Samhain Video and Website Move

Samhain will soon be here, and we have released a new video for the occasion. The longest of our videos so far, this completes the cycle of Gaelic Fire Festivals on our festivals playlist. We have more in the works, of course, but those will come a bit later.

Our Samhain video has traditional music and poetry for the beginning of the dark half of the year, and for honouring the Cailleach, the Cailleachan, and the ancestors. Also suitable for Samhain is our video featuring the Prophecy of the Morrígan, which was first sung by the Badb on Samhain, after The Second Battle of Mag Tuired.

You may notice that we are now at gaolnaofa.org. We still have mirrored pages or redirects at our .com address, but as we are a not for profit organisation, the move to .org seemed overdue. Please forgive us for any odd formatting or difficulty finding content that may have happened during the move. Hopefully it is all straightened out now.

May the warmth of the Samhain sacred fires burn brightly, in our homes, hearts and communities. May the warmth of our bonds with one another sustain us through the coming winter. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Slàinte Mhath!

September 29, 2014

Youtube Update – New Videos

Following on from the launch of Gaol Naofa’s dedicated Youtube channel back in March, we are pleased to announce the addition of five new videos.

These videos continue the focus on festivals that our first two videos on St Patrick’s Day began, and we are ultimately aiming to cover the whole of the festival calendar. In contrast with Gaol Naofa’s more substantial publications, our aim with these videos is to offer a brief introduction to the subjects we’ll be covering, in this case giving an overview of some of the lore and traditions associated with the festivals, and giving an idea of how Gaelic Polytheists might celebrate. On this occasion we have:

• Lá Fhéile Bríde – Detailing the lore and traditions associated with the festival that marks the first flourish of Spring
• Là na Caillich – The Day of the Cailleach in Scotland, which falls on March 25th and marks the beginning of the Cailleach’s rest period, until she reawakens in winter
• Bealtaine – Focusing on the traditions and customs of the festival of Summer
• Midsummer: Áine and Grian – Introducing the Midsummer traditions in Ireland, and the issue of solar deities in Gaelic tradition
• Midsummer: Manannán mac Lir – Taking a look at the Midsummer tradition of “paying the rent to Manannán mac Lir, which originates on the Isle of Man

The release of these videos coincides with the Isle of Man’s national holiday, Tynwald Day, which was once a part of the island’s Midsummer celebrations. On this day, we wish you all the blessings of Manannán Beg mac y Leir.

Slaynt vie!

July 7, 2014

New Article – “Children and Family in Gaelic Polytheism”

La Fhèill Brìghde sona dhuibh!

Gaol Naofa is proud to present our latest article for the website, this time focusing on Children and Family in Gaelic Polytheism.

Although the main purpose of the article is to give parents ideas on how to include children in a family-based Gaelic Polytheist practice, we hope it will also prove useful for individuals – whether youth or adults – who are new to GP, as well as to other sorts of multigenerational spiritual communities.

The basics of belief and practice are broken down into their various elements, and practical ideas and examples of simple prayers are given that a child or beginner should be able to get to grips with easily enough.

Website readers may notice that the pdf files of most of our articles are now embedded in the site, as well as available on Scribd. Please let us know if you come across any broken links or dropped content that may have happened during these formatting changes.

We have also made some slight changes in organisational structure, with Annie Loughlin now serving as Uachtarán (President), organising and running Gaol Naofa from Scotland. After five years at the helm, Treasa Ní Chonchobhair is now filling the position of Leas-Uachtarán (Vice President). We would like to extend our deep gratitude to Treasa for her years of service and continued commitment to Gaol Naofa, as well as to Annie for taking her turn at the helm. For more details please refer to our page on Council and Structure.

February 1, 2014