The Journey Through the Old Hibernian Mysteries and the New Mysteries with Anthroposophy
Pre-Tour and Conference in Ireland “The Light in the Depths”, Easter 2025
It was a wonderful journey with Alan Potter to the sacred sites of the ancient Irish mysteries—the Hibernian mysteries. It is truly impressive how, as early as 3000 B.C., people prepared for the Christ impulse of esoteric Christianity, where initiates were confronted externally in passage tombs with the tension between polarities, in order to find the quality of the middle, of Christ. And it was even more impressive to experience parts of this myself.
Through visits to two "hallow hills," ancient initiation sites, I was able to experience what it is like to be underground in darkness, waiting and meditating, and how it feels when the light only enters the interior space once a year at the winter solstice. Additionally, it was striking for me how strongly the etheric forces still influence Ireland's land, how green and lively everything is, and how these wisdoms are reflected and woven into the old forms and patterns on stones and Celtic crosses—spirals, circles, or interlaced patterns. Beautiful and not easy to draw by myself.
Thank you for these enriching insights and anthroposophical perspectives. They brought me great joy and a sense of being gifted. Even though our small travel group had an abrupt end when the car broke down on the second afternoon, forcing us to end our exploration earlier than planned of these ancient mystery sites.
However, I would also like to briefly share about the youth conference that took place afterward, over Easter, in Northern Ireland at Corrymeela, with the beautiful title "The Light in the Depths". It was about the ancient Hibernian mysteries of the North and what wisdom they can offer us nowadays for modern mysteries, and how anthroposophy can serve as a portal, a door, and a cultural impulse that supports us and prepare us for the next 100 years.
What touched me deeply was that we visited and got to know the old initiation paths and places of the Hibernian mysteries beforehand, and then we also went through a process during the conference that was designed like a "reversed ritual." I kept thinking of parallels to the Youth Section in Germany, because it also dealt with the mysteries of the heart and social relationships and encounters. And since so many young people from around the world were present—especially a bigger group from the United States—it was wonderful to feel all their quality. Also from Ireland there was a group of young people and the idea arose to perhaps establish a Youth Section group here as well and embark on a shared process.
We had a beautiful Easter morning on Sunday with a sunrise by the sea, symbolizing hope for what is to come. Through these days, I received a strong image of how many young people around the world currently have the desire to shape anthroposophy and the new mysteries of a new culture of encounter. This touches me deeply, and I wanted to share that with you. It definitely requires inter-generational exchange, as we noticed, so that young and old can learn from and with each other. It was wonderful how the "Elders" shared their spiritual wisdom with us.
It felt like they share with us from their vertical lineage and connection to spiritual world. What I missed during the conference was the horizontal level of our collective, the social sphere, to weave our individual perceptions more together, to have a common sense making and to raise our collective awareness. So to say, to go through a process of giving space to the personal in the group and by doing so to find the super personal together - the spiritual. We did this practice a lot in the Youth Section in Germany and our research about the heart as a spiritual organ. For me it includes to take the I really serious, with all its abysses and turmoils and all its sensitivity and to create a safe container as a group to witness and to host, who we are right now.
This would mean to become visible for each other and to practice the new mystery of relation. It also means to create heart spaces, where both lines meet in the centre of the cross, the point of death and resurrection. This is the Christ impulse for me and the new mysteries and what we often lack in the anthroposophic society and field, to take the personal as something important and not as an obstacle. To make anthroposophy a cultural impulse, which has to be practiced from and in between people. This feels so important to me and to other young people for the next 100 years and future of anthroposophy.
And here we need the young generation, because for us its much easier to bring in our personality and weave together in social practices to find the spiritual power then between us. So, my proposal for the next Easter conference in South Africa is that some younger people hold spaces for encounter in the bigger group, where individual sharing and social interweaving can take place, to understand more and together, what it really means to be human.
On top, it was also exciting that the conference took place at Corrymeela, a place created for peace and reconciliation work in Ireland. I have the feeling that in anthroposophy, it is always about bringing different streams together—"to reconcile"—and finding unity in diversity as a cultural impulse. The place provided the best foundation for this. Thanks again for that!
Much love and hope from me and the travel group,
Magdalena, Youth Section in Germany
