SUMMER SOLSTICE TARA 2011

June 21st said to be The Longest day of the Year is actually the mean date of nine consecutive days with same length of daylight. We pagans celebrate this day as Summer Solstice.

This year it was suggested that we should return to The Hill of Tara for our ritual timed at the peak of sunlight, mid-day. Several years ago we would drive to Tara and greet the dawn; in those days it was a long journey across country in the dark. Today, with road improvements, it is a short journey of ninety minutes instead of two and a half hours.

I chose Teach Cormaic (Cormac's house) a ring barrow as being a good place on which to hold our ritual for I was there several years ago as part of a large gathering of international druids and found the energies to be very suitable for our kind of work.

We knew that our circle this time would be of at least seven people however, a fellow druid arrived with five of her friends and by the time we had settled ourselves, eight complete strangers asked if they might join us. The more the merrier I thought and at least we had sufficient cordial with us to keep the cup filled!

The Hill Tara & Teach Cormaic

(click to enlarge)

A Glass Goddess

Our ritual cup and the Glass Goddess (filled with honeysuckle cordial) stood in the centre of our circle absorbing our combined energies. Some of those who partook of the cup thought it had been fortified with something stronger - merely the effect of ritual energy!

The weather was for most of the ritual dry, unfortunately just as we were about to close a storm rolled in and for about five seconds a few flakes wet snow came down, followed by very heavy rain and a strong wind.

Some of the Lads having a chinwag after the ritual

Four special goddesses!

The Lia Fail - The Stone of Destiny (on the right)

It was to here Maguires Cafe & Gift shop that we repaired to enjoy a fine lunch with more chatter and to meet with like minded people.

Drink's from Wild Blossom

Of all the trees that grow on the boundaries of our garden the Elder is the most prolific and one that in my younger days caused me to suffer from its pollen however, that is a problem I thankfully no longer have - ageing certainly does have its benefits.

The florets of the Elder (Elderflowers)

I did some research early this year to see what herbal benefits might be obtained from the florets of the Elder and found that a essence can be made that will ease or assist in easing the effects of catarrh. So two weeks ago I picked some florets packed them in in a jar and topped it up with brandy, the jar is kept in a dark warm place and turned every day for one month, after which it will be strained put into a dark bottle. Dosage is 20 drops three times a day - low enough to still drive without going over the limit !

Essence of Elderflowers

Elderflower Cordial

The elderflower cordial I made from a recipe obtained on line, it said to use 1.8 kg of sugar having followed the instructions, I now find that it is far too sweet for my palate even when diluted

1:5 with water ; for am not a sugar lover at all, next time I will halve the amount for I can always add extra if required.

Elderflower Liqueur for cold winter evenings

made with vodka and sugar.

Heron's Honeysuckle Liqueur

(similar recipe as the elder)

Honeysuckle Cordial

By adapting the elderflower remedy and using far less sugar a bowl of honeysuckle flowers steeped in a sugar solution with slices of oranges, awaits to be pressed, strained and bottled.

Belo Monte Dam

A dam the size of Wales is to be built in Brazil. The dam will harm fish stocks vital to 14 tribes that inhabit the Xingu National Park downriver, turn up to 90 miles (150 kilometers) of the river into stagnant puddles and displace as many as 40,000 people. The dam will flood 200 square miles (516 square kilometers) of rain forest.

Then consider all birds, animals, insect life and all of the plant life that will be destroyed forever in this amazonian rain forest area ?

I implore the readers of this blog to circulate this and speak with one voice by signing below

Petition to stop Belo Monte Dam - http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/stop-the-belo-monte-monster-dam?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dec37b40ee918aa%2C0

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In Our Back Garden

I thought today to give you a short tour of the back garden that you might see the hidden places and share with you the beauty of our Woodbine/Honeysuckle whose fragrance today is filling our home with its seductive perfume.

Looking south

The woodbine has never grown to this height before!

I call this fellow Seamus Fig (I think you can see why ?)

He stands behind the raspberry bushes next to the fence.

This beauty sits under the hawthorns silent and gold

amongst the green. Sometimes at night she is

illuminated by candles.

Here the wizened wizard casts his spells

aided by his book of lore.

A Task Completed

I have at last completed the task and 90% of my poems are up on my new blog.http://wordsofaramblingmind.blogspot.com/

Behind in a cupboard are a few who wished to remain in the dark by their own choice of course. I decide not cajole them out into the sunshine but to leave them in a safe place… one day, one or two might wish to join their family on the blog and only time will tell.

If you have the time please make a visit and leave a comment, for I do so enjoy your words.

Busy Bee

I just happened to be passing the flower bed when I noticed this greedy fellow having his tea,

so I rushed indoors and grabbed the camera.

After resizing the photo I recalled that Arthur Askey had a silly little song about a Bee that actually made him famous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2skW43HNpE&feature=related

My Poetry

On Thursday I created a new blog called Words of a Rambling Mind which will eventually host 99% of my poetry representing thirty years of inspired writing.

Last year I made an audio disc on my mac which only partially satisfied my desire to share with about twenty people my work.

