The Great Stone Circle of Grange
October 2000, Ireland
Updated August 2001
by Mairéid Sullivan
Filming in Ireland 2000, Diary Extract
YouTube excerpts Here.

Introduction
October 2000: Ben and I travelled around Ireland to film conversations with musicians representing wide-ranging music genres. We also visited The Great Stone Circle of Grange, south of Lough Gur in Limerick, Ireland, where I experienced an essential epiphany on the source of our Heritage of Joy.

"I am longing to see the day when all people will embrace their heritage of joy!"
- celebrating the innate spiritual impulse that thrives in our heritage of joy
- bringing elusive dreams and ancient memories of the 'global commons' into focus
- reminding us that love is liberating.

When we visited soprano and theologian Dr. Noirin Ni Riain at her home in Co. Tipperary, Ireland, she talked about the special qualities of the ancient archaeological sites nearby, particularly at Lough Gur. She made a point of telling us about the 'fire' she felt when she first placed her forehead against the largest stone in the Grange Circle.

So, we took Noirin's advice and drove over to Lough Gur. The esoteric highlight of the entire trip for Ben and I had to be the experience we had at the Grange Ring fort, which is the largest in Ireland.

The Great Stone Circle of Grange, as it is officially known, is near Lough Gur in Co. Limerick.
The Grange at Lough Gur, "Lios na Grainsi" - Gaelic for Stones of the Sun, was built around 2,100 BCE. There are 113 stones with an internal diameter of 45 meters. The largest stone, 'Ronnach Croim Duibh' is over 13 feet high and is estimated to weigh over 40 tons.

We followed the signs to Lough Gur, only to discover that the ring is not actually at the lake, and a local young family, out for a day at the lake, kindly led us over the winding roads to the circle.

When we arrived at the Grange ring, the farmer who owns the property, Tim Casey, came out to greet us, and directed us to a path he'd created for easy access to the circle. He has built a formal entry to the ring, --a pathway and an information booth, with a donation box for the small entry fee to the circle. I bought the official Lough Gur pamphlet.  

The others went on ahead while Tim and I chatted about the stone ring and the many people who come from all over the world to see it. He talked about the private "little rituals" people reenact in the circle and described how some people go around the circle touching every stone, in a state of reverie. He is a great conversationalist! He recommended two books, "Mythic Ireland" and "A Sacred Journey" by Michael Dames, whom I hadn't heard of before. Tim Casey kindly took his leave as it was time to bring his cows in for milking.

Noirin Ni Riain had tried to describe the "powerful surge of energy and heat" she had experienced when she put her forehead against the largest stone, 'Ronnach Croim Duibh'. Ben and I both followed her suggestion.

Slowly and gently, I pressed my forehead to the largest stone --
13ft. high and 5 ft. wide.

Within a few seconds, everything had changed: A surprising 'vision' appeared in enhanced color and physical closeness, more than normal perception could give me.

In a flash, I had a new insight on myths which describe movement through sacred stones to a primordial realm-- the Otherworld.

I pulled back and went to tell Ben what happened to me.

I had to laugh because when I tried to describe my experience, the words "transportation to another realm" came out of my mouth!

In my vision, I 'saw' a gathering of people, standing in a row in the near distance, the moonlight shining on their faces, lifted in joyous ecstasy. But there was one broad-faced, radiant person right in front of me, looking up at the moon over my left shoulder. I clearly 'heard' her/his voice, calmly, yet exuberantly, speaking these words:

"I am longing to see the day when all people will embrace their heritage of joy."

Then, Ben put his forehead to the rock. When he pulled away, he had a quizzical and strangely joyful expression on his face. He pupils were dilated. He tried to describe his experience; very different from mine, but equally powerful and profound for him. Friends who have visited this ancient stone circle have reported different experiences. It seems we all experience the 'spirit of place' in different ways.

When the filming was finished, we managed to turn away from the marvel of our own reverie at the ring fort, and as we were leaving Tim Casey offered me fresh warm milk. I felt honored by his kindness.

What does it all mean?
Ben and I became preoccupied with reflection on our experiences. I had never had a 'vision experience' quite like that: sudden transportation to what seemed like the 'roots' of my own consciousness. (I've never taken hallucinogens.) Maybe the rocks do hold the memory of every age, as has been suggested by folklorists. One of my favorite meditation techniques begins with imagining I am a rock, until I feel permeated by a sense of 'grounded' stillness. Four years earlier, in 1996, I wrote a song on that theme - "I Am A Rock" (For Love's Caress, 1998).  

