JULY/AUGUST 2001
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 3
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Earth Goddess Remembered in Bonfires of Lughnasadh
By
CYNTHIA AUSTIN
ERALDING the arrival of the Celtic autumn and the first fruits of the harvest, Lughnasadh arrives on August 1. Like all Celtic festivals, and indeed any event of great antiquity, Lughnasadh comes to us embedded with the rich themes and deities from times through which the festival has passed.
Although it is commonly believed that Lughnasadh (literally the games or assembly of Lugh) represents a funeral celebration for the bright god Lugh, the germ of this festival predates Lugh, buried deep in the fertile soil of the earth goddess Tailtiu.
Tailtiu was an early Neolithic earth or grain goddess. Mythologically, she was the last queen of the Fir Bolg who cleared the forests of Ireland to make way for farmland, and in doing so, died of her labours. The area she cleared is present-day County Meath, some of the best farmland in Ireland.
Tailtiu died around the first of August and Lugh, her foster-son,
honours her with the oenach that bears his name. An earlier title for the festival was "Bron Trogain" a name which means "the earth sorrows under its fruit." Writer Maire MacNeill notes that this metaphor "is based on the travail of birth."
As a grain goddess, Tailtiu would give birth at first harvest. After bringing forth life-giving food, she dies from her efforts. The corn stalk will wither away to be planted again in spring.
Tailtiu takes her place as a death-in-life goddess for, in the midst of the bountiful harvest, autumn has arrived and soon so will the cold grip of winter. This aspect of Tailtiu marks her age, as this is a seminal theme of western Goddess worship that precedes Christianity by thousands of years.
Others stand beside Tailtiu and Lugh at the first of August. Crom Drubh, Eithene, Aine and Donn all consort to provide humanity with the harvest that will nourish it throughout the coming seasons. Lughnasadh celebrates life and the sacrifices that are made to sustain it.
The deities that cluster at Lughnasadh are as a many-leafed tree whose leaves return to shade and comfort us faithfully each season. Summer has ended though, and soon those comforting leaves will don their colourful cloaks and blow away in the cooling breeze of the autumnal equinox.
Harry Potter Director Breaks Silence
Chris Columbus, director of the first Harry Potter movie, has revealed he has kept as close to the book as possible so as not to disappoint fans. The man behind Gremlins and Home Alone has remained secretive about the project, preferring to leave people guessing, but speaking to USA Today, he confessed he and his children were huge fans of the books.
Harry Potter is the central character in a series of books for children and adults alike that has swept the world. Written by British author J.K. Rowling, the books follow the exploits of a boy who learns on his eleventh birthday that he is the orphaned son of two powerful wizards and possesses unique magical powers of his own.
He is summoned from his life as an unwanted foster child to become a student at Hogwarts, an English boarding school for wizards. There, Harry meets several friends who become his closest allies and help him discover the truth about his parents' mysterious deaths at the hands of a powerful adversary.
The director said, "It was a passion for me to be as faithful as possible. These books are incredibly imaginative, classic stories. Why would you need to toy with that?" Speaking as the second trailer to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is released, Columbus also said that author J.K. Rowling had given her seal of approval.
The film, due out on November 16, stars Dame Maggie Smith, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The director was introduced to Harry Potter by his daughter Eleanor, who is 12. He said, "She loves it. She's seen quite a bit of the footage and she's impressed. When you come from work and talk about the day, usually you don't have your kids correcting you. But she'd tell me 'You can't do this. You have to do this'." The new trailer has been made available on the internet ahead of its debut in U.S. theatres.
University Honours for Two Leading Artists
Queen's University in Belfast has awarded musician Van Morrison an honorary doctor of music at this year's graduation ceremonies. Meanwhile, during the same week, Scottish film star Ewan McGregor was also honoured, this time by the University of Ulster, which bestowed an honourary doctorate on the 29-year-old who attracted international attention in his role of a drug addict in the cult film 'lYainspottiny.
Druids Celebrate Solstice
TARA, County Meath - Druids from all over Ireland gathered on the Hill of Tara in County Meath on June 21, to carry out an ancient mid-summer ritual. The dru-ids, led by his eminence the Archdruid of Tara and Ireland Michael J. Grath, aim to "reclaim the ancient sites for the plain people of Ireland."
The druidic mid-summer day celebrations began on the "royal" Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient high kings of Ireland. It began at midnight with an all-night vigil leading up to the dawn observance of the rising solstice sun.
The high point was reached at about four in the morning when druids and druidesscs led people of all religions and beliefs in a festival of music, song, dance, "craic. ceol agus ol" around the mystical campfires.
"This is a real celebration of Ireland's true heritage and culture, not like the damp squid arranged by Duchas and the Office of Public Works at Newgrange," said Grath. "Government officials are lamentably ignorant of the forces they are disturbing when they insult the ancient gods."
Grath welcomed everyone to the big event at Tara, except witches or warlocks. He said, "The Order of Druids of Ireland is not a church or a religion. We welcome people of all faiths into our ranks."
The archdruid himself is a cosmologist and an astrologer and claims to be in regular contact with forces not of this world. He holds a degree as a graduate of the Druidic University of Britain and Ireland, while King Henry VIII imprisoned one of his ancestors for his Druidic beliefs.
Brewing
McAuslan
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PRESENTS THE
Montreal international
earic
Festival
August 10 - 12,2001
Admission; 5/0/ day per person
(children 12 and under free)
Festival Pass :$ 20 for 3 days Festival Info: (514) 481-3471
www.montrealcelticfestival.com
Travelprice
FEATURING
Danu (Ireland) - Shooglenifty (Scotland) Ashley Maclsoac (N.S.) Barro MacNeils (N.S.) Felpeyu (Spain) • Korma (Brittany) Luar Na Lubre (Spain) Anao Atoo (Cornwall, U.K.) King Chioullee (Isle of Man, U.K.) Ogam (Wales, U.K.) Laura Risk (U.SA) Richard Wood (P.E.I.) Jerry Holland (N.S.) Anita Best/Pamela Morgan (Nfld) Trio Marchand, Miron, Ornstein (OC) Orealis (Mil)-Tuna (Mrl) and marry other local, ncrtionol, and international artists.
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107.3 m
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