Spirituality during a Crisis

My start to 2013 was poor having spent a considerable amount of time being ill, and confined to a hospital, and then home - I'm still unwell.   Despite this, for whatever reason, I never appealed to my gods, I didn't think to meditate or engage in my spirituality on any level.

Reflecting on this, I realise how odd my behaviour seemed.  If I had been in a similar situation in my younger days, I would have offered prayers and made appeals to a god I didn't really believe in, yet, here I am firmly entrenched in my chosen polytheist path, and while enduring this latest health crisis I made no attempt to connect with my gods, or use any of the methods I have learned over the years to improve my situation.   Why?

It could have been my brain was frazzled from the lack of sleep over an eight (8) day period, and fuzzy from high temperatures and infections, even so, shouldn't my faith has been my comfort?  A solution to the deep, dark place in which I found myself?

How could I have forgotten such a major part of my life?  Even when I noticed that my religion was not noted on my admission forms, I thought to amend them, but never did.  All was forgotten.

I feel this is something on which I should reflect/meditate.   Why did I feel so distant from my gods, the spirits of place, my core.   How do I get that connection back so I never forget during a crisis again?

I should never have felt so alone, knowing my gods, and the spirits of my land as I do.   It is obvious something in me needs to change, and this should be my focus for 2013.

Final Resting Place

This is a picture of my grandmother's final resting place.  My maternal grandmother died in August 2012, and her ashes were scattered today, 22 December 2012. 

Her picture is now the main focus of my ancestral space in my home, as my grandmother has had more influence on me in later life than any other person.  My gran will live on - in my heart.

It's that time of year - again

Dr. Anne Ross

It seems that Dr. Anne Ross, celtic scholar, and author passed away last month.

A small notice can be found at BMDS Online.

Song of the Sea, an upcoming production

 

birdsofrhiannon:

Song of the Sea is the new project of Cartoon Saloon (the same company that created The Secret of Kells) and it’ll be coming out in 2013.

“The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival.”

Selchie Productions: A Gaelic charm from Coll against drowning and deaths in wars, noted down in 1874

A reblog from selchieproductions:

An t-seun chuir Moire mu Mac
’S a chuir Brighid ‘na brat
’S a chuir Mìcheal ‘na sgéith
’S a chuir Mac Dhé roimh chathair neòil,
Seun thu roimh shaighead,
Seun thu roimh chlaidheamh,
Sian thu roimh pheilear na sgrìoba ruaidhe;
Eilean thu air muir,
Carraig thu air tìr—
Guma motha eagal...

See  selchieproductions for the full charm and translation into English.

Change of Address

As readers of this blog may have noticed, the url address has changed.  It is now located at http://www.ancestral-gael.com/  So, why the change?

Over the last few years, I have been refining my polytheist leanings and focussing on one particular area, more particularly polytheist traditions of the highlands of Scotland.  Also, I continued to undertake genealogical research, discovering the majority of my ancestors originate from the south-west of Ireland, but also, it seems there are links to Scotland and the Northern Ireland plantation settlers.   In light of this, I felt I better understood the pull that the north-west, particularly Wester-Ross, has on me. 

I also attempted to learn Scots Gaelic, was forced to take a break shortly after I started, but I hope to return to it.   I also started reading blogs and books by Gaelic Polytheists and felt this better suited me, too.  To that end, I still  read around Irish and other related myths, and I continue to learn more about Irish witchcraft traditions as there is very little on the polytheist and magical practices of Gaelic Scotland, presumably because it is thought the language, and culture(?) originated with northern Irish settlers/invaders some time in the fourth century [correct me if I am wrong].

In all this, I learned that the word "celtic" was generally applied only to the languages, and not necessarily the modern cultures most people refer to when they use the word.  So, I decided "gael" was a more appropriate word to apply to my user name.   It has taken some time to make the change - it's never as easy as you think - and change links, domains, email, etc.  The look and appearance of this blog have not changed because that is simply too technical for me, and I'm just not that creative.

My hope is that this doesn't inconvenience readers, and followers of this blog too much; and I hope, too, that the change is understandable.