Lúnasa: The Nature of Your Soul
STARTS JULY 24: The Celtic harvest festival and welcoming the change of seasons.
The Wheel of the Year Series (3/4)
Purchase full series for 25% off this course →
STARTS JULY 24: The Celtic harvest festival and welcoming the change of seasons.
The Wheel of the Year Series (3/4)
Purchase full series for 25% off this course →
STARTS JULY 24: The Celtic harvest festival and welcoming the change of seasons.
The Wheel of the Year Series (3/4)
Purchase full series for 25% off this course →
Date and Time
This course is four 2HR sessions over two weekends:
Saturday, July 24 and Sunday, July 25
Saturday, July 31 and Sunday, August 1
Each 2HR session runs from 12–2pm EST, 9–11am PST, and 5–7pm Irish time.
Introduction
Sábháil (pronounced saw-vaw-ill) is the Irish world for harvest and also the term for saving...
Lúnasa is our festival at the height of the harvest. It occurs mid way between the summer solstice and the Autumn equinox. The God Lúgh was celebrated across Celtic Europe at this time and he was celebrated for the way he overcame the stingy, dark god, Crom Dubh.
One of the great hallmarks of this festival are mountain pilgrimages. The act of walking and gathering on a hill or mountain top represents a new, higher perspective on the life we have lived. We return from the mountain top with a new insight for our future.
This is a great time to give thanks to the natural world in all its forms. We will delve deep into the symbolism, song and story around animals in Celtic mythology. We will pay respects too to animals that grace our own lives today. We will learn from the dynamic ancient wisdom of the trees and plants around us, a wisdom that our own science barely conceives of today.
The poetics of harvest can be complex and ambiguous. Harvest is a time when those who live close to the land cut down the life that they had been so carefully tending throughout the season. It is a time of celebration and also a time of mourning, sacrifice and letting go. Harvesting is about what we take in, but also about what we leave behind.
Lúnasa is a time to contemplate ageing and what we wish to pass on to the next generation. We talk about the Autumn of our lives as a time when the hard work of growing and building has been done. Now it’s time for a deeper legacy and harvest to be brought home.
This is a pivotal time in the battle between good and evil.The dark gods of the coming winter compel us to harvest and save, to spite the stingy gods whose hardship and lack is surely ahead.
Day 1 - The Great School of the Natural World
We begin our celebration of the harvest paying respects to mother earth and all of the plants and animals that grace our world. The Celts, along with every ancient wisdom culture, views trees as especially powerful symbols and teachers. Our science today is only beginning to uncover the vastly complex nature of how trees communicate with each other and the rest of the natural world. Maybe one day our science may acknowledge more ways in which the natural world also communicates with us.
Animals are a great feature of Celtic and ancient cultures. We explore this theme in song, poetry and mythology. Learn about St. Kevin and the Blackbird,Fionn and the Salmon of Knowledge, how the word Druid comes from the Sanskrit word for Oak Tree, also the linguistic root of our word - truth.
Day 2 - Threshing the wheat from the chaff
What are the poetics of harvest? How can we deepen our sense of presence at this time? Traditional song and liturgical music and scripture will illuminate our exploration. Agriculture has much wisdom too to impart in this season. We will contemplate what to reap and what to sow in our lives, as well as celebrate an easy ritual together.
Day 3 - Lough Gur: site of great Lúnasa Festivities
On this day we take a virtual tour out into the wilderness to one of Ireland’s greatest hidden treasures of spirituality. Lough Gur is dotted with archaeological mysteries. Grange stone circle is one of the biggest and most impressive in the world. Megalithic tombs, island forts and the sacred lake the land is alive with a spirit of genius. A site of continuous habitation for over 6,000 years. Nóirín was born beside this lake and we grew up visiting this ancient spot. We take our group here once a year on our Turas d’Anam - Journey of the Soul trip to Ireland, but now you can experience the virtual tour of Lough Gur from the comfort of your armchair. Today we will walk you down the byroads and paths of this land and we will soar with you in the skies above the existing stone circle in Europe and reveal to you a cyber-glimpse of what this place has in store for us. No doubt there will be some hilarity along the way!
Day 4 - Stock-taking of the Soul
Éist le fuaim na habhann agus gheobhair breac
Listen to the river and you will catch fish (Irish Proverb)
Bringing in the harvest is a time when we naturally take stock of the year so far. We assess what we have gained or been granted and where we feel lack, or loss.
Listening is the essential skill that is required for this stock-taking of the soul. We will explore the act of listening through the artforms and theology. Listening and the skill of deciphering signals or signs is a practice of intuition and imagination.
What you will receive:
Attend four live Zoom meetings
Every session has an optional breakout conversation with other participants to reflect on a question of the day
Interact with the group via the Zoom chat feature
Gain access to recordings of the four sessions indefinitely
Download the Teaching Notes and Participant Chat for each session
Receive an invitation to join the Dámh Imeall (h)Edge School Facebook Group
Become a part of this ever growing community of creativity and imagination
