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Celtic Culture Blooming in Lane County
In the past year it has become apparent that Celtic culture is alive, well and flourishing. When one looks around our own geographic area, not only the weather and plant life remind
us of another country and long ago, but the faces are those of our Celtic Ancestors. So it should come as no surprise that such fertile ground should bear the fruit we have recently enjoyed.
When Gina McGarry dissolved her Oregon School of Herbal Studies to move to Ireland and found Brighid's Academy of Healing Arts, she had no idea she would be back within the year. After months spent with the
Brigadine Sisters in Kildare, preparing her school to open, with students on a waiting list, a family commitment brought her back to the area. Now in Cheshire (30 minutes west of Eugene) Gina McGarry and Brighid's
Academy of Healing Arts: A School of Celtic Spirituality, Herbalism and Holistic Healing are operational. The community is fortunate for the resource that this turn of events has given us. We are overjoyed to have
this good friend back in our midst.
One day while ACM's publicity director Erik was working on the computer on "the next project" he strayed onto the internet... He found, for our
president, a gem of a webdomain that is now promoting a network of Celtic businesses, artisans and organizations (currently all local) through www.celtic.net, an internet gateway service. Sometimes getting upwards
of 350 inquires (hits) per day from all over the world, this internet site has increased business and worldwide focus to the works of this Celtic community. We are blessed to have Celtic focused people who use their
ancestral intuition, skills and resources to connect us with the rest of our people.
Instructor of Irish step dance, Sheila Pierce, set a goal this year to introduce the best of the Irish
ceili tradition to the area from her ancestral homeland. Now An Chead de Haoine Ceili (First Friday Irish Dance), Sheila's creation, meets at St. Mary's Episcopal Church on the first Friday evening of each
month.
After many times addressing the question "how was the Celtic year observed and how do we reclaim those traditions?", Heather Thompson has compiled and authored a
guide for doing just that. The book to be published in late April 1999 by Traditional Healing Publications,Celtic Living Sacred, The Year and a Day offers descriptions and meanings of the Holy Days that our
Celtic ancestors would celebrate, with our archetypal role models (aka: gods and goddesses), and the use, lore and symbology of our ancestral plants, trees and animals.
Crucial to the
success of these new ventures is the perseverance of those longer established endeavors that have stayed in it for the love, not the money. To name but a few of them they are (among others): Buy and Sell Music
Center, Culaidh Gasda Kilt Makers, Eugene Highlander's Pipe Band, Midnight Sun Bakery, Mist Covered Mountain Radio Show, Mrs. Thompson's Herbs, Gifts & Folklore, Oregon Coast Folk Circle and the Willamette High
School Celtic Club. Coming into the bright half of the year, welcome the burgeoning of new beginnings and established growth made new, which can awaken a sense of ancient Celtic identity.
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