In The Mood For Celtic Holiday Music

Celebrating a Celtic Christmas with Music

Dylan Thomas A Child's Christmas

Begin with listening to a recording of The Thistle and Shamrock: Nollaig. Enjoy this holiday soundtrack from NPR. Enter the spirit of a traditional Scottish, Irish and Welsh Yuletide with special guest Cerys Matthews, Eileen Ivers and Anuna joining Fiona Richie. Hear Matthews read from her album A Child's Christmas. Click on the image to buy the CD.  Click Here to listen to the NPR program.

The carol "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" belongs to the Advent Season since it celebrates the expectation of Christ's coming rather than His actual birth. Celtic Advent is always Nov. 15-Dec. 24 Observance begins at Sunset on Nov. 14 and ends on December 24th at sundown, the beginning of Christmas Eve. Enjoy this video:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
by Enya 

 

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An Irish Christmas by Moya Brennan

An Irish Christmas  by Moya Brennan  I just recently discovered this album by way of Pandora. If you like the Christmas Classics, you may like this album. Listen to clips of this album on Amazon and purchase it if you like it. Click the image to check it out.  

What reminds us of Christmas tradition more than a yule log burning in the hearth. This video includes two dogs sitting in front of the glowing holiday fire, periodically moving in and out of shot. The crackling of the log fire will be sure to get you excited for the festivities of Christmas.  

    An Irish Christmas Blessing For You Click Here If you want to learn more about Celtic Christmas Click Here     Want to know about Christmas in Wales Click Here 

Edited 5/1/17

A Video For Mom

An art project with a Mother's Day message using PostIt notes!
Here's a cool video for Mother's Day!



"Such a cool project. apparently they were not quite finished and somebody asked if the Post Its were for writing on. From then on people kept streamin up to write messages of love for their Mums. As yet another testament to why I love Kiwis, this was up all weekend and nobody vandalized it at all." ~~Shanti, Shanti

Click here for photo

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day 2010

edited 5/9/17

Celebrating Winter Solstice In The Year 2012

On December 21 share with me the rebirth from darkness into light as our annual cycle of life begins again in the Northern Hemisphere.

Winter Solstice has always been one of my favorite days of the year. One reason is all the holiday celebrating, decorations and focus on giving. The other reason is I know that from this day, the light begins to return, the days begin to get longer instead of shorter and I know that spring will come.

This year people seem to be paying a lot more attention than usual to this pivotal day because of all the media attention with "end of the world" predictions. Truth be told, the world we knew began "ending" in 2001. Is any part of your life the same as it was before 9/11? We have been moving into the new world for 10 years.



The following information is a good explanation of what I believe is happening around this Solstice without the hype of many other things I've read or heard. I would love to hear what you think about this info.

"All prophecy is fluid and changeable. The future is not set in stone. The reason is simple. We create our own reality through our collective thinking otherwise known as the mass consciousness. What a prophet "sees" is one of the probable outcomes of our future. If we don't like what the prophet has to say, we have the power to change it.

Cosmic cycles are nothing new to our ancestors. They are a part of the lore and history of many ancient civilizations. The Mayans studied them with a passion, and they served as the foundation of their sky religion. Even Plato was aware of the most important cycle for our planet occurring every 25,920 years, which he and others called the Great Year.

Today we find ourselves at the end of the 2160-year Age of Pisces, the beginning of Aquarius, the close of the Mesoamerican fifth world, the ending of the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) of the Hindus, and the extreme end of the Great Year."

source: fromthestars.com



And then this from Griffith Observatory

"Some have claimed an alignment of planets occurs on winter solstice, 2012, and will cause a catastrophic reversal of the earth's magnetic field. There is no such planetary alignment on winter solstice, 2012, and even if all the planets did align in this fashion, it would not cause such a reversal of the Earth's magnetic field. There have been numerous planetary alignments and they have had no effect on the Earth."

Click these links if you want more info about
the Winter Solstice
or Celebrating A Celtic Christmas

Check out this Solstice poem and photo

Tell me how you celebrate the Solstice.

Celebrating A Celtic Christmas

c pts images

An Irish Christmas Blessing

The light of the Christmas star to you
The warmth of home and hearth to you
The cheer and good will of friends to you
The hope of a childlike heart to you
The joy of a thousand angels to you
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.

Many people don't realize that a lot of the customs we use to celebrate Christmas are deeply rooted in Celtic Culture, which is much older than the Christian tradition.

Advent Wreath, Holly and Christmas Trees come from Celtic traditions. Maybe you will want to celebrate a Celtic Christmas. To learn more click Celebrating A Celtic Christmas.

edited 12/23/15

Tartan Week: Celebrating Scottish Heritage

What butter and whiskey won't
cure, there is no cure for.
-Celtic Saying

We celebrate the legacy of our shared Scottish heritage 

every year during March and April's  

National Tartan Week

In the United States, there are more than 20 million people who can claim descent from Scotland, most of whom take immense pride in their Scottish heritage. Throughout much of the country, the first week of April has come to be known as Tartan Week as the festivities of Tartan Day have increased and are now celebrated throughout the week. The festivities include a wide range of activities, cultural events and ceilidhs ('KAY-lees' - parties with singing and dancing) that celebrate the vibrancy of Scottish culture, past and present.

Woodrow Wilson said: "Every line of strength in American history is a line colored with Scottish blood." And this year's Scotland Week once again confirms Scotland's place in the hearts of Americans - and Canada too!

April 6 designated TARTAN DAY by a Resolution passed by the U.S. Senate March 20, 1998

Numerous groups and societies throughout Canada and America have taken the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath (1320) as their national date to celebrate their Scottish roots.

On December 19th 1991, in response to action initiated by the Clans & Scottish Societies of Canada, the Ontario Legislature passed a resolution proclaiming April 6th as Tartan Day, following the example of other Canadian provinces. America followed suit on March 20th 1998, when Senate Resolution 155 (S.Res. 155), proposed by US Senate Republican majority leader Trent Lott, was passed unanimously.

For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
From The Declaration of Arbroath 1320.




How will you celebrate?

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with Fun, Peace & Joy!!!

Free Comments and Graphics

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to wish my Mom, and all the mothers out there, a very Happy Mother’s Day.

"Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime.
~Shakespeare

Consider this:

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
~Rajneesh

Click Here to send this Greeting Card to Mom by mail! This is not an e-card!



5 scientific reasons moms deserve Mother's Day Click Here

Click Here to see an art project with a Mother's Day message using PostIt notes!
Click Here Happy Mother's Day: A cup of tea to say...

Edited 5/8/17