A Winter Blessing
Under candlelight and flicker, guided by the spirit of poetry, and the tradition of Celtic Blessings, a group of Poetry Salon participants created a collective blessing for the world. In an act of daring, gentle beauty, as each participant was reading their line aloud, I imagined the ripple effect of their compassion and care spreading out, illuminating pathways through these dark times.
Below the blessing, with an invitation. What line would you add?
Here was ours, written on Winter Solstice, December 21st 2023, with participants from Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, US, Belgium and Switzerland
Under candlelight and flicker, guided by the spirit of poetry, and the tradition of Celtic Blessings, a group of Poetry Salon participants created a collective blessing for the world. In an act of daring, gentle beauty, as each participant was reading their line aloud, I imagined the ripple effect of their compassion and care spreading out, illuminating pathways through these dark times.
Below the blessing, with an invitation. What line would you add? (you can add in the comments below)
Here was ours, written on Winter Solstice, December 21st 2023, with participants from Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, US, Belgium and Switzerland.
Collective Blessing, written by Salon participants
May we allow ourselves rest in the “in between”.
May we remember that we belong to each other.
May we honour the self in ourselves and each other.
May we be the mystery keepers at the crossroads of our senses.
May we pull down the curtain embroidered by those who would keep us apart to quell our power.
May our current darkness birth life and light in the world and in us.
May the people of Gaza have clean water, shelter, medical care, enough to eat and freedom to live without bombs.
May the cycles of life fall gently on you, may your storms be few with many shelters.
May we all the remember our hearts being blessed.
May we accept the protection of our wild waiting kin.
May there be light to open humanity’s dark mind and see what really is.
May we become a sanctuary for ourselves and for others.
May we all turn towards the love in our hearts, and from this place of peace, bless love as the guiding force in the world.
21 December, 2023.
Hello. I'm Clare
I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x
Available Now
An Intentional Year
Focus on what matters most, and create an intentional 2024. Guidebook and an Intentional Year course now available
Winter Solstice Prompts
But what does it mean to cultivate hope?
One of the origins of hope is pause. To sit still in the fullness of our lives and give ourselves back to the magic of joy, generosity and to the dream of better days to come- for to be hopeful is to have belief in the possibilities of the future, as individuals and as a collective.
The word solstice comes from the Latin, meaning, Sol (sun) + Sistere (to stand still). And so, I invite you to take a few moments of pause, to sit with the questions of the turning of the season, still honouring the dark while calling in the light, a way to cultivate your own sense of hope in these turning times.
December is deep upon us and here in the Northern Hemisphere the days are short and the nights are long. However, celebrated around the eve of the 20th December, the Winter Solstice is a turning point in the year, where a reversal in the light happens and the days begin to lengthen. It is not surprising then that many ancient and religious festivals take place around this time of year, for the solstice represented a renewal of hope and a reminder that the light would return and with it the warmth required for the seeds of new life to germinate. As the light arrived our ancestors knew the tide of the year would turn too.
In ancient times in Ireland, this magical turning was reflected in the architecture of the day. Newgrange in Co. Meath is perhaps the best known example of this, when, at dawn, the soft winter light is tunnelled down a long passageway to light up a burial chamber. It’s a remarkable feat of science and engineering, and hints to the mysticism and magic embedded in their honouring of the natural cycles of the year.
Christmas has long been associated with magic. Santa, flying reindeer, presents left under trees are modern day embodiments of these ancient practices of honouring this time of year- a time of giving thanks, of joy, of hope and yes, magic. And yet, for many Christmas is a hard time, the financial pressures of an overly commercialised festival, the missing of loved ones and absent friends, or even the deeper struggles to find a home in the wider place in the world, can all be amplified at this time of year.
Switching on the global news headlines does not seem to help either- one would not be alone in giving oneself over to cynicism. Hope then, in these days of uncertainty and fear becomes even more powerful and more urgent.
But what does it mean to cultivate hope?
One of the origins of hope is pause. To sit still in the fullness of our lives and give ourselves back to the magic of joy, generosity and to the dream of better days to come- for to be hopeful is to have belief in the possibilities of the future, as individuals and as a collective.
