Despite being housebound most of the time as Nurse Scallon, I did get to re-experience some of those connections with my Celtic roots, I spoke about in my last missive. The family home is situated right on the shores of Lough Erne, surrounded by forest, and my daily respite when possible, was to take off for about an hour each morning, to wend my way through the lush forest walks around the lakeside.
September in County Fermanagh heralds a period akin to the Fall in New England. The landscape becomes a riot of colour as the trees transform, giving up their deep green hues for the vibrant oranges, yellows and reds of autumn, before winter sets in. This change of season was just beginning when I was there – the sights and smells reminding me of times past, when I had experienced this beauty in its fullness.
The gift of these daily walks turned out to be quite profound. I experienced firsthand once more, the instantaneous transformation that can take place within ones being, when in proximity to Nature. Each time I stepped into the forest, it felt as if a huge burden lifted from me. My breathing automatically deepened, my body seemed to expand and relax, and my heart filled with appreciation for the beauty around me. In an instant, I could feel myself being transformed and transported from a place of worry and fatigue, to a place of joy and lightness of being.
More than on any other visit to Ireland in recent years, I found myself consciously connecting to the land itself and to my Celtic ancestors, asking that my cells remember this rich lineage. Day after day my prayers were answered, as I discovered and became acquainted with many new Tree Guardian friends.
These magnificent towering specimens covered in thick spongy moss and ivy seemed to speak to me, whispering secrets to my soul…..
I found myself talking to them, embracing them and admiring them with awestruck wonder, as they opened my heart with their beauty. I felt them absorb and recognise my appreciation, and respond to it. One huge tree showed me it was listening, as it revealed to me its giant ear!
So struck was I, by power and energy of the place, that I began to carry my camera with me on my walks. On two occasions, both times in the very same spot, the photos revealed that I had ‘unseen’ company with me on these forest sojourns!
The first time I happened upon this particular spot, I literally gasped in awe. Seeing the huge tree roots, entwined with stone and earth, I felt I was looking at a perfectly formed cave, which housed a large natural altar. I found myself instinctively moving in underneath the tree roots, stroking the rocks and singing to them.
Later, when I downloaded the images on to my laptop, I discovered that one of the photos had literally captured the magic of the place…a mass of Light Orb Beings had joined me, in recognition, celebration and appreciation of the sacredness and mystery of this special ‘cave’.
On my very last visit to the forest before I left Ireland, I decided to revisit this same spot with my little Ancient crystal skull, Abyss.
Downloading the photos some days later, I discovered that once more, the Light Orbs had come to say hello! You can see a bunch of them here at the right of the photo, on the lead-up to the cave.
I became acutely aware on these walks, of the presence of the Four Sacred Elements – Earth, Air, Fire and Water – so potently surrounded as I was by each of them, in these environs. The forest, the shimmering lake with its families of swans and their cygnets, the breeze, the rain and the fruits of the earth itself, all became living breathing entities for me.
A perfectly natural – though at the same time extraordinary - synchronicity occurred just after I arrived back to Australia. Sarah, a lovely friend from the US, forwarded me a channelled message by Natalie Glasson. Entitled Tree Spirit Activation by the Tree Spirits, the message was a beautiful confirmation for me, of the very real communication I had just experienced with our tree brothers.
“Extending our energies wide and far, we encapsulate the Earth in our loving heart. We are the very essence and consciousness of the trees upon the Earth; we are the spirit of the trees. It is extremely important that we come forward to speak with you today…”
“We, the tree spirits hold our own vibration of consciousness, which could be described as a very aware, patient and observant energy and way of being. Embodying physical trees upon the Earth, we are able to observe the energetic changes and steps forward that humanity takes as a whole and individuals. We understand the cycles that are occurring on the Earth…”
Read full message:
http://lightworkers.org/channeling/142474/tree-spirit-activation-tree-spirits
MYTHICAL IRELAND
A few days before I left Ireland, my father was well enough for us to go out for a bit of a ‘jaunt’! It was a joy to have him to myself for one day, and we found ourselves travelling, under the wide blue sky, towards Co. Sligo and the ‘Yeats Country’. William Butler Yeats is one of Ireland’s most famous sons, a poet whose words to this day, are etched on the hearts and minds of people the world over. His body now lies in a peaceful churchyard, under the foot of the iconic mountain Ben Bulben.
‘Under Ben Bulben’, a Yeats poem published just five days after his death, famously spells out his wish for his body to be placed in the Drumcliff churchyard, by the flank of a Sligo mountain. The ruined remains of one of the most ancient Round Towers of Ireland stands beside the churchyard.
Ben Bulben was formed during the Ice Age when Ireland was under glaciers. Originally a large ridge, the moving glaciers shaped it into its present distinct formation. Its steep buttressed cliff side and flat top which dominate the landscape, have always reminded me of that other mythical rock - Ayer’s Rock - found in the centre of my new home, Australia.
Ben Bulben is the setting of many Celtic legends - a place described as being redolent with faeries and mythological significance. It’s said to be the resting place of the legendary couple Diarmuid and Grainne, buried there in the highest cave in Ireland, at the top of the cliffs at the rear of the beautiful Horseshoe valley.
It’s also said to have been the dwelling place of the Fianna – a band of warriors who lived in the 3rd century. An earlier Yeats poem, The Celtic Twilight, links the mountain with superhuman horsemen who ride forth every night, from an opening in the mountain. These supernatural horsemen are identified with the Irish faeries called the Sidhe - descendants of the legendary Tuatha de Danann, who were one of the great ancient tribes of Ireland. The epitaph on Yeats gravestone carries a direct reference to these supernatural horsemen of Ben Bulben, in a quotation from his own poem…
Cast a cold eye
On life, on death,
Horseman, pass by!
Always under the towering presence of Ben Bulben, we drove from Yeats’s grave, through the Sligo countryside…..
to the exquisite seaside village of Ross’s Point.
Our journey home took us back along the magnificent Donegal coastline…
And past the Castle of Classiebawn - once the home of Lord Mountbatton who was the uncle and godfather of Prince Charles.
It was a day full of magical sights and precious memories in the making – one that reminded me once more, that the genes of our ancestors and the land we are born into, are well and truly encoded in our very DNA! Unlike many Asian and Eastern peoples, who perform daily ceremonies, to honour both their ancestors and the spirits of the land they live in, most of us in the West – especially long-term city dwellers - have become detached from our roots. I fear we may have lost much in the process. However, some of us are beginning to remember. Hopefully, it’s not to late for us to re-learn how to love Mother Earth as she truly deserves, and heal ourselves in the process.
A beautiful and spell binding account of your trip home, I enjoyed reading every minute of this :-)
ReplyDeleteI also have just experienced synchronicity reading this! Just yesterday as I was in the grounds of the beautiful University of Maynooth, I felt the tree's loving, watchful presence as I sat in the rock garden. Very calming as I absorbed the beauty around me & felt at one with the tree's. I have also just started my training as a Sound Healer last weekend and today discovered your beautiful, stirring sounds of sirius. I feel blessed. Love & light. Liza