Kildare, 08:34 — light from the north-east, low and long. The shadows on this wall are the ones falling there now. Kildare, 08:34 — sun 11° up.
The 8 Sacred Solar & Fire Festivals
From the midwinter beam illuminating the stone chamber at Newgrange to the sacred fire lit on the Hill of Uisneach at Bealtaine.
Explore the living celestial rhythm of prehistoric Ireland and the seasonal landscape paintings born from each threshold.
Click any solar spoke or festival node to rotate the celestial wheel
October 31 – November 1 · The Dark Half of the Year
“The threshold of winter when the hearth fires were extinguished, the ancestral dead welcomed home, and the sacred flame rekindled at Tlachtga.”
Samhain marks the transition into the dark half of the year. In prehistoric Ireland, herds were brought down from the summer pastures, and the veil between this world and the Otherworld grew translucent. The rising of the Pleiades at sunset heralded the great gathering of the tribes.
The Complete Celtic Solar Cycle
The 4 Great Fire Festivals (Cross-Quarters) and the 4 Solar Alignments (Solstices & Equinoxes). Click any festival to inspect its megalithic alignment and artwork.