Ellen Evert Hopman

Herbalist, Author, Druid Priestess

A Druid's Blog

August 2013, sliding into the dark

The summer has been especially wet here on the mountain. The raspberries are big and juicy and the flowers abundant as a result. There are huge clusters of elderberries, ready to be made into syrup and goldenrod flowers to be stripped and soaked in apple cider vinegar, for salad dressings all winter. I just cut back the summer growth on the nettles, in hopes of yet another harvest before the frost.
Due to the constant rain it has been a lush year for wild edibles, but we have also had a report of a local horse diagnosed with “Triple E”  which is a mosquito born illness that can be fatal to humans. I am working extra hard to dry up water sources, I removed the dishes from under the potted plants and overturned the bird bath.
A tribe of wild turkeys seems to have moved in permanently. They have a roost somewhere in the surrounding forest and bring their young to the lawn almost daily, looking for slugs and other delicacies. They also like to tear up tiny patches of lawn, while looking for insects and worms. Fortunately I do not live in the suburbs and so small bare patches of lawn are not a large concern.
My flower beds are being patrolled by “dragons”, huge dragonflies that sit on the clothesline, scouting for bugs. I love those fierce defenders of the garden!
Now is the time of Lammas or Lughnasad (August 1-15) when the gardens and fields begin to yield their harvests. A time of gratitude for all the riches the year has brought, and also the first hints of autumn. We are already sliding into the dark.
“An elder in my church knew a woman who was accustomed, in milking her cows, to offer libations to the fairies. The woman was later converted to Christ and gave up the practice, and as a result one of her cows was taken by the fairies. Then she revived the practice.” – W Evans-Wentz, the Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries
I always mention this when I give a talk on Fairy Lore as I did recently at the Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, New Hampshire. When I was in Ireland some years ago I visited a farm and saw the depression in the earth where for centuries farmers had made daily milk offerings. The first milk collected each day was always given to the Fairies. Around 1920 the church decided that this was too Pagan a practice and there was a campaign to stop these libations. Shortly thereafter a cow disease ravished the countryside.
Those of us who live in developed countries take our food supply for granted. We can always go to the grocery store for a bottle of milk or a loaf of bread these days, even at 2 AM. Back in the day it was so much harder. Fresh foods were available only in season and gratitude was felt when the oats, berries, and vegetables were finally ripe for the picking. Even the milk was seasonal, it dried up in winter and returned in spring , just before the mother sheep or cows were ready to give birth.
In these degenerate days we often forget to make our thanks offerings. A ceremony that I do here on the mountain, once a year, is called “washing the stones”. To make up for the lack of milk offerings each day, we pour out gallons of milk (with a little whiskey added in for the Spirits) upon the large stones in the natural stone circle behind the house. As I write this it is the time of Lughnasad, the First Fruits festival, and time to think about the next big milk offering for the Spirits of the sacred land.
Below you will find other harvest customs and a collection of the past Moonth’s archeology, nature, religion, herb, and ethics news. I hope you enjoy the harvest!
From SCOTTISH HERBS AND FAIRY LORE (Pendraig Publishing)

It is traditional to bake a bannock or cake at each of the Fire Festivals. At Oimelc , the cake is called a Bonnach Bríghde , in honor of Bride . At Bealltan, it is called a Bonnach Bealltan , at Lúnasdal, it is a Bonnach Lunastain and at Samhuinn, it is a Bonnach Samthain .
Several cakes are baked, and every clan member goes out to the fields, eating the cakes and tossing small bits over each shoulder, while invoking any malevolent Spirit or entity that could hurt the farm. A piece of bread is tossed out for the wolf that it might spare the lambs, and another piece for the fox that it spare the ducks and chickens. Other pieces are tossed to appease ravens, eagles, crows, and any other force of blight or disaster for the farm.

