ISSUE NUMBER 96
Dedicated to Celts Everywhere
MAY 20U1
AILL NA MIREANN (foreground), the great stone which divides the provinces of Ireland, stands on the sacred Hill of Uisneach, County Westmeath, Ireland. The sparks from the annual Beltaine bonfire spiral out of time, linking the seen world with the Otherworld. As mortal and mythic meet, the great fire eye of the Goddess opens and a transcendent space is created - an exchange of gifts between worlds.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
MUSIC:
CD Reviews & Music News — 3-4-5-6 Ceol Agus Craic-----------------------------5
NEWS:
Irish News--------------------------18-21-24
Scottish News---------------------10-11 -26
British News----------------------------12-13
All British Field Meet---------------------12
Iverglen Scottish Dancers-------------12
Interview with Brendan O'Leary------14
New York Newsletter--------------------16
Seattle News Round-up----------------17
New Dublin Docks Olde Irish Inn— 19 Poetry-----------------------------------------27
Northern Ireland Round-Up--------20-21
SPORTS:
Sports News----------------------------29-30
MOVIES, BOOKS & THEATRE:
Book Reviews & Movies--------3-7-9-29
MYTHOLOGY
Ancient Wisdom of Trees--------------22
Remembering the Magic of Faeries 25
TRAVEL:
Irish Travel------------------------------14-15
Gypsy Celts---------------------------------23
CULTURAL & COMMUNITY:
Irish Women's Network-------------------7
Fort Langley Celtic Event----------------8
BC Highland Games---------------------12
Scottish Ceilidh----------------------------12
BELTAINE FIRES SPARK SEASONS OF LIFE
THE HOSTAGE by Brendan Behan onstage at Presentation House in North Vancouver. [See page 3]
Bv CYNTHIA AUSTIN " T IS NEAR May-eve and we find ourselves once again in a most familiar of unfamiliar places. The great festival of Beltaine glimmers in the growing light as the Celtic summer arrives.
The trappings of the festival are many:, enormous bonfires, merry maypoles and May bushes, wreaths of marigold and rowan, the sparkle of May-morn dew, hawthorn sprigs, fairs, fetes and, of course, greenwood, marriages.
Beltaine at its heart is a fertility festival. As writer Doreen Valiente notes, "the principle of fertility is... Life itself, bursting out in myriad forms, earth, water, ever renewing, eternal, yet ever changing."
ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST
Cynthia Austin, once fairy, now troll, gains her inspiration from many summer vacations spent in Camp Archetype.
WIN FREE TICKETS
WIN TICKETS FOR TWO to see The Beauty Queen of Leenane playing from April 23-May 19 (Tickets are for Monday-Thursday only) at The Playhouse, at Hamilton and Dunsmuir in Vancouver (see page 5 for details)
WIN TICKETS FOR TWO to see Scotland's Anne Pack at the Scottish Cultural Centre on Hudson Street in Vancouver on June 2 (see page 11 for details)
WIN TICKETS FOR TWO to the Scottish Ceilidh Dance with Blackthorn at the Arenex, Queen's Park, New Westminister, May 25.
WIN TICKETS FOR TWO to see The Hostage at Presentation House, North Vancouver, Mon, May 14 - (see page 3 for details).
Mark your entry "The Beauty Queen Of Leenane," "Anne Pack," "Scottish Ceilidh," "The Hostage." Include your name, address and telephone number. All entries must be received by May 14. To enter, fax (604) 438-8419, or e-mail: cbutler@telus.net.
Our ancestors sought to align themselves with Nature, to invoke the primal forces that governed their lives. By doing so through ritual and symbol, they could bring balance to their precarious existence. "As they performed acts which stimulated life, so the powers of universal fertility would be aroused and move," wrote Valiente.
In western goddess worship, the goddess mates with her consort at Beltaine. The dominant role of the goddess is that of procreation, abundance, and life force. Her consort, the god Cernunnos in his guise as Oak King, fills the role of protector and warrior. Their partnership promotes fertility in every sense, harvest and herds as well as individual and communal fulfillment.
The evidence of the divine coupling of the goddess and god is found among the many artifacts of earlier times. At the Avebury complex in England, the alternating phallic pillar and rotund lozenge shapes of standing stones in the remains of Kennet Avenue suggest the fertility "beliefs that are often associated with stone circles.
In the same area, post and pit holes contain remnants of hazel, blackthorn and hawthorn twigs, all spring flowering trees, that suggest a spring, possibly Beltaine, ritual or occupaUon.
Chalk phallus figures are carved into the foundations of numerous British henge enclosures. The giant Cerne Abbas, a 180-foot high nude male figure carved into a chalk hill in Dorset, England, has long held interest for its purported powers of fecundity.
On the slopes of the sacred hill of Uisneach, County Westmeath, Ireland, the great community Beltaine fair was held. At dusk, women, men and children climbed the hill, passing Aill na Mireann, the stone of the divisions on their ascent. Reaching the summit, the great bonfires^were lit, as they had been for centuries before.
As the sparks spiraled into the sky, the great fire-eyes of the Goddess opened once again to see and be seen by her people.
The dictionary notes that "fertile" means "able to produce offspring; prolific; productive, creaUve, or inventive." Our ancestors sought, through their festivals and rites, to promote and protect their survival, health and the wellbeing of their community.
Although our methods of survival have changed, we too seek assurances, hope for a safe and healthy future. By remaining close to the earth we gain sanctuary from the schism of modern life that splits the mind/intellect from the soul/nature.
Plant a seed, write a letter, build a respectful space in your life to create what your heart desires. Honour your "fertility," and the goddess will honour you. Welcome Beltaine, welcome Erui.