Blessings of Samhain!

I sit today and reflect upon the ever thinning of the veils between the living and the dead. Soon it will be time when we can rend the veils.
This is a wonderful time to listen to the advice of the Crone & Sage... "Let go" What is it in your life that you have need to "let go" of?
Who is it from your past; family member, ancestor or friend that always gave you good council and could use it now? The thinning veils of Samhain will soon allow our 'beloved dead' to walk amongst us... Invite them into your home and offer them refreshments to nourish their spirits. A simple turnip or two hallowed out with a tea light in them their name or initials carved or painted on them and Hung above your doorway will help guide them to your home.
This is the Celtic New Year! With every ending their is a new beginning and the year dies and is born again on the Hallows eve. It is a good time therefore, to contemplate and make resolve for those things you need and or desire to manifest this year. It is also a time to contemplate on what this next year's Spiritual Devotions will be, if any. I like to, as many do, review what worked and didnt work for ourselves in our mundane life, spiritual life & magickal life, etc.
Samhain is a signal to us that not only are our "beloved dead" near us to give comfort & guidance, but it is also a signal that it is time to begin the 'Wintering in'. The Harvest is in and the sun is slowly descending. Soon we will be in the dark half of the year. a good time to be close to home and focusing on hearth crafting...making candles, sewing projects left to the "I'll do it later pile", hearth fire tending,and improving or honing magickal techniques.
Mmmmm.... the smell of home baked breads and Stews that simmer all day... Hot apple Cider freshly squeezed.....I delight in this time of year, almost as much as when life begins to stir again after a long cold winter....
I find when I take a walk in the woods and i see the afternoon glow creating light and shadow play amongst the trees, i am in awe of nature's glorious fireworks of colors..... a blaze of glory before she lets go... I inhale deeply the rich musky scent of the god... that scent of decaying leaves and pungency .... Ahhhh the cool breezes that excite and thrill ...and chill your skin....It is in all of this one realizes that the Lady is going to sleep and her Lover and Consort will watch over her until her time comes to give birth to the new born sunchild.
Death is a part of Life... The Wheel turns yet again and the Circle of Life & Death Dance together .... May I have this dance with you?

Na Tirana agus Bantirana de domhain, dubh, GlasCoill Beannacht agat!
* Irish to English
May the Lord & Lady of the Deep, Dark, GreenWood Bless you!

How will you celebrate the Grape Harvest This year?
I will attend a Dionysion Grape stomp and feast and trance dance till i cant move any longer...
I look forward to the Blood mysteries of the God of Harvest
Io IO EVOHE!
~To the Divine Madness

High Court decision day in M3 case is 1st March

Meath Chronicle
Wed February 1st 06


MR JUSTICE Thomas Smyth of the High Court will give his decision on
the
M3 motorway case on 1st March next, following a seven-day hearing
that
finished on Tuesday last.

Campaigner Vincent Salafia is challenging the Minister for the
Environment, the State, Meath County Council and the National Roads
Authority (NRA) on the routing of the proposed motorway through the
Tara-Skryne Valley.

On the final day of the hearing last week, Mr Justice Smith ruled
that
he did not require to hear oral evidence by archaeologists and other
experts to determine legal issues in the case.

Counsel for Vincent Salafia had earlier argued that there were
factual
disputes in the case, particularly relating to whether the greater
Tara
area constitutes a national monument. It was submitted that the court
should hear oral evidence from experts on such matters and determine
whether the greater Tara landscape is a national monument.

The lawyers for the minister, the State, Meath County Council and the
NRA argued that oral evidence was not necessary to determine the
legal
issues and submitted none of Mr Salafias experts had sworn on
affidavit that any of 38 sites discovered during test trenching of
the
proposed M3 route constituted national monuments.

After hearing both sides, the judge said he had to ask himself
whether
oral evidence and cross-examination of experts would assist him in
the
determination of the identified issues in the case. The answer to
that
had to be no.

While there were conflicting views and opinions by highly qualified
experts on both sides, those views were not focused on any issue
which
he must determine, he ruled. These matters of opinion regarding the
archaeological landscape, culture and heritage of the Tara area were
extremely interesting but he had to keep firmly focused on the
issues.

He did not see that his decision not to permit oral evidence deprived
Mr Salafia of any benefit in the case, the judge added. Mr Salafia,
of
Dodder Vale, Churchtown, Dublin, is seeking to overturn the
directions
given by the minister and is also challenging the constitutionality
of
provisions of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 2004 on the
grounds that they give the minister an unreviewable and unfettered
discretion to disapply protections for national monuments.

