Your body is like a mountain.
In Hindu mythology Mount Meru is celebrated as the centre of the universe, a mythical place, perceived to be the axis mundi, the centre of the physical, spiritual and metaphysical universes. Mountains have been cosmically associated throughout history with the dwelling place of gods. Here in Ireland we repeatedly see mountain and hilltop burial grounds as sites of sacred geography.
I have a recurring dream where I am just reaching the top of the mound of a large green hill, there is always someone by my side. I have no idea what this dream means but I do know that it is significant in some way, I feel the familiarity of taking each step, the feeling of the damp grass in my bones.
Our house and village lies in the shadow of Binn Shléibhe/Mount Gable, a mountain which is significant in the second battle of Moytura, between the FirBolgs and Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology. There’s a powerful dark energy caught deep in the ancient geological formations of hard quartzite rock here that I find difficult to ignore.
Not far away, near Tuam, Co. Galway and visible from near here lies Knockma, another hill possessing a rich folkloric mythology. Associated with Finnbheara of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who according to folklore became lord of the síd (fairies) of Knockma and had a particular gift for enticing maidens to his otherworldly realm!
The New Moon in Virgo is at 2.55am (Irish time) on Tuesday the 3rd September.
We have no real idea of how rituals were practiced on these ancient mountain and hilltops, just as we have absolutely no idea, really, what the astrological energies signify or how they impact our lives. What we do know though is that they offer a profound metaphysical mirror to our existence; they’re charged in a way that our modern rational, linear-thinking mind finds particularly challenging to decipher and comprehend fully.
They remind us that sometimes we don’t need any explanations at all; we simply don’t need to know every intricate detail. In these fleeting moments, the subtle becomes the focus,