Echos of the Pages - Celtic Mandala

I have a calendar book, called the Celtic Mandala by Jen Delyth, and I thought it would be nice to post the notes at the beginning of each month here. They are as follows:

I am the breeze that nurtures all things green.

I encourage blossoms to flourish with ripening fruits.

I am the rain coming from the dew

That causes the grasses to laugh

with the joy of life.

-Hildegard of Bingen, tenth century,

translated by Gariele Uhlein

Hildegard of Bingen (1098 -1179), was a great Mystic, healer and artist, as well as a pioneer in science, philosophy and music. Attached to both tradition and to her church, Hildegard's stron spiritual connection with the natural world resonates with the Celtic history of this area of the Rhineland in the tenth century.

Anu-Earth Mother - Often known as Aine, or Danu - is the ancient ancestor Goddess of the Celts. She is the Great Earth Mother whose breats are the two hills called the Paps of Anu in Ireland. Her hair is the wild waves, the golden corn. Her eyes are the shining starts, her belly the round tors, or earth barrows from which we are born.

Wilde Hares- The Hare was sacred to the moon goddess Andraste, the Celtic goddess Ceridwen and the Earth Mother. Representing fertility and rebirth, the Hare is associated with the moon and the festivals of the Spring. Warrior queen Boudicca released a Hare as a good omen before each battle, and it was said to have screamed like a woman from beneath her cloak.

For the Celts, the world is alive, vibrant with the musical rhythms of life and the turning of the seasons. The Spirit in Nature inspires both ancient and contemporary Celtic POets, reflecting their mystical experience of the animate ensouled world.

Wilde Geese are the large, strong-willed birds we see fling in flocks across the grey winter skies. We hear their distinctive, raucous honking as they migrate home each year, their constant return symbolizing loyalty and the rhythms of nature.

The Tree of Life is an esoteric philsophy common to many cultures and mythologies, and reverence for trees lies at the heart of Celtic spirituality. The Ancients envisioned the entire cosmos in the form of a tree whose roots grow deep in the ground, branches reaching high into the heavens. The primal Mother Tree was regarded as all nourishing, all-giving, involved in the creation of the universe and the origin of the first man and woman.

Celtic shaman poets such as Taliesin and Amergin express the metaphysucal transformative relationship between Poet and the totem animals and elements of nature. The cycle of life is described in a deeply symbolic mythic language, which reveals the spiritual connection between the sacred creatures and the psyche of the Poet himself.

Cross of Life - Croes Bywyd - Wheel Crosses are an ancient megalithic symbol, first seen around 10,000 B.C. Representing the hub of the cosmic wheel - the cycle of life, the turning of the seasons - the cross element is embraced by the circular symbol of the sun, considered to be the divine center of the universe. Often associated with the Tree of Life, the Celtic Cross embraces the mysticism of both the Old and New Religions - the central spiritual source here represented by a triskele motif symbolizing the mystical Celtic trinity.

Selkie - In the Orkney Islands, and the wild and rocky islands of Scotland where the seals are wild and free and plentiful, a Selkie is a seal-woman. Well known among the coast dwellers, Selkies are magical creatures, gentle shape-shifters who transform into beautiful humans when they cast off their seal skins.

Warrior - Forged in the heat of a lightning bolt, imbued with the ferocity of the Boar, the strength of the Bull, the deadly knowledge of the Raven Morrigan and the golden fertility of the SUn Horse, the finely crafted sword contains the symbols of the Warrior.

Carmina Gadelica is a rich collection of prayers and blessings, charms and invocations assembled by Scottish folklorist Alexander Carmichael from the Western islanders of the nineteeth century. Carmina Gadalica voices the intertwined nature-based Celtic spirituality of both the Old Pagan religion, and the New Christian Faith, kept alive by the isolated island folk who continued the ancient knowledge and wisdom through their songs and prayers, stories and folklore.

Blodeuwedd the Owl - In Wales the owl is known as Blodeuwedd - which means flower face. In the Medieval Celtic tale "Mabinogi," Blodeuwedd is magically created by magicians from stone and flowers for her husband Llew. When she seeks her own lover, she discoers her true primal nature, and is changed into the wise, all-seeing owl whose intuitive vision peers deep through our psyche.

I hope this perks the interest of some people. I am deeply fascinated by the Celts and Celtic heritage (I am part Irish, Scottish, and Welsh). Enjoy everyone!