I felt that I had entered another world- or pristine dimension. But at the same time, the 'vision' mirrored my own sense of 'becoming myself' in communion with all forms of life. In my visionary 'habits' I sometimes see myself similarly standing very still, back from the structures that define my life, immersed in a 'primordial' state of consciousness - what I like to refer to as 'Infinite Intelligence' - a sense of the vast void of the beginning of life, of God - feelings so sublime, yet simple and quiet. The translation of this inner reality into my everyday life is a different story. It is impossible to really explain our 'inner' experience, as everyone knows. We must all become poets, and must be on the lookout for compassionate poets who seek the same.  

Here in the quiet of my room, two weeks later and thousands of miles away from the Lough Gur stones and the 'crossing over' of Lough Gur's 'spirit vision' onto my own vision, I still feel its gift:
A reaffirmation of the ultimate possibilities of heightened insight, or a reminder of our unlimited capacity for inspiration when we work at developing our visionary capacity. With willingness and patience, our imagination works to liberate us. Our heroes and 'saints' show this by example:
Einstein explained that Matter is Energy and Energy is Light, ergo, we are Light Beings.

Creation is always original: Joy, when you hear it, IS the song of life. May we live life to the fullest, thriving and blossoming in love - in touch, sharing gratitude for the gifts of life!

Update - August 2001 - ten months later - Recognising the roots of our "Heritage of Joy" I was surprised to discover there was scant information available in books or online regarding 'Ronnach Croim Duibh' aka 'Croim Duibh' which translates to Dark Circle. Croim Duibh represents the Celtic God of the 'dark' underworld before Christianity brought the god of 'light' to the Celts. The Celts had their own god of light, who was Lugh. When the Christians came, they took up the indigenous beliefs and integrated them - so Lugh became synonymous with Jesus.  'Croim Duibh', the ancient Irish God of the underworld, in 'the dark womb of life' - represents the transition from winter hibernation to spring - with the activity of life forming in the spark of the seed, it’s an orgasm: The spark of life. That is our heritage of joy. That is where joy starts - in the spark of life - the potential role Croim Duibh represented in the ancient imagination around 'creation miracles' - shapechanging, or shapeshifting - going back thousands of years BC, long before the introduction of Middle Eastern 'beliefs' and traditions into the West. According to the ancient Druidic concept of Personal  Sovereignty, we are all born embryonic gods and goddesses, and when we achieve maturity we have a filial duty to assist our kith & kin. (See The Hidden People- the spirit of communication and the craic, 1996)

Contemplation leads to inspiring insights:
We are participants in the shapeshifting - sparked by the joy of creation - the rush of joyous life that creates - 'fertilizes' - energizes, binds, and brings the elements into form. Our 'ancient wisdom' - our heritage of joy - 'springs' up into our lives - from the roots of the dark earth - the womb of primordial life on Earth - into the light, bringing joy to fruition in love.

All people are meant to 'commune' in this miracle of life: More than 100 billion humans, through all time, born to reach new heights of understanding in shared moments of joyous celebration - expanding our capacity for compassion, learning, and wisdom.

The world 'binds' us and defines us in a state of constant cross-referencing of information, and not necessarily in a linear time mode. The eye of the steady mind reveals the ultimate 'void' of Infinite Intelligence is always the same vast template of reality:
The beginning of time is always now.

As we reach out in our own passionate ways, responding to friendly prompts, and, just as important, learning from the resistance of others, we move subtly beyond our limitations; loving, crying or laughing; thankful, embarrassed or triumphant.

We are supported first by our parents: father, mother, - a sense of 'Godhood'; our 'mind's eye' can 'meet' the great individuals who walk the earth, through time, and we are better able to 'behold' the people we choose to gather around us.

We say that we accumulate or gather knowledge, often referred to as 'gathering power' through eternal strands of relationships, or that we are 'making progress' by carving out new dimensions of creativity to shape our reality;

We can say that our efforts contribute to shaping human capacity for the whole human race - a capacity which is still evolving from the seat of the imagination, of vision - the 'font of love';

We are committed, by the march of our ancestors, to 'realize' our potential by finding our own vision and expanding on it;

We are encouraged to 'follow our bliss' - in acts of freedom - as we explore life in a body that has already evolved the capacity and the 'tools' to experience profound bliss;

We are on the march, thinking and praying, transmitting and receiving, toward perception and consciousness of ultimate joy, ecstasy and bliss, toward transparent manifestation of heaven on earth.  

Maireid Sullivan
October 2000
Additional notes: August 2001

Links:
- Wikipedia - Grange Stone Circle, Limerick
- Index - my essays and articles

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