EQUNOX IN THE ANCIENT IRELAND

http://celticanamcara.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/autumn-equinox.html

Since I last wrote I have spent some time in Ireland, the UK and Hong Kong. There are no accidents, as they say. As ‘luck’ would have it, I found myself touching down in Ireland two days before the September 22^nd Equinox and was able to mark that powerful 2012 day of planetary alignment in a very powerful and personal way. Three friends drove up from Dublin to spend the day with me in Northern Ireland, and we did ceremony at three incredible ancient sacred sites - sites I had never ever visited myself before, even though I grew up in close vicinity to them.

Our first ceremony took place at the mysterious Janus figure, which stands in Caldragh Graveyard on the Boa Island. This is a unique prehistoric monument thought to be at least 2000 - 3000 years old. 

The Janus figure is a double-sided figure of two beings in typical 'Celtic' squatting mode, carved back-to-back, the East side being male with a the stylised crossed arms and the West side being female. There is incised zig-zag decoration between the two heads, which is thought may represent hair, and both figures have a band or belt at the base of the torsos. This pre-historic, two-sided figure is a visual reminder of the ideal and perfect, harmonious balance between the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine. It therefore provides a powerful meditation for us, in a time when the Divine Feminine has begun to emerge and become seen once more in our world.

Beside the Janus figure is a smaller companion stone known as the Lustyman, named so as it was originally found on the Island of Lusty More.

The Lusty Man

 September 22nd was a spectacular day, unusual for Ireland at this time of year! Before entering the circular graveyard area, we distributed gifts of nuts, chocolate and rice to the Nature and Tree spirits, as we called on the Guardians and Ancestors of that Ancient Land, to bless our ceremony.

We had already received a beautiful confirmation of the rightness of our being there. That morning, on discussing the purpose of our visit to these sacred sites, we had agreed that part of our role would be the clearing of Ancestral energies – both for ourselves and for the land. As we pulled up in front of the Caldragh Cemetery gate, a white van pulled in right beside us. When we saw the Logo on it we all cracked up for there written in large letters on its side was ‘AncestralScotland.com’!!

Ancient Fairy Tree

 There were four of us, so for our ceremony we stood one at each the point of the Four Directions around the Janus figure. There seemed to be magic in the air! The sun shone down on us with scintillating rainbow light and the Fairy presence was truly tangible!

Purple Light Being amidst the Fairy trees!

Rainbow Fairy Light   Photo:Mary D’Arby Byrne

Two of my smaller Crystal Skulls were present and several of my personal power pieces and crystals, all of which now carry the energies of that amazing place.

As we prepared to leave the graveyard and I began pack my crystals in their special pouches, I took a closer look at the massive headstone that lay on the ground right at the foot of the Janus figure.

I could not believe what I saw there! Some of the writing had been worn away by time and the elements, but there etched deeply into this ancient headstone, were the words…

“Entombed here by John Mc Goldrick, in memory of his father Edward Mc Goldrick who departed this life on December 29^th….aged 70 years. Also his Mother….Mc Goldrick who died….aged…years and brother James who died June 12 1809…”

Mc Goldrick is quite unusual for an Irish name, but it happens to be my Grandmother’s maiden name! My paternal grandmother had been born and grew up in Kesh, a tiny village very close to the Boa Island. I felt there could be little doubt that the good souls buried at the foot of the Janus figure, were directly connected to me through my Father’s Mother’s line.

I had known before our visit that day, that the Scallon family line had connections with the Boa Island. Some cousins had a house on the island, close to Caldragh Graveyard. To find the Mc Goldrick headstone there also however, at the very foot of this ancient monument, sent a shiver of electricity through my being!

When I told my father about the gravestone later he added yet another piece. He told me that his father was the one who built the roads into and out of the Boa Island in the 1930’s. Before that, the only access to the island was by boat or ‘cot’. I felt it extraordinary that, after half a lifetime, I had been drawn to this powerful place for the first time, only to discover such deep ancestral connections.

