Images of dancing green leprechauns surround us in March. Yet, beyond the gaiety of St. Patrick’s Day cards, I think these wee folks have a lot to say to us about how we are living and how we must treat our planet.

I was first introduced to this passage on a Tanis Helliwell Mystical Tour of Ireland many years ago. I rediscovered it when writing Celtic Spirit and just yesterday found myself using it in a presentation on “The Thin Places of Ireland”.

The Leprechaun Message

Whether you know it or not, all of you have been called to be here.

Some of you by your ancestors.

Some by us, for we need co-workers in the human race to help us learn to be creators with free will.

Some of you to heal the planet and some to be healed by the planet whose hands and heart are here.

We will take you on a magical mystery tour full of fun, spontaneity in the moment and openness to being.

Surrender to the experience and you will enjoy yourselves and be transformed. Resist and you make yourself miserable;

This is a healing journey…

I first heard this as a welcoming message to my tour of Ireland, but I now see it as a message meant for each day of every day of my life’s journey: waking to a message of surrender-to joy, to fun and to healing.

Some folks see leprechauns, some speak with them, while others think the whole idea is crazy. I know I had a wee leprechaun friend when I was a child---until I was told I was too old to think such foolish things. I know I have felt connected to messengers or elements of Nature’s often, especially in Ireland. (Elemental is the name given to a being of earth, air, water and fire. A leprechaun is an earth elemental.)

And then last year on an overnight Aer Lingus flight to Ireland, I sensed I was having a conversation with “Harold,” introducing himself as my new leprechaun friend who wants to write a book with me.  Writer’s muse? Overtired imagination? Leprechaun? All I know is I have copious notes under the title of “Harold’s Hacks: Friendly Advice on Traveling in Ireland from a Sometimes-Friendly Leprechaun”. It awaits an illustrator who can do Harold justice.

The picture above is from the shores of Lough Gur, in Limerick. The site is magical, historic and beautiful.  Expect to hear more about it in a future guest blog.

For now, I invite you to meditate or sit quietly with the image of yourself sitting next to this stone chair. Draw to you a messenger of nature, perhaps even your own leprechaun friend with whom you can connect, with whom you can explore what possibilities for healing are within your reach. Be gentle with yourself. Effort is not required. Be light, be open and just allow the energies of Nature to embrace you. After a period of bathing in Nature’s Love and Light, thank the elements and perhaps the elementals who have joined you and bring yourself back to the day before you.

As this short visualization illustrates, we do not have to visit Ireland to feel these connections. We do need to be light and allowing. I am told that elementals do not like intensity. I am less in intense ego-mind than I used to be; yet, I still can be too serious. A leprechaun or fairy’s reminder to lighten up is always welcome.

If you get to Dublin, I encourage a stop at the National Leprechaun Museum. Even if not traveling, you would enjoy their website: http://www.leprechaunmuseum.ie. At the very least, it will bring a smile to your day. And if you still want more, check out Tanis Helliwell’s website: https://tanishelliwell.com/the-leprechauns-page/. Tanis’s work introduced me to leprechauns and elementals and will do the same for you if you are interested.