Welcoming First Day of Spring

In County Kerry there is a tradition that dates back thousands of years, for in Ireland

the 1st of February is recognised as the first day of Spring, even though the weather is

cold and the temperatures are very low.

Then there is the tradition of making the Brigid's crosses, where the man of the house cuts 

the reeds in late January, stores them in a cool place and then presents to the women to 

on the day to make the crosses.

© Jane Brideson

A cold back aching job stood in a water laden pasture cutting reeds.

© Séan Gilmartin

 Women gather to sit in a warm room to make the crosses.

© Séan Gilmartin

There are many different designs, some are four armed, others three armed

and this one is the plaited cross of Donegal.

Domestic Bliss

Midnight - Cats asleep © Llwyd 2015

The ginger female cat called Squeaky is 9yrs old and our black cat, Magic,

 is twelve years of age. The photo is slightly out of focus because 

I wasn’t wearing my spectacles.

I think it is time for a change of topic, as you all must be getting fairly bored with the ever tiresome politics of our world.


Snow is falling fast, to melt as soon as it touches the ground, small birds are at the feeders pecking at peanuts and a dozen others including robins, are on the path all stoking up on cous- cous.
Ms H was telling me this morning that in the back garden we now have
an almost resident hen pheasant who feeds there regularly along with a friendly thrush and jovial blackbirds.


In the field opposite, the ever wise yearlings/store cattle have taken temporary shelter under hedge and as soon as the storm abates they will return to strip grazing the pasture.


Inside: our forty year old Stanley cooker fuelled by Bord na Mona brickettes is giving out lots of heat and the Caframo fan is spinning madly away sending waves of hot air all around the room. 
Nevertheless I have on my old Malin-Head fleece sitting on top of an equally old denim shirt. I do appreciate the gentle warmth of 20C in the centuries old kitchen which is now our sitting room. 

Time now to put the kettle on for a pot of tea for two, why not step inside and join us? Don’t forget to bring biscuits.

DEMOCRACY

Originator unknown.

“The Greeks taught us democracy and now they have taught how to take it back”  said a recent tweet. 

It would have been more accurate to write that the ancient Greeks birthed an ancient form of democracy. For during the course of time the concept of democracy has changed considerably, depending on which country believes it’s self to be  a democratic country.


HISTORICALLY :
The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was found from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (krátos) "power" or "rule" in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía) "rule of an elite". While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[3] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. 
In virtually all democratic governments throughout ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an elite class until full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens in most modern democracies through the suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.


TODAY.
The citizens choose and replace the government through free and fair elections;
There is active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life;
There is protection of the human rights of all citizens.
There is rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. 
Eligible citizens are able to: 1) vote for the passing/rejecting of laws or run for office during elections, 2) join political parties, sit on boards or committees, and criticise or protest, 3) feel that some of their rights are protected, and 4) receive a fair trial if accused of breaking the country's laws. Politicians represent their constituents in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run.

It remains to be seen whether Tsipras will be able to carry out his election promises!

Plain Crazy

It never ceases to amaze me of how some peoples ridiculous actions can cause so much hurt in the community. Such as the destruction and removal of  a mythological statue of Mannanán Mac Lír over looking  Lough Foyle

It is probable that fundamental christians are to blame for the removal, given that a cross with the words of the first commandment on it was left behind. Shame on their ignorance for there is I believe another commandment about 'stealing'

My birthday Jan 9th

A birthday cake

January 9th is my birthday. I was going to write up something about me and then, well we all know what occurred in Paris on that day. 
So I gave over my day and published something quite different to what I had planned. A reasonable amount of time has now passed and so I shall rekindle my thoughts.


On this birthday I became 72 years of age, although to be quite honest I am not convinced, of whether I am 27 or 72 because I actually feel like 35 and sometimes a bit younger. 


When I look in the mirror, which is not very often as I gave up shaving long ago, I wonder to which of my ancestors do I resemble. There is no answer and no photographs of either my father or his father at seventy-two for both died in their mid fifties. 
Their age of passing influenced me greatly, leading me to decide  in my early forties, to plan a life style change which would remove stress and give me the experience of total freedom. I chose this path in case I too had an early demise and so I retired early, in my forty-eighth year.


Life always throws up challenges and ironically within a few weeks of moving to my rural retreat, along came a entrepreneur who asked me to design an a piece of equipment for him - I stuck to my plan however and denied him, as did others and to my knowledge his idea never came to fruition. 


I did though make a return to employment - though not as a design engineer as I was previously, this time it was in Development Education as a Facilitator, a position that I greatly enjoyed and brought me into contact with some very interesting people. Folk who actually care and work towards improving the social and living conditions of people in our impoverished and mutilated world.


