Cailleach translated means ‘Veiled One’ however many refer to her as crone, witch and even Divine hag. The Cailleach is said to be responsible for the landscape and legend says she jumped from one hill to the next, dropping stones from her apron to form the magnificent womb-like structures we see today, thousands of years later, at sacred sites like Loughcrew and Slieve Gullion. Her energy can be felt veiling the land at Loughcrew, near Cairn T, where she watches over her children of earth like a doting yet resolute grandmother.

The Cailleach is best known as the primordial Goddess of Winter. Some time after Samhain, the Cailleach plants her staff onto the earth sending a wave of frost to coat the land declaring winter. Trees let go of their leaves, animals retreat for hibernation, plants die back into the soil to become fertiliser for new life that will surely spring as the light returns. The Cailleach; creator and destroyer Goddess, our ancient grandmother, lulls us into the darkness of winter, soothing our fears of letting go by reminding us that the light always follows the dark. If we are willing to go within, to enter the belly of winter and release our grip on all that is ready to die, we too will emerge lighter, wiser and with everything we need for the Path ahead.

Cailleach as the crone archetype is the face of wisdom. In ancient lore, she is often depicted as having one eye, deep wrinkles and pale white, almost blue complexion, and walks the land with a staff made from Blackthorn. She is wisdom personified and represents the privilege that is growing older and more importantly, wiser. It’s easy to see that in today’s society, youth and beauty are worshipped, so much so, that we’ll do almost anything to avoid or prolong inheriting the face of wisdom. But no amount of plastic surgery, make up, face yoga or green juice will prevent the inevitable. I wonder if we’re so afraid of looking ‘old’, or, do our superficial tendencies mask a deeper fear; a fear of awakening the wisdom within? Perhaps if we turned towards our inner wisdom, we would be forced to reflect on the way we live, how we treat one another and our Mother Earth.

According to Celtic mythology, women journey through three initiatory phases; from Maiden to Mother to Crone. The good news is, we don’t have to wait until we have, or have accepted our grey hairs and wrinkles to awaken our inner crone. Each archtype lives within us waiting to be invoked at the right time and carries the sacred templates we need to unlock the ancient wisdom within.

What to expect:

• Learn about the ancient Celtic deity, an Cailleach through folklore

• Journey in meditation to the sacred land of Loughcrew and meet the Cailleach for a personal healing - meet your animal spirit guide(s) that will support you this season

• Heal and transform the deep-seated fears of letting go so you can make space for new life to grow.

• Release conditioning and inauthentic programs around beauty, aging, and embodied wisdom

My experience with An Cailleach

The Cailleach was the first Goddess archetype I connected with when I returned to Ireland in 2021. On my first visit to Loughcrew, I climbed the short yet steep hill towards Cairn T and on my way up, without warning, my heart began to fill and expand, tears flowing from my eyes. I was in the presence of unconditional love. I looked around to see where this energy was coming from - who was loving me? - and as I looked up, I could see her there, veiling the sky above me like a blanket of unconditional love raining down. The Cailleach holds the love of our ancestors, she is our grandmother, she is wisdom personified. I connected with the Cailleach more deeply last year in meditation where I received a healing and blessing from her. One of the important lessons I learned from the Cailleach is how society today worships youth and beauty so much so that we have pushed our elderly, our wise ones, to the outskirts of society. We're so afraid of looking old that we have invented new ways of preserving this illusion of youth. But have we thrown the baby out with the bath water? Growing old is a priviledge, an opportunity to use life's experiences to unlock knowledge and wisdom, something valueable to be passed down to the next generation. But what good is all that wisdom if it's locked in a body we don't want to touch? A face we don't want to see? This class contains energy healing designed to support our fear of ageing, of looking old, and embodying wisdom. It also supports us in awakening the ancient wisdom within and embracing our inner crone or wise one. We don't have to wait until we have accepted all of our greys and wrinkles to step into our croneship, the Cailleach is asking us to awaken this ancient wisdom now.