Introduction - Opening Circle
EFJ – Introduction
Celtic Wheel Overview
The Celtic Wheel holds much of the wisdom that underpins the teachings of this course.
What is the Celtic wheel?
The Celtic Wheel of the year is basically a calendar that was passed down to us by our Celtic and pre-Celtic ancestors. They didn’t think of time as linear as we do nowadays. “[They] understood time as seasons of energy that flow into and out of each other in a circular and spiral way. Using this understanding of time, they created a calendar that reflected these seasons and the cosmological events that gave rise to them” ~ Book: Ever Ancient, Ever New by Dolores Whelan.
The Wheel is made up of eight festivals or eight seasons. There are four solar festivals and four earth festivals.
The four solar festivals celebrate the movement of the sun and were originally celebrated by the pre-celts. The four earth festivals, sometimes known as cross-quarter days, are related to how Celtic tribes interacted with the land and the earth. They are agricultural festivals
There are two halves to the Celtic calendar, a dark half and a light half, that represent the feminine and the masculine principles.
The dark half, also known as Giamos, represents the feminine principle. It is associated with winter and it runs from Samhain to Bealtaine.
The light half, also known as Samos represents the masculine principle. It is associated with summer, runs from Bealtaine to Samhain.
The wheel not only encompasses the rhythms of nature but also the dance between the polarities/opposites that are ever-present in life: light and dark, movement and stillness, masculine and feminine.
It also teaches us how to navigate the darkness of winter and the lightness of summer. Its guidance offers us a time to sow our seeds, a time for growth and expansion, a time to harvest, and a time to rest.
As we go through the course, we will look at the different energies associated with each festival or season and how these energies relate to our own lives.
An energy centre is an area of the body that holds a lot of energy. There are seven main energy centres that we will focus on in the course but there are many more energy centres than just those seven.
Each energy centre is related to particular parts or areas of the body. They are also associated with specific physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual functions. However as with everything in life, they interrelate with each other and work as a whole system rather than a set of individual components. For example, some circumstances or issues may affect several or all of the energy centres at the same time but for simplicity, we will tune into each energy centre one at a time.
The energy centres provide us with a way of gauging our state of being. They can also help bring our state of being into balance. We can improve our overall homeostasis and sense of wellbeing by simply tuning in or focusing on each energy centre.
A ritual is a series of actions performed with INTENTION or PURPOSE
It could be a morning practice where you get up, meditate, focus on your breath, and do yoga. But it could be as simple as lighting a candle and taking a few moments to tune into yourself. What matters is the intention, meaning or purpose for the actions you are choosing to do.