March 2024
This feed provides some excerpts of my creative work for my community in March 2024.
Story of Fedelm the Prophetess
A Chairde, Friends,
Today, I share my first Imbas Dispatch monthly newsletter. Imbas is an Old Irish word for poetic inspiration. It was also a ritual, Imbas forosnai, meaning ‘knowledge that illuminates’ practised by our ancestors the ancient filí of Ireland, the poet-seers. A poet-seer would journey into the Celtic Otherworld, deep into the realm of the Unconscious and remain there until the fire in their head was ignited with the wisdom they sought.
Like the filí, I’d love to put a sign on my office door, “Do not disturb. In the Otherworld. Make your own dinner. I could be back in three minutes or three days, who knows”, to curb the interruptions of daily family life. Yet, in a moment of undisturbed imbas a few months ago, I did have an otherworldly visitor fan the flame in my head, her name is Fedelm. She appears in Irish mythology as the poet-seer of the kingdom of Connacht in the west of Ireland. Through active imagination, dropping Fedelm’s stories into my body, and her visiting my dreams, I was able to co-create this retelling with her, ‘Fedelm The Prophetess’.1
I recently shared this as a visual story in the wonderful Trailblazery’s Hedge School, I include some of the images below. As we approach International Women’s Day, it feels pertinent to honour Fedelm as a Creative Ancestor.
The Druids: Bringing in the Mistletoe by Hornel and Henry
2. Your Enchanted Dwelling
Hello, lovely Celtic Creatives,
Today I share an audio practice for your Celtic Creatives Toolkit that will guide you on an imaginal journey to discover your ‘Enchanted Dwelling’. This is an otherworldly dwelling from where you can engage in your creative work or craft. I have used this technique with many clients (and daily myself) to cultivate a deeper connection with the co-creative energies of the Otherworld that can inspire and enable our soulful work.
It is inspired by a childhood memory of when I was 8 years old and armed with twigs and my imagination, I tried to build a fairytale home in the park across from my house in a working-class north Dublin suburb. What we dream as children, those seemingly lost memories, often knock on our creative door years later (something we can explore more of here in time).
Like Virginia Woolf and Maya Angelou who advocated for a room of one’s own, here you will discover an enchanted dwelling of your own.
Wolf Maiden by Pantovola
3.Goddesses Who Create
Morning lovelies,
As we travel through the Gaelic season of Imbolc towards its apex at the Spring Equinox this week, we pass along the festivities of Goddess and Matron Saint of Ireland, Brigid. This is followed by the feast of St. Gobnait who like a sister saint of Brigid is also a pre-Christian goddess, into yesterday’s celebrations of St. Patrick followed by drumroll… today and Sheelagh!
Sheela na Gig by Thomas Sheridan
When I did my degree in Medieval Irish & Celtic Studies albeit 20 years ago now, it felt like an inordinate amount of time was given to studying the hagiographies of Patrick. This persistent imbalance has gifted him synonymity with Irish culture, particularly over the last century since St. Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday. The introduction in 2023 of a new national holiday in honour of Brigid - a goddess and saint nonetheless - has felt like a rousing redemption of the feminine and a sign of rebalance in a changing Ireland.
One curious act attributed to St. Patrick by the 9th-century Bishop-King, Cormac mac Cuilennáin, is that he banned the practice of imbas forosnai, “knowledge” or “wisdom that illuminates”.1 Imbas can describe both spontaneous divine inspiration, and a ritual practice of the filí, the poet-seers of ancient Ireland. According to Cormac, it was not Patrick’s bag, if you dared to practice it, you could be tossed out of heaven and earth.
Me with the Ballyvourney Sheela who is in the old St. Gobnait’s Church
4. Co-Working with the Creative Otherworld
What is Co-Working with the Creative Otherworld?
When I’m in creation mode, I always set the intention to work in a co-creative spirit with the Otherworld, what I’ve called here, the Creative Otherworld. Some of the reasons I do this, include,
Creative Ancestors: I love to feel the ancestors around me as I create, and often I’ll infuse their energy into my creations. A simple example of this is the recent story I shared of Fedelm the Prophetess. I created this story by inviting Fedelm to speak through me i.e. I engaged in an active imagination with her archetypal image and the myths she originates from. There are many ways to do this regardless of what we’re working on. For me, working in this way helps me to foster a sense of belonging to my creative heritage and builds trust in my creative process.
Imaginal World: The imaginal is a living space, a bridge within our psyche that offers us a way to relate to the Collective Unconscious (where the Otherworld emerges from along with the land). When I drop into this space, it allows for a depth of creativity that includes the conscious ego but moves beyond it.
The Body: The body is a beautiful ally who is often neglected on the creative journey. Sometimes when I’m creating, I forget that I even have a body, despite my body being my vessel for creation. I type these words with fingers belonging to hands, belonging to arms, belonging to a torso, belonging to a body. Dropping into the body allows us to access a subterranean cave of creative treasures. The body speaks the same language as mythology and dreams—and the Unconscious from which they emerge—through image and symbol. As James Hillman said, “Our dreams are prior to our thinking”, image comes before thought. Psyche/Soul and Soma/Body are twin flames.
Art by Valerie Hammond
5. Brigid, Goddess & Matron Saint
Hello lovelies,
For our first Creative Ancestor Profile, it is Brigid who has come forth. We are still in her time, the season on Imbolg or Imbolc, which means “in the belly” in Old Irish and is thought to refer to the pregnancy of ewes during this time. A season of fertile possibilities.
I opened the space to write by lighting Brigid’s candle and inviting guidance from Brigid herself through the gorgeous Brigid: Celtic Goddess & Matron Saint of Ireland oracle by Dr. Karen Ward and Bernie Sexton of Moon Mná. The card I pulled for you reading these words, for our community is:
Midwife - Emergence
You are fertile with new, exciting ideas. Some aspect of your life is stuck and needs to be released. Time to be reborn! You are ready to emerge from your chrysalis.
Brigid is one of the most well-known of the Celtic goddesses with Indo-European roots. She goes by many names like Bríd (“Breej”) in Ireland, Bride in Scotland, Brigantia in Britain, and even has nicknames in Ireland like Biddy or Bridie she is so ingrained in folk memory. Her name means “High One” or “Exalted One”.
Creative Ancestor
There is much to say about Brigid, many books have been written about her in both her goddess and saintly forms. Today, I will write intuitively and focus on her as a Creative Ancestor. The reason I use the term Creative Ancestor is because I believe that when we invite our ancestors into our creativity, we radically enhance our well-being as this supports two fundamental human needs; the need to belong and the need to create.
