THANKS TO OUR READERS AND CONTRIBUTORS!

The Celtic Rose has now officially been in existence for just over one year, and in that time numerous wonderful friends have posted and readers have responded with more than 4,000 views of the blog.  I am truly touched and grateful and sincerely hope we're bringing a little sunshine to readers interested in all things Celtic.

In celebration, I would like to send an autographed copy of the Historical Anthology collection by Victory Tales Press, in which my short story Deirdre is included, to the first commenter who leaves an email address.  I will use this to contact you for your snail mail addy.

Scroll down a bit and you will see the picture of Deirdre and be able to read a bit about this wonderful anthology.

Like so many authors, I am busy right now preparing to go to the RWA Nationals conference in New York, but I will do all mailings first, and hopefully return refreshed and recharged for another great year at The Celtic Rose.  Oh, and I am presently working on an Irish tale of my own devising, The Legend of M'Rith.  Look for that one later this year.

Fond best wishes to all of you.

The Ancient Celts: A Samhain/Beltaine myth

Thank you, Miriam, for allowing me to post at The Celtic Rose.

I write Celtic historical romances with fantasy elements. My stories reflect my passion for history, storytelling and the supernatural. Inspired by the ancient Celts, my tales are filled with fierce warriors, bold women, magic, conflict and romance. My current home is in Arizona with my husband and two dogs.

The Celtic festivals of Samhain and Beltaine play an important part in my Dark Goddess trilogy. I also included a myth involving two goddesses that are linked to these important festivals. Samhain, which means ‘Summer’s End’ was celebrated by the ancient Celts on November 1st. This marked the end of the warm seasons with the reaping of the wheat fields and culling of the herds to prepare for the harsh winter. Beltaine means ‘Good fire’ and was celebrated May 1st to welcome back the sun and warmer months of plentiful food and milk.

 'The Cailleach' is believed to be a pre-Celtic earth goddess. She is one of the oldest and most powerful goddesses who personifies the cutting winds and harshness of the northern winter. She was worshipped by the ancient Celts as a winter goddess and a goddess of sovereignty. Her name means ‘veiled one’ and she ruled the winter months. In some stories Cailleach is the Crone. I chose her because she is a Celtic goddess known in Ireland and Scotland, which corresponded with the settings of my story. She is usually an old hag, but there are Irish myths that show her as a beautiful young maiden. In legends, she appears to the hero as a hideous old woman in her aspect of Sovereignty to test his heart for kingship. The one who kisses or mates with the old hag is rewarded—she changes into a beautiful maiden and bestows sovereignty on him. Only a true king is not fooled by appearances and can see beyond into one’s heart.

There are many stories about Cailleach, but the one I focused on is the legend of Cailleach and Brigit. Brigit is a Celtic sun goddess and a member of the Tuatha de Danaan. Her associations with metalworking (fire) and light are appropriate for rituals welcoming back the sun, healing and inspiration. To the ancient Celts, she was a triple-aspect goddess of poetry, smith-craft and medicine. In pre-Celtic beliefs, she represents the Maiden—new beginnings. In her earliest incarnation, she was called Breo-Saighit (Fiery Arrow). She is known in Ireland, Scotland and Britain with variations of her name: Brigid, Bride, Brigantia. There are many stories about her as she is an enduring goddess and is still worshipped today as St. Brigit (Brigid). Her festival is held on Imbolc (Feb. 1st).

In the myth I used for my trilogy, the two goddesses are imprisoned by the changing seasons and forced to ‘sleep’ during the months their reign ends. Cailleach ruled in winter months, awakening at Samhain. Her reign ended on Beltaine when Brigit awoke to rule the summer months. Cailleach’s awakening signaled the arrival of the dark half of the year, the long cold nights of winter, while Brigit’s awakening heralded the arrival of the lighter half of the year filled with warm summer days and endless sunshine. The part that interested me about this legend is that they may have been two different faces of the same goddess. I drew on this myth and put my own spin on it.

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Blurb from Cat’s Curse, Book One: Dark Goddess Trilogy (Celtic historical romance/fantasy):

Enter Dark Age Scotland—a mysterious, dangerous & exciting place…

Blurb: Cardea is cursed to live an eternity as a blood drinker. Aedan mac Gabrain, prince of Dal Riata, trusts no one after suffering a curse that keeps him from touching any females. Can two tortured souls find love while battling a dark goddess determined to destroy them?

Available now from Awe-Struck Publishing: http://www.king-cart.com/Awe-Struck/category=Kelley+Heckart/exact_match=exact

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

My book page at Awe-Struck

http://www.king-cart.com/Awe-Struck/category=Kelley+Heckart/exact_match=exact

My author page on amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Heckart/e/B002BMOQ3C/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Mending Broken Links

High King Brian Boru

I am both honored and delighted to smash a proverbial bottle of champagne on the hull of Miriam’s newly launched ship, The Celtic Rose. With all the Celtic-themed books out there, the idea of creating a blog to feature authors who tap Celtic myth and culture for inspiration is a truly ambitious undertaking.

I’m author Pat McDermott, and my particular Celtic bug is Irish. It bit me a long time ago, courtesy of my O’Brien grandparents. I have such a treasure trove of memories of them, I often wonder if their decision to emigrate to the United States might have cheated my mother and father in a mean way. Sadly for my parents, they didn’t know their own grandparents, nor did they know the grandaunts, granduncles, and cousins who stayed behind in Ireland. Like the children of thousands of immigrants, my parents lost an entire chain of links to their heritage, and they passed those missing links to their offspring.

Such gaps in family history may be one reason so many of us feel compelled to dig up our roots. The need to find something we sense we’ve lost drives us to research our family trees, visit museums, and read—or write—of bygone days.

I suspect this longing to understand the past has helped fuel the tremendous popularity of time travel novels. Reading them is another way to connect with the past, one that safely allows a mysterious ancestor to become the bold pirate queen or the claymore-wielding Highlander we imagined him or her to be. Writing such novels is a way to manipulate the past, to invent new ancestors to fill in the blanks, to get to know them better and fall in love with the scoundrels and heroes we meet along the way.

My books aren’t quite time travel novels. A Band of Roses, Fiery Roses, the forthcoming Salty Roses, and my recently completed young adult novel, Glancing Through the Glimmer, are alternate histories, rollicking good romantic adventures set in an Ireland that might have been. The stories are based on the premise that High King Brian Boru survived the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 A.D. and founded a rascally, royal dynasty that still rules modern Ireland.

So what if I don’t live in a medieval mansion filled with portraits depicting a centuries-old family lineage? I can create one easily enough, and who knows? Perhaps some rogue of an ancestor is guiding my fingers over the keyboard as I write.