celticshaman

Once again we celebrate Imbolc, the hope of spring. Brighid’s day is a very special day, though many days of winter remain the snowdrop and the crocus appear in sheltered spots. The hedgehogs come out of their holes as do the snakes. All these are signs that spring is on the way and coming soon.

With this Imbolc podcast we open with a recitation of Brighid’s Mantle by Tira. This is followed by The Poet from Cheryl Ann Fulton’s album The Once and Future Harp (http://magnatune.com/artists/fulton).

Dillon reads several excerpts about Brighid from Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Wilde  (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/index.htm), including St. Bridget (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali183.htm), The Bride’s Well (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali208.htm), and Kil-na-Greina (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/ali/ali206.htm).

Next Diana Rowan performs The Celtic Sonata- The Star of Munster/Cremonea/Glenlivet from the album Panta Rhei - Celtic and Mediterranean Music for Harp (http://www.magnatune.com/artists/rowan), followed by Maiden in the Mor Lay by Tim Rayborn from the album Honey From the Thorn (http://magnatune.com/artists/tim_rayborn).

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A happy and blessed Alban Arthuan to you. Alban Arthuan or Yule or Midwinter marks the changing of the year. From this night the days grow longer and the nights shorter. Both Dillon and I pray the sun dawn in your heart as it dawns in the year.

We begin this podcast with the tune Winter from the Heartwood album by Sora. You can connect with Sora  at http://www.soramusic.ca . Next Dillon Carlyon graces us with a reading from Gawayne and the Green Knight, A Fairy Tale by Charlton Miner Lewis. Find this tale in its entirety at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/arthur/art097.htm

Shira Kammen’s  song The Wren in the Furze, from the album The Castle of the Holly King (2003), follows. You may find more tunes by Shira  at http://www.shirakammen.com   From the Magnatune Christmas Compilation (2007) we have I Saw Three Ships by James Edwards. Go to http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/magnacomp-christmas/ for more from this album.

Together, Dillon and I read a Hogmanay Carol from the Carmina Gadelica, Volume 1, by Alexander Carmicheal, which you may find at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1068.htm   We conclude with Megan’s Daughter, by Cheryl Ann Fulton and also from the  Magnatune Christmas Compilation (2007) http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/magnacomp-christmas/

Be well, be strong, be free.

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A blessed and happy Samhain season to all our listeners. Samhain, more than any other of the sacred seasons, turns us towards our ancestors, requiring us to remember them and their ways. We can never completely enter into the minds and minds of those who lived before us, but we may, perhaps, enter into their hearts through the words and music they traditioned to us.

Dillon Carlyon begins this Samhain podcast  reading the Song of Amergin from the Book of the Invasions of Ireland or Lebor Gabála Érenn, which you may find at that amazing Celtic resource, www.maryjones.us.

The Cathedral Set - Lo Yisa Goi:Kol HaN’shamah:Ablakomba from artist Diana Rowan follows. This song is from her album Panta Rhei - Celtic and Mediterranean Music for Harp. You may find Diana Rowan’s albums at http://magnatune.com/artists/rowan

Tira Brandon-Evans and Dillon read together the Hunting Blessing from the Carmina Gadelica. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1124.htm

Rhonda Lorence’s song Trail of Tears from the album Movements in the Moment (http://magnatune.com/artists/rhonda_lorence) concludes our podcast.

Dillon and I thank these artists for allowing us to feature their work.

If you enjoyed our podcast perhaps you would like to know more about the Society of Celtic Shamans. You may visit our homepage at: www.faeryshaman.org.

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Fall is the season when the hunter goes into the forests in search of the stag, the fisherman goes forth hunting the salmon, and the clansmen seek the grouse, duck, and other game birds on hill and wetland.

Our ancestors depended in large part on game for their meat and fowl. All parts of the animals were used. Meat not eaten at once was preserved by smoking or jerking. A good hunt in the fall meant a full larder for the winter.

The podcast opens with the song Estampie: Dou Way Robin: or Brid One Breere, from the Honey From the Thorn (2009) by Tim Rayborn. http://magnatune.com/artists/tim_rayborn

Next Dillon Carlyon reads the Dialogue of Arthur and Eliwlod from http://www.maryjones/us/ctexts/eagle.html

Following this we hear the song Wandering by Rhonda Lorence, from the album Movements in the Moment (2009). http://magnatune.com/artists/rhonda_lorence

Dillon and I are reading again from the Carmina Gadelica. Dillon reads the Scots Gaelic and I read the English version of this song of the chase. This hymn was sung by the hunter when he went away in the morning, and when he had bathed his hands and face in the junction of the first three streams he met. This reading may be found at: Carmina Gadelica, Volume 1, by Alexander Carmichael, [1900], at sacred-texts.com http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1125.htm

Our podcast closes with a song from the album Emily Bronte by Anois titled Stars. http://www.anois.nl/music-orderform/music-order.html

We hope this season is filled with the blessings of a good harvest in all things for you and yours.

