Lent is often dismissed as another example of the abnegation of the flesh by an outdated Catholic institution. But to do so is to miss the biological point and to fail to recognise the thousands of years of nature traditions that the more recent Catholic tradition sits atop of.

The word lent comes from the old English word lencten, which means springtime, as does the Dutch lente. In Crotian, Hungarian, Arbiac and many other languages it translates variably to the ‘fasting period’.

And the natural time for that is Spring.

Nature communicates this loudly with yellow-headed dandelions, sharply with nettles and persistently with cleavers, inviting us to cleanse, the lymph, the liver, the blood. The entire vessel.

Given the naturalness of the spring cleanse, why do so many of us fail in our Lenten/Spring efforts and slip back into harmful habits?
One reason, which is behind much of our failure in general, is that, we go it alone. And since we are not apart from life, this is a vain effort indeed.
Another is that in the Great Separation that defines our modern society, fasting and prayer have also been separated.
I believe their reunification will bring us to greater success.
For this reason and others, I am inspired to lead Comhludar an Charghais, a Lenten collective to pray and cleanse together.

Over six Sunday mornings in Lent: 7am to 9am we will gather online to voice our intentions, pray the Choróin Mhuire (rosary) and weekly incorporate the plant spirit medicine of nettles, cleavers and dandelion and the water purification rites central to the Rose lineage.

On the seventh Sunday, there is the option to gather for our own Wild Irish Gnostic Mass, con-celebrated by @women_of_the_water

Exchange for the six week Lenten collective is €111 - €77 and for the Easter Sunday gathering €44

There is a paylink and more details on the website www.saordepaor.com
Or you can email me at saordepaor@gmail.com

If your are curious, tune in on Tuesday, after the pancakes at 8pm for an instagram live on this.