Spring Equinox - A Celebration of the Divine Feminine
Knocknarea, Co. Sligo
On March 20, 2026 we marked the return of the Light with Spring Equinox, one of the eight fire festivals of the Celtic Wheel. Spring Equinox brings an auspicious moment when day and night come into equal balance - an invitation to balance energies within, even for just a moment. The Equinoxes remind us that the balance we so long for in our lives is not a constant, not even within nature. Balance is precious, rare. So.. maybe we can let ourselves off the hook when we feel like we’re not living in a constant state of balance. Instead, let’s celebrate balance that emerges naturally, through love, flow and divine timing, never forced and free from guilt.
Spring has finally arrived and with it bringing a sense of renewal, rebirth and the promise of brighter days. As the land springs to life all around us - birds chirping in harmony with pockets of sunshine, flowers blooming in their vibrant colours to uplift your daily walk and even commute! I can’t help but smile as I drive through a roundabout of pastels - tulips popping up to say hello and wake me up on the most and mundane of routes as if to say “yes - beauty can exist even here.”
The changes we see happening in nature are also happening within you too. As nature bursts into life, so do you.
The Sacred Site of Loughcrew
To mark the Equinoxes, I usually visit the sacred site of Loughcrew located in Co. Meath. Loughcrew (3000 B.C.) is known as Hill of the Witch and is home to a collection of Neolithic Passage Tombs including Cairn T which is aligned with the rising sun of the Spring and Autumn Equinox. For me the celebration begins slowly — waking in darkness, I gather my things (offerings for the fae, flask of tea, warm coat and sturdy boots) and I hit the road — a pilgrim ready to meet the sunrise. The best part of these visits is the gathering of people - which has vastly increased since I first began celebrating the Celtic Fire Festivals back in 2021. There is an undeniable longing amongst the people of Ireland (and all over the world) to reconnect with nature, reclaim our language, hertiage and culture - and what better way to do that than visiting our ancient sacred sites.
As you make your way up the hill to Cairn T, a steep yet short climb, you are surrounded by fellow pilgrims — strangers bonded by the heart’s call to what is sacred. We all rose in darkness, wiped the sleep from our eyes, pulled on our boots and journeyed here, to a 6000 year old monument constructed in perfect alignment for this very moment — and we are here. As One, we watch as the sun rises over the hill and errupt in cheers, howls and clapping as the Light returns once again. The atmosphere shifts from quiet anticipation to a choir of cheer, giggles and chatter, and we are strangers no more. Perhaps there is a collective sigh of relief - surviving another winter, expressing our appreciation for nature, or celebrating being human, or maybe, there was no conscious decision to climb that hill for sunrise, maybe something unexplainable stirred within and pulled you out of your warm and cosy bed, so you too could stand within a group of like-hearted beings to howl and cheer and clap as nature did something pretty amazing…
Free Workshop
Learn about the ancient site of Loughcrew and connect to the healing energies of the land through guided meditation
Queen Maeve’s Grave
This Spring Equinox however, I did something different - I enjoyed a glorious weekend in Co. Sligo where I paid a visit to the Irish Goddess and Queen, Maeve. Sitting atop of Knocknarea is an ancient stone cairn known as Queen Maeve’s Resting Place. Likely built between 3,500 and 3,200 BC and is one of the largest stone cairns in Ireland. “The cairn itself is composed of an enormous heap of small stones. It's shape is an oval. The circumference was 630 feet at the base and 292 feet at the top. The slope was not regular, being of an altitude of nearly 80 feet at one part and only 67 at another. By 1837 this monument had become considerably reduced in size by the removal of stones for various purposes. It then measured only 590 feet at base, and its longest diameter at top was 60 feet. The base of this cairn is surrounded by a circle of stones, horizontally placed as a kind of wall for preventing any slipping of the cairn.” — (Our Ancient Monuments and the Land Around Them, Sir John Lubbock, 1880)
As always when visiting an ancient site, I feel called to walk around the cairn three times in a clockwise direction — a ritual my Soul knows, and my body leads the way. The ritual offers a moment of contemplation, and connection to an ancient wisdom that runs through our bones and the stones of the earth. I was excited to be with Maeve once again. It was two years since my last visit and one year since teaching my Divine Feminine Course with Goddess Maeve, so I felt this visit would bring even more depth to Maeve’s teachings. Each time you answer the call of the Goddess, you are led more deeply into yourself.
Goddess Maeve
Maeve is known most commonly In Irish Mythlogy as Queen of Connacht however she is also a Goddess and is linked to many places throughout Ireland like the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath and Knocknarea, Co. Sligo. It’s important to note that these myths were re-written by prechristian monks who wrote with a specific narrative and although we need to be grateful to the first monks for capturing our mythological stories, we must remember that these versions largely represent the patriarchal narrative of a woman in power, in control, a woman who is independent, fierce warrior, decisive and takes action to defend and protect her territories.
There are deeper truths to these myths and therefore it’s more important, in my opinion, to experience these archetypes for yourself. Maeve is heavily portrayed as an over-ambitious, driven, ruthless and promiscuous woman so I was quite shocked when I felt her energy in meditation as pure light, compassion, and sovereign. She is an embodiment of the Divine Feminine and her energy is loving, nurturing and expansive — beyond anything I’ve felt!
“My purpose is to be here as who I am and remind you of what you are capable of, regardless if you perceive it to be ‘good’ or ‘bad’. There is no gender or rules to life as the original breath. When life is born, that life (force) must live, just like the breath moving in and out, isteach agus amach, we breathe our life force into all things and we co-create a life how we see it — on tv, in other homes, outside our culture and the society of another, we create what we call a ‘life’ based on rules of engagement, environment, ideals and beliefs and the events that have shaped them. So, it is me ‘the One’ — Goddess Medb who will show you who you really are before that ‘life’, told you who to be. I am standing here oh powerful one, Queen Maeve, Queen of everything, for I AM everything. I am made of the stars, the trees, the stones, and rivers that wash over and through our beloved (home/Eiru /Earth) , and, I am you — not just who you are, but an example of who you can be.” — (Channeled by Vicky Flanagan)
Maeve is sheer power and pure compassion as one.
She is life-force without human intervention — before the rules, restrictions and limitations of others. She reminds us of what’s possible when we get back to basics - our roots, the source of who we are. When we embody our lifeforce in this way and allow it to live from a place of Truth - a new reality is born because we’re not co-creating from a place of restriction or fear, rather we’re creating with the essence and source of who we are, who we were meant to be.
Re-wilding
I love the analogy of wildflowers to represent our feminine energy. Wildflowers grow in the wild, naturally, without human intervention or planting. They thrive in most habitats like woodlands, ditches, and roadsides, and can be found growing between rocks. Wildflowers contribute significantly to biodiversity and provide homes for many insects and animals. In many respects, we’ve lost our wild - but Goddess Maeve is here to support our feminine rewilding, helping us to heal the traumas that caused us to suppress our feminine energy - the wild, uncultivated and untamed force within each of us, that has the ability to create life, to heal, and transform.
This Spring Equinox was an opportunity to balance my feminine energy. To move from feeling powerless, over-emotional and over-sensitive and begin to flow with life once again. Balanced Feminine energy is allowing, receiving, surrender, emotional, sensitive, kindness, tenderness, feeling, creative, stillness. If you’re feeling the need to balance your feminine energy, call on Maeve, Goddess and Queen — embodiement of the Divine Feminine and let her soothe your heart, dissolve your pain and trauma of the past. Let her spark within you renewed strength, compassion and courage so you can co-create a life that you love!
Queen Maeve’s Resting Place, Co. Sligo