The word solstice comes from the Latin, meaning, Sol (sun) + Sistere (to stand still). And so, I invite you to take a few moments of pause, to sit with the questions of the turning of the season, still honouring the dark while calling in the light, a way to cultivate your own sense of hope in these turning times.
Prompts for honouring the dark:
This is a time of year when the light is beginning to lengthen again. Before welcoming the light, take a moment to honour the dark time of the year.
Consider spending the evening without the use of electric light. As the dusk settles, take a few moments to sit in the darkness.
What does the dark represent to you?
What does the dark have to teach you?
For the ancient celts, there was a deep recognition that life begins in the darkness. The earth’s new life comes only after a period of hibernation and rest.
Are there areas of your life that are still craving rest?
What aspects of your life want to hibernate?
What can you do to honour this need in yourself- is there something you can release?
Prompts for welcoming the light
Suggestion: write/ contemplate your responses by candlelight.
What aspects of your life are coming into light right now?
What do you need to shine a light on?
And prompts for cultivating hope
What does hope mean to you?
How can you cultivate hope in your life right now?
How can you help to share a sense of hope or light with those around you?
Happy Winter Solstice, and perhaps I will see you at the Special Winter Solstice Salon, on Dec 21st.
Blessings for the Season.
Clare x
Coming on December 21st…
A Solstice evening of Seasonal Poetry, Journaling and Seasonal Ritual.
Online, December 21st. 7-9pm GMT
Book your tickets below, offered on a sliding scale.
Hello. I'm Clare
I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x
Available Now
An Intentional Year
Focus on what matters most, and create an intentional 2023. Guidebook and an Intentional Year course now available
Winter Solstice Prompts
But what does it mean to cultivate hope?
One of the origins of hope is pause. To sit still in the fullness of our lives and give ourselves back to the magic of joy, generosity and to the dream of better days to come- for to be hopeful is to have belief in the possibilities of the future, as individuals and as a collective.
The word solstice comes from the Latin, meaning, Sol (sun) + Sistere (to stand still). And so, I invite you to take a few moments of pause, to sit with the questions of the turning of the season, still honouring the dark while calling in the light, a way to cultivate your own sense of hope in these turning times.
December is deep upon us and here in the Northern Hemisphere the days are short and the nights are long. However, celebrated around the 21st December, the Winter Solstice is a turning point in the year, where a reversal in the light happens and the days begin to lengthen. It is not surprising then that many ancient and religious festivals take place around this time of year, for the solstice represented a renewal of hope and a reminder that the light would return and with it the warmth required for the seeds of new life to germinate. As the light arrived our ancestors knew the tide of the year would turn too.
In ancient times in Ireland, this magical turning was reflected in the architecture of the day. Newgrange in Co. Meath is perhaps the best known example of this, when, at dawn, the soft winter light is tunnelled down a long passageway to light up a burial chamber. It’s a remarkable feat of science and engineering, and hints to the mysticism and magic embedded in their honouring of the natural cycles of the year.
Christmas has long been associated with magic. Santa, flying reindeer, presents left under trees are modern day embodiments of these ancient practices of honouring this time of year- a time of giving thanks, of joy, of hope and yes, magic. And yet, for many Christmas is a hard time, the financial pressures of an overly commercialised festival, the missing of loved ones and absent friends, or even the deeper struggles to find a home in the wider place in the world, can all be amplified at this time of year.
Switching on the global news headlines does not seem to help either- one would not be alone in giving oneself over to cynicism. Hope then, in these days of uncertainty and fear becomes even more powerful and more urgent.
But what does it mean to cultivate hope?
One of the origins of hope is pause. To sit still in the fullness of our lives and give ourselves back to the magic of joy, generosity and to the dream of better days to come- for to be hopeful is to have belief in the possibilities of the future, as individuals and as a collective.