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Lughnasadh, first harvest, the festival instituted by Lugh to honour his foster-mother Tailtiu. The berries are ripe here in my valley — raspberries, blueberries, and brambles. The grapes are swelling on the vine and the long summer days are rushing us towards second harvest. Let us stop, linger for a while, and enjoy this first of the harvest before we rush along.

Dillon Carlyon presents the entire podcast this month. He opens the ‘cast with the song Meanam from the Braid Soundtrack as released on Magnatune (2009). The artist is Jamie Sieber. http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/braid-soundtrack

From the Folk-lore of the Isle of Man by A.W. Moore (1891), Dillon reads Chapter IV: Customs and Superstitions Connected with the Seasons - Lughnasadh and Harvest. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fim/fim09.htm

The song Ground follows, by the artist Sulis, from the album Sitting on the Windowsill of Heaven (2009).  http://magnatune.com/artists/sulis

Next Dillon reads the entry on the Fath-Fith from the Carmina Gadelica Vol. 2, number 133. This fascinating lore of shape-shifting can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2014.htm

We close with Sweeney’s Buttermilk by FIMM, from their album The Tie That Binds. http://www.fimm-folk.com

We hope you enjoy listening and hope you may want to share our podcast with your friends. If you would like more information on the Society of Celtic Shamans or you would like to join our discussions on-line, please go to http://www.faeryshaman.org . May you have a fruitful and blessed Lughnasadh.

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“He must decrease and I must increase.”

At Midsummer the lingers long but the long days have turned and soon the nights will be eating away at the days again. Now we celebrate the summer, the sun, warmth on face, sweat on brow, hands in the earth of the garden. The plants grow so fast you can see their progress from morning to noon.

Enjoy the summer — bless and be blessed.

The Midsummer podcast opens with Fig for a Kiss / Butterfly / Drowsy Maggie by Diana Rowan from the album Panta Rhei - Celtic and Mediterranean Music for Harp (2009). Find it at http://magnatune.com/artists/rowan

Dillon reads from the Folk-lore of the Isle of Man by A.W. Moore, first published in 1891, Chapter VI, Customs and Superstitions Connected With the Seasons. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/fim/fim09.htm)

Next we enjoy La Tierche Estampie Royale, from the album Canconier (2009) by Canconier. Find this at http://magnatune.com/artists/canconier.

Our readings from the Carmina Gadelica Vol. 2 by Alexander Carmichael, first published in 1900, are both titled St. John’s Wort. Dillon and Tira read Excerpts 165 (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2048.htm) and 168 (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2051.htm) in Scots Gaelic and English, alternately.

The final tune is Downstream by Shira Kammen from the Braid soundtrack as released on Magnatune. Website: http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/braid-soundtrack/

We hope you enjoy our podcast and thank you for listening.

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Once again the Beltane fires burn bright. Spring flames green across the land. How marvelous and blessed this renewal seems to us after a long, harsh winter. How much more miraculous and welcome to our ancestors who did not live in centrally heated homes, or travel in warm automobiles. At last, the frosts are gone. The flocks and herds can return to the hills and meadows. And so, we celebrate. Beltane!

Our podcast opens with “Kringellek” from the album Dram (2009) performed by Anna Ryfenors and Erik Ask Upmark. Their website is at http://magnatune.com/artists/albums/erik-dram.

Next Dillon Carlyon reads an excerpt from Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Vol. 1, by William Bottrell. The selection is from the chapter titled: Annual Visit of the West-Country Folks to the Pellar of Helston, to have their Protection Renewed and can be found at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/swc1/swc114.htm

Pitch the Peat performs “Ormond Sound/Liberty Joe’s/Broken” from their Far From Home album (2008). Visit them at http://www.pitchthepeat.com

Dillon Carlyon and Tira Brandon-Evans present the Beltane Blessing (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1078.htm) and the Herding Blessing (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1109.htm) in Scots Gaelic and English. Both of these readings are from the Carmina Gadelica, Volume 1, by Alexander Carmicheal, [1900], at Sacred-Texts.com, (http://www.sacred-texts.com).

We close with the song “Avanti” from the Corvus Corax album Mille Anni Passi Sunt (2000). To hear more from Corvus Corax go to http://www.corvuscorax.de

May your Beltane season be filled with peace, health, and joy. One hundred thousand blessings to you and all our relations.

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When the Sun passes into Aries, around the 20th or 21st of March each year, we celebrate Alban Eiler or Ostara. From this night the forces of light wax and the forces of darkness wane, but on this night they are equally balanced, poised on the razor’s edge. Alban Eiler is a between time, one of the eight portals of the seasons, during which we may more easily move from this world into the realms of Faerie. The surviving pre-Christian traditions associated with this festival are those now collected about the celebration of Easter.

