Celtic Devotional by Caitlin Matthews
*Previously published elsewhere - please see note at end of article. Prayer crosses all cultural boundaries and doesn't need to be formal. However, even those who don't belong to a specific spiritual tradition would like a personally fulfilling regular prayer practice. Caitlin Matthews provides a basis for such a practice with the Celtic Devotional: Daily Prayers and Blessings . It has prayers for people regardless of what spiritual path they follow. Devotional Calendar Layout The calendar begins in November since that was the beginning of the year for the early Celts. There are four main sections which follow the ancient Celtic fire festival seasons. Matthews describes these as seasonal quarters as explained further below. Winter quarter: Samhain (pronounced "Sow-in") is from November to January. Spring quarter: Imbolc is from February to April. Summer quarter: Beltane is from May to July. Fall quarter: Lughnasadh is from August to October. Prayers...