Essays Contents
Bealtaine Cottage Refresh
September 2, 2023
Colette's story & links to her books on Celtic lore
Just a note:
In ancient Ireland, the Celtic Year was dominated
by the four key festivals of:
Samhain... November 1... winter...
Imbolc... February 1... spring...
Bealtaine... May 1... summer...
Lughnasah... August 1... autumn...
I've posted about Bealtaine cottage before... nearly two years ago.
"Life at Bealtaine Cottage Today
video - July 27, 2023
Walking through Colette O'Neill's 3-acre forest via her videos and her photography...
is always such a pleasure. Colette retired 15 years ago to a property in
West Ireland... a property which she salvaged from a swampy reject
acreage and turned into a wonderful forest full of life and beauty.
Birds nest right on her porch. How special IS that...!!
As I watched her latest videos... I realized... how...
when we begin to grow old...
living very close to nature... like Colette...
and seeing the natural seasons of life...
and being surrounded by the natural ways of life...
can ease the sense of loss... at a life now spent...
at a life now coming towards an end...
I've transcribed her dialogue on this video.
Colette O'Neill: "Navigating Turbulent Times
video of August 16, 2023
Well..! as you can see... Lughnasah really IS here.
We're over half-way through the beautiful month of Lughnasah
which is August in English...
and there's so much change going on
and it's so subtle... it's so beautiful...
the light is so silvery and you know it's just
drawing slowly away from summer.
Beautiful crossover.
And you know, let me just tell you the reason
why I delight in sharing all this with you.
It was always my intention
before I began the Bealtaine project...
when I was still conjuring it up in my head...
over twenty years ago...
that I wanted to do something REALLY positive...
I wanted to create... I wanted to be creative...
I wanted to spend this part of my life being
creative... and vibrant... and energized...
and I wanted to share it.
I wanted to enthuse people with what I felt...
about nature and Mother Earth...
and living so closely to Mother Earth.
You know... when I lived in London...
when my children were smaller...
I say "smaller"... they're all in their forties now...
but "when my children were small" should we say...
we would seek out little wild places... little wastelands...
old railway lines... bits of woodland...
yes..! they do exist in London.
We would go foraging...
we would collect up wood, and leaves, and fungi...
make nature tables... and celebrate the seasons.
That's what I do now...! as a fully-fledged grown-up...!
and it brings me joy... and I share this with you
because I'd love you to be able to feel that joy...
So... Bealtaine cottage is about creativity...
it's about creativity... it's about nature...
it's about living...
especially in the world that we live in now
where people... where some people...
are actually just surviving...
never mind LIVING...
... but to share with you the joy of creativity.
I mean, everything you see in this video
I've either planted... or made.
Remember what it looked like in the beginning...?
and this is my vegetable garden...
which I've been working on this week.
I've planted it out for the winter.
So... if I could impart any wisdom to you... it is this...
wherever you live... whatever your circumstances...
whatever it is that's curtailing your life...
try to break out of it.
Get out into nature...
even if you have to take a bus
or take a long walk to get there...
find nature... and renew your delight in Mother Earth.
...Because... politicians come and go...
governments come and go...
yes... this is the end of EMPIRE...
things are pretty awful...
but look at nature...
she's still there... she's still creating...
and giving and sharing...
and just being joyful.
Because of everything that's happening...
and I don't have television...
and I certainly won't get television now...
and I try to stay away from the news
because... who knows WHAT to believe
about anything any more...
I create...
I continue to create.
I'm knitting and sewing... painting... writing...
It seems to be such a very strong urge.
and that's how I know that we're very close
to the end of all this chaos.
The chaos is beginning to burn itself out...
but before it does... it's going to rise to a bit of a crescendo.
It's going to make people fearful...
but remember this...
this chaos hasn't just come out of nowhere...
it's been manufactured... it's been created...
and woe on those who have created it...
because what's being experienced now in the world
has nothing to do with the divine...
it is the willful creation of destruction.
Don't get pulled into it.
Stay well back.
Create good... as much as you can...
because that's the only real antidote
to what's happening now.
Keep your moral compass set...
you know what's right... you know what's wrong...
stay with that...
don't be drawn into the negative charge
which seems to be desperately trying to get into the mind.
For my part...? I'm going to grow food.
I'm going to make sure that there's food in my cottage this winter...
that there's wood to heat the stove...
and I will live as minimally as possible.
I mean... I do that now... but I'm very intent...
I have my intention set...
to be as minimalistic with EVERYTHING... as possible.
And...! the creation of a new channel
which is going to be a lot of fun.
I'm going to be taking myself and my camera...
and Patsy (her dog) whenever I can...
out of the woodlands here...
out into the bigger world...
and seeking some interesting things... interesting places...
interesting people...
all in the name of creating something positive.
Blessings to you all.
video - July 27, 2023
video of August 16, 2023