Alban Eiler means Light of the Earth. The Earth does appear to glow with the burgeoning of new life. The tender green of new leaves in the sunlight creates a dazzlement like no other.

This podcast opens with The Song of Wandering Aengus by W.B.Yeats

Next we played The Sands of Aberdeen (2008), from the Jed Marum album of that name. Connect to Jed Marum at http://www.jedmarum.com

Following the Sands of Aberdeen, Dillon read Legends of the Saints: St. Patrick, from Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde. He also brings us The Baptism of Aongus, by Patrick Kennedy and found in Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts.

From On The Salt Sea by Henry Martin we have the tune Mrs. McGrath.

Dillon and I read two selections from the Carmina Gadelica in English and Scots Gaelic. Our Celtic speaking ancestors depended on the herbs of heath and grove for their health and healing. They respected the wild plants and blessed them. Here are two charms for gathering herbs: The Fairy Wort and The Yarrow.

We end with the song Planxty Glenstal by Tonnta (2008) from the charity album Sanctuary. All profits from the album  go to charities supporting victims of domestic violence in Ireland. The artists have all given of their work and time at no cost and have raised the money to pay for the production of this album so that the charities will benefit from the sale of the very first CD. Three charities will benefit: Adapt House, AMEN and the ISPCC. Adapt House is a women’s refuge and support service that provides safe, emergency shelter and support to women and their children who are subjected to domestic abuse in Limerick. Amen is a voluntary group, founded by Mary Cleary in December 1997, which provides a confidential helpline, a support service and information for male victims of domestic abuse. The ISPCC exists to advocate on behalf of all children in Ireland, and to provide a range of independent and unique services which are preventative and empowering. This very worthwhile project deserves our support. Buy the CD. Tell your friends.

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Brighid of the Mantles, your mantle over me. Brighid of the Fair White Hands, your hand in mine.

Our Imbolc podcast begins with the Devil in the Kitchen Set from Crepuscule and found on their album Shades of Music. ( http://www.Crepuscule.ca)

This is followed by Dillon Carlyon’s reading from  A Book of Saints and Wonders by Lady Gregory [1906] Book One: Brigit, The Mary of the Gael found at Sacred Texts. (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/saw/saw01.htm)

Next from the album Sixth and Porter by the The Kreellers we have The Night Visit. (http://www.Kreellers.com)

Tira Brandon-Evans comments on traditions connected with Bride and Imbolc and reads from notes and invocations from the Carmina Gadelica. Smooring the Fire ( http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1092.htm), Guarding the Flocks, ( http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1113.htm), The Spell of the Fox,  (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg2/cg2067.htm). Dillon alternates with Tira reading the invocations in Gaelic and English.

The invocations are followed by Epping Forest, a song from the album A Light in the Forest by Anne Roos. (http://www.celticharpmusic.com)

If you enjoy our podcasts you may wish to join our public group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celticshaman. Or visit our homepage at http://www.faeryshaman.org.

Have a happy and blessed Imbolc. Be well, be strong, be free!

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May the Winter Solstice bless you and yours with the returning light. This morning, December 21st, the first light of the rising sun shone in the inner chambers of Maes Howe in Orkney and into Newgrange in Ireland. This return of the Sun has been marked in these sacred chambers for thousands of years. Good news. The first news! The Sun returns! Night is put to flight!

Dillon Carlyon’s reading this Midwinter is from “Christmas in Ritual and Tradition” by Clement A. Miles, (http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/crt/crt17.htm) “Chapter XIII, Masking, The Mummer’s Play, The Feast of Fools, and the Boy Bishop”. The reading is preceded by the Brobdingnagian Bards (http://www.brobdingnagianbards.com) “Greensleeves Medley”, from “A Faire to Remember”, (2001). Dillon’s reading is followed by James Edwards (http://www.jamesedwardsguitar.com/home.html) Gloustershire “Wassail - Wassail Song”  from “Magnature Compilation: Christmas Music”, (2008).

Tira Brandon-Evans and Dillon Carlyon together recite some Midwinter verses from the Carmina Gadelica. Dillon recites in Scots Gaelic and Tira in English. “Hey the Gift, Ho the Gift” (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1063.htm), The Gift of Power  (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1064.htm), and  Hogmanay of the Sack (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1067.htm).

Cheryl Ann Fulton’s (http://magnatune.com/artists/fulton) “Winter Song” from the “Once and Future Harp”, (2004) carries us into the Outro by Dillon Carlyon.

If you enjoy our podcasts you may wish to join our public group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celticshaman. Or visit our homepage at http://www.faeryshaman.org.

Have a happy and blessed Yule. Be well, be strong, be free!

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