The above paragraph above brings me back as to why I published a comment from a former editor Philippe Val of Charlie Hebdo and why from time to time this blog highlights issues that disturb me greatly.

Please view

http://www.developmenteducation.ie

SILENCE

• 
  

  Ex-editor: 'Silence is the threat'

  Posted at 00:30

  Charlie Hebdo's former editor Philippe Val: "Do you know what threatens democracy the most? Silence. To reduce ourselves to silence means that we will lose all we have gained of liberty, freedom for women, for homosexuals, the freedom to come and go as we please, moral freedom.

  "But we must not believe that the Muslims who are today outraged by what has happened cannot understand it. They can understand it. They can understand that today, their religion needs to reform. So that it does not in the heart of the democracy where they have chosen to live, create terrorists, terrorism, which is of course opposed by most Muslims, who are victims of it."

A DINGLE EXPERIENCE

A gathering of the European Rainbow Family took place at Ballyhupahaun in the Slieve Bloom mountains. Approximately two thousand people from all around the world attended and although the core group was possibly only half that number, during their three week stay their was a continuos stream of people arriving and leaving on a daily basis.

I first heard of the event when I was on my annual visit to my mother who was living in Glastonbury, Somerset in early July 1993. 
I was in the town when I bumped into an old friend who was waiting at a bus stop and just as her bus arrived she said “I’m going to Ireland soon to a Rainbow Camp” and before I could ask whereabouts, she was gone.


Early the next day I too was on my way back to Ireland via Pembroke in Wales, to catch the ferry to Rosslare followed by a two and half hour drive to my then bachelor home.  A few days later I was having a cup of tea and a chat with my turf supplier, when his wife told me about the Rainbow people who were camping up in the mountains. I waited for a couple of days before making a visit to the camp and the very first person I met was my friend from Glastonbury!

Photo © Senator John Whelan 1993

European Rainbow Family Gathering at Ballyhupahaun, Slieve Blooms 1993

Further information in regard to the Rainbow Gathering can be read at

http://www.wiredwithwhelan.com/?p=974

After that I was a frequent visitor and towards the end of the gathering she asked if she, her daughter and other friends could come and stay with me for a few days. I happily agreed and also offered to take them to Cork to catch the Swansea ferry if they supplied the petrol. 


So we eventually set off to take a slow meandering route to Cork, via counties Offaly, Galway, Clare, Limerick and Kerry. Our destination in Kerry was of course Dingle and a visit to see Fungi the dolphin. Once there I parked on the quay side and waited whilst they took the boat to see the popular marine mammal. 
Afterwards we drove around Dingle bay looking for a secluded spot to pitch two small tents. We found a small grassy promontory on the bank of a creek which seemed to be last resting place for old trawlers.

Dingle Bay and Harbour (see inset below)

A creek of Dingle bay.

We camped very close to the two smaller boats

Both maps: source Apple Maps

Myself and another man took one tent whilst the three women had the other with sufficient room between the two tents for a small cooking fire. Behind us was a rusting boundary fence belonging to the overgrown garden of a derelict cottage and front of us a wide creek. 

Sleep came easily for we had had a busy day. 
During the night I was awoken by a noise that could best be described as the sound of children playing in the school yard. It was coming from behind our tent and getting progressively closer. I finally heard an authoritative male voice say “Leave them alone! They are alright”.
I lay quietly in my sleeping bag wondering whether to awaken my companion but decided that it was pointless so started to drift back to sleep. Again I was disturbed by exactly the same noise of children playing and the male voice. Eventually I slept.

Next morning all five of us gathered by the fire where I began telling my companion what I had heard during the night.  At the same time Ms S started to relate to her companions exactly the same account. She too had heard the children playing and the male voice!

Later I looked in the over-grown garden to see if it had been disturbed at all. No grass had been flattened, no footprints were visible, there were no signs of a human presence having been there.
To this day I have no idea of the source of the nocturnal noises. 

Dingle Faeries perhaps ?

Has anyone an explanation or had a similar experience in Dingle or elsewhere ?

Drunken journalists ?

The first journalist provides great amusement or even irritation with their ignorance in the geography of Ireland.

From RTÉ NEWS Wednesday 24 December 2014 21.33

“An investigation by the Air Accident Investigation Unit is underway after a small plane crash landed in a field east of Portumna, County Galway.
The four-seat plane was en route to Galway from the UK when the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing in a field outside BorrisoKane, County Tipperary.”

Portumna is small town on the banks of the River Shannon providing a watery division between the west and  the midlands of Ireland so any field to the east of  Portumna has to be in a neighbouring county and it is not clear as to why Portumna needed to be mentioned in the article.

