Pagans and druids, mark your calendars and book your airplane tickets. An Australian entrepreneur hopes to open a Stonehenge replica by the December 21 solstice, just in time for New Age revelers.”I’m doing it because I can,” said Ross Smith, the former owner of a successful microbrewery business who plans to build the monument on his property in Western Australia.

“Nowhere in the world has a complete Stonehenge been built.”

The U.S. $1.26 million project, to be called The Henge, will include 101 granite stones arranged in an inner and outer circle, a central altar, and will span 110 feet (33.5 meters).

“I’ve studied plans of the original and that’s what The Henge will look like,” Smith said.

Smith called The Henge “a business venture.” An entry fee will be charged and it will be hired out for weddings and other events.

He hopes his replica will attract 200,000 to 300,000 tourists per year to the Margaret River region, already renowned for fine wine, chocolate, and cheese.

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As podcasters, we are always listening to podcasts - no surprises there. One of the most amazing developments in the field is the arrival of the podcast novel.To hear an author read his/her own work to you is a real treat - and remember, most podcasts are free! With the emergence of podcasting as a new technology and the podcast novel, or Podiobook, we were inspired to bring you the tales we love. It a joy to find another podcast for you that deals with the subjects of Celtic Mythology or the Fey, and Chasing the Bard by Philippa Ballantine is well-worth listening to. The story brings us into the worlds of Shakespeare and the Fey. We cannot recommend it highly enough. The press release tells us more:

New Zealand artists have been taking the entertainment world by storm over the past few years. Peter Jackson led this invasion by bringing to life J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings. The Conchords were next as their comedy and music won them new audiences everywhere with The
Flight of the Conchords. With her own sultry combination of blues, jazz, and hip-hop, Hollie Smith is about to take her sound to the United States. And now, author Philippa Ballantine, intends to bring to the world her award-nominated tale of manipulative goddesses, friendly Tricksters and William Shakespeare through the exciting new medium of podcasting.

Podcasting is nothing new to Philippa as in 2006 she was the first New Zealand author to podcast a novel, Weaver’s Web. This introduced her work to a global audience while she herself never left her home in Wellington. Even after the novel’s conclusion, she continued to explore podcasting with Whispers at the Edge, her monthly audio journal of writing tips and looks at life in New Zealand. “I was doing this for fun and was hoping that my podcast was reaching out to others. Then the podcast was nominated for the 2007 Parsec Awards’ Best Writing Podcast. I was thrilled. It was when I attended a convention in Atlanta when complete strangers would say to me ‘You’re Pip! I know you from your show. “Simply amazing.”

After loaning her voice to other podcast novels such as Murder at Avedon Hill, Metamor City and assuming the lead role as Askana Moldarin in Morevi: Remastered, Philippa now brings Dragon Moon Press’ Chasing the Bard, her own Sir Julius Vogel nominated novel, to life. This dark fantasy epic place William Shakespeare in the midst of his own midsummer nightmare, and a dark goddess plots to use his bardic powers to save her world whether he want to or not. This ambitious project will feature an international voice cast of other well-known podcasting personalities. “When Pip asked me to be the voice of Shakespeare, I couldn’t say no,” says American writer, actor, and podcaster, Tee Morris. Also an author with Dragon Moon Press and co-author of Podcasting for Dummies, Tee first discovered Chasing the Bard in 2005. “It was launched alongside a novel of mine, and suggested to me by Gwen Gades, Dragon Moon’s publisher. I was a fan of the book soon after. This is a real treat to help bring the book to life.”

“I not only hope to introduce my work to new readers, but I also hope to show the international reach of this new media,” Philippa states. “Podcasting is very exciting that way as it is an instant connection with the world. I am proud to be a literary voice for New Zealand, but I’m also having a lot of fun with my friends from around the world.”

Chasing the Bard is a free podcast of the entire novel and will also include new scenes and commentary from the author herself about novel and its production. The podcast will launch on 31 March and be made available on iTunes or directly through its website, www.chasingthebard.com. Chasing the Bard’s sequel, Digital Magic, will be available from Dragon Moon Press in August 2008. Philippa Ballantine is available for interviews and comment, and can be best reached at pip@pjballantine.net. You can find the podcast at and further information on the writer at www.pjballantine.net.

Here is something I’ve never heard of - Celtic Reiki. I’ve come across Reiki, which is a form of healing, but the World Health Guide tells us:

Celtic reiki utilizes the energy flows present on Earth and specific plants. Practitioners of this reiki use not only the universal “life force” energy present in all things but also the specific energy found in nature to heal those who needs healing.

This reiki system comes from the religious beliefs of early Celts. To the early Celts, trees are important aspects of their religion believing that trees have their own spirits. They gave the trees such high regards that they even patterned their writing system based on the trees.

The Celts’ Ogham, which is the ancient writing of Celtic people, uses symbols or letters that are cut as a series of notches and symbolizes different kinds of trees. Each letter represents a different kind of tree, specifically chosen for qualities that can be linked to spiritual concepts.

