The Centre for Celtic Spirituality is delighted to announce the launch of their new location at the Navan Centre at the ancient site of Emain Macha just outside of the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. The launch was attended by members of the board, patrons, and the Centre’s staff.

The Rev. Dr. Johnston McMaster spoke about the significance of Celtic Spirituality as a source of inspiration in today’s well, remarking particularly on the importance of “drinking from our own wells,” or receiving nourishment from the rich Christian spiritual heritage of these lands.

Following Dr. McMaster’s address, the Rev. Grace Clunie, Director for the Centre for Celtic Spirituality, thanked the board and the patrons for their support throughout the years leading up to this event, and for their encouragement of the work and ethos of the Centre. Rev. Clunie reported that she is offering sabbaticals and study opportunities this summer to a number of international clergy and lay people from a variety of denominations, and in the autumn will be leading a course on “The Celtic Spirit in Literature,” along with Dr Tess Maginess of Queens Open University, which will be held at the Navan Centre in Armagh.

Along with having use of the Navan Centre’s coffee shop, gift shop, AV theatre, workshop room and outdoor living history exhibit, the Centre for Celtic Spirituality also has a designated library for reading, prayer and reflection. Stocked with books on many aspects of Celtic Spirituality, including theology, prayers, history, and culture, this library will undoubtedly be a valuable resource to many coming from near and far to learn about what the Celtic Christian spiritual heritage to offer to our contemporary world.

We offer a prayer for this new chapter for the Centre for Celtic Spirituality and all who seek enrichment and inspiration in this place:

Bless us, Lord, this day with vision.

May this place be a sacred place,

a telling place,

where heaven and earth meet.

(from Celtic Daily Prayer, p. 290)

Dear Pilgrim,
It was wonderful to have had 30+ attending our Imbolg meeting. We hope you enjoyed the day. Now for our Pilgrimage to Sligo from 3rd to 6th May.

We will be staying in the 4-star Sligo Park Hotel. Sheila Ryan, writing in the Irish Times says “There is something deeply rewarding about visiting one of our remote Megalithic sites” Now Carrowmore is the largest group of megalithic tombs in Ireland. Nearby Carrowkeel is also most interesting. One of the Cairns there has a roof box over its entrance, the only one in Ireland apart from Newgrange. Unlike Newgrange, it is aligned with the setting sun at the summer solstice, and the chamber is illuminated for several weeks around midsummer.

We are fortunate to have the services of Damien Brennan as our guide. This is also Yeates country; who does not remember the Lake Isle of Ennisfree from our school days! Damien will also lead us along the Yeats Trail.

The cost of the week-end will be £240. per person sharing. ( £25. single supplement.) This will cover bed, breakfast and evening meal, also cost of the bus and guide. This will be a most interesting week-end including a visit to the famous Tobernalts Holy Well and many other things happening in Sligo including a Slow Cooking Competition Championship! There will be many stalls
like what we experienced in Limerick not so long ago – what about a seaweed bath?

To hold our booking we need 25 Pilgrims booking in quickly. Please send your cheque made out to ” St. Bronagh’s School of Celtic Studies” to Mrs. Pat Doran, 7 Syenite Place, Rostrevor, BT34 3EP, (telephone 417 39644) or e-mail patricia482@btinternet.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Dermot Jameson

Introduction to CHRISTIAN MEDITATION 

 This introduction will be helpful for anyone seeking a deeper spiritual life – especially anyone interested in exploring basic teaching on Christian meditation as a way to depth and meaning in their life.

The practice is based on the teaching of the Benedictine Monk, John Main, who said – ‘The important aim in Christian meditation is to allow God’s mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality but the reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, everything we are.’

John Main’s work is carried on by the World Community for Christian Meditation and its Director FR LAURENCE FREEMAN OSB  (www.wccm.org).

If you would be interested in learning more about the practice of Christian Meditation, contact us and register your name.

The course will begin in September 2013 at The Navan Centre, Armagh – most likely on a weekday morning from 10.00a.m. to 11.30a.m.

It is particularly useful for anyone on a study experience.

There is no charge to use the library, though donations towards the upkeep of the library and the work of The Centre for Celtic Spirituality are very much appreciated.

