Celebrating ‘The Craic”

by Tanis Helliwell

Defining “The Craic’

If you look in a dictionary, you will not find the word ‘Craic’ listed. However, goggle it and you’ll find over 40,000 allusions to it. That’s a lot of Craic. The Craic is an Irish term meaning to have a good time, but you need to remember that the Irish enjoy black humour, with the ability to laugh at themselves and everyone else as well. Only the Irish can really understand the Craic, and I often think that they invented it. It is hard to give you a definition of the Craic, but a few words about it might point you in the right direction. The Craic sums up all life’s experience—the good and the bad—that which can be understood and that which cannot.

            The Craic cannot be pinned down and, when you try to do so, it joggles you out of your comfort zone and laughs at you. It is both the great cosmic joke and cosmic joker. The Craic is what lies between the ‘this’ and the ‘that.’ I often think of it as the crack—Craic—between the worlds, between the three-dimensional reality, in which humans spend their waking hours, and other dimensions. The Craic is magic. The Craic is unpredictable and certainly not dependable. It comes, whenever it wants, and does, whatever it can, to move us into deeper knowing and truth. The only approach a sane person can take towards the Craic is to surrender to it, as any resistance is futile.

Living in the Craic

The Craic is a mind-set that can be applied to almost any situation. I remember the occasion when my great-aunt Boots died after lying in a foetal position in bed for some months. My father, in a serious tone, was telling his brother Wilton the news when the Craic took over the conversation.

Asked by Wilton how Boots had died, my father replied, “Boots died of the crouch.”

Hearing these words, my ninety-year-old Irish grandmother started cackling, which my Dad did not appreciate. Trying to recover his balance, he fell deeper into the Craic with his next words, “Boots will be married Monday.”

It’s very Irish to be able to laugh at death and my grandmother completely broke up at my father’s last verbal error. This black humour is the Craic. If we love the Craic, we can find something amusing in uncomfortable, or even traumatic, events. When we flow with the Craic, we are not victimized by a bad situation. The Irish have had plenty of bad situations throughout their history with famine, wars, and being regarded as lesser people by conquering races, so perhaps that is why they are able to laugh at the Craic.

Leprechauns love the Craic

I believe that if we embrace the Craic, we are able to accept whatever experiences we face with a light heart and humour. Obstacles, difficulties, and delays all are seen as opportunities to grow, rather than opportunities to sink into fear, depression and anger. Going with the flow brings magic into our life. Leprechauns, and elementals in general, excel at living and playing in the Craic and find joy and amusement there. I took thirty pilgrims on a mystical tour of Ireland and the leprechauns took us on a mighty journey with great Craic full of unplanned and even unwanted experiences. At first, it was painful until we realized that resistance was futile. However, when we surrendered our expectations to the Craic, we discovered the joy of living in the present moment and embracing whatever happens. This is the gift we receive if we love the Craic.

 Tanis Helliwell, a mystic in the modern world, has brought spiritual consciousness into the mainstream for over 30 years. Since childhood, she has seen and heard elementals, angels, and master teachers in higher dimensions. Tanis is the founder of the International Institute for Transformation (IIT), which offers programs to assist individuals to become conscious creators to work with the spiritual laws that govern our world.

Tanis is the author of The High Beings of Hawaii, Summer with the Leprechauns, Pilgrimage with the Leprechauns, Embraced by Love, Manifest Your Soul’s Purpose, Hybrids: So You Think You Are Human and Decoding Your Destiny.

For information on Tanis’ courses, click here.