To begin, nothing I am going to say here is groundbreakingly original. But this is a topic that comes up from time to time and I want to address my own opinions on it, as within the community of people who believe in the Good Neighbours there tend to be a couple schools of thought. Suffice to say that the people who hold the opposite opinion to mine use the exact same evidence but argue the other…
Author Archives: Lairbhan
Why Fairy Doctor Shouldn’t Be the New Trendy Title
I’m seeing an upswing in ads online for fairy doctor courses. It’s a simple premise and one that we see in other practices and spiritualities as well: pay your money and get certified as a fairy doctor.I have some problems with this, and it bothers me enough that I feel that I should probably say something about it here.
My usual caveats stand: I am not telling anyone what to do or what terms to…
Book Release – Desire and Ashes
I’m excited to announce that the 7th book in my Between the Worlds series ‘Desire and Ashes’ is out today in paperback and on ebook. From the back cover:Bookshop owner Allie McCarthy is settling into life as a new mother along with her two spouses. She’s got her hands full with an infant and a business to run, trying to walk a fine line between the human world she considers her home and the…
Good Fairy Fiction
I often talk about my concerns with modern fiction and its portrayal of fairies, particularly the way the end up being humanized. While I understand why this happens and I can even appreciate it when reading it I see a lot of material from fiction that is clearly purely from an author’s imagination making its way into modern pagan belief as if it were genuine folklore. Obviously that’s a concern…
Fairy Donuts are Off Limits
Recently I had written a blog about viewing Fairyland as modern and reassessing our conceptions of it and its inhabitants. Following on that I saw a post by Chas Clifton on his blog at Letters from Hardscrabble Creek ‘In the Land of Fairy Don’t Eat the Pentagram Pizza’ which touched on my blog as well the post by John Beckett that had inspired mine, but Clifton also went further to talk about…
The Morrigan’s Call Retreat 2018
The beginning of June, for the fifth time, I headed off to the Morrigan’s Call Retreat to share in fellowship with other people who honour the Great Queens. Every year I teach workshops at the Retreat and help in the rituals; I see old friends and make new connections with people. My experiences over the years have been good ones and I always write about them when I get back.
Bridge entering…
Modern Fairyland, or Experiencing the Otherworld as a 21st Century City
John Beckett recently wrote a blog which tangentially touched on two things I want to expand on here: the way neopagans Romanticize the world of Fairy and experiencing a place in Fairy that seemed much like modern America. I think that both of these points deserve some discussion and that they tie together so it makes sense to tackle them together. I do want to preface this by saying that while I…
Verba Scáthaige – a translation
Today I am going to offer a translation piece I did from the Ulster Cycle, a look at Scathach’s words to Cu Chulainn when he left her training to return to Ireland.
Incipiunt uerba Scathaige fri Con Culainn oc scarad doib isna rannuib tair. Ro scaith do Choin Culainn lanfogluim in milti la Scaithaigh. Do aurchechain Scathach do iarum ind ni arad m-biad, con-eipirt friss tria imbass for ossna….
Dangerous Things – A Poem
I may be cynical
but I have earned it
so I laugh
I do
when I hear people
talking about
the Good People
being drawn by wind chimes
and shiny baubles
although I probably said
much the same once myself.
I shake my head
at the idea
that They wish us
nothing but well.
Cynical, yes
sharp as a thorn prick
coated in blood
sharp as salt heavy…
Frogs in Irish Folklore
So a little while ago a good friend asked me about what, if anything, I had heard relating to frogs and Irish folklore. I had to admit that while I personally associated frogs with the Good People I wasn’t entirely sure why and I couldn’t recall offhand any specific frog folklore. So its been on the back of my mind for a few weeks now and recently while on the Duchas.ie site I decided to see…