To ensure you are able to use the library at the time/date that suits you, contact The Navan Centre on

028 3752 9644/9655.

THE SONG OF BEALTAINE  (1st May to 31st July)

I am the calm, I am the quickening,

I am the intoxication and the force,

I am the silence, I am the singer

I am the stallion galloping to its source

I am the bright pavilion and the feasting,

I am the wedding couple and the bed,

I am the morning chorus and the heartbeat,

I am the goal to which all paths are led.

Bealtaine is traditionally the time for celebrating the essential eros of the year, the vitality of summer and the joys of youth.

It is a good time to celebrate the lives of all heros and heroines and all holy ones whose great love complements their spiritual practice with human grace.

Activity for Bealtaine – Identify flowers, herbs, trees and animals in your area. Learn about their life and habitat.
 

(From Celtic Devotional, by Caitlin Matthews, published by Gill and Macmillan, 1996)

Check out Events in Armagh throughout the year on the web-site of Armagh City and District Council http://www.armagh.co.uk/Visitor-information

For the full Armagh theatre programme see www.marketplacearmagh.com

This day is open for anyone interested, as well as those who completed the recent series, The Celtic Spirit, at Q.U.B. It is part of Queen’s University’s Open Learning Programme of short, part-time courses.

NEW COURSE!

In addition, the 10 week course, THE CELTIC SPIRIT AND LITERATURE, will be offered this year from September to December at The Navan Centre Armagh.

Classes will be on Thursday afternoons from 2p.m. to 4p.m. beginning on Thursday 26th September 2013.

To enrol contact QUB School of Education – Tel: 028 9097 3323/3539

Web: www.qub.ac.uk/edu/ol          

EMail: openlearning.education@qub.ac.uk

The psychologist and mythologist, Joseph Campbell identified a common theme connecting many ‘indigenous’ spiritualities – including Celtic Spirituality. Their stories tell about the hero or heroine who is ‘called’ outwards from the familiar place to experience something completely new. These stories teach us that it requires courage to step outside of the familiar and to follow the call of the heart. This is why it’s ’the Heroic Journey’. This heroic journey has much to teach us about our own life journey. Joseph Campbell said – ‘I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.’

The heroic journey often leads the traveller into difficult and testing situations, but he/she returns from the journey a changed and more compassionate human being to share their gifts of wisdom and insight. The journey is also about the discovery of YOUR GIFT. The word in the Irish is DAN – which means both your poetry and your destiny – for your destiny is interlinked with the practice of your gift in this world. Because we are all individuals, no one can offer your gift to the world in exactly the same way as you can.

This workshop takes us on a personal journey and enables self exploration to uncover your giftedness and to hear ‘the call’ to the most exciting journey of your life – the Heroic Journey.

This workshop can be booked at any time throughout the year and is aimed at small groups of 4-12 people. The workshop is from 10a.m. to 1.00p.m. and is taught at Emain Macha/ The Navan Centre by the staff of The Centre for Celtic Spirituality.

If you would like to do this workshop, or would like more information, get in touch (details on the CONTACT page). If you submit your name and contact details then as soon as we have four or more people we will contact you again to arrange a date that suits everyone.

Cost: £15 per person. There is a coffee shop and restaurant on site where you can buy morning tea/coffee and lunch (refreshments not included).

The Journey (by Mary Oliver)

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice -

though the whole house began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognised as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do -

determined to save

the only life that you could save.

So the heroic journey of finding your own voice and your ‘DAN’ begins…………………

Join Dolores Whelan and Karen Ward on a walking pilgriamge from Brigid’s Holy Well in Faughart, County Louth, to her monastic city in Kildare town.

“As we walk let the wisdom of the majestic landscape and the inspiration of Brigid guide us to ponder on our life’s journey, to shed what no longer serves us, to dream of a bright and soulful future.”

The route of this 9 day pilgriamge walk will start at the annual Pattern Day on 7th July and continue from Dundalk on part of the ancient route through picturesque villages to Tara. The route will then follow along the Grand Canal to Maynooth and onto Kildare.

Cost: Facilitation £25 euors per day. B&B, pack lunch and dinner, approx £45-£65 Euros per day.

For full details of the route, accomodation and costs and/or to book – www.brigidsway.ie