The dawn of spring in the Celtic homelands...
Elembivos, "Nurturing Life"
The lunation of the Imbolg, whose name is found in reflected in I ailim 'nurture' and IE *bivo-s I beo, W byw, L vivus: 'living, life'. The nurturing life-giving season of Spring, at its earliest.
Elembivos date correspondences in the traditional Celtic calendar cycle:
Year 1: January 16 - February 13, 2008
Year 2: January 4 - February 1, 2009
Year 3: January 23 - February 20, 2010
Year 4: January 12 - February 9, 2011
Year 5: January 2 - January 30, 2012.
Later Summer in Australia...
The southern Anagantios moon:
'Unwonted' - I. ingantach - wonderful: ana-, 'not' conv. to in- before g; in-gnáth - 'not wont', 'unwonted': spanning the 'Southern Lughnasa'.
The Southern Seasons Celtic Year
Teine Grian Deas
The Southern Fire Feast for High Summer is held on the Eve of February
This is the South's second fire of the seasons, the feast at the height of the Southern summer,
often called 'Southern Lugnasa' because it is the seasonal equivalent to
the Lughnasadh, the high summer games
the Fire Feast of August in the Celtic homelands.
The amorous cuckoo sings,
As vesper bell for midsummer,
Man, on the loveliest long day,
Pays court to summer with proud speech
Caer Australis presents an exploration and celebration of traditions born in the Heroic age and recorded for centuries since throughout the Celtic world.
We celebrate The Celtic Fire Feasts, and present an in depth investigation on the origins and workings of The Celtic Calendar, showing that the great two-fold division of the Celtic year opens at Samon in Samhradh and followed by Giammon in Geimhreadh. Follow the remarkable cultural continuity that links the sweep of northwest Europe, in which Cétemain, that is cét-Sam-sin, continued the traditional Celtic month of Samon into the Julian calendar of Ireland and names the season it heads, that is, Samrad: the summer.
From the The Southern Seasons we look at Australian perspectives of the Feasts, the Calendar and here too are links to Australian Celtic websites and cultural festivals.
We celebrate Celtic song and poetry in The Grove, and mythology and thoughts on The Gorsedd. We present an ancient history from Brennus to Boudicca in Conquest, and explore to meet King Arthur in The Arthur Project.
Today Celtic people abound all over the globe, and throughout its history, Celtic culture has expressed through its deities, myths and languages a most powerful ideal - the Celtic hero - and has met the challenges of the ages, full of tragedy mixed with unyielding hope. The modern Celtic homelands are secure and increasingly independent, the languages flourish, and a desire to know what once was is driving forward the impetus for what is yet to be.
To understand the past so that we may meet the future with knowledge and wisdom is a worthy challenge, and it is worth seeking with honesty, passion and integrity. Since 1995 Caer Australis has enjoined with others in this challenge in our celebration Celtic traditions and our reasoned analyses of some popular modern ideas. In exploring the song, myths and history of the Celts, we join those who strive to find the magic and meaning of the powerful literature of an enduring culture.
Eadar dà theine Bhealltuin! We hope you enjoy your visit!
Original written and art work and layouts © Caer Australis 1995 - 2010
The authors are John Bonsing and Scott Rhys Jones, unless otherwise stated.
Other work used with permission if possible, in public domain and referenced in any case.
Any enquiries, please use the Contact Form
Caer Australis PO Box 439 Maylands WA 6931 Australia
| Site Design by Arcturus Solutions | Last Updated January 11th, 2010 |
 St Patrick's Day Parade March Sydney CBD |
 National Folk Festival April Canberra, ACT |
 Bundanoon Highland Gathering April Bundanoon, NSW |
 Australian Celtic Festival May Glen Innes, NSW |
 David Berry Celtic Festival May Berry, NSW |
 Kernewek Lowender May Yorke Pen., SA |
 National Celtic Festival June Portarlington, Vic |
 Kilmore Celtic Festival June Kilmore, Vic |
 Abbey Medieval Festival July Redcliffe, Qld |
 Balaklava Eisteddfod July Balaklava, SA |
 Kapunda Celtic Festival September Kapunda, SA |
 Nanga Music Festival October Dwellingup, WA |
 Fleurieu Folk Festival October Wilunga, SA |
 Beechworth Celtic Festival November Beechworth, Vic |
 Scottish Highland Gathering November Castle Hill, NSW |
 Celtica Festival December Port Adelaide, SA |
Australian Celts celebrate their role in the multi-cultural nation this country has strived to become, highlighting their distinctiveness within the general 'Anglo-Celtic' description of Australia's population base, and their special relationship with the earliest European settlers in these lands. Further, Australian Celts celebrate their cultural heritage which has very much influenced the development of this nation.
The festival websites linked above are featured expressions of Celtic values, emphasising the joy of music and dance accompanied by markets, marches and ceremony. The Connecting Celts community forum is another venue to share thoughts and celebrate a shared Celtic heritage.
In the Australian Sites in our Celtic links section are to be found connections to websites of artists, musicians, clubs and societies dedicated to the furtherance of specific Irish, Welsh, Highland and Cornish traditions. Gathering a broad spectrum of members, the societies celebrate their place in Australia in their individual ways. Celtic musicians thrive in their entertainment and revelry, touring the festivals, pubs and gatherings across the land.