Our next planned stop was a megalithic Stone Circle at Drumskinny - a mini Stonehenge - located only a few miles away from the Boa Island and the Janus Figure.

Mary, Sandra and Joanie at Drumskinny Stone Circle

I found out later that this is one of many examples of stone circles in my home county, Fermanagh, and the neighbouring counties of Derry and Tyrone. This is one at Drumskinny however, is one of the most accessible and charming. Measuring 13 metres in diameter, it originally had 39 upright stones up to 1.8 metres in height. There is also a small carefully-constructed cairn of stones contained within a kerb almost 4 metres in diameter and, stretching south from the cairn, is a 15-metre-long alignment of 23 small stones.

The ‘Cairn’ at Drumskinny

The Stone Alignment

During our ceremony at the Stone Circle, I was drawn to touch each individual stone in turn and was immediately aware of their individual personalities….. these are definitely Stone People!! Here are a couple of them….

As we’d been driving towards the Stone Circle at Drumskinny, I felt the energy build and intensify, and I automatically began to sing to the land. Then, far off in the distance, I spied three huge stones peaking out through the rushes, in the middle of a field.

I pulled the car in off the road as we came level with them, and parked next to the wall of a small church and cemetery directly opposite these Standing Stones. We put our wellies on and clamboured over the hedge into the field. We sensed at once that there was something extraordinarily powerful about those stones.

As our spontaneous ceremony unfolded, I was ‘told’ very clearly that these Standing Stones had been some kind of ‘Receivers’. I felt certain in that moment, that we had been called to re-activate these stelas, so that they would once more become transmitters of Love energy from the Cosmic Source.

It also became clear to me that these stones were part of a much larger complex. I was drawn over to what looked like a burial mound a way off from the Stones, and I also noticed two other massive stones, to the left of the main three. 

Burial Mound and  two other massive Standing Stones

And of course, all these huge stones, were Stone People too!

 

It was a totally amazing day. We felt we had been specifically called to  reactivate these three ancient sites, so that they could become active channels once more, for star and cosmic energy. Something that happened to me the day before, which was the morning after I arrived in Ireland, also gave added significance to these Equinox ceremonies…

My family home is on the shores of Lough Erne. I woke early and decided to go for a walk in the forest by the lake. It was a magical morning with mist literally rising off the lake as the warm morning air began to hit the cold water.

Mist rises off the water over Lough Erne

As I stood in a hidden grove amongst the trees, looking at the water through a small window of branches, I thought of what we four women would be doing the following day. I called on the Great Spirit of All that Is; I called on the Ancestors, the Nature Spirits and the Druidic energies of that ancient land to be with us. I asked that we be guided every step of the way and out loud, I softly spoke the words, "Help us to access the sacred mysteries and knowledge within us"... and then with conscious intent I repeated more specifically, '"Help me to access the sacred mysteries and knowledge within me".

No sooner were these words out of my mouth when, like a heat-seeking missile, a bee came out of nowhere from the lake, through the small window of light amongst the trees, and delivered a searing sting about 2mm under my left eye! Given that it was approaching winter and a very chilly early morning, even the presence of a bee was very unusual!

In the midst of the shock and pain, I knew instantly that this was a potent message from Spirit - that the honouring of the sacred sites we would undertake the next day, was of great significance and importance. There was much more to the message I know, and I'm still trying to figure out the full significance of this dramatic bee sting.

And the story doesn’t end there either!

A week to the day after our Equinox ceremonies, myself and one of my sisters set out to find a memorial erected a few years ago, to an ancestor of ours who was an Irish patriot. After the Equinox, I felt this man’s presence very strongly with me, and decided I needed to pay my respects at his memorial, something I’d never had a chance to do before.

