Please share your favorite Christmas tradition in the comments section. Okay, maybe you have more than one. Just pick one…or two…or whatever you’d like. From my earliest memory until my own kids were teenagers, we cut our own Christmas tree. We used an artificial one for several years and then we started another tradition. My…
Author: Cindy Thomson
The Celtic View of Angels
When Christianity came to Ireland, the Celts accepted the existence of angels readily. After all, they’d believed in fairies and brownies. Angels were not much of a stretch. And they didn’t exactly give up the fairy belief. Some say they are fallen angels, just not bad enough to deserve to be in Hell. Angels figure…
5 Irish Christmas Traditions
Are you getting ready for Christmas? Here are some ideas! 1. The Candle in the Window Who doesn’t love the simplicity of this? The tradition states that the candle will welcome Mary and Joseph as they wander because there is no room in the inn. Have you ever asked yourself if you were there at the time…
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving! To recognize this day, I thought I would share a few sayings and blessings from my book, The Roots of Irish Wisdom. Many Irish hang a St. Brigid’s cross over their fireplace and say a blessing like this over it. May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost be on this cross…
Following the Path: From Ireland to the Soul
I think a lot of people would agree that life’s a journey. From the cradle to the grave, the life we live leads us onward, and if we believe in following Christ, it leads us to a greater reward. Perhaps that is why when I was in Ireland I kept snapping photographs of paths, gateways…
Irish Blessings
I collected some Irish blessings for a workshop once. They are too good not to share (Right? Blessings should be shared!) so I thought I’d post some here for you. If you’re crafty and you make something from them, please share! You’ll find even more in this book: May love and laughter light your days,and…
High Crosses at Clonmacnoise
I would love to have seen what these looked like originally, but thankfully there is enough preserved that we can get an idea. At Clonmacnoise the original high crosses from the site were placed inside the visitor’s center in 1991 for safe keeping. Replicas (and pretty good ones, in my unprofessional opinion) have replaced them…
The Irish Storyteller: The Clever Daughter
I love a good Irish storyteller. Have you listened? I think you’ll enjoy this!
Sean Nos–Old Style Singing
Several years ago I got to know Mike O’Laughlin from the Irish Roots Cafe. Mike publishes Irish genealogy books and resources, and he’s a wealth of information. His podcasts are always interesting as well. But lately Mike’s taken up a hobby, Sean-nós, or old style Irish singing. I love that style, especially done in English so…
The Longing of the Celtic Soul
From my book, Celtic Wisdom: All souls, not only the Celtic soul, are restless. The Irish monks became wanderers precisely because of this longing to find their hearts’ desire. Originally an eighth-century Irish prayer, they hymn Be Thou My Vision beautifully expresses the Celtic soul’s longing for God: Scroll to the bottom to hear Roma Downey’s…
