Cearcaill nan Òran Gàidhlig/Gaelic Song Circles
When I began to try to learn Gaelic, it was as if I entered a mist-shrouded world that existed outside of time, as if I returned home after a long journey.
But, I also found it to feel quite intimidating. It was like a majestically moonlit autumn apple that was just out of reach. I could feel how deeply my heart and soul yearned to speak this lilted language; it was as if my very life depended on it. But it felt nearly impossible to mundanely approach a primal, spirited, unconquerable language with the head of a modern English speaker. And for me, it was literally physically painful to try. I struggled along for a few years, until it was suggested to me by my teacher and the Kontomblé, the beloved Wee Folk with whom she works, to start with music, to start by learning songs.
I was excited by this prospect, but still rather fixed in the belief that my learning Gaelic was a lost cause. Nevertheless, not long after this, I happened upon a video of Rachel Walker singing a Scottish traditional called Bràighe Loch Iall. After the song ended, I immediately I began to research the Scottish Gaelic song tradition, and it was as if everything began to feel right, filled with purpose. It was as if the Will-o-the-wisps lit up the deep forest all at once. The path had opened up. I could finally see that I was being guided. I felt the inner fortitude to walk into the woods and keep putting one wee foot in front of the other to follow them word by word, song by song.
Gaelic feels to me as if it is straight from the Cosmos and a gift from Spirit, from the Fair Folk and the Tuatha Dé Danann in particular. I see and feel more of them in the Gaelic with every passing day. For me, to speak it, to sing it, is a ceremony. To learn it, is a ritual, wyld, unpredictable, sometimes trying, but deeply nourishing, and filled with sacred tears of rose-gold. It is a pathway to one’s true roots, and a return to the sacred oak groves and the Oran Mór, The Great Melody of Life, I do believe. For me, it is magick, it is truth, it is a timeless carrier of ancient gnosis, it is a de-conditioner that returns essence and nature and memory, it is an umbilical cord that connects one to the Earth and the Stars and the great mysteries that lie therein. For me, it also feels deeply communal, like a heartwood for community, for the village, for the wee and the we.
It is also a wee torch that my soul has picked up over lifetimes, one that I try to carry with honour and humbleness, with the heart of devotion, and with sincere gratitude for the ancestors both human and spirit whose love has preserved the songs and tradition, whose love was so deep that they fought and sometimes died for the right to pass the language onto the next generation.
I once had a dream where a grandmother ancestor told me:
“As we re-write the grooves and stories in our brains by speaking the languages our ancestors were forbidden to speak, we re-write their grooves and stories for them too. And in so doing we rewrite the past, the present, and the future.”
Gaelic was indeed forbidden at times, as so many ancestral tongues have been so across what we call time. Her message struck me as deeply profound, deeply mystical, and filled with the yellow sun of hope… a medicinal pearl for these now times. It also reminds me to believe in our innate ability to remember our ancestral tongues.
How many of our ancestors spoke these different languages gifted from the culture-bringing galactics, I wonder? How many of our ancestors came together to share in song and story for days of ceremony, communing with the Otherworld, and taking care of one another like true Good Neighbours? How many of our ancestors fought so that we could inherit even bits of their stories in their mother tongues? Do these braids of memory and tone live in our backbones and our hearts, I wonder? I do believe so, it is something I barely need to ponder.
Perhaps the stream of the Gael speaks to your heart true?
Perhaps the songs call to the ancient tone of memoriam that lives within you?
Perhaps to learn a diddie or two would be a certain kind of magick for ye too?
This is an offering that comes forth from my whole heart with fervent love and sparkling joy, tempered equally with humbleness and sincerity.
It also comes from the wishes that I had at the beginning of my Gaelic journey: to feel as if learning Gaelic from the heart was accessible to me, to sing and speak in Gaelic in ceremony, to gather in sacred community at the hearth of timeless connection with life and Spirit and the stream of this regal language just as those who came before.
So, it is into the musical mists that we go. Where we come out, well, the shining Sidhe Folk shall surely know.