Recently I made the decision to share the majority of them with the world of blog readers, as I saw no advantage in them lying in my desk and gathering dust.

Over the years most have been published in various magazines and others in an anthology that was published in the mid eighties called Vision of Words.

This morning I received a surprise mail from a lady in America saying how uplifted & revitalized she felt after reading one of them. I was humbled by her words and it supported my idea of sharing. For if only one person gets pleasure, then all of this will be worthwhile.

wordsofaramblingmind.blogspot.com

Safari & blogspot.com - in conflict

My great appreciation to the techies at blogspot.com for sorting out yesterday's difficulties and

changing my mind about setting up a new blog elsewhere.

A big cheer from me to the techies !

A DISCOVERY !

We have a friend who has spent 37 years of his life as a local forester. An interesting man, whose heart and soul is immersed in the wildlife of our local mountains and in the artifacts that remain from ancient people that once inhabited the Slieve Blooms.

During the winter of last year, while he was surveying an area of forest that was to be felled, he discovered a large stone which he later described to me as having a pattern on it that looked as if it had been carved using baked bean cans. I recognized from his description that this might be 'cup & ring marks' and asked him to preserve the area.

Now as eager as we were to visit the site the weather in November was not on our side and so we waited until springtime with it's drier and warmer conditions. Our walk across the clear felled area was tough going and we were very glad to be wearing waterproof boots and wind proof clothing. We were absolutely delighted with the find and such a rarity too. In fact we made another trip to the boulder with some interested friends and with their help we managed to tip it up on its side and photograph the other face.

The boulder is sandstone and judging by its rounded edges it was once shaped by the action of water though that is quite common for the majority of loose stone found in this area. The geology of the Slieve Blooms includes Old Red Sandstone, laid down 370 millions years ago, which underlies much of the mountains. Under the sandstone lies the blue-grey rocks of the Silurian period.

The top surface with fascinating markings.

A detail similar to that found on other stones.

Markings on the underside.

My personal feelings are that it may have been a rear stone from a Bronze Age burial chamber, as the landscape of this country once contained thousands of such buildings; some of which were destroyed by agriculture and the forestry industry. The carvings are not like any of the cup and ring marks depicted on other stones; although there is a stone at Tara which has one similar pattern, that of three linked circles. There is no way of knowing what the carver had in mind. Both faces of the stone are carved and there are slight markings on the sides too.

The carved boulder 's position has been logged & named on the GPS and its discovery reported to the geologist Dr. John Feehan for further investigation, when his findings are known I will report back.

The Trip to Scotland

Our journey to Scotland started at 7a.m. We avoided motorways as far as possible making our journey northwards to Belfast swift and uneventful and so fast that we were able to catch an earlier ferry to Stranraer than the one we had booked to travel on. The Stena Voyager is a catamaran in design with four powerful pumps that push it through the water at a superb pace. The interior to my mind is plush to say the least and we always find ourselves some seating in the quiet area away from the noise of piped entertainment. Up for'ard you get good visibility of the sea, plus a small coffee bar with sticky buns and sandwiches as there is nothing like a snack to pass the time away. Except this time because I wasn't driving, only being the navigator, I took myself to the bar on the mezzanine for a couple of pints of Bass ale and they slid down like nectar.

The Stena Voyager

Disembarking was smooth and we were soon on the A75 heading towards the village, a short journey which took 1 hour 10 minutes and into the welcoming arms of our hostess.

The next day we hit the shops in Castle Gregory, The Gatehouse of Fleet and Kirkcudbright all of us picking up some great bargains; mine were a leather coat and trousers plus a denim cap. Refreshments were needed after shopping & a hotel provided me with a pint of McEwans Export ale revitalizing my tired parts.

The Grey Mare's Tail

The following day saw us heading into the Craigdews of the Galloway Hills, to a place special for our hostess. Our first stop was at "The Grey Mares Tail", a waterfall where three of our members were visited by a familiar in the shape of an Tawny Owl. From there we made our way to a place of high energy where we celebrated Bealtaine in a forest glade close to a fast flowing river and we arrived back to our holiday home with sufficient time to visit The Cream O Galloway; My first visit was two years ago and the taste of their wonderful ice cream cannot be beaten and I have sampled lots of different brands over the years. We are now planning a return visit sometime next year.

www.creamogalloway.co.uk/ice-cream

During the rest of of our stay we visited beaches and bays along the shoreline, explored, relaxed and sampled the haggis.

St Andrew's Kirk at Kirk

The pebbled porch floor of the kirk

An island off the beach entices the mind to create dreams !

Silver wavelets come ashore at Brighouse Bay.

(Brig refers to the goddess Brigit, she is everywhere)

Ross Bay

(In the far distance the hills of northern England are visible as smoky smudges)

A Heron with Attitude

(I could not resist taking this pic !)

Stena's MV Caledonian

Our ferry to Belfast on the MV Caledonian the journey was 3 hours long this time as opposed to 2 hours on the outward voyage. We returned to our home in the Irish midlands both tired exhilarated.