Here are some traditional recipes for festival breads and cakes. It is very easy to make your own fresh butter to go with these breads. Just place whole heavy cream (not low fat) in a jar with a tight lid, and shake vigorously for about twenty minutes.
Bannock Bread (Oatmeal Bannock)
225g (8 oz) fine oatmeal
55g (about 2 oz) plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 pint of buttermilk
Preheat your griddle. It is hot enough to cook on when our sprinkled
on it takes a few seconds to brown.
Put the oatmeal, our and salt into a large bowl and mix well.
Put the buttermilk into a small bowl, add the teaspoon of bicarbonate
of soda and mix briskly.
Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and bring together
into a so dough. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Work
quickly, as the bicarbonate of soda will be kicked into action by the
buttermilk.
Roll the mixture out on a lightly floured surface, to a depth of about ½
inch. Cut into a round (cut around a suitable size plate).
Dust the griddle with a small amount of flour, and put on the round of
dough to cook. Turn the bannock over when the underside starts to
brown. (It will be a large,flat oat cake).4
Another Lughnasad present for you all;
The Oak Trees of Ireland (video)

SOME REVIEWS

A person who works in prison ministry in the UK is purchasing my DVD Pagans – The Wheel of the Year and had this to say;
“The dvd arrived very promptly and all worked fine. I think it’s excellent, though I might have liked it to be longer! I have recommended it for use at the prison where I work primarily (HMP Parc), and also to the other chaplains of the Pagan Federation Prison Ministry (covering England and Wales). If you haven’t had any more orders from this part of the world as yet, I hope some will transpire.”
*You can order the DVD and my books from this website (all books are autographed) *
Johnny Depp’s THE LONE RANGER – my review
I went to see The Lone Ranger, mainly because I had heard that the Christian Right was panning the film due to its “Pagan content”. That made it almost required viewing for me. (See  also “Christians go on the attack against ‘Pagan’ Lone Ranger” ) Here is my review;
I have never been a fan of Westerns nor a romantic about outlaws and the Wild West, so this was more of an intellectual exercise, to see what the Religious Reich was so upset about.
Film critics have described the film as “a mess” most likely because of the choppy transitions between San Francisco of the 1930’s and late nineteenth century Texas. To the average White (non Native American) critic this back and forth could appear unnecessary and distracting. Why not have all the action take place in one era? But as someone who has spent time with First Nations elders I see things a bit differently.
The movie seems to be trying to move forward as a teaching tale from an elder, the now aged Tonto in the person of Johnny Depp. The fact that Depp’s character is ancient while addressing a young child dressed as the Lone Ranger seems a deliberate and necessary choice.
I was once privileged to sit in on a meeting between an old Inuit elder and a young warrior of her tribe. The warrior was complaining that he could not be at peace with White people, because of all they had done to his tribe. He told the elder that he hated Whites and did not know what to do about that.
The elder patiently explained things this way; she said Whites on the continent were like little babies and the First Nations were the grownups. That Whites made a lot of mistakes because they did not know how to live here. “What would you do if a two year old climbed in your lap and shit on you? Would you harm it?” she asked the young brave. He got the point.
Still, I can understand why the general public is not flocking to the film, despite Depp’s presence. The majority of us are sick of guns and shootings and the release of a “shoot ‘em up” Western seems ill timed because for most of us guns and gun slingers have lost their romantic appeal. Having sat through it, to me the film is essentially a black comedy about real American history.
I am continually urging younger co-workers and friends to read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States which I consider required reading for every American, so they can learn a different version of history than they were taught in school. For readers of that book this movie will seem like a tepid foray into the Truth about the Wild West. Yes, whole Indian villages; elders, women and children, were massacred by Whites. Yes, the army was corrupt (think of Custer). Yes, the robber barons of the railway corporations were greedy and they did exploit Chinese workers and break treaties with Native American sovereign Nations to steal their land. And yes, guns were used as “justice” in the absence of courts and lawyers. All this must come as a shock to those who think corporations are always benign, the army always just, and American history a continually inspiring example of progress.
But what is probably most upsetting to the Christian Right’s apple cart is the fact that Native American Tonto is portrayed as the smart one who has to help the blundering White Ranger out of many scrapes, all the while talking to a horse as his spiritual ally, and making offerings to a spirit crow that he wears as a magical talisman on his head (the crow is based on a painting Depp found while researching his character).
Spirit allies are a real aspect of shamanism and indigenous religions everywhere, which must come as a shock to those who are supposed to call upon only one spiritual ally; the Palestinian carpenter named “Jesus”.
I speak Spanish and it has always bothered me that the Lone Ranger’s Native sidekick was named “Tonto” which means “Stupid” in Spanish. This film says exactly the opposite which must be unsettling to many.
An intelligent review from another quarter.
I wrote this review for my friend Bill Pfeiffer’s new book;
Wild Earth – Wild Soul – a manual for an ecstatic culture
Bill Pfeiffer
Moon Books, 2013 ISBN 978-1-78099-187-0
This book is a great manual for teachers, facilitators and humans, to help overcome the sense of separateness from nature. The “separate self” is described as a psycho-spiritual illness that modern peoples are suffering from and we are presented with a step by step set of exercises and activities to overcome our nature deprivation.
We are taught how to re-enter Paleo-thought processes such as are still found in indigenous cultures; how to make offerings to the Spirits of Place and to say “thank you”, how to overcome sexism, to increase trust in our “tribe” and in the universe.
The nitty gritty of running a Wild Earth Intensive is covered; leadership techniques, meditation, artwork, nature immersion exercises, deep exploration of the elements and deep observation of the land.
The book shows how to use stories to praise ones self and others, and to pass along talents and skills. There are guides to doing Earth based ceremonies, shamanic journeys and sweat lodges (I urge the reader to first experience these with a live teacher, especially sweat lodges which should only be done with a genuine Native American elder – we have seen how James Arthur Ray basically cooked his workshop participants to death in a plastic covered sweat lodge due to ignorance).
The book emphasizes that the teachings should be given with humor and play. It’s a great little manual for those who seek to mentor themselves and others into the art of being more fully human.

