July 13 to 18 2026
The Heart of Sovereignty
Weaving the alchemy of Macha and Brigid in Northern Ireland
Remembering Sovereignty: The Context
This pilgrimage to Ireland is a call to wholeness—within the land and within ourselves
Ireland holds a sacred role in the unfolding of the Earth’s evolution towards a higher consciousness that is being catalyzed by the global emergence of horrific shadows of the collective unconscious. The invitation is to pause from living in the realm of forgetfulness by gathering with us in order to participate in the creation of the medicine of unity for the world’s evolutionary path. As we remember, we raise the collective consciousness in these powerful portal places.
In Irish mythology, Fintan MacBocaire was called to remind the chieftains of their place of harmony when they had forgotten their purpose. Fintan was a wise elder, who had lived across 5,000 years and in the ability to take many forms, witnessed the rise and fall of many generations. He holds the wisdom of the harmonious spirit of Ireland.
In that harmony, the North of Ireland holds the wisdom of battle, warriorship, tempering, boldness and conflict. History has reflected this knowledge, contained within the land and its people . It is a painful place to hold. It has caused much separation and has been a heavy burden to carry. And it holds a deep medicine.
As we evolve into the energy of right relationship on the planet in these powerful times, true sovereignty, true leadership in balanced masculine and feminine, calls us to embrace, honour and hold this energy, within ourselves and within the land and her people.
Over five nights, we will be immersed in ceremony, storytelling, remembrance, deep healing and activation, connecting with the sacred sites of
Slieve Gullion,
Emain Macha,
Beaghmore Stone Circle and
Grianán of Aileach.
And so, we are inviting you to join us in restoring this harmony and sovereignty, held in the cradle of the Ring of Gullion in Northern Ireland – a place surrounded by 13 mountains, formed in volcanic times. We will work with The Goddess Macha, sacred horse Goddess of Northern Ireland and Brigid, keeper of the eternal flame of hope, peace and love. We will no doubt also be joined by the energy of Cu Chulainn and Lugh, sacred masculine warriors of Ireland.
‘Eriu’: Artwork by Maria Johnston
This pilgrimage to the Heart of Northern Ireland is open to all who feel called to join us from near and far – local to Ireland and her crown or farther afield
From our base at the magical Bluebell Lane, we will weave through sound, healing, hearing, sacred movement and ritual facilitated by guides Ciara McHugh from the North of Ireland, Treacy O’Connor from the South of Ireland, and LeeYen Anderson holding energies from East and West from her lineage and living being.
Earlybird Registration Offer until April 15
Retreat Registration Closes on June 1
“Macha” : Artwork by Maria Johnston
Macha’s Call
Macha is a Horse Goddess of transformation, sovereignty and wildness. Her story is embedded in the mythology of Ulster, the North of Ireland, and thus shaped the stories and lives of the people and land.
Macha has called us to listen to and experience the land. To walk our own sovereign paths, together in community, for the good of all. To weave the sacred into our sacred centres and retrieve the missing parts of ourselves that have become fragmented due to war, suffering, and imbalances between the masculine and feminine across the land of the North and wider island.
This is a call to reimagine in our hearts the knowing that Macha lived in communion with all of life, in steadiness, tending her home and land with kindness and love. That to be in right relationship with the land was the true power of sovereignty. Her wisdom teaches that the balance of sacred feminine and sacred masculine is the foundation of harmony. And that by acting together, in alignment, brings us back into right relationship with ourselves, each other and the land. This was Macha’s way, to live in a more sustainable, sacred feminine, nourishing way of being.
With Macha as our guide in her wild energy as a horse goddess, in the year of the fire horse, this is a call to step into sacred power with integrity, courage, passion and confidence. To deepen into her wisdom and tend to our hearts so together we can bring forth awakening, healing and restoration. So we can emerge transformed, rooted in our power.
“Black Macha” : Artwork by Maria Johnston
Brigid Rises
Brigid, born on a threshold, bridges pre Christian and Christian times with a powerful energy of re-birth. Goddess Brigid, born to the Dagda and Boann, most likely conceived in the otherworld portal of Newgrange; Saint Brigid said to be born on the threshold of the doorway of her home, in all her forms brings an energy that bridges divides. She calls us to embrace the warm flame of our hearts and live with more compassion, understanding and graceful power.
Her deeply Divine Feminine energy is being re-awoken in the consciousness with Her feast day being inaugurated as a public holiday in Ireland since 2023.
Brigid and her maidens kept a perpetual flame burning as a flame of hope, justice and peace. She founded a double monastery in Kildare to honour the Divine balance of Feminine and Masculine. She was a peacemaker, a miracle worker, a visionary, a healer, a keeper of the sacred wisdom of right relationship, Brigid brings the spring. She bridges divides.
