The Meetings
We meet in the Divine Guidance angels and crystals shop, on 66 Capel Street, Dublin 7, on the second Thursday of the month, from 7.30pm onwards. There is a charge of €4 per person to cover the hiring of the room.
Please note there are no bathroom facilities associated with this private room.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 8th, 2008.
Directions
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Aims
The first meeting of An Fáinne occurred in January 1997, and it has met once a month ever since. An Fáinne's meeting are primarily devoted to creating a space where people interested in earth-based siritualities can meet and network. The purpose of holding such meetings is three-fold:
- To allow people from various traditions to meet, so they can learn from one another.
- To provide a forum to allow people to discuss issues of interest.
- To disseminate information about the various events and workshops going on in Ireland.
Format
The monthly meetings usually follow this format:
- Creation of a space within which discussion can take place
- Announcements about the topic of the evening, and any news/events. Anyone at the meeting is free to mention any project or event they are involved in and want to advertise
- Every couple of meetings we go around the circle and each person says a couple of words about his/her interests - to enable people to get to know one another.
- The topic for the meeting is dragged over the coals - this can be quite animated at times!
- After the topic has been thoroughly discussed, the topic for the next meeting is choosen, along with who will write the article and do the opening for the following month.
- The space is then closed, so people may leave at any point after this.
- We have tea and coffee so people can chat to one another.
- Around 10.30pm, or whenever everyone wants to leave, we either adjourn to a pub, or head off home.
We are always looking for people to start the meeting, and for topics to discuss, as well as any other comments people have on the running of the meeting. All suggestions are welcome, so please mention them to the organisers on the day, or contact them outside of office hours! We are trying to organise open and inclusive meetings, and that can only be helped by the feedback of those attending.
Earth-based Spirituality
Anyone who feels a deep reverence and love for the Earth as a manifestation of the divine in the universe has at least one foot on the path to an earth-based spirituality.
Anyone who is moved by sunlight shining through the leaves of trees on an Autumnal evening, is awed by the roar of waves invading a beach, is breathless at the sight of a single daisy dancing in a summer's breeze, and is grateful for the smell of damp earth in a freshly plowed field will understand those who sense that all aspects of life are sacred--even things which traditionally would not be considered "alive", such as rocks, the ocean, the sun, the moon and the stars.
Those who pursue an Earth-based Spirituality believe that the Seasons of the Earth--the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter--are hard-wired into our bodies. As the wheel of the year turns we too respond in a similar fashion. Most would celebrate these changes in the Earth during the following festivals: Samhain, Imbolg, Bealtaine and Lughnasadh, and offer up thanks at those times for the life with which we have been gifted.
However, it is a spirituality which varies markedly from individual to individual. Each person defines his or her own relationship with the universe in an intensely unique way. Many call themselves Pagans, Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Magicians or just Seekers. Labels have little meaning when faced with our commonality: the pursuit of knowledge of a better understanding of our relationship with the Cosmos, and the forces that bind us together.
The following poem, a classic translated by Robert Graves, is offered up as an example of the mystery some of us believe surrounds us every day:
Song of Amergin
I am a stag:of seven tines,
I am a flood:across a plain,
I am a wind:on a deep lake,
I am a tear:the Sun lets fall,
I am a hawk:above the cliff,
I am a thorn:beneath the nail,
I am a wonder:among flowers,
I am a wizard:who but I
Sets the cool head aflame with smoke?
I am a spear:that roars for blood,
I am a salmon:in a pool,
I am a lure:from paradise,
I am a hill:where poets walk,
I am a boar:ruthless and red,
I am a breaker:threatening doom,
I am a tide:that drags to death,
I am an infant:who but I
Peeps from the unhewn dolmen arch?
I am the womb:of every holt,
I am the blaze:on every hill,
I am the queen:of every hive,
I am the shield:for every head,
I am the tomb:of every hope.
Robert Graves, The White Goddess, Faber and Faber Ltd.