Unveiling Ireland's Healing Heritage
Ireland has a rich vernacular healing tradition that integrates and blends the richness of our Celtic and Christian past. These Celtic roots give us a belief in the interconnectedness of all living beings as well as the environment and how important it is to care for our common home.
Our healing traditions have also been influenced by Ireland’s Christian milieu because the Druid holy places were not destroyed but assimilated into the new church where they retained their significance as the source of physical and emotional well-being. Traveling to sacred places on pilgrimage was, and is, seen as restorative to physical and emotional health.
Sacred Sites and Their Healing Energies
These sacred places are imbued with the presence of spiritual energy and are generally places of great beauty. This alone is enough to reduce stress and anxiety and promote well-being. Many people believe that sacred sites are located on ley lines which may be considered channels of subtle energy flowing through the earth. Where these lines intersect are places where healing power is present. Ley lines may be considered the acupuncture meridians of the planet and sacred spaces, the acupuncture points.
Read about how Sacred Sites are related to Anxiety in this article.
The Wisdom of Irish Herbalism
Irish herbal medicine is deeply rooted in both traditions and has been passed down through oral transmission and written manuscripts over the centuries. Its practitioners are often known as the person with ‘the cure’ and each healer possesses a deep understanding of his, or her, “cure.” Irish herbal medicine combines knowledge of native plants as well as other therapies that are beneficial to health. It is based on the premise that nature provides an array of resources for supporting the body’s innate healing abilities. Each healer will be aware of the plants they need when to harvest them, and how best to process and use them.
Read more about a herb called St. John's Wort and its uses in Herbal Medicine.
Embracing Mindfulness: Celtic Meditation Practices
Our sacred spaces are also places where we meditate, naturally. As we listen to the singing of the birds, the rustling of the leaves, or the flow of water we are drawn into the vast mystery that envelops and imbues us. We are keenly aware of each season, each lunar month, and even each day and this is nowhere more poignantly expressed than in the “a deiseal” (to the right) approach to a grave on burial. This taking of the coffin to the grave in an east-west direction symbolises man’s journey from the rising of the sun in the east to its setting in the west. Attending any funeral in an old graveyard will thus reinforce the realization that all life is but a journey. It is through such symbolism, rituals, and traditions that each of us becomes whole and aware of the beauty of life.
Ireland’s healing traditions are thus a rich repository for healing us from the many stresses and strains that assail us in the modern world. To avail of the wisdom inherent in this tradition join me as I journey through the wheel of the year in, Health and Healing in the Irish Calendar Year.