So, here's hoping the decision will be for the good of history and
heritage and not for the good of the developers' wallets!

You may or may not have read my last post about the final decision

for building the motorway over Tara, but the final discussions to

reopen the Dublin-Navan-Kells railway as a solution to constructing

this motorway through Tara-Skryne Valley will be Feb 6th. There are

only 60-some signatures as yet, that's SAD!! Please sign before the

6th and tell all your friends to try to save Tara!!!



Story at

www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php



Meath on Track launch new petition to re-open the

Navan-Kells railway

by Meath on Track Friday, Sep 30 2005, 8:06pm

meathontrack@... phone: 0863213755

meath / environment / press release



End Meath's commuter misery



The solution to ending N3 commuter misery is

simple, but getting the Dublin to Navan and Kells rail

line re-opened will not be easy because there in no

political will for it to happen.





New Meath on Track petition launched



A new website has been launched with an online

petition (www.meathontrack.com) for the reopening of

the Dublin to Navan & Kells line, via Dunshaughlin and

Ratoath.



The petition aims to collect 5,000 signatures

initially, and is addressed to Noel Dempsey, TD for

Meath and Government Minister.



The solution to ending N3 commuter misery is simple,

but getting the Dublin to Navan and Kells rail line

re-opened will not be easy because there in no

political will for it to happen. At present, the only

rail solution on offer to commuters in Meath is the

Dunboyne rail extension which hasn't even been

confirmed by government yet.



The big problem with the Dunboyne extension is that it

isn't a rail solution for Meath - it will go as far as

the Dublin-Meath border where it stops, and many of us

living in Meath will have to pay 2 M3 tolls each way

to get there, as well as Park & Ride charges, and that

is before we even pay for our rail tickets.



And the bi-election promises of re-opening the line at

a later date seem empty as building the M3 across the

route of the old Navan line without putting in bridges

to facilitate the lines re-opening means that it is

unlikely that the Dublin-Navan line will ever be

reopened again. One estimate is that bridging the M3

at Cannistown, near Navan at a later date will add at

least €50m to the cost of re-opening the line,

making the cost of the project prohibitive. An Bord

Pleanála recently stipulated that the N6 bridge the

route of the disused Limerick-Athenry line to

facilitate the lines re-opening in future - why does

the M3 not bridge the Dublin-Navan line?



The Meath on track campaign has 5 set goals:



1. To ensure that the existing Navan-Drogheda-Dublin

line remains in operation and opens to commuter

trains.

2. To secure immediate provision of 2 non-stop express

commuter trains from Navan to Dublin via the existing

Navan-Drogheda-Dublin line, twice a day.

3. To ensure that the M3 plans are changed to bridge

the Navan line at Cannistown, etc.

4. To scrap the token rail solution that is the

Dunboyne extension plan in favour of re-opening NOW

the Dublin-Navan-Kells line via Dunshaughlin &

Ratoath.

5. To secure planning for re-opening of Broadstone

Station in Dublin as a terminus for the Navan rail

service (as it was in the past), to avoid IE's excuse

of lack of station capacity.



Those interested in signing the Meath on Track

petition should visit www.meathontrack.com.

A Motorway Near Tara

(To the air of 'The Wearing of the Green')

Oh Paddy dear now did you hear, the news that's going round?
They're going to build a motorway near Tara's sacred ground.
Yes, through that ancient valley between Tara Hill and Skryne
The National Roads Authority will cut a deep ravine.

'Twas to this place our fathers came, from lands across the sea
Successive waves of peoples of diverse identity
They built their homes, they worked their farms, in that sweet fertile vale
And up on Tara's reverenced ground they forged our nation's tale

Six thousand years of settlement lie in that peaceful glen
The homes of peasants, priests and kings, the haunts of mighty men
But six thousand years of history, count nothing in this day
When Royal Meath's proud ancestry must yield to Dublin's sway

Has Ireland lost its heart and soul? Has Meath lost all its pride?
What's happened to our sense of place, our love of all that's right
Tara has been a treasured place, all through our history
Have we the right to take away this precious legacy?

This motorway will save some time, at least that's what they say
But when the cost is far too great, we must find another way
We still have time to make a change, we can give it one more go
Let's keep our heritage intact but still let progress flow

So come all ye who treasure dear, Meath's heritage so rare
All you who've stood on Tara's Hill, and breathed of Tara's air
Stand up and make your voices heard, and join the growing throng
Let Hands off Tara be your call, Save Tara be your song.

Julitta Clancy