Airmid’s Almanac Rue McDonald, Mica McDonald, Kenzie Khaliq

As we approach Samhain our thoughts turn to the darker half of the year. What are we going into the dark with? What unanswerable questions? What insurmountable grief? What irreconcilable polarities are we bringing into the dark? Samhain is a time to ritualize this aspect of our spiritual journeys.
In this episode Rue and Mica discuss the history and practice of grieving traditions in Ireland and Scotland. Until their suppression by colonialism, Gaelic communal grieving rituals were profoundly important in helping our ancestors to heal from both personal losses and from the collective traumas of colonialism and capitalism. Why were the traditions of keening and lamenting outlawed or marginalized? What powers do they hold? How can re-engaging with these traditions help us heal from our own traumas and develop greater emotional resilience in the face of constant capitalist-colonial catastrophe?
Check out Rue's upcoming workshops: https://queerdirections.com/
Check out Mica's upcoming class on Samhain and Ancestral Healing in the Context of Settler Colonialism: https://vcih.square.site/product/gaelic-healing-traditions-samhain-and-the-politics-of-ancestral-reconnection/54?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false
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In part two of our chat with Sean Fitzgerald, we discuss how we might engage in reclaiming Irish spiritualities and folk custom without getting trapped in purity politics, the importance of gaining consent from lineage holders who protect sacred sites, grappling with our own colonial behavior and resisting the urge to claim innocence, what differentiates the New Age from the post-New-Age in regards to taking responsibility for our harmful behavior, the historical hybridity and cultural fluidity of our Irish ancestors, and much more.
Follow Sean Fitzgerald on Instagram at @seanfitzgeraldart.
If you enjoy our podcast please like and subscribe. Also consider supporting us on Patreon. Your small monthly contribution helps us pay for the expenses associated with this podcast, and you'll get exclusive benefits. Learn more here: www.patreon.com/airmidsalmanac. A third of the profits go to a LGBTQ and/or BIPOC-led organization doing decolonial healing work. Right now we are partnering with Kunsi Keya Tamakoce of Huntington, so-called-Vermont (Abenaki Territory). Kunsi Keya provides a pathway for Native women from Lakota and other nations to come and reconnect to traditional lifeways. Learn more at: www.kunsikeya.org
 
 

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In this episode Kenzie and Mica chat with Sean Fitzgerald, Irish artist, writer, and co-founder of Airmid's Journal. Sean tells a version of the tale of Balor of the Evil Eye local to Torey Island (with an unexpectedly queer plot twist!), and we hear how the landscape is an intimate part of this epic story at the heart of the Moytura saga. We then talk about how fairy belief practiced in Ireland differs from what is discussed on the internet, the consequences of internet appropriation of living folk customs, the importance of teaching the myths and cultural reclamation through re-storying the land, the problems with New Age universalism and unethical behavior in sacred sites, the importance of asking awkward questions in the process of decolonization, the misappropriation and cooptation of myths, history, and sacred rites by fascists and the right wing, and a few bouts of fairy wafting. ;)
Follow Sean Fitzgerald on Instagram at @seanfitzgeraldart.
This first hour is part 1 of our discussion. Part 2 will be available immediately to our patrons on Patreon, but for those who are not patrons we will publish part 2 for free on this podcast in two weeks time.
If you enjoy our podcast please like and subscribe. Also consider supporting us on Patreon. Your small monthly contribution helps us pay for the expenses associated with this podcast, and you'll get exclusive benefits. Learn more here: www.patreon.com/airmidsalmanac. A third of the profits go to a LGBTQ and/or BIPOC-led organization doing decolonial healing work. Right now we are partnering with Kunsi Keya Tamakoce of Huntington, so-called-Vermont (Abenaki Territory). Kunsi Keya provides a pathway for Native women from Lakota and other nations to come and reconnect to traditional lifeways. Learn more at: www.kunsikeya.org
 

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This is part 2 of our discussion with Lucy O'Hagan. We continue our conversation about mushroom foraging, cultural appropriation and other pitfalls of cultural reclamation, Lucy's mentors in her rites of passage and ancestral skills work, the importance of Irish language reclamation, fascism in the pagan community, and the impact of the diaspora on Irish decolonial healing.
You can follow Lucy on Instagram @wildawakeireland and on her website www.wildawake.ie. Please like and subscribe to our podcast, and consider supporting us on Patreon. You can follow Airmid's Almanac on IG @airmidsalmanac.

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In this episode, we interview Lucy O'Hagan, founder of Wild Awake Ireland and co-editor of Airmid's Journal. We begin with a poetic and evocative story told by Lucy about a recent encounter she had with a wild badger. Then we have a rich discussion about many things including Lucy's work leading wilderness rites of passage and a forest school in Donegal; Airmid's Journal; the role of nature re-connection as a means to heal from past and current traumas of colonialism and capitalism; the importance of embodied environmental education in this time of climate anxiety; finding a land-based spiritual practice; Irish language and cultural reclamation; the role of the diaspora in the Irish decolonial process, and more.
This first hour is part 1 of our discussion. Part 2 will be available immediately to our patrons on Patreon, but for those who are not patrons we will publish part 2 for free on this podcast in two weeks time.
You can find Lucy on Instagram at @wildawakeireland and on her website: www.wildawake.ie . Airmid's Journal can be found on website.
If you enjoy our podcast please like and subscribe. Also consider supporting us on Patreon. Your small monthly contribution helps us pay for the expenses associated with this podcast, and you'll get exclusive benefits. Learn more here: www.patreon.com/airmidsalmanac. A third of the profits go to a LGBTQ and/or BIPOC-led organization doing decolonial healing work. Right now we are partnering with Kunsi Keya Tamakoce of Huntington, so-called-Vermont (Abenaki Territory). Kunsi Keya provides a pathway for Native women from Lakota and other nations to come and reconnect to traditional lifeways. Learn more at: www.kunsikeya.org
 

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In this episode, Rue and Mica discuss how we engage with reclaiming storytelling and bardic traditions as queer settlers of Gaelic lineages. Rue recounts the tale of Lughnasadh and Lugh's encounter with the snake, Crom Dubh. We consider the role of the queer bard who tends the spiritual edges of the community and mull over the tensions of engaging with ancestral stories as members of a diaspora.
A few questions we engage with: What role does lineage connection play in grounding and spiritualizing the political action of North American settlers? How shall we engage with our ancestral stories while being careful not to appropriate them or homogenize traditions so strongly rooted in the landscape? How can we honor the original tellings and relationships embedded in the stories without being rigidly conservative or calcifying these cultural practices so impacted by colonial erasure? How can we keep the traditions alive whilst weaving their stories into present relevance?
If you enjoy our podcast please like and subscribe. Also consider supporting us on Patreon. Your small monthly contribution helps us pay for the expenses associated with this podcast. Learn more here: www.patreon.com/airmidsalmanac. A third of the profits go to a LGBTQ and/or BIPOC-led organization doing decolonial healing work. Right now we are partnering with Kunsi Keya Tamakoce of Huntington, so-called-Vermont (Abenaki Territory). Kunsi Keya provides a pathway for Native women from Lakota and other nations to come and reconnect to traditional lifeways. Learn more at: www.kunsikeya.org

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