For those who mark the passage of time by celebrating the traditional Celtic Fire feasts, the seasons in Australia present a dilemma because they are off-set by six months compared to the Celtic homelands of Europe. In the Southern Seasons Celtic Year in our Fire Feasts section is a presentation addressing this, as well as links to websites in Australia that mark the festivals of Beltaine, Lughnasa, Samhain and Imbolg.
Summer: Teine Samhradh Deas
And they named him Gwri Golden-hair
High Summer: Teine Grian Deas
He is the Ioldhanach!
Son of the king in midsummer greenwoods
A girl there gave him thornbush fruit
Winter: Teine Geimhreadh Deas
And he made his way to Eas Ruaidh
Winter has come, summer is gone.
Low the sun and short his course
Spring: Teine Earrach Deas
Four white trefoils sprang up wherever she went
Go on your knees, open your eyes,
Let Brigit in! She is welcome!
"Grows an oak upon a steep,
The sanctuary of a fair lord;
If I speak not falsely,
Lleu will come into my lap"
- Gwydion, Mabinogi of Math ap Mathonwy
Featuring the works:
Featuring the works:
Featuring the works:
Featuring the works:Caer Australis presents...
As adjuncts to the main Caer Australis site, where the focus is on Celtic culture, are two historical websites -
The Arthur Project, which presents an introduction to the Arthurian legends and the historical endevours to penetrate the Dark Age of Britain; an overview of the stories and Arthurian romances; and the power of the legend today.
The Arthur Project - Home
The Time & Place
Arthur Pendragon
Romances of Arthur
Historical Arthur
The Birth of Arthur
Arthurian Themes Today
On-Line Resources
References
AP Contact Form
Conquest of the Celts, which presents a comprehensively referenced and documented account of the ancient world of the Celts from the earliest of historical times. Events through four and a half centuries of are examined, the conflict with the emergent Roman Republic and later the Empire. From Brennus, through to Vercingetorix, Cunobelinus and Boudicca, this is the rich history of the Heroic Age of the Celts.
Conquest - Home
The Heroic Age
Gallic War
Vercingetorix
Cunobelinos
Britain
Boudicca
On-Line Resources
References
Conquest Contact Form
The Celtic Fire Feasts:
The Celtic Fire Feasts - Introduction
Beltaine
Lughnasa
Samhain
Oimelc
The Southern Seasons Celtic Fire Feasts
Samhain is not the Celtic New Year - Introduction
1886: Hibbert Lectures
1899: Literary History of Ireland
1903: A Social History of Ancient Ireland
1922: The Golden Bough
1934: The Greatness and Decline of the Celts
The Expedition of Dathi
Pursuit of the Giolla Dacker
The Celtic Calendar:
"Now when at intervals of thirty years the star of Cronus, which they call 'Night-watchman', enters the sign of the Bull, they, having spent a long time in preparation for the sacrifice, choose by lot a sufficient number of envoys, while those who have served the god together for thirty years return home"
- Plutarch (De Facie, AD75).
The Celtic Calendar
Celtic Calendar 2009/10, a calendar of correspondences to Gregorian April/May 2009 - April, 2010:
| Samon | Duman | Riuros | Anagantios | Ogronnos | Cutios |
| Ciallos | Giamon | Semiuisonna | Equos | Elembiuos | Edrini | Cantlos |
The Southern Seasons Celtic Year
In the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are off-set by half a year, and the southern Celtic Summer begins at the time of Samhain in the North. In this section, the Celtic response to the year in the Southern Hemisphere is explored.
Caer Australis is based on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. The coastline and offshore islands of the Perth area have been known to Europeans since 1619, and Rottnest Island and the Swan River named and explored in 1697 by Willem de Vlamingh.
In 1801 Heirisson prepared the first detailed map of the Swan River (freycinet treasures). The Swan River Colony was established in 1829.
| SAMON 30 days Apr --> May Beltaine |
"Summer" (*samo-, samrad) |
GIAMON 29 days Oct --> Nov Samhain |
"Winter" (*gaimo-, gaimred) |
| DVMAN 29 days May --> Jun early summer |
"The World" (dumno-, domhan) |
SIMIVIS 30 days Nov --> Dec early winter |
"The Source" (sem + uis) |
| RIVROS 30 days Jun --> Jul summer solstice |
"The New King" (rix, ri + úr) |
EQVOS 29/30 days Dec --> Jan winter solstice |
"Horse" (*ekvos, echu) |
| ANAGAN 29 days Jul --> Aug Lughnasa |
"Unwonted" (an + gant, ingantach) |
ELEMBIV 29 days Jan --> Feb Imbolg |
"Nurturing Life" (ailim + *bivo-s) |
| OGRON 30 days Aug -->Sep late summer |
"Colder" (*ogro-, oer, fuar) |
EDRINI 30 days Feb -->Mar late winter |
"Warmer" (aedh) |
| CVTIOS 30 days Sep --> Oct autumnal equninox |
"Cover" (cuddio) |
CANTLOS 29 days Mar --> Apr vernal equinox |
"Songs" (cantla, canu) |
In 503BC, the planet Saturn appeared in Taurus marking the start of a Celtic 30 year cycle as described by Plutarch.
Caer Australis presents the hypothesis that this was the first 'Celtic Calendar Year', at the dawn of the La Tène Period.
Shown (using Cybersky) is the European dawn of May 503BC, Samon, with Saturn (and the other planets) rising with Aldebaran.
Original work and design © Caer Australis 1995 - 2010 PO Box 439 Maylands WA 6931 Australia