Three Cards for January to Begin the New Year

it seemed appropriate to draw three cards to begin 2020, which by all accounts is going to be an important year for our consciousness and the well-being of the planet. The Celts believe in the magic of threes. A three-card spread traditionally invites us to look at past, present, and future. I dare say all of us spend some time over the New Year’s holiday reflecting on this theme.

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Songs of Peace

When I was introduced to Celtic Christmas music, I connected to the gentle rendition of many hymns and songs I already knew. I also was introduced to songs of that tradition that were new to me: “In the Bleak Midwinter”, “I Saw Three Ships a Sailing” and “The Wexford Carol” among my favorites.

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Winter Solstice

It seems so dark here in the Northern Hemisphere in mid-December, it is easy for us-even in these days of bright lights that automatically can click on when we enter a room-to feel the gloom and darkness.  Some perhaps even begin to feel as if the light will ever be bright and the days long again. It is no wonder that the Ancient Ones marked the solstice - this shortest day, longest night - and celebrated what they called “the return of the sun”.

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December Tarot

For a year now, I have pulled a Celtic Tarot or Oracle card and suggested its message be a focal poet for meditation or reflection as we entered the new month. The deck I chose this month is not specifically Celtic but is similar to a deck that was part of my visit to Ireland on a tour of thin places back in the 1980s. As many of you know, that trip inspired my first novel Celtic Spirit these many years later.

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