Some of the trees that are represented in the Celtic alphabet include the silver fir, birch, hawthorn, heather, ash, oak, willow, elder, yew, grove, ivy, hazel, and honeysuckle. Practitioners of Celtic reiki use the symbols from the Ogham. This reiki also follows the Celtic philosophy of bravery, honor, integrity, valor and reverence.

Does anyone have any experience of this type of healing? I’d love to know.

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Just a quick note to let our valued listeners know that the website is nearing a re-launch. Most of it is going to be fully functional, with the exception of the forums. We may have to wait a while for them to be reactivated. We are slowly building up the data that we had on the site before the database corruption that caused the crash before.

When the site is ready to be launched, all of our existing members should receive an email telling them that is is ready for them.

Thanks again for waiting

Gary & Ruth

The Celtic Myth Podshow website has had to be shut down temporarily due to some serious security errors in the code used to power the forums and the blogs. We would like to sincerely apologise to you for the inconvenience that this causes and has caused to you. We shall be working over the next couple of days to re-build a secure site for you, our listeners.

We are starting to put together a basic website for you to keep up to date with the episodes and shownotes whilst the blog and forums and being de-bugged.

Subscribe to the Celtic Myth Podshow in iTunes (install from here) or copy the following link and paste it into any other Podcatcher (such as Juice from here) to receive the show. You can also go to our episodes page here. Our next episode is still due out on the 29th March 2008.

If there is any way we can help whilst this maintenance is taking place, please email either Gary or Ruth and we will do our best to help you.

Thank you for your patience

Gary & Ruth

The modern belief that eggs are delivered by a rabbit, comes from the legend of the Goddess Eostre.  Eostre was walking one fine Spring day and came upon a beautiful little bird. The poor bird’s wing was badly injured and Eostre, feeling great compassion for the little creature, wanted to heal it. But the little bird’ wing was so badly damaged that Eostre knew it would never be able to fly again even after She healed it. So, Eostre decided to help the bird by healing it in a way that would give it mobility and a little something more? She turned it into a rabbit!

During the transformation, the rabbit retained the ability to lay eggs. The rabbit was so grateful to Eostre for saving its life that it laid a sacred egg in Her honor, joyously decorated it and then humbly presented it to the Goddess. She was so pleased and so touched by the rabbit’s thoughtful gift that She wished all humankind to share in her joy. In honoring her wishes, the rabbit went all over the world distributing these beautifully decorated little gifts of life and continues to do so even today.

Columba’s monastery on Iona became a centre of pilgrimage. At first, access was restricted to high status pilgrims: royal and ecclesiastical visitors, or those in serious trouble, who stayed at its guest house, but later more humble pilgrims would have been allowed access to the monastery. The pilgrims travelled to Iona in life and in death. Many of the kings of Scotland, Ireland, and even of the Vikings, were buried there. Some of the most famous Kings of Alba, from Kenneth MacAlpine to MacBeth, made their final journey there - across the sound to Iona, onto the harbour, and up the Street of the Dead to the burial ground, the Relig Oran. This royal tradition was only broken twice whilst The Western Isles stayed a part of the Kingdom of Alba - once by Constantine mac Aed ( buried St Andrews) and again by Malcolm Canmore (buried at Dunfermline). The last king to be interred on Iona was Malcolm’s brother, Donald Bane, before Malcolm’s son, Edgar, surrendered the island to Magnus, King of Norway, after he subdued the isles to his will in 1098 AD. Recently the tradition was revived, and Iona was again the centre of national mourning when the Labour leader, John Smith, was buried there.

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History of Iona

St. Columba, an Irish scholar, soldier, priest, and founder of monasteries, got into a small war over the possession of an illegally copied Psalm book. Victorious but sickened by the bloodshed, Columba left Ireland, vowing never to return. According to legend, the first bit of land out of sight of his homeland was Iona. He stopped here in 563 and established the abbey. Columba’s monastic community flourished, and Iona became the centerof Celtic Christianity. Iona missionaries spread the gospel through Scotland and North England, while scholarly monks established Iona as a center of art and learning. The Book of Kells - perhaps the finest piece of art from Dark Ages Europe - was probably made on Iona in the eighth century. The island was so important that it was the legendary burial place for ancient Scottish and even Scandinavian kings (including Shakespeare’s Macbeth).

Slowly the importance of Iona ebbed. Vikings massacred 68 monks in 806. Fearing more raids, the monks evacuated most of Iona’s treasures (including the Book of Kells, which is now in Dublin) to Ireland. Much later, with the Reformation, the abbey was abandoned, and most of its finely carved crosses were destroyed. In the17th century, locals used the abbey only as a handy quarry for other building projects. Iona’s population peaked at about 500 in the 1830’s. In the 1840’s a potato famine hit. In the 1850’s a third of the islanders emigrated toCanada and Australia. By 1900 the population was down to 210, and today it’s only around 100. But in our generation a new religious community has given the abbey new life. The Iona community is an ecumenical gathering of men and women who seek new ways of living the Gospel in today’s world, with focus on worship, peace, and justice issues, and reconciliation.

