My book Celtic Spirit has a scene where the American visitors walk through a dolmen and invite the spirits of Ireland to bless their journey and my book Amidst the Stones describes Abby’s draw to the stone circles of the Ancient Ones. It’s no wonder I am often asked “what is portal anyway?”.

I think most people realize that a portal is an opening, a door or gate. The real question in the context of Celtic lore is why is a dolmen, a stone circle or even a hollowed-out tree stump considered a portal?   Like the Celtic notion of thin places where the veil between worlds can be lifted, calling a place a portal suggests that one can enter another world or another dimension by passing through it.

We all have read of such things in classic children’s fiction: Alice going down the rabbit hole, the Narnia wardrobe. More recent fiction has Harry Potter and friends finding a portal within the train station at Platform 9 ¾ and Claire dropping into an earlier century Scotland in the Outlander. And there are loads of examples of portals in the sci-fi genre. Stargate comes to mind as one of the best.

And, of course, Celtic lore is filled with stories of portals. Portals can be natural places: wells, mountains, rock formations, caves, tree stumps. They can also be constructed: dolmens, stone circles, ancient ruins, castles, chapels, graveyards.

Portals can also be certain times: sunrise, sunset, twilight, dawn, full moon, eclipses, solstices and other planetary configurations. The Celtic holiday of Samhain, one of the most celebrated, is right around the corner. It is considered the time when the veil is thinnest between the seen and unseen worlds.

States of being can also be portals to transformation: crisis, bliss, sleep, dreams, meditation, near death experiences. And many would say that beings exist which offer access to portals: angels, archangels, elementals, gods and goddesses. Celtic beliefs embrace them all.

Anyone can come up with a similar list. So really, I think people are asking me “do you really think these ancient sites and monuments that you write about were (or more incredulously are) openings to other dimensions, to parallel universes? My answer is truthfully I don’t know, but I suspect the answer is yes. 

I do know that I feel an energy that allows my mind to suspend its business-as-usual state and sets my imagination in motion. It takes me to “places” and allows me to experience feelings that expand my awareness and consciousness. Many have shared with me their experiences of having seen or heard things that are beyond our third dimensional world. I have read even more accounts- nonfiction accounts- of people experiencing what the Celts call the Otherworld or the Mountain Behind the Mountain. 

I choose to be open to all possibility. All I know for sure is that life is filled with mystery and wonder.

So my Celtic blessing for you on this day is the following:

May you find portals open for you.

Whether you experience these portals figuratively or literally, may they bring you joy and enlightenment.

May all be well in your world.