A Fire in the Head: Poetry as the Celtic Technology of Trance
The filidh of Ireland lay in darkness with a stone on the belly to compose. What did the seer-poets know about altered states, and how can the practitioner use it today?
Read the essay
Journal
The Journal
Essays on the fire in the head, the three realms, the thinning veil and the well at the world’s edge.
Essays and teachings from the circle, written for both the newcomer and the long-time practitioner. Each takes one thread of the tradition, follows it into the sources, and ends with something to do. New essays arrive with the letter at each turning of the wheel.
Land, Sea and Sky: Mapping the Three Realms onto the Shamanic Three Worlds
Core shamanism travels up and down a world tree. The Celts swore by land, sea and sky. The two maps overlap, but not perfectly, and the gaps are where the Celtic path becomes its own.
Read the essay
Samhain and the Thinning of the Veil: Honouring the Ancestors at the Turn of the Year
Nera walked out of Cruachan on Samhain night and returned a year later with a bundle of summer fruit. A guide to the great festival of the dead, its stories, its customs and its ceremony.
Read the essay
The Well at the World’s Edge: Hazel, Salmon and the Source of Wisdom
Nine hazels drop their nuts into the Well of Segais and the salmon grow wise on them. Why the holy well is the most Celtic of all doorways to the Otherworld, and how to approach one.
Read the essayWrite for the Journal
We welcome essays from members on practice, the sources, a place or a tale. Pieces are edited for accuracy and clarity, credited to the author, and never behind a paywall. Send us an outline.