A Chairde, Friends,
We are in the last weeks of Samhain, how has this season been for you? Although I begin my year and plan it around the four Old Gaelic seasons of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasa, I do have a word for 2025. I don’t always have a word, but this one came in a dream I had of my grandfather, Christopher O’Sullivan, who I never met as he died at the winter solstice in 1960 when he was 37-years-old.
The day of the dream, I had honoured him through an Ancestral Hearth Ritual. I told him that he would never be forgotten, even though his generation is almost gone - he has one surviving brother, my great-uncle, Tommy. The dream was a numinous one for me as I met my younger than me now grandfather and received an ‘inheritance’ from him in the dreamworld. The dream ended with a disembodied voice (that I so often have in my dreams) shouting ‘Viriditas!’ - the greening power of nature, a concept birthed by the wondrous polymath and mystic, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, who herself was influenced by Celtic spirituality.
‘Greening love hastens to the aid of all. With the passion of heavenly yearning, people who breathe this dew produce rich fruit.’
Matthew Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen
I have committed to immersing myself in this greening love in 2025 so that I might live in viriditas and flourish there. My mantra is, ‘I let life in.’
What about you, do you have a word for 2025?
This Animist Life
Today, I share a conversation with one who, like Hildegard, breathes as this greening energy, the equally wondrous Heather Louise Porter, founder of Animisma. This is an invitation to brew yourself a cuppa and invite myself and Heather into your sitting room, or take us for a walk somewhere as we chat about all things animism and more... Here’s a little about what we explore:
The story of our wild woman ancestor, Mis, who, in a fit of grief at the death of her father becomes a geilt, (an Old Irish term that translates as, ‘one who goes mad from terror; a crazy person living in the woods endowed with the power of levitation’) and how we metabolise stories in our bodies.
The ancestral guidance that Heather received, listened to and co-created with that led her to birth Animisma into our world.
Navigating the seasonal cycles of the Celtic Calendar in nature, but also within ourselves (as nature beings). Contemplating how outer seasonal cycles match our inner seasonal cycles, and how we can use this cyclic wisdom in innovative ways to guide our creative lives.
The epidemic of loneliness and how ancestral wisdom and the more-than-human world can be allies in guiding us back to connection and community.
Heather’s advice on following the path of the animist by slowing down, even momentarily.
Visiting sacred sites on the Celtic Isles and being OK with the imperfection of our experiences, especially when travelling with others. Finding perfection and expanding time in savoured moments.
A folktale that feels alive for Heather in her body and soul, that she continuously swims back to.
The wonder of passing down intergenerational bedtime stories.
About Heather
Heather is a writer, artist, and contemplative advisor whose lifetime of translating scientific, spiritual, and ecological concepts deeply informs her work today. Inspired by her Celtic ancestors, who lived closely to the land, waters, seasons, and trees, she lives as an animist. Celtic mysticism is the thread that weaves her words and voice together into an emerald quilt of curiosity and care, and a deep, unyielding love of the Earth is at the heart of all she does. Her works tend to contemplate the myriad aspects of a sovereign life, seeking to reveal the wonders of the etheric in service of connection, reverence, and deep, honorable communion. She is currently writing her first book and continues to offer personal and group sessions for any and all seeking to deepen their relationship with the unseen.
You can learn more about Heather’s soulful offerings including Magical Stories for Sleepy Strawberries at www.animisma.com and immerse in her marrow-nourishing words here on Substack.
Our next Imbas Dispatch will of course be in honour of Goddess and Mystic Saint, Brigid, as we enter the fertile lands of Imbolc.
On Brigid, I will be hosting two free ‘Brigid’s Threshold’ women’s circles in collaboration with Creative Ireland, Fingal Libraries, and Community Wellness in Balbriggan Library as part of the Brigid in Balbriggan community festivities. If you’re close to Dublin, do come along and we’ll ignite the inner flame of our Shining One, Brigid for 2025! You can find out more here.
Myself and Heather would love to hear any reflections you have to share in response to This Animist Life, so please do get in touch!
Croí isteach,
Jen x
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