Pic: Canadian Press

The Canadian Press reports that an academic maverick is challenging conventional wisdom on Canada’s prehistory by claiming an archeological site in southern Alberta is really a vast, open-air sun temple with a precise 5,000-year-old calendar predating England’s Stonehenge and Egypt’s pyramids.

Mainstream archeologists consider the rock-encircled cairn to be just another medicine wheel left behind by early aboriginals. But a new book by retired University of Alberta professor Gordon Freeman says it is in fact the centre of a 26-square-kilometre stone “lacework” that marks the changing seasons and the phases of the moon with greater accuracy than our current calendar. Continue Reading »

In this our first show of 2009, celebrating the festival of Imbolg, we bring you some great music, two pieces of research on the festival, a wonderful Celtic story for young adults and a visit to the fictional Highland pub, The Dragon’s Head. You’ll hear music from Brocc, Skully, Laura Powers and Kellianna along with a fascinating history of Bridget, the Goddess of Imbolg. We also have some research on the festival itself.

We had so much material for this show that we were faced with a difficult choice. Do we leave out some really great material and keep the show to a reasonable length? Do we cut the show into two halves (what we did last year) or make one long episode? After some serious discussion, we decided that we weren’t going to produce two shows for the Holiday as it seemed that last year we lost vaulable story time by making the second show. We were not going to let the great material not be presented to you either, so we decided to go for the long show option. This show is one hour and 18 minutes long! Coupled with the computer crashing that happened repeatedly during recording, we are also 24 hours late with the show – our apologies for that!

I guess what we would really like to know from you guys is: do you like this format or should be cut out some of the material and aim to keep a Special down to under an hour? Let us know your preference anyway you like, and we’ll tally up the votes and follow your desires. Either way, we hope you enjoy the show and it gets you ready, like it has us, for the next year of stories!

The Episode is available for subscribers on the feed, or you can download it or listen to it from our Episodes page. You can find the for this episode in the Shownotes section.

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Continued from earlier post..

Gary: Oh, that’s kind of you – thank you Arlene! When and why did you both begin writing?

Arlene: I have had the urge to write, as we all do, all my life. I had not found the courage to start displaying anything in public until about four years ago. I guess my life was at the right spot for that to happen and then The Fox was written – my first novel.

Rhonda: I have been writing since high school and as a hypnosis educator I have written many health and wellness articles as well as the content for www.lifefirst.com. I wake up wanting to write and I go to bed wanting more hours in the day so I can write. It is said that if this is the case for you: You are a writer. I have always been the holder of my family’s stories and I guess my love of history is what supports my writing.

Ruth: Do you feel that there is there a message in your book you would like your readers to grasp?

Rhonda: Yes! That we all hold our own answers and that the people that are in our lives are there for a reason. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not is not important to me but what is important is that the reader opens their eyes to the possibility that This is not all there is and whether we carry the memories of those who came before us in our actual DNA or some under explored part of the mind or cosmos that information is accessible if you choose to look at it.

Arlene: For me, I’d say that both Life and the love for our families are precious, so precious that it follows us through the centuries.

Gary: I think we continually see what you are both saying in the Celtic Tales!

Ruth: Yes, tradition and memory and a link to our deep-mind roots are all intrinsic in the Myths, and I think Arlene is absolutely right as well. The constant themes throughout the stories, throughout our racial memories are Life and Love.

Gary: In writing your books, was there one thing that surprised you more than any other?

Arlene: I learned that I could create a story that told about an ancient life that others would want to hear. I also learned that it was so important that others be allowed to hear and read it that I decided to give it away in many forms. And I surprised myself when I delved into website making and podcasting that I learned a whole new language! Computerese. I don’t speak it without flaws, but I do speak it!

Rhonda: That I suck at editing.

All: (laughing in empathy)

Rhonda: That I would be the one to market the book even if I was picked up by a big publishing house. That it is okay to put yourself out there in this way and there are those who will support you in your dreams. And that I so want to learn to speak Gaelic!