****

And from The Irish Times Wed, Dec 24, 2014
Journalist Genevieve Carbery who has masters degrees in both equality studies and journalism writes :-

“In what has almost become a Christmas Eve tradition, singer Glen Hansard led **a rabble** of musicians in song to a crowd of hundreds on Dublin’s Grafton Street” busking for The Simon Community among who were Damien Rice, Mundy, Paddy Casey, Liam O’Maonlai, Declan O’Rourke, Danny O’Reilly from the Coronas and Danny O’Donoghue from the Script

RABBLE: meaning people, who are regarded as socially inferior or uncouth, the use of this word is completely out of place and untrue.

A message from Lin

© Jane Brideson 

"Winter Solstice Rebirth"

I received this message from a special friend and I have had her permission to share

this with You.

OLD HIPPY MAXIMS

As above.......so below,

Macrocosm.......microcosm,

Turn on... tune in... drop out

Heads...          Freaks..... Go with the flow

We get stoned, on crystals.....megaliths.....mother earth

Give peace a chance

Attitude gratitude......Devotion

.................................................................

Old hippies, were in recovery. the 60,s.... you know

We are now recovered

We have got our 2nd wind

Riding the post 2012....

Wave of light.

In aquarian age, ascension, party mode.

......................................................

Then, we dropped out

Of, world we saw

Greed, poverty, negative emotions, male domination, power over....

Poverty, hatred, war, toxic medications, hatred of mother earth,  and women

SO

We created a new one. Turned on, tuned in , created 

Organic farms, crystal healing, respect for mother earth and all our relations

Art, music fashion,, whole-foods shops, cnd, single mums, healers etc

Our musicians our prophets

Our inner voice, our guide

.................................

Cos we are aquarian age, ascension, forerunners

The crystal children, The rainbow warriors

hippies

Worked hard, to build the dream,

All our brothers , of fur feather and fin, joined in too.

Burnt out

.......................

Now we flow on the lightwave of 2012, ascending

We let the dying die,

Co-create, the new earth, the new body of light,

love, peace beauty truth, abundance,

Balanced in true love,

Soulmates of the inner flame

Ecstatic with joy, our dreams coming true

We turned the tide, earth is safe,

Still lots of light work to do

----------------------------------------------------------

Being shown, our Avalon phoenix,

is ready to take flight; she will be riding on the gentle

solstice dawn light, 

her wings tipped radiant. orange, gold

As she takes flight.

I see her watch the light at mount kailish

Then flowing with the earth grid, catching dawn at each site, through Carnac ; Giza, glaston, as the womblike cairns, gavanis, new-grange,As ancient ancestors built for us,  so in time to remind us

They were the abodes of immortals, the beings of light, built to remind us, which way to go, aligned to let in the winter solstice light, to touch the spiralled stones,

you know, incase we got lost

to recover true humanity, in a world gone blind

She sings the song of creation,

Her gift to us this season, 

to renew our humanity

In the ascension light, 

she will fly on to Mexico

 sit on the stone of the sun,, and sing the new creation, now

 being born

for mother earth, all our relations

....................................................

Lennon, song,                 

                                    Some say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one, 

One day you will join us, and the world will be as one

...................................

So with this wonderful, gentle, new ascension wave 

of winter-solstice light,

I wish you a 

HAPPY SOLSTICE 2014

Happy hippy Lin

Culchies demonstrate in Dublin

This is only part of the demonstrators

This was Novembers Demo the feelings are

even stronger.

They came from all over Ireland: from the North, from Donegal, Down & Louth, from the South as far as Cork & Kerry, from the West, Mayo to Clare, from the East, Wexford & Wicklow and from the Midlands too. People from every county were there for themselves and to represent others unable to travel to Dublin.

They brought their placards, their voices and their determination. They stayed for a day and went away carrying their experiences to pass on to others.

We are proud of them !

Proud to have them as neighbours and to call them our friends.

On reading the newspapers it easy to see that the journalists are lost for words to describe what they witnessed when the ‘culchies’ came to town; unless of course, as I suspect, many of them are suppressed by a secret committee of censors!

Approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people took part in the peaceful,self disciplined demonstration. Out of this number six people were arrested and none of them actually charged. Were they the fifth columnists planted in the crowd? - I don’t know.


There is a new wave of governance flowing through the land. We know it for now as People Power which occurs when the electorate reach within themselves to become enriched with a sense of personal worth and value. Flowing from this comes the empowerment to become Activists who have ability and inner confidence to tell members of the government what they want and do not want.


That is what happened on the streets of Dublin on 10th December 2014 and from this example even larger numbers will be drawn on 31st January 2015 to another demonstration of People Power.