UPCOMING EVENTS!

  • CWPN’s Harvest Gathering 2013
    Seeds of Renewal
    August 15, 2013 to August 18, 2013
    Camp Cedarcrest, 886 Mapledale Rd., Orange, CT
    I will speak on Kitchen Medicines, Celtic Gods and Goddesses, Celtic Cosmology and Druidism.
  • WESTERN MA PAGAN PRIDE DAY
    September 28, Florence, Massachusetts
    Florence Community Center – all day
    I will present a slide show and lecture on the Medicinal Plants of New England
  • CHANGING TIMES CHANGING WORLDS
    Nov 8-9, Crown Plaza Cromwell
    (near Hartford, CT)
    Changing Times-Changing Worlds is a metaphysical conference for New England. People from all sorts of perspectives: scientific and magical, spiritual and practical and curious get together to share their knowledge and skills so that we can build on each others work, and further the acceptance that humans interact with energy as well as matter. We dowse, we see ghosts, we heal, we divine, we experiment and find what works. Psychic abilities are useless if only used as party games, let’s learn how to make them practical. Let’s dispel the myths that make them seem “spooky”! It’s time to make the world a better place and stop denying the talents we have.
    Changing Times-Changing Worlds Conference will be held in Cromwell, Connecticut November 8-10, 2013. Three days from 10 am to 11 pm, dozens of speakers, over a hundred hours of programming.
    I will be speaking on communicating with trees.
  • HERBAL HEALING INTENSIVE
    If you live in Western Massachusetts or nearby and are interested in my yearly six month Herbal Healing intensive please message me. We meet two Saturdays a month, October 19 to April 2014. MA nurses can get CEUs and a certificate is awarded to those who complete the program. Covers Western herbal Materia Medica, formula making, case taking, Chinese Five Element Theory, Homeopathic First Aid, Flower Essence Counseling, plant identification, ethno botany, and hands on herbal techniques such as poultices, tinctures, salves etc. An herb walk outdoors, slide shows of plants and hands on preparations are included.

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

 CELTIC HISTORY

ANTHROPOLOGY NEWS

 LANGUAGE NEWS

 RELIGION NEWS

DRUID NEWS

HERB NEWS

HEALTH NEWS

NEWS YOU CAN USE

POLITICS/ETHICS

NATURE NEWS

 

Rain and Fire, the new normal?

Summer is upon us here on the mountain, with evidence of climate change all around. We in New England have had rain every day for weeks and the weather channel reports that there will be rain for the next week as well. Meanwhile the south west is baking in record heat. Nineteen (nineteen!) firefighters died yesterday in just one Arizona fire. The evidence for climate change is everywhere yet the right wing still denies it. In North Carolina for example, legislators are forbidden to use scientific predictions for coastal sea water rise in their planning.
In a related vein, while the Supreme Court has finally dealt a death blow to the Defense of Marriage Act, right wingers cry foul, insisting that marriage as God intended it, can only be between one man and one woman. Oddly, the Bible that they base this on is rife with polygamy, slavery, the death penalty for adultery, and patriarchs having sex with their daughters. Jesus said nothing about “one man and one woman”, nor did he bash homosexuals.
Back in February I read about the Witch persecutions in New Guinea and elsewhere and I thought that this would be something the Pagan community should protest. I appealed to a number of “Pagan leader” groups and penned a letter to Elizabeth Warren, my Senator, and urged them to do the same with their own Senators. A handful of Pagans co-signed my letter and I sent it off to Senator Warren.
After placing a few follow up phone calls with her human rights aide I finally got a response;

Dear Ellen,

Thank you for contacting me to express your concern about the recent and horrible acts of violence against women in Papua New Guinea. I was shocked and saddened to learn of the killing of Kepari Leniata in February. As you know, the 20-year-old was tortured and burned alive, all while hundreds of people watched and blocked local officials from reaching her. Any culture or legal system that condones such gross abuses of human rights needs to be closely examined and changes must be made.

