Sacred Journeys: Ireland - Overview
I am delighted to announce a second CMED tour, this time to the enchanting land of Ireland. Of all the countries that I could choose at this time for the next CMED adventure, Ireland by far is the most appropriate because it has a particular type of mythic history that is a blend of earth fairies, druids, and saints, all of which are still active within the culture of this country.
Each nation has a certain charism, a soul-quality unique to itself that forms that nation's character, history, and the spirit of its people. Ireland's charisma is one of enchantment. It is known as a mythic country, a land that remains "in the mist" and "between the worlds", where fairies still inhabit the fairy circles and druids continue to practice their rituals in the remote regions of the island. So steeped is Ireland in its connection to the existence of earth magic and the fairy kingdom that farmers never cut down fairy circles on their lands. Even highways are built around fairy bushes lest the network of fairies residing in those circles or bushes become "angry" or "disrupted", as the Irish say. Their superstition continues: those who disrupt fairy circles encounter accidents within a year. I can't speak for that, but I can tell you that the fairies indeed have the "right of way" in Ireland.
What's true about people - about us - is that we crave enchantment. We need to be seduced by myth and magic and fairies and castles and druids. The reason is that some part of us longs to penetrate through that "mythic mist" and break through the barriers of the ordinary, five-sensory world in order to make contact with organic Divinity, or God manifested in earth magic, stone circles, and fairy rings. Ireland's St. Bridget came from a Druid background. Legend has it that she was trained in Druid rituals of healing and organic mysticism, and then drawn to the convent where her earthly mystical roots grew into a cosmic mystical connection with the Divine.
For me, Ireland felt like the right place to travel to next because we are now in a "mystical renaissance" in our own spiritual culture. During these past years, I have witnessed a growing need in people to express themselves differently in their lives, yet they remain unable to identify exactly how they should manifest these feelings. From my perspective, these deep sensations are coming from the soul, not just from emotional, mental, or psychic frustrations. A new mystical calling is now in motion in the collective spirit of humanity, one that is drawing people into the world as mystics without monasteries, prepared to make a difference in this world through utilizing the skills and knowledge of the great mystics, such as St. Bridget, St. Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Hildegard, St. Francis, Rumi, and many more. These individuals knew what it meant to have a "soul with stamina" and what it took to develop that quality of soul. They were mystics - people called to live in the mystery of the Divine - who were madly in love with God. They lived with one foot on the earth and the other in the cosmos, channeling grace to a world in need and changing the world they lived in through the power of their souls.
This same call - to be of mystical service in this world of ours - is being directed into the souls of thousands of people in our spiritual community. Perhaps you are someone who has this impulse within you, but how do you respond to it? What is the role of the "new mystic" in the world today - who is also a person living an ordinary life. For the first time, the archetype of the mystic needs to function within two worlds simultaneously: the cosmic domain and the external, social, community of family, friends, children, business - that which is just ordinary life. This archetype of the "mystic without a monastery" functions in the world because the world is now the monastery and the task now facing this person is to learn what these great mystics knew about "soul-stamina" and bring that power into their everyday lives. The challenge is to become channels for grace, to learn what it is to maintain soul-stamina for the sake of healing in atmospheres of tension and stress, atmospheres that previously would have emotionally and psychically drained you.
Ireland is the perfect country for me to teach, "Mystical Service: Instructions for Developing a Soul with Stamina". Our wonderful guides, in between my lectures, will be leading us on tours of the mythic sites of Ireland to its grand cathedral's and museums, and of course, a visit to St. Patrick's.
I do hope you'll join me for the excursion "in between worlds". While on earth, your accommodations are all four-star plus, and of course, while in the cosmos, they are well above the stars...
Love,
Caroline