She helps us cross difficult thresholds with grace.
“Vision at Brigid’s Well”: Artwork by Maria Johnston
Together, Macha and Brigid are a formidable duo that bring us into the year of the fire horse, with an opportunity to rewrite the stories of the past with new perspectives so that we can step into a future with a clearer, more empowered vision for the future, based in balance and harmony.
Sacred Sites
A Ceremonial Journey
This retreat is a carefully held ceremonial journey—one that honors the land, the people and the deep healing work unfolding between them.
❋ Igniting Our Sovereign Heart - Opening Fire Ceremony
We begin by gathering in sacred circle to awaken Brigid’s flame within the heart.
Through fire ceremony, prayer and storytelling, we open a shared field of intention—calling in feminine wisdom, the guardians of the land and the ancestral lines that hold these places. This opening sets the tone for the journey: presence, reverence and embodied sovereignty.
❋ Ceremonial Journeys at Sacred Sites
Held in devotion and respect, ceremonial space will be facilitated at four powerful sacred sites of Northern Ireland:
– Slieve Gullion
– Emain Macha
– Beaghmore Stone Circles
– Grianán of Aileach
Each site offers a distinct initiatory current, supporting remembrance, restoration and right relationship with the land.
❋ Healing Collective Grief & Restoring Sovereignty
This retreat centers on gently addressing collective grief and unresolved trauma held within Northern Ireland’s landscape and people. We will create safe, intentional space for grief that has been historically suppressed to be witnessed, expressed and integrated—allowing sovereignty to be restored at both personal and collective levels.
❋ Storytelling and Art as Medicine
Storytelling will be woven throughout the journey as a healing modality—bridging past and present, land and people, personal and ancestral memory. Local stories and mythic threads will help reweave connection and meaning.
We will be joined by Visionary artist Maria Johnston who will create live artwork of Brigid and Macha as the journey unfolds.
❋ Land-Based Healing
Ceremonies are designed to deepen relationship between participants and the land itself—honoring the earth as a living being and teacher. Practices will support the integration of both masculine and feminine energies, restoring balance, coherence and heart-led authority.
Join Us at Bluebell Glamping
We have reserved the magical and mystical land at Bluebell Lane in Northern Ireland
Bluebell Lane
Location
Nestled at the foot of Slieve Gullion
1 hour 5 minutes from the Dublin Airport
1 hour 16 minutes from the Belfast Airport
Retreat Grounds
Expansive grounds with trails
Pond with wildlife
RV and tent camping
Rooms
3 double glamping pods
3 twin rooms in the cottage
Shared bathrooms and kitchens
• Group Transportation
All group transportation between sacred sites is included, allowing participants to remain present, grounded and held throughout the journey.
• Nourishment
Three nourishing meals per day are provided, prepared with care to support the body during deep ceremonial work. All meals will be lovingly prepared by local caterers using (as much as possible) organic produce. Vegan and vegetarian options available. Any food intolerances/allergies will also be taken into consideration.
Teas (including a wide selection of herbal) and coffee will be available all day. Non dairy milk options will also be available.
Meet the Facilitators
Ciara McHugh
Ciara McHugh is an Energy Healer, an Irish Celtic Shamanic therapist and modern day Healing Priestess. She is a Mentor, Coach, Teacher and a space holder and spiritual guide for people on their healing journey and spiritual life. Ciara energy work specialises in many different Angelic healing modalities, Reiki, as well as Shamanic therapies and Counselling.
Ciara loves sacred work and nature drawing upon these aspects to provide healing and guidance for living today in right relationship. The healing energies she works with are all connected and divinely in communion with all of life, nature and heart consciousness energy. Her work encapsulates soul-led healing, the healer within each person and is a grateful witness for all the potential someone can become to weave their life into holistic wellness. Ciara was guided by her ancestors to live and work in the orchards of the Co. Armagh countryside and works both in person and on-line. Ciara offers one-to-one sessions, group healing workshops, guided healing meditations and teaching workshops.
Ciara is deeply connected with Goddess energies and sacred feminine, the land and sacred sites, guided by her ancestors and the guardians all which inspire and inform her healing work. She works closely with Goddesses Macha and Brigid to share their healing and wisdom with community, and led the ceremony that opened the first Macha Alive Festival in Armagh in 2024, and was one of the trio of women responsible for bringing the 2025 edition to life.
Learn more about Ciara here.
Treacy O’Connor
Treacy O’Connor is an ordained OneSpirit Interfaith Minister, guardian of Ireland's ancient ancestral wisdom, embodiment of Cosmic Compassion, Bridge Builder, Mother, Grandmother, Master Weaver, Spiritual Guide, Host and Producer of Celtic Soul TV, Mindfulness and Meditation teacher & Co-Founder and CEO of Creating Wellness.