I support the efforts of the United Nations to encourage Papua New Guinea to take a strong stance in opposition to the increasing violence against people accused of sorcery and to repeal the 1971 Sorcery Law that institutionalized discrimination and helped fuel a culture of fear. I understand that the prime minister of Papua New Guinea has plans to repeal the law, and I hope that this action will put an end to the persecution and violence occurring in the country.

I appreciate your advocacy on this issue. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and look for ways to continue to promote human rights worldwide.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Warren
United States Senator

A few months later I got the word that the sorcery law was repealed.
While I can’t claim credit for this, the timing is interesting. I often hear people decrying the do-nothing congress and saying there is nothing we as citizens can accomplish. I continually urge them to write and phone their representatives. Politicians want to be re-elected and each time they hear from one of us they assume ten to one hundred feel the same way. It quickly adds up when we make our voices heard!
Another example of this is the climate change speech that Obama finally gave  which I suspect was given in part due to the outcry from Americans over the ill conceived Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline. We all know that the time for investing in fossil fuels is long past, even the weather channel has confirmed global warming.  The time, energy and money that would go into building this ecologically dangerous pipeline (see
“Every tree and plant died” Canada oil pipeline spill) would be better invested in sun, wind, solar, bio-mass, geo-thermal and conservation measures. Investing in fossil fuels will only hasten the destruction of life as we have come to know it.
In religion news, at Solstice there were the usual revels at Stonehenge with the attendant problems of drunkenness and rowdy behavior. Why anyone would want to piss on one of the most important Pagan temples in the world is a mystery to me. There is an obvious need for a park nearby to be set aside for the revelers and their booze. Druids and other serious sun worshippers should be able to observe the Solstices in reverence and peace.
Meanwhile scholars have posted yet another theory about what Stonehenge was designed to do.
June is always the most dangerous month up here on the mountain, probably because the local wildlife (coyotes, coy-dogs, wolves, coy-wolves, fisher cats, bears, owls, eagles, etc.) have young to feed. Over the years I have lost a beloved cat as have neighbors on both sides, always in June. A few weeks ago I found a disemboweled poodle in the woods next to the drive way, I was alerted by the sight of two huge Turkey Vultures sitting on a limb, something I had never seen before. I had a very prosperous looking black bear in the yard a week ago, while one of the cats was out there. The cat climbed a tree to escape.
Even the skunks are being persecuted. Last night I woke up at 2 AM with the scent of skunk wafting into my bedroom window!
The only good thing about the rain is that I have masses of roses this year and my Easter Lillies are over six feet tall, something that has never happened. The frogs and mosquitoes are ecstatic.
Here is a belated Solstice gift for you all; A poem by Yeats set to music by The Waterboys.

Below you will find the latest book and podcast news, as well as the usual recap of the past Moonth’s archeology, religion and nature news. If you purchase a book or DVD from this website you will get a signed copy and a personal note!

Interviews and Reviews

  • A podcast I did with Phaedra Bonewits on June 5
  • A really nice letter regarding the DVD “Pagans – The Wheel of the Sacred Year” (available for purchase on this site)

    I came across your production of Pagans, Wheel of the Sacred Year, yesterday, just by chance. I had taken this vhs out of a local library back in 2003, in south Florida, and was very happy to see it. I had just recently began studying Paganism, and this put every thing I read in perfect vision for me, this was my path ever since I was a young child growing up in rural New England and then moving to Florida, as a young child, I still was a student of nature and the seasons. For many years after the first viewing of this beautiful explanation of Paganism I wanted to see it again, but failed to remember the title of the video. I told many people of it and went back to the libraries, but as times passes so do the products. I love to Google photos and yesterday, just by magic, I googled Pagan videos, and as I came across a snippet of your story, I watched the first sabbat, Yule, and I knew I found it after all these years, this got me so excited, I did more research and found out who did it. I can’t tell you how happy I am , to know be able to have this for my own, Thank You, again for this beautiful portrayal of us Pagans, many people do not understand what this belief is all about, maybe now I can change this thought. Bless you, keep making videos for all of us to see, you have a great website, with lots of informative and engaging information.
    Most Sincerely, Diane Gardner of Hollywood Florida

    See a short clip from the DVD here. The whole thing is about 70 minutes and covers all the festivals of the Earth year, as celebrated by many different traditions.

