyful acknowledgement that death is not the end of our family ties, that kinship survives even death. Our modern Halloween celebrations don’t offer us that same connection with our ancestors.
Read MoreI got up early this morning, anxious about all the work that needs to be done today, the many responsibilities that go into earning my living. I nearly skipped my morning reading—but I picked up a short article from the American Indian Quarterly titled “People of the Corn,” thinking that it would be a connection to the Samhain spirituality Meg Llewellyn described yesterday, and that I could skim through it quickly. That quick skim lingered with me as I began my work today, and now I find it’s opened up inside me with a challenge for my day.
Read MoreFor our Celtic ancestors, these last days of October and the first days of November were a holy time. For the ancient Celts, time’s cycle was truly a sacrament, a way to experience the sacred. Day and night, sun and moon, and the four seasons all carried profound spiritual messages.
Read MoreMany years ago, the morning I said good-bye to my first husband, alone in my quiet house, I resolved I would no longer choke back my own voice. I made up my mind to become a different person. I didn’t know how to go about doing that, but I knew that before I could transform myself into something new, I needed to wake up all the way.
Read MoreMany believe that we go to a heaven or hell after we die. Heaven is viewed by many as a place of effortless repose. Hell is viewed as a place of effort and torment. What if our situation right now is that we have already died, that this reality right here, right now is heaven and hell? Swedenborg indicates such. In his visits to the afterlife, he found that many folk did not know they had died and kept themselves in their old familiar state of semi-darkness or gloom though they had the opportunity to expand into the Light.
Read MoreA few years back, I penned a blog on the spirituality of Facebook. At the time I believed that peoples’ posts represented their recognition that everyday events matter and that God is present in our day to day adventures. I affirmed that Facebook could be an opportunity to deepen our spiritual lives if we saw it as a way of making each day a holy adventure and every encounter an opportunity for blessing.
Read MoreWe chose the word “anamchara” for the name of our company because it means “soul friend”—and we believe that the word “friendship” is essential to our mission: “to build bridges between spiritual perspectives and religious traditions; between the wisdom of the past and the demands of modern life; between ourselves and the Earth; and between ourselves and the Divine.” The connection between friendship and “bridges” is hopefully obvious. Included in that is the sense that friendship does not judge; it is accessible and accepting; it has a “Beginner’s Mind” that is willing to let go of old paradigms and learn new things from others.
Read MoreAs we work on The Celtic Study Bible (the next installment, Matthew, is due to be released on Kindle on October 15), I find myself thinking a lot about how the Celts viewed reading. In Reading the Bible the Celtic Way: The Peacock’s Tail Feathers, Ken McIntosh says:
Read MoreDragons have lived within the human imagination for thousands of years. Whether wise and wonderful, or monstrous and evil, these creatures are a part of us. In one way or another, we all dream of dragons.
Read MoreIt’s a perfect day for mountain biking: not too hot but not yet winter here in Northern Arizona. The red-brown trunks and grey-green needles of Ponderosa pines fly past me as I steer my bike along the trail. All I hear is the swish of knobby tires on the earth . . . the wind’s rustle through the pine needles . . . occasionally a raven’s call.
Read MorePeople from four countries made their way to a Michaelmas Retreat on Borderland Spirituality at our Retreat House on UK’s Holy Island of Lindisfarne. By some divine synchronicity this coincided with my imminent move to a new house at Berwick Upon Tweed which is on the border between England and Scotland.
Read MoreToday, many people are rediscovering the spiritual wisdom of the Celtic spiritual tradition. Pushed to the sidelines of Christian faith by the gatekeepers of “orthodoxy,” and often seen as an heretical movement deviating from the sin-redemption theology of Augustine and the Roman church, Celtic Christianity has emerged as an earth-affirming, body-celebrating, and creation-honoring, ecumenical vision for today’s pilgrims and seekers.
Read MoreThe Celts loved Jesus. When they chose to follow him, it was less like converting to a new religion—and much more like falling passionately in love. In the mid-eighth century, an Irish monk named Colcu ú Duinechda of Clonmacnois wrote this love poem to Jesus:
Read MoreWhy is it that some people seem so relaxed, while others seem so wound up? Stress, and the reduction of it, is a big thing in today’s society; from stress management courses to an Indian head massage, there’s nothing that “will power” and alternative medicine can’t offer you for a better life, apparently.
Read MoreRecently, I went on a ten-day silent retreat. When I say “silent” I mean exactly that—silence during the day, silence during meals, silence in the halls, silence when walking outside. No conferences were held in which to ask questions or give comments. We were requested not to read anything, the only exception being Scripture. If the going got tough—if, because of the silence, we became bombarded with negative thoughts or memories—we were allowed to speak only to one of the two people leading the retreat.
Read MoreA Navajo blessing petitions, “In beauty may I walk” and with “Beauty all around me, may I walk.” Life is beautiful in its amazing variety and wild abundance, and spirituality involves amazement at fierce landscapes and constantly changing seascapes.
Read MoreSometimes, I confess, God seems far too intangible and abstract to be of much practical use to me in a world where friends die, politics terrify, wars threaten. This God-concept is one I like to play with intellectually; the notion intrigues me, and theology fascinates me. But are my ideas about God “real”—or merely imaginary?
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