Kinship with the more than human world

The focus of day four was our kinship with the more than human world. This led us to Brigit’s Garden (Giardin Bhride) outside of Galway City.

It is a beautiful space imagined by our guide Jenny Beale (seen below on the left in the blue shirt), and designed by Mary Reynolds. It is a place dedicated to connection with nature, beauty and Celtic heritage. You can find out more at their website: http://www.brigitsgarden.ie/home

Our day began with a tour of the Celtic gardens, one for each season in the Celtic calendar. The Celtic year begins November 1 with Samhain. This garden features a circle of silver birch, enclosing a beautiful pond. The sculpture at the center is a woman made of birch leaves, who is settling into the earth. The garden is bordered by the “earth woman” who is lying on her side. You can see half of her head, her shoulder and arm, her breast and belly.

The next season the Celtic calendar is Imbolc, which begins February 1. This is the feast of St. Brigit, so this garden is dedicated to her. It is also the beginning of spring, and new life. Wild flowers and orchard trees populate this space, and there is a large stone in the center which outlines the life and symbols of Brigit. The Imbolc garden also includes large basket swings.

Beltaine is the next season and garden. We are in the season of Beltaine (which began May 1). This garden celebrates the lengthening of days, the element of fire, and the full flowering of nature. We also ended our time by putting our own gratitude offerings on the hawthorn bushes (May bushes – aka “fairy trees”).

The black wood sculptures you see are “bog wood” – Ancient oak which has been preserved in a bog and reclaimed for artistic purposes. This wood could be 7000 years old.

my offering for the May bush
stones from Connemara
May bushes

Finally, the end of the Celtic year is Lughnassadh (August 1), the shift from summer into the season of harvest. This is a time of celebrating abundance and feasting. This garden is full of herbs – medicinal, culinary, and aromatherapy herbs. It contains two stone circles – one for dancing and one for feasting. We will celebrate this feast upon my return from sabbatical. I meant to take more pictures here, but was too busy enjoying the scent of all those herbs!

We spent time walking the grounds, meditating, and making Brigit’s crosses. We were accompanied by the animal and insect inhabitants of the garden: birds, butterflies, the biggest bumble bees I’ve ever seen, the leaves of the trees and the rushes in the field. “Shout for joy to the Creator, all the earth!”

You can see more of the pictures below. What a beautiful, sunny, warm, dry, peaceful day in the garden enjoying the more than human world!