Céad míle fáilte. A hundred thousand welcomes.
Áit Draíochta—meaning a place of magic in the Irish language—is a small, soul‑led practice rooted in sacred place, cultural memory, and the art of belonging.Through storytelling, curated Irish travel, and seasonal Celtic Wheel of the Year circles, this work invites you to slow down, listen inward, and remember the deeper stories that shape who we are.Whether through words, journey, or ritual, Áit Draíochta offers threshold spaces—where travel becomes pilgrimage, seasons become teachers, and story becomes a form of devotion.
Heroines & Heretics Publication
Stories as devotion. Memory as resistance. Belonging as a radical act.
Heroines & Heretics is a Substack publication devoted to story, memory, sacred rebellion, and the ancestors—named and unnamed—who refused the stories they were given. Both creative and contemplative, it is rooted in the belief that storytelling can be an act of healing, a form of resistance, and a way of coming home to ourselves.At its heart, this work is deeply personal. Through essays, reflections, and creative writing, I share my ongoing journey of recovery from emotional, familial, and spiritual trauma, including my path out of evangelical Christianity. These pieces are not offered as answers, but as companions—honest reckonings with loss, rupture, reclamation, and the slow work of rebuilding a life and spirituality that feels true. Alongside these stories, I bring forward the voices of women and unconventional thinkers whose courage and vision challenge inherited narratives and open new ways of seeing and belonging.Drawing on Irish tradition, folklore, history, and Celtic spirituality, this work explores what it means to belong—to place, lineage, and self—in a world shaped by empire, patriarchy, and forgetting. It listens for what endures beneath official histories: stories carried in land, language, body, and memory. This is a space for those at the margins and thresholds—for exiles, wanderers, and seekers of all kinds—and an offering toward reconnection, reclamation, and the ongoing, sacred act of remembering.
When you access the publication, you’ll be invited to subscribe.A free subscription is available, but you're also welcome to choose a paid option if you’d like to support the ongoing growth and sustainability of this work.
Bespoke Irish Travel
Travel as pilgrimage, not consumption—journeying with reverence, intention, and care for place.
I offer bespoke Irish itineraries and travel consulting for those seeking a meaningful, well‑paced, and thoughtfully crafted experience of Ireland. Whether your journey is rooted in ancestral connection, spiritual curiosity, or simply a desire to travel with intention, I design each itinerary to honor Ireland as a living, storied place—rather than a checklist of sights.My work ranges from standard travel planning and consultation—including routing, timing, lodging guidance, and regional focus—to more ancestral or spiritually oriented journeys shaped by personal history, landscape, and cultural resonance. With an emphasis on slow travel and sacred landscapes, these journeys are paced to allow space for rest, reflection, spontaneity, and genuine encounter.Each itinerary is uniquely tailored to your interests, energy, and needs, whether you are traveling solo, with companions, or across generations. I bring practical expertise together with a deep respect for cultural integrity, ethical engagement, and the land itself—supporting travel that is both well‑organized and deeply considered.
Consulting services are offered at $100 per hour.Custom trip itineraries are quoted individually, beginning with a complimentary discovery call and followed by a clear, tailored estimate for your requested services.
Seasonal Sacred Circles
Community gatherings rooted in the Celtic Wheel of the Year, honoring our natural rhythms through story, season, and shared presence.
I host seasonal circles at the turning points of the year to mark the ancient Celtic festivals—times when land, light, and story shift together. Rooted in Irish tradition and guided by the rhythms of the Wheel of the Year, these circles offer a safe, confidential, and inclusive space to pause, reflect, and remember our place within the natural and mythic cycles that shape human life. All spiritual paths, backgrounds, and levels of experience are welcome.Each gathering weaves together seasonal teaching, Irish folklore and cosmology, reflection, and simple ritual. These are not performances or reenactments, but living conversations with the year itself—honoring beginnings and endings, growth and rest, grief and renewal. The circles invite a slower, more attentive way of being: listening to the land, the ancestors, and the quiet voice within, while honoring personal boundaries and shared respect.Open to those new to this tradition as well as those long walking its paths, the circles welcome curiosity, reverence, and a willingness to meet the season where it truly stands. No previous experience or shared belief system is required—only a desire to belong again to time, place, and the turning world.Circles are held in-person in Tryon, North Carolina at no charge.
Donations are welcome if you have the means and wish to support the ongoing growth and sustainability of this work.
