For hundreds of years, Ireland held an icon of womanhood at the heart of its spring celebrations—a figure so woven into mid-March folklore that her festival stretched across Ireland and the diaspora.
And yet today, few remember her name.
She is Sheelah (Sheila, Sheelagh, Síle)—a potent, layered figure whose celebration once stood beside St. Patrick’s, whose day was marked on March 18, and whose spirit lingers in stories of fertility, resilience, wise-woman knowledge, and the final loosening of winter.
She is not, as later headlines suggested, simply “Patrick’s wife.”
She is far older, deeper, stranger, and more compelling.
Sheelah rises around the vernal equinox, the hinge in the year when day overtakes night, when sap rises, when seeds quicken, when humanunions were traditionally blessed, and when the land stirs with the first true whispers of fertility.
In this season, she appears in many forms:
as a celebratory figure who extended the reprieve from Lenten restrictions
as Síle Ní Ghadhra, the sovereignty woman of aisling poetry
as Sheila-na-Geira, an Irish princess whose legend shaped Newfoundland
as the wise old woman, akin to the Cailleach, keeper of death and rebirth
as the echo of the Sheela-na-gig, guardian of thresholds, birth, and the cycles of life
Through these many faces, Sheelah becomes a folk embodiment of spring’s wild, ancient renewal—the awakening of the land, the reanimation of the body, the thawing of the spirit, and the deep remembering of feminine resilience.
On Thursday, March 12, we gather to walk with Sheelah in this liminal time—not to reconstruct her as a singular goddess, but to meet her as folklore alive with meaning for modern women.
What We’ll Explore Together
Sheelah’s Many Faces
How one name carried sovereignty women, wise-women, revelers, fertility figures, and the Cailleach herself.
The Energetics of Mid-March
The thaw, the softening, the loosening—where winter’s grip breaks and spring’s vitality begins.
Sheelah’s Threshold
The hinge between old year and new growth, between dark and increasing light.
Legends of Sheelah’s Brush
The last storm of winter—her final sweeping of the season before spring’s work begins.
Nature-Based & Folkloric Practices for March
a thaw ritual for releasing winter’s residue
a gentle fertility-of-the-self practice (creativity, energy, possibility)
a wise-woman grounding practice inspired by the Cailleach lineage
noticing early signs of spring: sap, birds, buds, rising light
a celebratory ritual honoring joy, resilience, and communal renewal
Walking With Sheelah
March is the fertility hinge of the year—neither fully winter nor fully spring. Sheelah lives in this edge-place, carrying:
the wild joy of mid-Lent revelry
the ancient sovereignty of Ireland’s feminine figures
the wisdom of the old woman
the threshold power of the Sheela-na-gig
the seasonal promise of rising life
To walk with Sheelah is to soften.
To honor her is to awaken slowly.
To welcome her is to let joy, vitality, and possibility return to the body.
You Will Receive
A seasonal guide with folklore, reflections, and practices
Access to the recorded gathering
A limited, intimate circle capped at 12 women
A spring soundscape or playlist
Investment: $45