Le gaol, ceòl,/ With love, music,
Sylvie
"Wow wow wow... how absolutely magical and powerful our song circle was... I listened to the recording again and I received so many downloads, the energy was palpable, we created magic thanks to you beautiful Sylvie, thank you thank you thank you. We co created with our unconditional love a passage into the 5th world of Peace... I could feel the Emerald Isles from across the seas join together in union and communion, it’s truly magnificent and I will cherish this moment forever. Go Leor Beannachtai Duit. Love, Catriona"
Date + Time:
The next monthly circle will take place on Saturday, May 25, 2024 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm EDT (UTC-4).
A few time conversions can be found here.
Donation:
The donation is 33 USD.
The donations help me to be able to offer these circles in the spirit of sharing and generosity, and part of each donation will in turn be donated to a Gaelic primary school, Gaelic medium children’s organisation, or another organisation or cause based in Scotland or Ireland that is in support of keeping the arts and languages alive for the coming generations and times.
It is my heartfelt and humble prayer that we can all be in the spirit of generosity together and with the eternal & generous stream of the language itself.
All donations are made as part of the registration process and are nonrefundable.
Registration:
You can register for the circle via the form below.
Once you have registered, you will receive the Zoom link & preparation information in your confirmation email.
As such, once you receive that email, your space will be officially reserved.
Please keep that email on hand for the circle itself!
All those registered for the circle will receive the recording and shared materials regardless of attendance at the live circle.
After the circle, I will send a recording of the class in addition to an audio recording of the song itself. I will also send a written file with Gaelic lyrics, and any information, field recordings or other recordings, and stories of the song that I can share as well.
You do not need to have any Gaelic in order to attend this circle.
We will learn Gaelic songs with an intention to openly feel and sing the spirit of the songs from our hearts; it is my feeling that the nuances of the language can come in time and with practice whilst the heart and spirit of your personal connection to these songs is timeless and inherent, like a dear friend.
During the circle, I will share the songs orally and break down the pronunciations whilst encouraging you to write down the phonetics as you hear them and finding your own inherent connection to the spirit of the song.
It is likely that we will work on one to two songs during our time together with the intention that you’ll feel inspired and confident enough to keep practicing, singing, and weaving them into your lives. After the circle, you will receive resources for further practice and inspiration as well.
Additionally, you do not need to have any formal experience with singing to attend this circle.
Practically speaking, with Zoom song circles and Zoom’s audio capabilities, we must get a bit creative. It is likely that participants will mostly learn the songs via a muted audio, but can ask questions at any time.
Moreover, I am continuously inspired to see and feel how in the Gaelic song tradition, there is often an over arching emphasis placed an honest, soul-filled song that reverberates love for life in all of its expressions and is courageously lifted to a timeless, spirited place simply by being. Often it is the truthful storytelling, a communal offering woven of devotion and of generosity in heartfelt connection, that is the common thread deftly woven like glimmering gold across the offerings of many song bearers. An honest, brave voice of soul and heart is truly a voice of magick, I do believe.
It is in this spirit that we gather, and that wellspring from which we each inherently stream.
Lastly, these circles will be approached ceremonially, and with great heart and care.
As such, please do your very best to come with an open heart of respect, care, kindness, and love for all souls present on the line, for the sacred, and for the ancestors and spirits who are supporting our time together.
Additionally, if you have an offerings practice, please consider making offerings to Spirit, the Fey and Wee folk, the Ancestors, the Earth Mother, and/or the Oran Mór prior to the circle as well!
It is also likely that near the start of the circle we shall weave in some light pranayama and mantra from the Kundalini Yoga lineage. With my KY teacher and mentor’s guidance and blessing, and with respect for the integrity of the lineage, in Gaelic song circles I have had the profound honour to begin to offer song circles with these practices, specifically Kundalini Yoga pranayama & mantra with Gaelic song as a sacred trinity, so as to harmonise our energies as individuals and a community, and to also continue to find creative + ceremonial ways that we can elevate our consciousness to sit more in the eternal stream of soul and source whilst learning new songs… thus making it a smoother, more heart and soul centered process with the Oran Mór! It is really so inspiring to behold!
You can register for the next Gaelic Song Circle below.
Slàinte mhath, I shall look forward to singing with you!
Please note, I will close registration for each circle about four hours before the circle takes place.
If there is ever a circle that you felt called to attend but missed, please feel free to reach out about the possibility of receiving the recording.
If you are interested in an individual Gaelic Song Session or if there is a specific song that you’re hoping to learn, please send me a message via the Contact page about the possibility of connecting individually.