Upcoming Workshops

  • I will be speaking on Scottish Fairy Lore July 13 at 7 PM in NH!
    And on Ancient Irish Sacred Sites on July 27, at 7:30 PM
    Press Contact: Mose Olenik
    Mariposa Museum & World Culture Center
    26 Main Street
    Peterborough, NH 03458
    603-924-4555
  • Celtic Tree Magic and Chant workshop
    Come to lovely New England in the Fall and learn Celtic tree lore, Scots Gaelic and Irish prayers and chants. September 20-22 in Western Massachusetts (at Earthlands).
    Please share the flier if you can!
    Come for the Fall foliage. Six vegetarian meals, lodging provided (airport pick ups for those who need them).

Archeology News

 Religion News

Druid News

News of Witches

Health News

Herb News

Nature News

Politics/Ethics

Arts News

News You Can Use

Is having access to this material worth a few dollars, punts, pounds, or euros to you? Click the button below to make a fast and secure donation to Ellen Evert Hopman so she can keep writing! Or you can suggest to your local Occult/New Age bookstore or festival that they bring Ellen there to give a talk.
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Tornado season and the fight to save the world's food supply – June 2013

“A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.”
~ Albert Einstein.

This Moonth started out as a freezing cold May and ended up with record breaking heat. The storm clouds are gathering once again as I type, the mid-west has been hit by record breaking storms and tornadoes, and elsewhere the historic drought continues.
I sometimes wonder if Nature is mirroring the intense cultural divisions in this country. Everyone feels storm clouds brewing and the gun nuts are calling for armed revolution. Meanwhile the whole world is waking up to the fact that the monster Monsanto is threatening us all. This past Moonth saw world-wide protests against inadequately understood and tested GMO (Monsanto Round-up ready crops) foods.
Japan and other countries are refusing the buy US wheat because of cross contamination with non FDA approved GMO strains (Monsanto again). American farmers will see their livelihoods suffer and the American consumer will likely be force fed the GMO crops because no other country will buy them. Meanwhile Monsanto has lobbied to make sure that unlike in other countries, US foods will not get GMO labeling. We will never know what we are eating.
But there is some hope – Mother Nature is fighting back and some bees and crops have begun to show resistance to Monsanto’s ugly creations.
Now is the time to focus on buying certified organic foods and to grow your own organic produce. Also take a moment to write to Obama and demand GMO labeling in the US foods. Ask him to not reauthorize the Monsanto Protection Act, temporary legislation that was recently sneaked into law, to protect Monsanto should it be shown that their foods cause illness  You can write to Obama about this here.
Those of us who follow the path of Nature Spirituality should take action on these matters. Its not enough to wear the symbols of a Nature Religion (Druidism, Witchcraft, Wicca, Asatru, etc.) and claim to honor the Nature Spirits. We all need to “walk our talk” and actually do something to protect the Earth and her creatures.