Her mission is to inspire and empower a return to right relationship with the self, others, the planet and the cosmos – connecting the dots through the passage of the heart. The Goddess and Saint Brigid ignited a flame in Treacy's heart many moons ago and she continues to be deeply inspired by the ever emerging Divine Feminine qualities that Brigid invites us to live by.
She is deeply connected with the ancient energies and the land of Ireland and has been leading group activations at Sacred sites for over 10 years.
Treacy initiated a campaign to honour Brigid with a public holiday in Ireland which was inaugurated in 2023 and she was honoured by her local town with a Balbriggan Town Award, for illuminating the hearts and minds of the 24,000 residents with a Brigid Procession of Light in 2024, in her North Dublin home town.
Learn more about Treacy here.
LeeYen Anderson
LeeYen Anderson is an ordained Minister and trustee of Humming Universe Ministry, a spiritual ministry devoted to the cultivation of heart–spirit coherence and embodied spiritual awakening.
She serves the ministry as a teacher of Wu Family BaguaZhang and Shen Gong (Heart–Spirit cultivation), and as a lineage holder of Dragon Gate Sanctuary, offering these sacred arts as part of the ministry’s spiritual practice.
Guided by her Northeast Asian ancestors and the living Way of the Dao as the Great Mother, Rev. LeeYen’s ministry centers on the remembrance of divine presence as it is felt and lived through the body.
Her spiritual training includes depth psychology, Gene Keys contemplative work, and embodied Daoist practice, all offered in service to the ministry’s spiritual mission of coherence, resilience, and heart-centered living.
Having lived across Asia, Australia, Europe, Hawai‘i, and currently in the forests of Oregon, she holds a deep reverence for land, lineage, and ancestral wisdom. Through Humming Universe Ministry’s pilgrimages and retreats, she brings Bagua Shen Gong and Daoist spiritual practice into sacred relationship with place, including the dragon song lines of Ireland, supporting participants to receive, embody, and carry these teachings back to their home communities in integrity and devotion.
Join Us to Weave the Alchemy of Macha and Brigid
This powerful retreat is open to both international and local participants and we have designed this weave accordingly.
International prices are in USD. Details below. Please scroll down for local options.
International Prices are in USD, 5 nights 6 days
Earlybird Registration Offer until April 15
Prices increase by 15% from April 16
Retreat Registration Closes on June 1
All inclusive of accommodation, meals, transport within the retreat to pilgrimage sites and planned activities
Bluebell Lane has10 beds in shared rooms with shared bathrooms.
Single Rooms and Couples Rate are available.
3 Month Payment Plan available until April 15th 2026.
Shared Room is $2,555 (Your own bed in a shared room)
Single Room $3,555 (Your own room)
Couples Rate is $5,000 (One Shared Double Bed in a room)
A non-refundable deposit of USD$500 is required for booking. You can choose to pay in full or take advantage of the payment plan.
REGISTER HERE
Retreat Policies
Due to the nature of this event and because we have obligations to pay retreat services, please read the refund and cancellation policies below carefully
The deposit of USD$500 is non-refundable
If you cancel before June 1st, full refund of amount paid to date less non-refundable deposit
If you cancel between June 2nd and June 15th, 50% refund of amount paid less non-refundable deposit
After June 15th, we're unable to give any refunds, but you can transfer your spot to a friend
If you default on your second or third payment, your place may be offered to someone else and you’ll forfeit the your first payment
In the highly unlikely event that the retreat cannot go forward due to unforeseeable circumstances outside of the organizer's control, we will ensure that the integrity of exchange will be fully honored
The package price does not include flights to and from your home to our meeting and departure points, nor tips for drivers, chefs and external guides. All side excursions not included in our itinerary and services such as massages during our open rest and relaxations times will be at your own expense.
LeeYen Anderson, Treacy O'Connor, Ciara McHugh and any and all other associated organizers, facilitators, venue owners, and management are not responsible for any personal injury or illness. We encourage you to come prepared with your own health and/or travel insurance. We recommend adding CFAR as an add-on to your insurance. These are three companies that we recommend:
Offering for Locals
Are you living locally and wish to join?
Prices in STG (£)
You may be called to join us just for a day or two as we anchor and weave throughout the land at the various sites. If so, we would invite you to join us in circle at Bluebell Lane for our opening circle of the day and we can travel to the site together. Day rate includes transport and food, including dinner at the end of the day.
£255 per day (no accommodation)
Or you may wish to join us with your camping van for the whole retreat. We would absolutely love to accommodate your presence with us as Bluebell Lane have RV facilities such as power and shared washrooms etc.
£1595 per person sharing a van
Questions? Email Ciara ciara@ciaramchugh.com