When my father gave us the directions to Montiagh Chapel and Cemetery, I found it interesting that they would take us towards the village of Kesh, quite close to the sacred sites I’d visited just the week before.We got hopelessly lost initially! Which as it turned out, ended up being quite providential, because we happened across what was most probably another sacred site, with more incredible Standing Stones in the middle of a farmer’s field.

When we finally saw the signpost for Montiagh Chapel we let out a whoop of delight – success at last after driving around in circles!

My delight soon turned to shock and then to speechless awe for, as we drove over the crest of the hill and saw the chapel and graveyard below, I recognized the place immediately.This was the very same chapel I had parked beside the week before. Montiagh Chapel was the little church directly opposite the Standing Stones!

We found our ancestor’s Cross Memorial right in the corner of the cemetery, standing some way off and apart from the graves. I realized with increasing awe, that it was in direct line with the Standing Stones in the field across the road! It was as if the Cross was in fact, another one of the ancient ‘Receivers’.

The Standing Stones in the field opposite, directly in line with the Cross

The Standing Stones directly in line with the Cross

I was very impacted as you can imagine, by the ‘synchronicity’ of these events, so on returning to Australia I decided to see if I could find out anything more about this place. I discovered that the three Stones were indeed part of a bigger sacred site – in fact, another Stone Circle and burial mound as I had suspected! Here’s how it’s described by the ‘Gazeteer of Irish Prehistoric Monuments’.

“The circle comprises 24 limestone boulders protruding above the bog surface to heights varying from just 5 centimetres to 75 centimetres. They form the almost complete circumference of a circle some eleven metres in diameter. To the NE are two tangential stone alignments. Farther north (almost due S of the three-stone row) is what looks remarkably like a cyclopean court-tomb on the edge of a rocky scarp. There are more stones on the other side of the road at H 191 693, and at H 197 691 are two massive pillars with a small stone out of line some distance away.

So what are these Stone Circles and pre-historic figures? What were they used for and what possible relevance or interest can they have for us today? Why would be drawn to, or bothered to visit or honour these places, covered over and buried as the are now, deep in the bogland?

I find it intriguing to witness the increase in the discovery of buried ancient structures across our planet. Only recently a huge 5-Pyramid complex was discovered in Bosnia. Carbon dating has suggested that these may be the oldest known pyramids on the planet at 24,800+ years old. The Egyptian and Mayan Pyramids have already confirmed that our ancient ancestors had an intimate knowledge of energy, astronomy, geometry and sophisticated construction techniques. Perhaps if we visit these places with an open heart and an open mind, we can learn something about ourselves, and about our human story. In the uncovering of these ancient monoliths, perhaps our ancestors are trying to speak to us…to tell us something about who we are and remind us where we came from? 

Interestingly just today, I came across a piece on sacred sites channelled by James Tyberon, which offers an insight into that very subject. ‘Metatron’, through Tyberon says…. 

“There have always been certain places on the planet that became recognized as sacred. Stone Circles, Temples, Pyramids and Cathedrals were placed in these areas by the ancients. In the last two decades, your academics have been involved in studying ancient monuments, and have credible evidence that certain ancient monumental structures around the Earth have several common features. One of the most compelling is around standing waves. We tell you many of the structures were planned architecturally and designed acoustically to enable specific sound waves and frequencies that effect your energy field. These can indeed stimulate the pineal in humans of sufficient light-quotient, and thus enhance multi-dimensional experience. We tell you that it is not simply the structures; indeed the structures are dependent to a large degree on the vector of placement and the mineralogy of the site. In fact, identical structures built in differing location will have different tonal frequencies, if the geological matrix, latitudinal placement and mineralogy differ significantly.”

What a magical, wondrous, intricate, and beautiful web we are weaving without even knowing it! These experiences in Ireland showed me in a most graphic way, how truly connected everything is, and how ‘present’ our Ancient Ancestors are to us in these amazing times. We have but to open our eyes, and open our hearts, to see them, to hear them and to receive their wisdom.