*** Upcoming Workshop Announcements ***

  • Mutton and Mead Ren Faire – I will have an author table at this great event. Would love to see you there!
    210 Turners Falls Road, Montague, MA 01351, USA
    From June 22 to June 23
  • Celtic Tree Magic Workshop
    With Master Herbalist and author Ellen Evert Hopman
    And Celtic Bard Crystalline Ruby Muse
    I and my friend Crystalline Ruby Muse, an outstanding Celtic Bard, have created a weekend workshop that will take place this Fall at Earthlands Institute for Environmental Awareness September 20-22, in Western Massachusetts. The workshop is timed for the start of the Fall foliage season, with six vegetarian meals and lodging provided (and airport pickups for those who need them). Folks are registering already, a deposit will hold your space. Find the flier by opening the link hereand please share widely!
    Workshop Overview
    The ancient Druids of Ireland used the Ogham Tree Alphabet to share coded messages hidden from outsiders. Each letter is named for a tree or plant, and is surrounded with medicinal and spiritual lore. For centuries this language was only transmitted orally in order to protect its secrets.Using the Auraicept na n-Éces, a 7th century work of Irish scholars, as well as other traditional sources, we will reveal the meaning of this language. We will teach the poetic, spiritual, medicinal and divinatory meanings of these Celtic trees, all of which can be found in North America, in a context useful for modern seekers. We will venture outdoors where we will lead participants in connecting with the trees through meditation, observation, singing and dancing amongst them. Participants will make wands for individual use using the Ogham divinatory meanings as a guide.We will teach traditional and modern songs and incantations in Irish, Scots Gaelic, and English to deepen the cultural and spiritual context of our work together. The entire course will be interwoven with ceremony created through Celtic Reconstructionist scholarship, offering participants insight into original Celtic polytheistic spiritual practices.Students will leave with homemade wands and experience in using them; knowledge for using the Oghamas a divinatory tool; deeper awareness of and connection with ancient and extant Celtic culture; some understanding of how to use these trees as medicine; traditional and original songs to sing in Gaelic and English; insight into ritual in a uniquely Celtic context that they can continue to develop in their own spiritual practice; and a greater sense of connection to the spiritual realms as expressed through nature, song, and community ceremony.This workshop is appropriate for people who are completely new to the Ogham and Celtic Reconstructionist ceremony, as well as people who have some experience but would like to expand their knowledge and skills. It will be roughly one-third lecture, two-thirds participatory experience, which will include space for a question-and-answer format in which to cover the students’ preferred material.
    For information on costs, more about the presenters, and the location of the workshop (in Petersham, MA at the beautiful Earthlands Institute for Environmental Awareness) follow this link.

**** If you purchase a book from this website you will get a signed copy and a personal note from the author! ****

Here are this Moonth’s gleanings from the media for your reading pleasure;

Health News

Druid News

 Celtic News

  • Images of Celtic women
  • I wanted to pass on an announcement for this upcoming camp, held in an incredible hobbit-village of a rural Welsh site, because I’ve been told it’s basically full, but they may be able to squeeze in two or three more, so if you feel the call, if you might be interested, best jump on it *right away* More info and registration materials can be found here.
    DRAGONRISE CAMP 2013: CATCHING THE TALE, TRANSFORMING THE WORLDS
    Come awaken to the living stories that are within and all around us, just waiting to be heard!
    In the company of Brigid and Lugh, come catch and share the stories that ignite the sacred spark of inspiration and self-knowledge. Paths are:
    The Triad of Manifestation – Will, Intent and Desire (adult-only) and The Art of Ritual (all-ages)
  • A nice article about Celtic Goddesses

 Archeology News

Nature News

 

Religion News

Politics/Ethics

Herb News

Arts News

Language News

  • Learn Scottish Gaelic
    More…
  • Irish language, music, dance, festival in Ontario
    TEACHTAIREACHT DÁTHEANGACH / GAEILGE THÍOS OIREACHTAS GAEILGE CHEANADA
    NORTH AMERICA’S PREMIER IRISH GAELIC FESTIVAL
    Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada is the only festival outside of Ireland featuring the performing arts of the Gaeltacht, and conducted through the medium of the Irish Language.
    Dates: Friday 28 – Sunday 30 June 2013
    Location: The North American Gaeltacht, Tamworth/Erinsville Ontario
  • PLEASE ADOPT A BLACK CAT (VIDEO)

 Summer blessings on everyone who reads these words!

Beltaine (May Day) 2013

Beltaine Blessings All!