The word solstice comes from the Latin, meaning, Sol (sun) + Sistere (to stand still). And so, I invite you to take a few moments of pause, to sit with the questions of the turning of the season, still honouring the dark while calling in the light, a way to cultivate your own sense of hope in these turning times.
Prompts for honouring the dark:
This is a time of year when the light is beginning to lengthen again. Before welcoming the light, take a moment to honour the dark time of the year.
Consider spending the evening without the use of electric light. As the dusk settles, take a few moments to sit in the darkness.
What does the dark represent to you?
What does the dark have to teach you?
For the ancient celts, there was a deep recognition that life begins in the darkness. The earth’s new life comes only after a period of hibernation and rest.
Are there areas of your life that are still craving rest?
What aspects of your life want to hibernate?
What can you do to honour this need in yourself- is there something you can release?
..
Prompts for welcoming the light
Suggestion: write/ contemplate your responses by candlelight.
What aspects of your life are coming into light right now?
What do you need to shine a light on?
And prompts for cultivating hope
What does hope mean to you?
How can you cultivate hope in your life right now?
How can you help to share a sense of hope or light with those around you?
Happy Winter Solstice
Blessings for the Season.
Clare x
Hello. I'm Clare
I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x
Available Now
An Intentional Year
Focus on what matters most, and create an intentional 2023. Guidebook and an Intentional Year course now available
Intentional Year 2023
Let your Intentions Guide your Action.
The Intentional Year 2023 guidebook, and new course, is here
Here we are, approaching the end of another calendar year, with all its learnings, delights, challenges and change. What a year! I for one am looking forward to a bit of a pause and wind-down, resting in gratitude for all that was, even the hard parts. So, as the temperature has dropped and West Cork glitters, as we scurry for layers and warmth, it feels like a perfect pause point for reflection and renewal too.
For the last 10 years or so I’ve been creating space at the end of the year for a particular kind of annual reflection, and a particular kind of visioning. It is a process which has evolved into my now annual, 'Intentional Year Guidebook’- a downloadable journal with reflection prompts, audio meditations, creative practices, ritual and action mapping- all designed as a guide to help us review the year that was and refine and articular clear intentions for the year ahead.
Over the years I have been refining the process too and working to improve the guidebook. So, I’m delighted to announce the 2023 guidebook is now available, with additional recordings, new artwork, expanded monthly review sheets and a dedicated webpage to access all the materials in one place.
New Companion Course
Plus, many of you have been telling me that you’d also love a way to keep on track with your intentions throughout the year, and would value a tool for accountability and consistency. So, with that in mind, this year I’ve also created a companion course to the guidebook, to accompany you for the full 12 months of the year. It includes:
Guidebook and audio material plus
5 lives calls (January, March, June, September and December)
a weekly intention setting sheet - printable.
monthly check-in videos and resources
dedicated online learning platform.
It’s going to be fun, engaging and I hope very meaningful for you, as you refine and work with your own intentions-in weekly, monthly and seasonal rhythms- all of which I will support you through.
Two Access options
So, this year, you can choose to download the guidebook alone, which I continue to offer with the ‘honesty box’ payment option, as a way to make it as accessible to everyone while also honouring my time and creative effort, or you may choose to sign up for course for the full 12 months of resources and support.
From a previous participant...
As a previous guidebook user has said so graciously and generously:
Clare's Intentional Year Guidebook is the kind of planner I have always longed for, but never found - until now. Like a wise friend or coach, this beautiful guide offers reflective prompts and practical tools to help us navigate, and integrate, the chaos and beauty of our inner and outer worlds. At a time where life feels as if it is shifting beneath our feet, is the perfect gift and companion for anyone seeking to feel more grounded, clear and connected as we move through the uncertainties of a new year and new beginning- Caitriona R, 2022.
Thank you! And an important access note
It is a pleasure to bring the Guidebook and new course to you, and I hope you find it useful, rewarding and nourishing as you travel through 2023. Thank you for your continued support, an sending best wishes,
Onwards,
Clare x
An important note about access:
(Please note: If you choose to use the honestly box system, you will be emailed a link to a private webpage, with a password, which you can access to download the guidebook and audio materials. If you choose to sign up to the course, the guidebook is waiting for you in the dedicated learning platform).
