Seven years ago I sat with the Cailleach Beara on a wild autumn day and wrote a geis, a sacred obligation, that would guide my way on in this world. A vow to the Cailleach, the sovereign one of stone and bone, that would keep me focused and intentional, that would keep me aligned to truth and beauty when dominant culture and the throes of capitalism and modernity ever seek to keep us confused and ungrounded.
Seven years ago I wrote that geis and today, ever walking with the Cailleach’s wisdom and sovereignty, I am so delighted to offer a program that she likely planted a seed for on that wild and windy day, as a I sat sharing the view of sea and mountain with her.
This offering is unique in many ways: one being that my dear friend and soul kindred, Alison and I are offering this as a coming together of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres! Alison lives in Western Australia and we have spent many days seeking and being, receiving and giving on this sacred land of Ireland, the land of both of our heritages. With this wisdom school we are inviting participants to join us to deepen into the turnings of the sacred year of the ancient Irish calendar as we mirror the opposites held by each hemisphere. It will be a stunning dive into the lessons of the seasons (within and without), with the Cailleach ever guiding our way on.
A second unique offering of this wisdom school is journeying with the elder. As modernity continually demonstrates to us, the elder is not valued, is ignored, is hid away. This is a grievous transgression, one that was not held by native cultures and one that we are hoping to transform in our own ways through journeying with myth and wisdom of the Cailleach, by being in community honoring the elder in ourselves (at all ages!) and in the collective.
The Cailleach, the veiled one of myth and mystery, of the Celtic wisdom traditions, will be our guide as we participate, remember and embody the rhythms of the season and the power and magic we share with the Elements. We will weave in magic and possibility as we tend to the land who is an embodiment of the Cailleach. We will work with native European and Irish herbs and practice ritual together for each of the holy turnings of the year. We will remember who we are before patriarchy, capitalism and white supremacy: when the wisdom and life of the elder was honored as sacred. We will listen to myth and story of the Irish Wisdom Tradition and receive from these stories a compass to guide our path forward, hand in hand with elder.
Together we will live and dance, grieve and die with the veiled one of myth and memory.
If you are feeling the call of the Cailleach, you can discover more HERE