Moon and stars over Newgrange

With winter closing in this photo, taken at Newgrange a couple of nights ago, certainly has that cold feeling about it. The temperature had dropped quite considerably and there was a severe wind chill. This was taken around 5.45pm, after sunset but with the afterglow still evident. The crescent moon hung low in the southwest and the constellation of Aquila, the Eagle, soared above it. The small amount of cloud, lit up by the lights of Dublin, helped add some sense of warmth to the scene.

Sean Boylan launches Newgrange book in Navan

Legendary GAA manager and Meath man Sean Boylan launched 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality' in the aptly named Newgrange Hotel in Navan last night, Wednesday November 14th.

Sean Boylan with Anthony Murphy at the Meath
launch of Newgrange: Monument to Immortality

Mr. Boylan gave a very beautiful endorsement of the book, which he had read from cover to cover and found very interesting and rewarding. He said he hoped to see the book in every school and in every library in Ireland. He seemed really touched by it.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality has a message for our time. I reiterated my belief that its message is an eternal one, that no matter what the circumstances the country finds itself in, the monument and the mythology have a current relevance.

Tea, coffee, drinks and sandwiches were laid on for those who turned up on the night. The launch was organised by my father, Paul Murphy, who has always been a devoted supporter of my endeavours, and to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality is available in all good bookshops now and can be ordered direct from the publisher at http://www.theliffeypress.com/newgrange-monument-to-immortality.html

Capturing the mystical nostalgia of Newgrange

This is a video I have put together to try to capture some of the essence that is 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality', featuring the extraordinary and visionary words of George William (AE) Russell, written in 1897, from 'A Dream of Angus Oge'. Russell wrote these hauntingly beautiful and extraordinary words at a time when the Newgrange aperture was apparently blocked up, and therefore the solstice illumination of the chamber was not possible. Russell claimed to have been psychic. Perhaps he was!! He appears to capture quite magnificently the magic and mysticism of Newgrange and the Tuatha Dé Danann.

In my new book I suggest that we need to reconnect with the magic of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who perhaps represent some aspect of our spirit and psyche that is now dormant. The video is an attempt to engender that spirit within us . . .

Newgrange book described as "the work of a spiritual warrior"

Dolores Whelan, author of 'Ever Ancient, Ever New' and an expert on Celtic spirituality, said the following at the launch of Newgrange: Monument to Immortality at The Barbican Centre, Drogheda, on Friday, 9th November 2012.

Anthony's new book on Newgrange offers the reader many different pathways back into the great ancient spiritual heritage of his country.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality author Anthony Murphy with Dolores Whelan at the book launch in Drogheda

For people like Anthony, newgrange is a very alive, vibrant place and he poses the question, "Can we learn something about why it was built, what its importance was, why it has survived not only as a physical structure but as a dimension of the human psyche. And what, if any, message might it have for us 21st Century humans?

Having established the archaeological foundations he opens up the conversation to a wider space, which includes the cosmological dimensions of Newgrange and the spiritual relevance of this mystical place. If we are to find this knowledge we must spend quiet time there. We must move into an inner space where it would be possible for the Gods and Goddesses who resided in Newgrange come to meet us.

This book explores the archaeology, the astronomy, the spirituality and the mystery of Newgrange. It moves away from the safe options and becomes expansive in the questions it poses.

This book is also a very personal statement, reflecting Anthony's own spiritual journey, his struggles, his questions, his dark night of the soul, and again he does not seek to offer definitive answers but hints at possibilities.

Anthony suggests the defeat of the Tuatha Dé Danann at the hands of the Milesians is at the root of the wasteland that is Western culture, a view shared by the late John Moriarty.

This significant book reflects for me a person who has access to large regions of the intelligence of the universe within themselves, a person who has expanded beyond the confines of the rigid left brain and is in contact with heart knowledge, someone who has allowed themselves to become a conduit for the energies of Newgrange to flow out into the wider world in 2012.

This book is big, courageous, magical, challenging and transformative! This book celebrates our ancestors, not as dead people, but as an integral aspect of ourselves that is longing to be reunited in our hearts.

In summary, 'Newgrange: Monument to Immortality' is the work of a spiritual warrior, who might have been described in the following Triad from our tradition:

A person who has the Eye to see what is

The Heart to feel what is and the courage that dares to follow

Video: Newgrange Monument to Immortality read by the author

A much longer, 55-minute version of this video is available at this page on Mythical Ireland.