Hello. I'm Clare
I'm a writer, educator and facilitator, living in beautiful West Cork, Ireland. I love to share resources and learning to help harness the regenerative power of words, place and story. I hope my work offers nourishment for mind and soul. Thank you for being here. Clare x
Available Now
An Intentional Year
Focus on what matters most, and create an intentional 2023. Guidebook and an Intentional Year course now available
Welcoming 2017
Dear Friends,As 2016 shifts into 2017, and the old turns into the new, may I take this moment to send out some greetings and thanks. Thank you for your support, your participation and your openness. Thank you for your comments, feedback and community. I’m grateful, so grateful for it all.Like so many of you I love this time of year for the space to retract a bit from the pace of things and tune into what is calling me onwards. 2016 was a full on year for us all. The political has touched the personal and the personal has impacted the professional. At times it has all felt a bit overwhelming. There have been moments that the overwhelm got the better of me- at times it burst my energy and shifted me away from my intention, and particularly on a political level, it rattled my hope.Hope is such a precious thing, often fragile, and yet I think it is hope that is calling us and hope that must be protected.Hope, I am learning more and more, is an active and alive thing. It is kindled by small acts and it is amplified when it is met with the hope in others. It’s when you meet a friend, for instance, and you share a dream or vision; a belief that things can change for the better. It is when you see the beauty in the ordinary, knowing it too is extraordinary. It’s when you meet kindness in a stranger or when you are fully and truly listened to. It’s when you deeply connect with your own spirit and creativity, and it’s when you choose to take a step of courage or faith. Each act of hope, no matter how small, matters. And to this belief I feel we must cling, steadfastly.Over the last few days, the image of a lighthouse keeps popping with for me. Lighthouse are not afraid of their light- their very function is to shine through the darkness. They are beacons, they are steady, they are grounded. And they are most effective when they work together. A single lighthouse may guide a ship to shore, but when that shoreline is studded with lighthouses, the whole coast becomes a marker to harbour- a necklace of light.As I sense into what 2017, and beyond, is calling, it is for each of us to stand firm and allow our light to shine. All of us. It’s calling on us too to get really clear on our intention, on what is really calling us to create or serve and to focus in on that. The time is precious, and our light is precious too. I’m hopeful that we can, especially when we convert hope into action.
And so my own intention is to kindle my hope with daily action towards my vision and by reaching out to others for collaboration, support and connection. My professional focus in 2017 will be on growing and developing Thrive School- developing even better content, learning programmes, products and curriculum, and on a personal level it’s on my health and fitness. In order to do that, I need to stay really clear with what I seek to create and say no to a lot of distraction. I stay clear with regular yoga practice, exercise, journalling, reading less online news, walking my dog. I keep the vision alive though conversations with other people who ‘get’ it, with a vision board (I use a private Pinterest board for this) and by continually breaking big projects and plans down into small, tangible action steps.
And you? What’s your intention? What is it that is really calling you?
If those questions are too hard to answer right now or feel too overwhelming, please don’t worry. Instead, let the silence in. Find a quite spot. Sit still for a while. And listen. Or if sitting isn’t your thing, take a walk in nature, in a wild spot, and bring the questions with you. Let them stir you and inspire you. Do what you can to keep the questions alive in you. Don’t be afraid of them. Ask for the big dream. Ask for a vision, and let the silence and the wildness guide you. I have no doubt there you will find some clues… then follow them and see how the question has evolved within you. It’s all waiting for you - for your light, and therefore hope, is already inside you.Next week I’ll be sending another message with Thrive School dates for 2017, news of new one day workshops in Dublin, and other ways we can work one to one together. But for now, as we cross over from one year to the next, let’s collectively bow to the year gone by for its gifts of insights and challenges and let’s open the door to the new, knowing we can be a lighthouse to ourselves and to each other- grounded, rooted, clear, beaming. It’s time.Onwards, with love and gratitude,Clare. 
Letters from Clare
Stay in touch…
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