Path of the Ancestral Mothers

Journeying Through Winter with the Cailleach

I just finished carving my tumshie (turnip) last night, for my Samhain tradition of heading out a walk towards midnight. The walk is a divination, of translating the signs - and a peering into the new year.

There is also a prayer or two to the ancestors, to the people I know who have died, to my ancients the bone ancestors, whose lives I know nothing of and for those great presences who once walked the land but only remain in spirit - a prayer to auroch, wolf and bear.

We have come full circle in our journey on the Path of Ancestral Mothers of Scotland, stopping along the way to sit with each of the Ancestral Mothers. As we begin a new year I’m offering a journey with the Cailleach through the dark winter months, which will take us to Imbolc (which is still winter) and the return of Brighid to the world where we will sit by Brighid’s hearth and hear her stories and symbolism.

In this post we’ll begin our journey with the story of the Shrine of the Cailleach and then:

• The Whirlpool of Corryvrecken

• The Old Woman of the Land

• The Cailleach and Loch Lomond

• The Cailleach of the Western Isles

• A visit to Ireland

• The Wise Woman and the Cailleach

• Fairy Cattle

• Brighid and the Cailleach

At Imbolc we will explore different stories and aspects of Brighid.