A living quartet of offerings that braid together land, language, and luminous faith: Samhain fire on Iona, Beltane earth in the glens, a healing grammar of folklore, and a mystic book in the making.
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Celtic Tribe is a constellation of experiences rather than a single event. Fire, earth, healing, and mystic prose mirror the old seasonal wheel and invite you to move with it.
An annual Gaelic New Year gathering on the island of Iona, set in a pop up festival village at the Iona Pod Village. Cold, rain, rainbows, and Atlantic wind frame the work of tending inner and outer flame.
A Beltane festival on May 1 in luxury forest cabins outside Edinburgh, welcoming the light half of the year. More accessible for families and friends who want Celtic celebration within easy reach of the city.
A developing series of Celtic wisdom practices designed to support resilience and recovery from the dysphoric cluster of depressive symptoms.
A new book by Michael Ferguson that braids Celtic heritage with Mormon and Carmelite paths, and with original research on neurospirituality at Harvard.
A forthcoming volume where Atlantic islands, Mormon origin stories, Carmelite mysticism, and brain imaging research share the same page. Watch a short visual tease and step through to the book’s own home.
Celtic Mysticism gathers essays and contemplative chapters that move between Columba’s Iona, sacred groves, cloistered prayer, and fMRI control rooms.
The writing holds together four strands: Celtic heritage, Mormon faith paths, Carmelite mysticism, and original neurospirituality research. Each chapter is a crossing-point where story, doctrine, and circuitry are allowed to speak to each other without hurry.
This short video offers a first glimpse of the atmosphere of the book. For full chapter descriptions, early releases, and companion materials, you can step through to the dedicated Celtic Mysticism page.
Celtic Fire gathers on the island of Iona every year around November 1. The festival lives in a pop up village nested inside the Iona Pod Village, with pods and communal spaces turned into a temporary Celtic fire town.
Expect cold, wind, rain, sideways rain, sudden rainbows, and the sound of the Atlantic throwing itself against the rocks. Celtic Fire is for the hearty pilgrim who wants to feel weather in their prayers and salt in their lungs.
The major spiritual thread is the Inner Hearth · learning how to tend a steady interior flame even when the outer weather refuses to cooperate. Around that hearth we work with the three traditional Celtic fires that appear in Gaelic lore and the Carmina Gadelica:
Over the days of the festival we move between outdoor bonfires, intimate indoor peat-glow, Gaelic blessing texts, chant, and guided practices. Everything points back to a single question: What does it mean to keep your inner hearth lit when the year turns dark.
Celtic Earth gathers around Beltane, on or near May 1, in a luxury cabin village set in forest glens outside Edinburgh. The city, airport, and train lines are close, so more people can arrive without heroic travel.
Where Celtic Fire leans into wind and Atlantic spray, Celtic Earth leans into moss, soil, and green. It is designed to be family-friendly, with spaces for children, elders, and anyone who wants Celtic ritual in a softer climate and easier logistics.
We mark the turning into the growing season · the time when seeds, ideas, and commitments want to come out of the dark. The work of this festival is to ask: What are you willing to plant and tend this year.
Celtic Healing lives as a research-informed program in development through The Neurospirituality Lab at Mass General Brigham, in partnership with collaborators at Harvard Medical School and Harvard College.
The series asks what happens when you read depressive symptoms through a Celtic lens that knows about second sight, hearth prayers, seasonal ritual, and communal blessing. Instead of treating the sufferer as a problem to be fixed, Celtic Healing treats them as a bearer of stories whose heaviness deserves wise company.
While the full five-principle framework is still under research refinement, the core intentions include:
Celtic Healing is not a replacement for clinical care. It is a companion · a set of Celtic-informed practices and stories that can sit alongside therapy, medication, and other supports.
Celtic Mysticism is a new book by Michael Ferguson, PhD, that moves between Atlantic islands, scriptural narratives, monastic silence, and functional MRI data.
The project weaves together four strands:
The tone is reflective and grounded. It honors both doubt and devotion, and treats Celtic lore as a serious partner in thinking about how human beings meet the Holy.
New chapters and companion essays will be released over time. If you would like to receive them as they are published, you are invited to join the Celtic Tribe mailing list below.
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