It’s the first of May as I write this blog. Those who have read my Druid herbals and Celtic novels know that I usually focus on Irish and Scottish lore in my writings. This time I looked into Welsh customs, because they are less familiar to me.
In Wales the festival is called Calan Mai or Calan Haf. The eve of or night before Calan Mai is called Nos Galan Mai. It is a Ysbrydnos which means “Spirit night”. This is logical because in the same way that Calan Mai is a portal to the light season of summer, Calan Gaeaf (Samhain, Halloween)is the portal to the dark season of winter.
On Nos Galan Mai or May Eve it is traditional to cut draenen wen (hawthorn) branches to decorate the outside of the house. (I happen to know that it is considered very bad luck to bring hawthorn INTO the house because mischievous fairies might come in with it!)
Retribution is taken by jilted male lovers who make a straw man to represent their woman’s new lover and leave it near the woman’s house with a (no doubt insulting) note pinned to it.
Mock battles are enacted between a man who plays winter and carries a draenen ddu or blackthorn stick and a shield decorated with wool made to look like snow. Another man plays summer. The second man carries a wand of willow and wears flower garlands and ribbons. The man who champions winter throws straw and dead brush at the man championing summer. Summer fights back by throwing birch and willow branches and fern leaves. Summer wins, of course. Afterwards a May king and queen are crowned and feasting, dancing, drinking and games continue until dawn.
Villagers gather for a twmpath chwarae (tump for playing) on the village green on top of a hill. They dance and play sports while a fiddler or harpist sits on a mound and plays. Oak branches are used to decorate the mound and villagers dance a circle dance around it.
Welsh May Day festivals feature summer dancing or dawnsio haf and carolau Mai or May carols. These songs have a sexual tone. Singers and a fiddler or harpist visit families on May morning to greet the season and if they are thought worthy the family rewards them with food, drink and coin.
Metheglin or mead made with sweet woodruff and other herbs is drunk as are elderberry and rhubarb wines and beers.
Here is a Welsh tune for Calan Mai or Calan Haf, found on YouTube

A traditional practice from Ireland for your May Day observance

Beltaine (May Day) Tree Lore
Its not officially Beltaine until the Hawthorns bloom, because that’s when you know its warm enough to send the cows back up to the hills.

Hawthorn, May Tree, Whitethorn
Parts used: flowers, leaves, and fruits
Gaelic: sgiach, sgitheach
Latin: Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus oxyacantha
Steep the flower buds and young leaves to make a tea for sore throats. Tincture the flowers and leaves in early spring or the red berries in the fall to make a heart tonic that will help to balance blood pressure.
Caution: this herb lowers blood pressure over time.
The berries can also be simmered to make a sore throat tea.
Flower tea: steep 2 tsp. buds per 1 cup of water, take up to 1 ½ cups a day in ¼ cup doses. Berry tea: simmer 1 tsp. crushed berries per ½ cup water for about 20 minutes. Take up to 1 ½ cups a day in ¼ cup doses.
Lore: the totem plant of the Ogilvies. Where oak and ash and thorn grow together one is likely to see Fairies. (excerpt from my book Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore, Pendraig Publishing)
Purchase a signed copy from this website!

More on Hawthorn, the May Day Tree.
Excerpt from my book A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine, on Beltaine;

“Fire in the Water—Energizing the Sacred Well
Wells were said to have special potency at dawn on Beltaine when the sunlight first hit the water. It is as if the fire entering the water activated the magical potency of the well. The many holy wells dedicated to Brighid are probably further evidence of this idea. Brighid is a Fire Goddess (later transformed into Saint Brighid) and Her presence at a well provides the necessary magical mix of fire within water.
The dew on the grass on Beltaine morning, gathered just as the first rays of the sun hit, was said to have special properties too. Young girls would customarily rise before dawn to bathe their faces in the dew to make them fair. May dew could be bottled for later use throughout the year.”

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Personal Stuff

The other news around here is that my mother passed away April 9 and I am still transitioning into my new status as “child of the universe”. I have no parents now and for the first time I really feel like an adult.
In the garden the daffodils are up and because I stopped feeding the birds months ago, I have had no bear attacks on the empty feeders. This morning three eagles flew over the house and I was reminded of the old rhyme usually associated with magpies; “One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding…”. Beltaine is certainly the time for mating – birds are loudly claiming their territories, bees are busily visiting flowers, and cats, foxes, coyotes, eagles and all manner of critters are gestating or giving birth. The sap is rising and a strong sun appears each morning. Life goes on!
Book News

  • A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine gets a nice review on Amazon.co.uk

    ‘A book to return to often . . .’
    ‘A Druids Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine’ is a fascinating explanation of and practical guide to the world of Forest Druids. The first part of the book concentrates on the Ogham Tree Alphabet, highlighting… in particular the herbal uses and spiritual aspects associated with each tree. The second part concentrates on the Druidic Arts. I particularly appreciated the sections on the Celtic fire festivals, and on the Divinatory meanings of the individual trees in the Ogham Tree Alphabet, where the authors focus in on the main character and the intrinsic nature of each of the trees. I would expect to use this informative book as a source of reference for many years to come.’
    Alan Crawford, author of ‘Whispering woods – tales from the Caledonian Forest’

  • The ring that inspired Tolkien
  • The Druid Isle gets a nice review on Amazon.co.uk

    “I love the way EEH uses the stories of her novels to get her teaching message across. Just the same way as the Druids of old passed on their wisdoms to their novices. The difference is that nowadays we write things down – which produces wonderful novels like these, to open our minds and hearts, again.
    I really enjoyed this story, more so maybe than the first one (Priestess of the Forest) where I struggled a bit with titles and names of the characters. Felt much more comfortable this time, and took in the wisdoms without obvious struggle. EEH also provides a good picture of daily life back then, so one way or another, a reader learns something and enjoys it too. In short – that’s the best kind of novel.”