One‑to‑One Presence & Discernment
Confidential, one‑to‑one space for reflection and discernment.
I offer one‑to‑one sessions for those seeking thoughtful conversation, spiritual direction, discernment, or simply a place to be met with attentive, compassionate presence. These sessions are not about fixing or advising, but about listening deeply—creating space for reflection, clarity, and honest engagement with what is unfolding in your life.Our time together may include quiet inquiry, story, attentive listening, gentle reflection, and practices of presence drawn from contemplative tradition and lived experience. Sessions are client‑led and responsive, meeting you where you are—whether you are navigating change, grief, transition, spiritual questioning, or a longing to live more truthfully and grounded.These offerings are confidential, inclusive, and respectful of all spiritual paths or none at all. They are suited to those who value discernment over performance, depth over certainty, and accompaniment over answers.One‑to‑one virtual sessions are offered at $100 per hour.
Scholarships are available for those who may need one. Please reach out and communicate your need.
About Jessi Holmes
Writer | Consultant | Facilitator
Haigh a chairde. Is mise Jessi Holmes.
Hello my friends. I'm Jessi Holmes.I am the founder and steward of Áit Draíochta—a place of story, sacred travel, and seasonal belonging. As part of the Turtle Island Irish diaspora, my work is rooted in remembering and return, and in the ongoing practice of decolonizing the mind through language, story, and relationship to place. I am a lover of moonlight, wild water, words, and felines, with a deep reverence for land, memory, and the unseen threads that shape our lives.Áit Draíochta is a sacred, hospitable space for fellow exiles, wanderers, and seekers—an invitation to reconnect with Self, Earth, and Spirit (however you define it). Through writing, seasonal sacred circles, bespoke Irish travel, and one‑to‑one presence, I offer spaces for slowing down, listening deeply, and living in relationship with the turning rhythms of the year.At the heart of my work is a reclamation of faith and a deep exploration of belonging—what it means to live in right relationship with land, story, and community, and what responsibility the Irish diaspora holds in remembering, repairing, and standing in meaningful solidarity with oppressed peoples.My path has been shaped by both devotion and disruption. I hold a degree in Biblical Counseling from a fundamentalist Southern Baptist seminary and spent ten years in formal ministry, alongside a lifetime immersed in evangelical culture and education. I have also lived through profound experiences of spiritual trauma, emotional abuse, and the loss of community—circumstances that led me into more than a decade of personal therapy, deep inner work, and an ongoing process of healing and reintegration.What emerged was not a rejection of the sacred, but a transformation in how I understand and live it. Today, my practice draws from Celtic spirituality, Irish cosmology, contemplative traditions, and earth‑honoring ways of knowing—approaches that recognize the interwoven nature of ecology, story, and spirit. I am particularly shaped by the early Irish spiritual landscape, where indigenous wisdom and Christian devotion once coexisted in a textured and dynamic harmony, offering a vision of spirituality rooted more in soil than in structure.Over the past four years, I have devoted myself deeply to the practice of sitting within and holding sacred space. I completed a six‑month creative mentorship with Kathy Scott of The Trailblazery in 2023 and have participated in her circles since 2022. During this time, I have also sat under and learned from Indigenous teachers, deepening my understanding of relational, place‑based, and respectful approaches to spiritual practice. Alongside earlier ministry experience and formal training in compassionate care and spiritual direction, I bring more than 15 years of experience facilitating and guiding spiritual gatherings, with recent years rooted in contemplative, community‑centered circle work.Through Heroines & Heretics, my Substack publication, I explore cultural memory, spiritual reclamation, and the lives of women and unconventional thinkers who refused inherited limits. I believe deeply in the power of story as a form of healing, resistance, and return.Ireland—Éire, the land of my ancestors—sits at the heart of my work. Since my first journey in 2013, I have traveled extensively across all 32 counties, immersing myself in Irish history, geography, language, and living culture. I now offer bespoke Irish travel consulting, creating thoughtfully curated itineraries that move beyond tourism into genuine relationship—with land, story, and place.Whether through writing, travel, seasonal gatherings, or one‑to‑one conversation, my work is rooted in accompaniment rather than authority—holding space for discernment, belonging, and the slow, meaningful work of becoming.
Go raibh míle maith agat! May a thousand good things be at you.
Thank you for your interest. I look forward to hearing from you.