The Forgotten Wisdom Of Celtic Folklore
During this podcast episode we are joined by the wonderful Kubi May. She is a White Witch and Creative Therapist from Glastonbury. She offers workshops in Reiki, Tree Folklore, Celtic Healing and Wand making. Here are some of the key discussion points:
THE FORGOTTEN WISDOM OF CELTIC FOLKLORE
Kubi started to become interested in working with the land by bringing nature into her artwork pieces, creating mandalas from natural objects such as flowers, leaves and pebbles. Following on from that she went to Glastonbury to complete her Celtic Shamanism Training - learning about Celtic Healing. Druidry and Celtic Folklore. She then moved to Glastonbury and thought it would be a great opportunity to pull together everything she had learned about Celtic Folklore and Celtic Healing and start offering it to clients.
Kubi started to develop a Celtic Folklore Course - a 4 leveled workshop to connect with the old Gods and the land. There are over 400 Gods in the Celtic Folklore - and they are much more tangible with very human traits. Kubi gives us a few examples of ones we may have heard of that include Brigid, the Hearth Goddess of Ireland. The Dagda - also known as the Father and Danu - the Earth Mother.
She was always finding spirituality through nature - getting into the gritty roots of the earth and learning about its wisdom and has an interest in various sacred sites that connect to Celtic Folklore. Some of these sites include the Tor in Glastonbury, Gog & Magog, the two oldest Oak trees in Glastonbury that according to myth are connected to Avalon. Avebury is another interesting site and some pilgrimage sites like the Hill of Tara (in Ireland) where the old Gods of the Celtic Pantheon once reigned.
The gateway into Avalon and the story with Arthur and Merlin - comes from the Arthurian Folklore. The Tor is said to be the entrance to another other world with many dimensions within it. Glastonbury is also called the Isle of Avalon.
The druids played an important role for the Celts, they were considered higher up in rank - Kings and Queens would go to them for advice - religious teachers who also had a political stance in the Celtic world. They would have been pushed back when the Romans came in. The druids would keep the folklore orally and not write it down and this was done through bards, who would do this lyrically through song and poetry.
Want to know more about wand making? This is something that Kubi offers and she states it’s like a right of passage - stepping into a new era. Made from apple trees, the wands can be used for protection, or focused healing and can form a connection with you and the tree. Druids would use an apple tree branch with bells on the end and shake it to connect and open up to the other realm.
Her latest interest and project has been about studying the Ogham - Celtic Tree Law. This originated as an alphabet that goes back to the age of the druids - a secret language so that the romans couldn’t interpret their messages to each other. Each marking represents a tree (there’s 20 of them). The trees had their own symbolism and metaphors and life teachings. You can learn about this online with Kubi.
Practically what can you do to connect more? Kubi suggests getting out there and experiencing nature and connecting to trees, getting to know a tree by spending time there, clearing rubbish from that area, writing poetry, painting or singing songs to it. As you build upon the relationship with the tree, you might start to get insights or messages.
To find out more about the incredible work that Kubi does you can visit her website here: www.kubimaycrafts.com.