Ruth: You are both such driven women – a great example to us all. Are you working on any other books or projects that you would like to share with us?

Rhonda: I am working on several books at once. The sequel to The Mark of a Druid entitled When Ethers Descend, and a totally different historical book that is a family story – a Murder Mystery entitled Truth Slithers based on a true story that took place at the end of the 1800’s in a farming community in the Midwestern United States. I am also playing with a book called From Mother to Daughter about a family whose women are very powerful clairvoyants and how the Sight is both a blessing and a curse.

Arlene: I have found a fondness for poetry and have pushed into the ghost/horror side of writing and like it! I have some displayed on my website and www.horroraddicts.com. I also am starting my next novel, Sea Hawk. It is the story of a woman who lived in the Scottish Orkney Islands and England around 3000 BC.

Ruth: You simply must keep us informed of how those two projects are coming along! A sequel to Druid sounds amazing and we are both really excited about Sea Hawk!

Gary: So, if you could leave a legacy for your readers – what would it be?

Arlene: I hope that after hearing or reading my stories that my followers come away with the understanding that ancient people had lives much like ours, emotionally. Even those in the late Stone Age. They lived in communities, loved and mourned lost loved ones as we do, and searched for a good, safe life for themselves and their families as we do. We are not that much different.

Rhonda: A legacy? Hmmm… let me see. One thing I think that no matter what you believe or what faith or lack of faith you cling to we are all connected and not one of us is truly alone.

Ruth: That’s absolutley brilliant – thank you so much for your time and trouble in sharing with us some of what has gone on behind The Fox and The Mark of a Druid.

Gary: I’d like to echo that and, maybe before you go – is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Arlene: Yes! I cannot believe how much fun I’ve had! It is hard work to write a book and sometimes lonely. But the rewards are incredible. I have met friends that I know I have had in the past and hope to keep for the years to come. The world has opened in ways I never knew it could. I find new podcasts such as celticmythpodshow.com and others that enrich my life, and I’ve met authors of other podcasts and written novels who have taught me. I learn something new every day and I love to talk to those around the world who are reading and have read my book. I have had some listeners and readers contact me, and I hope many more do.

Rhonda: Shameless plug here, followed by a soppy bit of gratitude! At my book website we are running a contest for this whole year of 2009. Every two weeks we will be giving away very cool Celtic related prizes and on Dec 31st 2009 we will be awarding the original art work from the books cover to the grand prize winner. You can see the contest and details including the rules at www.themarkofadruid.com. I want to thank all my listeners and readers for sharing their comments and reviewing the book in all its current forms. You, the reader, are what is important to me and I love hearing from you, Thank you!

Ruth: That is so sweet of both of you – thank you both for your time.

Gary: Yes, many, many thanks!

You can find The Fox on Podiobooks and Arlene’s website at www.radasky.com.

You can find The Mark of a Druid on Rhonda’s website The Mark of a Druid and on Podiobooks.

Arlene’s Research Advice

BOOK LIST

( I also used Google quite a bit however these were at hand when I needed them)

They are in a sort of order of importance.

1. The Life and Death of a Druid Prince by Anne Ross and Don Robins – How the discovery of the Lindow Man revealed the secrets of a lost civilization.
2. Healing Threads – Traditional Medicines of the Highlands and Islands by Mary Beith
3. The Celtic World by Barry Cunliffe (in my library for years)
4. Sacred Dying-Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life by Megory Anderson
5. “The Celts” @http://www.crystallinks.com/celts.html
6. The Bog People – Iron-Age Man Preserved by P.V. Glob
7. Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe
8. A Brief History of the Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis
9. Beyond Celts, Germans, and Scytheans by Peter S.Wells
10. The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis
11. The Druids and Celtic Priests of Nature by Joan Markale
12. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend by Miranda J. Green