The island is car free. While the present abbey, nunnery, and graveyard go back to the 13th century, much of what you see today was rebuilt in the 19th century.

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A rationalist and historical version of the legends, that omits both Merlin and Lancelot, these books are exceedingly well written. Helen Hollick was born 1953 in Walthamstow, North East London. When she came of age to seek employment she had always yearned to be a journalist, but her careers advice was unhelpful. You can’t be a journalist she was told, you can’t type. Instead she ended up working in a library. The one advantage of working there was that she had access to lots of books. By the time she was married with a young daughter she found she had time to begin writing herself and began to put down on paper her own thoughts of Arthurian Britain.

In her own words the author stated that she made a conscious decision to leave Merlin and Lancelot out of the books. There was to be no magic or myths in the book. What she did not know was that her writings on the subject would not just fill one book, but three.

The Kingmaking - Book 1

In this first volume of what promises to be a monumental historical trilogy, rookie British author Hollick depicts Arthur’’s rise from A.D. 450, when he was a 15-year-old boy of hidden parentage, to A.D. 457, when he took his place as the King Arthur of legend. The story combines private emotions and public statecraft as marriages, alliances and enemies are made and unmade to suit the politics of the era. Hollick mixes elements from fifth-century history, myth, early romances, contemporary fantasy and other novels about Arthur, adding her own inventions for good measure. The treatment of Gwenhwyfar and her love for Arthur (depicted here as star-crossed even without Lancelot’s help) is especially vivid. Though the novel contains no supernatural aspects, with its exotic setting, passionate characters and epic battles and intrigue, it still should appeal to the fantasy fans to whom most Arthurian adventures are addressed. The language, too, is influenced by genre fantasy, especially in its dramatic descriptions and reliance on archaisms; but this big-hearted novel’s historical speculations alone should make it of interest to the non-fantasy reader as well.

Amazon

Pendragon’s Banner - Book 2

The second in the “Pendragon’s Banner” trilogy, a retelling of thestory of King Arthur. The newly-crowned king of Britain stands with Gwenhwyfar, his queen, at his side. There are hard times ahead for both of them, not least because Arthur has failed to deal decisively with certain old enemies.

Amazon

Shadow of the King - Book 3

Arthur is dead. His widow, Gwenhwyfar, left at Caer Cadan with their small daughter, faces overthrow by the powerful council headed byArthur’’s uncle. But, unknown to her, events in France and Germany mean that a far mightier battle lies ahead. This is the third volume in the “Pendragon’s Banner” trilogy.

Amazon

Just when you think that the 60s TV archives have been completely plundered, Network finds another lost gem - The Owl Service - which is getting a release on 28th April 2008.The Owl Service was the first programme made in colour by Granada and it’’s still intact - all eight episodes will be available complete and uncut in this two-disc set. Shot in the Welsh valleys in the summer of 1969, The Owl Service is a teen drama, mixing history, myth, mystery and adventure, as well as the supernatural and class division. To quote the press release:

Alison (Gillian Williams) and her brother Roger (Francis Williams) spend the family summer holiday in a remote cottage in the Welsh countryside. After hearing a scratching noise in the attic, Alison discovers some old dinner plates which have a strange floral pattern on them. When she traces the design onto paper, the flowers turn into owls. What is the connection between the plates, the gardener, the angry housekeeper and the legend of a village magician? Discover the weird power of the valley as the legend begins to unfold…

Extras include an image gallery, an introduction written by KimNewman with additional contributions from Chris Lynch and an archiveinterview with Alan Garner from Celebration. Hopefully we”ll have areview before release date.

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The Owl Service is a novel by Alan Garner first published in 1967. It is a contemporary interpretation, which Garner described as an “expression of the myth“, of the story of the mythical Welsh figure of Blodeuwedd, whose story is told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi.The legend concerns a woman created from flowers by a Welsh wizard. She betrays her husband, Lleu, in favour of another, Gronw or Goronwy, and is turned into an owl as punishment for inducing Gronw to kill Lleu.

Various kinds of discrimination and prejudice pervade the plot. There is the condescending English view of the Welsh and its corollary in the Welsh resentment of English money. There is the class divide,not only between a working class boy and richer children, but between aland-owning family and a businessman’s family. There is the divide between urban Welsh and the Welsh-speaking country people. The boy Gwyn speaks Welsh to the locals to practise for his examinations at school, but his mother does not want him “speaking like a labourer”. Speaking English, Gwyn’s Welsh accent marks him as inferior in English eyes as well. These innate conflicts are part of the author’s device to create a conflict, not out of malice on anyone’s part, but out of the bringing together of mismatched outlooks.

Wiki