Imbolc

On the 3rd of February, for thousands of years, our Celtic ancestors have celebrated the return of the sun after a dark, cold winter, lighting flames in community in response to the sun's return.

From this date forward, you will start to notice the sun rise earlier and set later, with flowers growing and the essence of Spring just around the corner. 

The embers of eternity are being given back to us and the seeds within the ground and within your dreams are rising to the light.

The only thing that has changed is how we respond to this shift... and here, we respond with merriment, candlelight, stories and music, across the oceans! In Britain, this celebration is often honoured on the 1st or 2nd of Feb, following the Christian tradition of Candlemass or Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau, St Mary's day of candles.

The tale of Taliesin is one of rebirth, renewal, and awakening, reflecting in the world  within and around us.

Stella Sheppard

Stella is a young Welsh artist and storyteller, uncovering ancestral Earth-focused spiritual traditions and mythic history from Wales and Britain, she is currently studying an MA in Illustration, exploring visual storytelling traditions through practice and research.

By age 25, both of Stella's parents had passed away from mental health-related struggles, leaving her to navigate grief while transforming generational trauma into all that she does today. This profound initiation, including her mother introducing her to the spirit realm, became the foundation for everything that followed - her journey of re-enchanting the world through the keys she found within her ancestral spiritual lore.

Through deep research and embodied relating to her local landscape and ecology, she is uncovering the animistic heart of old spiritual traditions of Wales & Britain. Stella runs a podcast, facilitates workshops, ceremonies and hosts pilgrimages where she is from in South Wales.

Ken Shapley

Ken is a 61-year-old elder bard and Awenidd who has partaken of Cerridwen's cauldron for over 30 years. Since childhood, the world of lucid dreaming was stronger than waking life, a gift that fuelled his lifelong exploration of how consciousness, sound, and magical intent work together.

An initiated bard through OBOD, Ken has studied with shamans, monks, and master storytellers across Japan, Canada, India, and Scotland, weaving together the threads of First Nations ceremony, Tibetan Buddhist practice, and ancient sound healing. After decades walking the paths of other traditions, he discovered that returning to his Welsh Celtic roots felt like finding "his bunch of nutters", a people cozy with one foot in each world, where humour dances with ceremony and creativity flows like the sacred rivers of the land.

Born in Llantwit Major, Wales, ancient home of eternal choirs, Ken bridges generations as a healer, musician, poet, and maker of wands and staffs. The Awen has called him home, and he brings the wisdom of an elder who knows the Bardic path from deep, lived experience.