Reflections from a Pagan Path 🍀

I am currently landing internally from a beautiful week in Ireland, on a journey of the way of the seabhean (meaning strong wise/midwife/healer in irish) with beautiful wise women, sisters. The path created by lovely Amantha Murphy.

I'm aware this path is not seen by all my druid friends with Irish roots as culturally correct, but everyone has their own personal experiences, and cultures whereby stories are passed on around a fire and very little is written down you have to go with your heart. I personally love it. the Way of the Seabhean is a path created from one beautiful lady's heart through stories of her Irish ancestry, and life experiences, it works well.

I believe modern Celtic paths are what we make them. I've walked a pagan path consciously for twenty years now. I believe we can never fully know the past and neither should we. Our ancestors lived a different life, they held different beliefs.

We have to bring the magic into today to augment our paths in the best way that sits right within us. Now speaking more broadly as a pagan I believe neo paganism is a beautiful reimagining. Weaving through elements that we need to hold life today. I really love it for that. We can't take away the very fact we carry our ancestors within us, we carry their wisdom in our blood and bones. It's in the water we drink, the soil our food grows in. The roots to the past is a little severed but the wisdom still flows.

Returning to the path, course and book by Amantha, The Way of the Seabhean. I feel this path is opening up a deeper layer of healing in my work too which explains so much more to me of what I already see within the web that holds each of us. I knew this web as the web of wyrd from Brian Bates, book The Way of Wyrd. Brian was my first teacher in Shamanic Consciousness. The Way of Wyrd and Brian's course opened my world to the understanding that all of life is connected by a web. The Wyrd was a Saxon word Brian found for the web of life in the script he found in London Library by an Anglo Saxon Sorcerer. Brian then wrote The Way of Wyrd as a story of a sorcerer in Anglo Saxon Britain.

The Way of the Seabhean by Amantha Murphy takes the view deeper in to the connections of the threads of the web within each of us individually. As a Shamanic Practitioner i was seeing threads in energy field of clients going off the family members and other connections but i couldnt explain it deeper. The insights of the healing here i learned this week sheds a deeper light. I love it.

The deeper workings of the seabhean path through meeting more deities that walked the lands in the woven stories of our ancestors is beautiful. That diamond I see as the goddess has many more beautiful facets of personality now Im learning more stories rooted in these lands too,

I'm feeling totally blessed following being opened just a little more.

Ireland itself is so magical. Its another land that has this sense of home. I feel this in all the countries here, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. They all hold such magic from the memories of those that walked before us. Each land full of sacred sites and so many sites of honouring and worship to old ways are still hidden but strongly felt.

I was able to visit Kildare, which has been a place of my dreams. I have no words for how i felt. I just cried, i felt so moved to be there. I wasn't expecting the emotion that arose standing in a place of such worship to one deity. I realised I have honoured Bridget for almost 20 years at imbolc as a pagan within my local druid circle Anderida Gorsedd. I have connected with her for ten of those years since being with my husband, and more deeply since being a mum to my youngest daughter and becoming a doula. There are no words for the feelings that arose there. The well, and the flame, both kept with such love by the volunteer's and nuns. I have been gifted bridgets flame twice in my life, once at Anderida Gorsedd from lovely Cerri Lee who was gifted it from a monk who had visited Kildare. The second time from another doula Laura Swann who was a Bridgets flame carrier, she gifted it to me when she came to birth a tiny drum for her clients baby.

I was now sat in this circular room, with three of my seabhean sisters around Bridgets flame. The kind gentle nun put music on, she gifted us tapers to light our flames off Bridgets flame, and she sat in prayer. Tears fell down my cheeks, and I saw and felt my friends felt the same. It was even more magical to be there with some of my seabhean sisters who felt the awe too, it was just incredible.

I'm sat here landing, reflecting from a magical week with the inspiration to write this blog.

I will leave you with this flame. Its hard to see in the photo but it burns in this space. Kept by the nuns since 1980s relit in honour of St Bridget.

Amanthas work you will find here

Brian Bates Book here

Bridgets Well Kildare

Bridgets Flame Kildare