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April 2013

Its early April as I write this but you would hardly know it. This morning I woke to snow showers and there is still a mound of muddy snow piled at the end of the driveway. Despite the cold I went foraging yesterday, the day after the first brave crocuses opened their faces to the sun.
I have read that this time of year was the “starving time” for northern cultures because there is so little greenery available. But I was pleased to find an embarrassment of riches on my hike into the forest. All around the property there are beds of edible Day Lilies  with their potato like roots that can be boiled, sautéed or eaten raw. The pale green new shoots are perfect in salads or as a pot herb.
There are River Birch trees and Maples, useful for their sap and the River Birch twigs make a fabulous tea especially when added to Sassafras roots which I also have around the house  (I only make birch and sassafras beer once a year because overuse can be dangerous).
White Pine needles and twigs are available all winter to make vitamin C rich teas and there is a Grandmother Cedar down the road in a neighbor’s yard  which the Algonquin consider a cure-all for every affliction. Deeper into the woods, down by the stream, the skunk cabbage is poking up its red capped head. The roots are available now to tincture for asthma, but it will be a few weeks before the young leaves appear. They are actually quite delicious if you boil twice (and pour off the first water) and add butter, salt and pepper. I am still waiting for the first nettles to appear, so delicious when cooked as a green or sautéed with eggs and wild ramp leaves.
Many of us are faced with “food insecurity” these days. It isn’t supposed to be that way, Great Nature is always trying to feed us, clothe us, and give us medicine. If we only have the eyes to see it!

THE PRAYER OF THE WOODS

I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights,
the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun,
and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.
I am the beam that holds your house,
the board of your table, the bed on which you lie,
and the timber that builds your boat.
I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead,
the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.
I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.
Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.

(traditional, Portuguese)

That’s what’s happening up here on the mountain. In the wider world outside there has been much rejoicing over the new Pope Francis. I am a huge fan of Saint Francis, “Il Poverello” (the little poor one) who spoke to the birds and the wolves and understood that the water, fire, sun and moon were sacred. One can only hope that the new Francis will follow suit, leading his billion or so strong flock in a renewed love of the Earth and Her creatures. But the status of women as second class citizens in the church continues and the history of abuse of children still lingers as a foul stench. Sadly, I doubt that the old white men of the curia will do much to even the playing field for women and children.
But Spring is definitely here, with hope and sap rising! May your Spring be joyful and fulfilled!
Below you will find this Moonth’s gleanings from the media and an assortment of workshops where I will be speaking.

  • HANDS ON HERBALISM CLASS
    April 7, 2013 in Easthampton, MA
  • A CELTIC TREE MAGIC AND CHANT WORKSHOP
    September, 2013
    Come to lovely New England in the fall and learn Celtic tree magic and lore, Gaelic chants and prayers
  • HERBAL HEALING CLASS With Ellen Evert Hopman M.Ed. ~ Registered Herbalist AHG
    October 12, 2013 – April, 2014, two Saturdays a month, 1-5 PM near Amherst, MA
    COST: $1,000.00 (includes a $100.00 non-refundable Xeroxing fee) A six month intensive that covers Western herbal Materia Medica, formula making, case taking, Chinese Five Element Theory, Homeopathic First Aid, Flower Essence Counseling, plant identification, ethno botany, and hands on herbal techniques such as poultices, tinctures, salves etc. An herb walk outdoors, slide shows of plants and hands on preparations are included.
    Over 400 pages of handouts are included with the course. A certificate of completion is offered at the end.
    MA NURSES CAN GET CEUS BY TAKING THIS COURSE

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  • Gaeltacht Gathering Tour 2013
    20 Oct – 2 Nov 2013
    Chance of a Lifetime! Visit Ireland’s Irish speaking communities in the company of other Irish speakers and learners from North America
    Cost: $1700 (excluding flight)
    Deposit Deadline: 17 March 2013

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