feiledraiochta 25th of May

Tis June sorry.

Féile Draíochta - A Festival of Irish Magic and Spirituality ~ Explore contemporary Ireland's Magic ~

Ireland's Independent National Event, run by and for the Irish Pagan Community as a whole, will be held on Saturday, June 25th 2005, and will run from 10 am until midnight. It is called Féile Draíochta, though was known in previous years as "Witchfest" and "Craftfest", and has been run by the same organisers - Barbara Lee (High Priestess and Witch) and Lora O'Brien (Author, "Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch") - since 2003. This year's venue is Chief
O'Neills Hotel, Smithfield, Dublin 7.

Féile Draíochta (phonetically pronounced as Fay-lah Dree-ockta) is packed with talks and workshops from some of Ireland's most knowledgeable and entertaining speakers, on a variety of topics which will be fascinating to everybody who is interested in Irish heritage, mythology, modern magic, healing, divination, mediumship, environmental issues, or who is even just curious! There will be musical entertainment, exhibitions by amazing artists and craftspeople, energy healers, psychic readers, and a wide variety of stalls supplying a wide variety of tastes.


Featuring talks and workshops by:

Lady Olivia Robertson: Arch Priestess and Co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis - County Wexford.
~ Star Children "A New Humanity is Born" ~

Joe McGowan: Author of "Echoes of a Savage Land", Irish Folklorist - County Sligo.
~ Pagan Voices: Interpreting the Irish landscape ~

Daragh Smyth: Author of "A Guide to Irish mythology", Lecturer in Sociology and Irish Cultural Studies at the Dublin Institute of Technology - County Dublin.
~ Druids and Seers ~

Bev Richardson: Dean of Castle Pook - County Cork.
Workshop ~ Exploring Storylines ~

Wil Kinghan & Cait Branigan
Wil is a Shamanic Practitioner in the native Celtic traditions and an initiated High Priest, Cait is a Shamanic and Reiki Practitioner, Ovate and Member of OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) - County Wexford.

Steve Wilson: Author of "Chaos Ritual" - UK.
~ The Filidh: Shaman Poets of Ireland ~

Deirdre Wadding: Witch, Shamanic Worker, Tarot Reader and Teacher - County Wexford.
Workshop ~ Experiencing the Changing Face of the Goddess Through the
Wheel of the Year ~

Vinnie Woods: Vinnie works with Crystals and Magical Stones - County Dublin.
Workshop ~ Crystals: Discovering the Magic Within ~

Ani Payne: Fire Dancer, Performance Artist, and Witch - County Westmeath.
Workshop ~ The Art of Poi ~

Mark O'Sullivan - County Dublin.
~ Paganism and Deep Ecology ~

Diann Fletcher Jones: Witch and Herbalist - County Wexford.
~ Irish Plant Spirit Medicine ~

John Paul Patton: Thelemic Magician, Author of "The Living Ogam" - County Antrim.
~ Thelema: The Way of Liberty ~

Sue Hayes: Medium and Traditional Witch - County Kilkenny.
~ Journey Into Spirit ~

Sean Gilmartin: Researches Irish Mythology and Stories - County Dublin
~ Ériu's dream - is mythology real? ~

Pat Griffin: Priestess of the Fellowship of Isis, Astrologer and former President of the Astrological Association - County Wexford.
~ Sacred Mirror: Zodiac and the Land ~

Full Programme and Schedule Information will be provided on entry.

The Way of the Warrior - Martial Arts Demonstration Pencak Silat Ireland will give a demonstration and be available on the day to discuss their art. Pencak Silat (`Silat') is the generic term for the indigenous martial arts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It is non-aggressive, learnt and practised by
men and women, boys and girls of any age, and is accessible to complete beginners in martial arts. Silat employs natural body movements and develops balance and economy of movement in each individual. It can be practised purely for sport and fitness, for the aesthetic beauty of the art or for the chance to learn one of the world's few remaining complete traditional martial arts systems.

Shopping

Our stalls area, the Magical Marketplace, will be available all attendees from 10am to 6pm. Products on sale will include everything from organic makeup and chemical free skin care to bodhráns, painted glassware to fancy candles, books, incense, unusual clothing, crystals and gem stones, jewellery, cards and prints, tarot and divination cards, ritual weaponry, essential oils and aromatherapy products, and much much more! Energy Healers and Psychic Readers will be available for booking in our Sacred Space.
Event attendees will be able to enjoy a Reiki healing or a Tarot reading, along with many other practises, from 10am to 6pm.

Fantastic Evening Entertainment

~ Ani Payne ~ Fire Dancing
~ Wendy Marlatt ~ Tribal Belly Dance Troupe
~ The Hitmen ~ Magical and Contemporary Music Entertainment tickets will be available from 7 pm to 8.30pm, the evening finishes at Midnight.

Magical Rituals

Experience for yourself the Power and Energy of unique magical rituals on the day. We will have Con Connors of Druid School, organising a mid event ritual which will involve and energise all
attendees who wish to participate, in preparation for the evening's entertainment. Our lovely Northern Witch and speaker liaison, Anne, will facilitate the opening and closing ceremonies which begin and end Féile Draíochta.

Tickets
Tickets are on sale at the Dublin moot (An Fáinne), Roscommon moot, and the Wexford moot. Other outlets include: "Crystal Connection" on the Coal Quay in Cork, "Blaze" in Dun Laoighaire in Dublin, Pat
Griffin in the "Fellowship of Isis", Deirdre Wadding at "Only Natural" in Wexford, Ani Payne in Castlepollard, Westmeath.
You can purchase tickets through an online ordering system at www.feiledraiochta.net
For further details on any of these outlets please ring or text Barbara at 087-2500064.

They are also on sale in the "House of Astrology" (9 Parliament Street, Temple Bar, Dublin), to whom we wish to extend special thanks for all of their help and support.

Tickets are priced at €20.00, which covers entrance from 10am until Midnight, and provides access to all talks, workshops, and evening entertainment.
Attendees are advised to bring money to purchase their own food and drink (available all day within the venue), to book a healing or energy reading in the Sacred Space, or to shop in the Magical Marketplace.

The Organisers
Lora O'Brien: A full time mother, her husband is also a Witch, and they live in County Roscommon. Lora has considered herself a Witch from about the age of 15, even before she knew what to call it, after a powerful magical experience led her to this path. Though first a solitary witch, and then trained in Alexandrian Wicca as a High Priestess, she has gone on to discover her own path, Irish Witchcraft in it's essence. Priestess is how she generally describes herself these days, Bean Draoí (pronounced Ban Dree) in her native tongue, or just Witch.
She speaks and holds workshops at Witchcraft and Pagan events in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and organises the Roscommon Monthly meetings or 'Moots'. Her first book, "Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch", was published by New Page Books in October 2004, receiving many excellent reviews from critics and the general public alike. Lora is currently working on a second book.

Barbara Lee: A mother of two active teenagers, is a full time Tarot consultant based in Dublin, having read and worked with Tarot for over 25 years. She is also an Alexandrian High Priestess, and has run a training coven since 1982, first with her former husband and now with her current partner.
She always says that she didn't look for Wicca, it found her, and has been very content to follow it as her spiritual path from the late 1970s, as when she discovered it, it was a "homecoming".
As a Witch she is consulted by people on a regular basis for help and guidance. She teaches classes on Witchcraft and Wicca in Dublin and Wexford, and lectures and runs workshops both in Ireland and the UK. She is also a trained hypnotherapist, counsellor and Reiki Master, and works extensively with crystals in both healing and divination. She is next due to speak at the Pagan Association Conference in Birmingham in September.