Postcards from The Hedge - Dispatch 11 ❄💙❄
"Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible."
Katherine May, 'Wintering'
Welcome to our eleventh dispatch of Postcards from the Hedge. This month's care package has been prepared by our founder Kathy Scott and team member Colette Charles.
Dear Ones,
We are delighted to be preparing this warm care package for you as we drop into Wintering mode here in Ireland.
We are still in the season of Samhain, but soon approaching the Winter Solstice on December 21st - the longest night of the year. The hours of daylight continue to decrease and the life force (‘neart’) is being drawn deeper into the earth. The dominant movement right now is that of sinking down into the inevitable void that is the darkness of Winter
The journey from Samhain to the Winter solstice is a path of letting go. The days shorten, the nights get longer, the Earth draws its energy deep within and we are surrounded by death and darkness. We rest in the womb or cauldron of the Goddess, where gestation and transformation can occur. Here, we are asked to rest, turn inward and live life in a slow unforced way. We follow the lead of the Cailleach herself and surrender.
The Secret Retreat
Yesterday we hosted a beautiful one day in-person well being retreat at a secret location in Wicklow. This was an immersive experience in the magical healing powers of deep Winter. We enjoyed delicious seasonal foods, warm fires, sacred site visits, forest bathing, wild river swims, wood-fired sauna and great company. If you are drawn to join us for some time-out-of time with kindred spirits and like-hearted souls at secret locations in the future, then register your interest here.
The Sunday Service
{Sundays, 6pm Ireland / 1pm EST / 10am PST}
This evening, we will have our final session of The Sunday Service, a 6 week self-care series for women. We are delighted with the response we had to this project, one that is very close to our hearts. The idea was to raise money for our sisters in Afghanistan, so 100% of the funds raised will be going to our chosen charity Women for Afghan Women (WAW).
Elena Brower will lead our final session tonight at 6pm. It’s not too late to donate and join us – we will make the recordings to all 6 sessions available next week, so you will have time to catch up! Please donate here to get yourself on the list.
Scoil Scairte
We have come to the end of our 9 week cultural immersion in the Irish Language and our hearts are full.
Míle Buíochas to all who joined us for this spectacular imram into the heart and soul of this ancestral language. Thank you for your kind words, letters, posts, poems, songs and art - it means the world to us.
We look forward to creating more Scoil Scairte adventures in the near future. If you would like to travel with us you can sign up here and we will keep you informed.
"Dia dhuit,
I’m sorry that this will be mostly in Béarla but if you need to walk before you run then I’m still at the crawling stage of learning Gaelige :)
I’m writing to share that we just had the loveliest little moment of connection at work and Scoil Scairte was part of it. We are currently in a state of emergency where I live due to a storm that caused landslides and flooding, displacement and food insecurity. Things are quite uneasy at the moment all over.
This morning, as the sun was rising, two coworkers and I were chatting online and they were sharing that their Sikh temple had prepared meals and necessary items for everyone impacted by the floods. I remembered that we had learned “meithal” yesterday and shared that. Then the conversation flowed into sharing words and customs and names and traditions (the Punjabi equivalent of meithal is “sewa”). And it was a gorgeous moment of connection and respite from all the tension.
When people learn and share what they learn, they connect and make meaning with others. Right now, in BC, it’s all about meithal and misneach to get through it."
Participant, Vancouver
Announcement
We have decided to upgrade the current format of Postcards from the Hedge.
Going forward, instead of sending you the Postcards at the end of every month, we will instead send you a care package on the Sunday before each of the Celtic Festivals (Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasadh, Samhain) and also at both Equinoxes and Solstices. We hope these curated care packages will continue to inspire and support you to nudge humanity forward with us.
Some seasonal journal prompts to inspire you for the days ahead
❄️ How can I become the seed of my own rebirth?
❄️ What aspects of my life right now need regeneration?”
❄️ What is it I want to create in my life?
❄️ What is it I want to experience in my life?
❄️ What do I want to contribute?
❄️ What legacy do I want to leave?
❄️ What is my deepest Soul’s desire?
Enjoy these days - may the fading light be yours.
Beannachtaí,
Kathy and all at the Hedge School
Hedge School Highlights
Put on the kettle, make a cuppa and watch some golden moments from our Hedge School musicians and performers who remind us to mind ourselves, each other and this place we call home.
Recommended Resources
Here are a few reading, watching and listening pieces inspired by the Hedge School to mind you in the days ahead:
♪ Listen: For your ears
From their recent performance at the Irish Folk Awards, the Irish folk band The Breath and their soulful album ‘Acoustic’ - the perfect soundtrack for this Samhain/Winter season.
Treibh (meaning 'Clan' or 'Family' or 'Tribe' in Irish) are a collaborative Irish group currently releasing an album one track at a time through 2021 on each of the equinoxes/solstices and fire festivals. Find out more here
✦ Smell: For your Nose
Frederic William Burton's “Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs” is Ireland’s most loved painting and has inspired former Hedge School Guide Erin Quinn, an Irish/Canadian olfactory and visual artist, to create an evocative gender neutral Eau de Parfum exclusive to the National Gallery Shop.
Irish born Burton had a scent aversion to oil paints which is why he chose to paint this vibrant work in watercolour. Due to its delicate nature, the painting can only be viewed twice weekly at the National Gallery, which only adds to the mystique surrounding this captivating piece.. To encapsulate the spirit of this romantic painting in scent form, Quinn has created a conceptual scent Páis, meaning passion in Irish, and draws from essences popular in Medieval perfumery like Cloves, Myrrh, Cinnamon and Rose along with notes of leather and a hint of metal...a nod to Hildebrand's battle attire.The finished scent is an intermingling of the lovers longing embrace....inhaling each other deeply before they are forced to part.Páis limited edition eau de parfum by Erin Quinn EQ Factories is available exclusively in the National Gallery shop.
✯ Watch: For your eyes
We are currently obsessed with all things Adele. Her recent show An Audience with Adele Live at the Palladium is a must. Watch a clip here
Sex Love and Goop with Gwyneth Paltrow and Micheala Boehm
Experts help couples to learn how to enhance their relationships through more pleasurable sex and deeper intimacy. Watch it here.
To the Moon
Our friend director and editor Tadhg O’ Sullivan has made a beautiful film To The Moon - a cinematic ode to the moon. Drawing on a wealth of international cinematic archive, he interweaves the old with new original cinematography filmed across five continents, and with literary fragments and a transportive score by Linda Buckley, Amanda Feery and Peter Broderick.
“Gracefully edited ... O’Sullivan has carefully woven the fabric of his film so it pulls you along in the same imperceptible way as the moon draws the tides."—Amber Wilkinson
❤ Read: For your heart
We can highly recommend this book by our Scoil Scairte collaborator Manchán Magan | "32 Words for Field in Irish"
Saltwater in The Blood
Powerful feminist nature writing by the pioneer of women’s big-wave surfing in Ireland. Easkey Britton provides a rare female perspective on surfing, exploring the mental skills it fosters, and the need to recognize the value of the ocean and of nature’s cycles in our lives. This is an incredibly inspiring exploration of the sea’s role in the wellness of people and the planet, beautifully written by our friend Easkey. Find out more here
✬ Connect: For your Soul
We recently had the pleasure of hosting Ally Bogard for our November moon medicine. Ally is the creator of Upwards Gold - A daily companion of your inner work. A number of us here at Trailblazery HQ have signed up to this 40 day program and are loving it 💚