January 18, 2023
The Ireland Gatherings I offer now are growing exponentially in the power and potency of liminal connections and Otherworld encounters. It’s pretty amazing. It’s also not really the point. Yes, it’s wonderful to have those experiences but it’s not having them but what we do with them that really matters. Our Irish ancestors understood this. It’s about transformation within and without. Transformation our world needs.
In recent years we have become dissociated from this knowledge and the latent appreciation that our ancestors had of the natural world and the cycles through which it turns, as well as the realms beyond, in both the cosmos and the Otherworld.
The question now, as the feminine energy is rising once again, is whether we as Irish people – and those of other cultures who connect with us – are ready to take back this mantle and begin the process of awakening and reconnecting with our past, with who we are – our land, language, and culture. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of this land as a force of transformation. The bogs, rivers, mountains and shorelines are more than just preservers of old myths, bones and memories. They are energy banks and time sponges, and what is held within them seeks release. Manchán Magan
Yes. This image is dramatic. But then the journey within liminal and Otherworld spaces is dramatic. I tried to find the artist but the name seems lost in the world of fantasy on-line gaming, a world of wandering in other worlds they create. However I doubt very much they ever encounter the Otherworld, which is not of human creation. Still, there is a mythic and mystical resonance for me in this image.
The arrow of light is central to this image just as connecting to the Light is central to a mystical journey. We are called to claim the Light we hold, the Light of love, joy, peace, compassion and justice. We are called to claim this Light and amplify the shining of it in our lives and in the world. This is the point of a spiritual journey. To find, in the power of sacred alliance and the power of transformation, the power to change the world. To find the energy banks and release the wisdom held there.
This is all so fantastical. And I appreciate that for many who wander with spiritual intention, it’s easy to get lost in fantasy worlds of their own creation. But they can miss a true engagement with the Otherworld energies. And they can miss the sacred purpose of it that comes with surrender to a sacred alliance. They can miss the opportunity for meaningful transformation in their lives and for the world.
For this is the point. This is the power point.
Beannacht,
Judith
For those who want to purchase Manchán’s book go to his website: https://manchan.com/. You will actually purchase the book through Mayo Books in Ireland. It’s not available on Amazon or in the US at this point.
The workaday (walkaday) world is okay. I’m glad there are connections to the liminal, the numinous from here. And some kind of incorporation, even now. Thank you for elevating this.
I enjoyed going to his blog. The variety of his works is impressive and appealing. I’m drawn to the Irish work, naturally enough.
My mother was a McAnally. In the South, they pronounce it mac-a-nally. Her father drowned when she was young. He might have been the one from Ireland or the generation before. Just thought I’d share.
I hope you’ve been having a fine week.