Its an interesting thing that many of us who follow, work with, honor, or are otherwise connected to the Morrigan tend to associate her with the colors red, white, and black. At first one may wonder why, as there isn’t any straightforward text or piece of evidence that says ‘the Morrigan’s colors are such and such’. However, if we look at the total of the evidence, that is all the textual…
Author Archives: Lairbhan
Odras
ODRAS
Odras, úais ind ingen,fris’ indlem laíd lúaidme,Odornatan airmemeic Laidne meic Lúaidre.
Ban-briugaid ba brígachin gnímach glan gúasach,céile cáem co cruthachtdo Buchatt balcc búasach.
Bóaire cáid Cormaicco roblait in Buchatt,dúiscid búar co m-blaitnecach maitne for muchacht.
Fechtus luid dia éssea ben glésse gasta,Odras rúad co romét,do chomét búar m-blasta.
Moch dia m-boí ‘na…
What Do Fairies Eat?
My oldest daughter asked me today, what do fairies eat?
Like everything else to do with Themselves there’s actually no one simple answer and it depends a lot on what sort of fairy we’re talking about. There’s also been a lot of speculation, even going back to the 17th century and the writings of rev. Kirk, that fairies may not eat our solid food at all, but rather absorb the essence of the…
Alfar, Huldufolk, and Elves
Ängsälvor by Nils Blommér (1805)
One of the challenges in understanding the Norse and Germanic material is that many different Otherworldly beings are translated into English as "elves", just as many different Irish beings are called fairies. The Norse word Alfar appears in German as Alp or Elb, and English as Elf, while in modern Icelandic they are known as both alfar and Huldufolk (hidden…
Álfatrú
Labels are always a fun game to play in Paganism, Polytheism, Heathenry, what-have-you. On the one hand they can be helpful in defining how we see ourselves and what we believe and do – on the other they are only ever a general description and as often as not they divide us instead of bringing us together. I have many labels for myself because my beliefs are complex and layered, and the terms I…
Do Elves And Fairies Have Physical Forms?
"To make my small elves coats." Illustrations to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A. Rackham, common domain
Among some people in modern belief elves and fairies are often assumed to be entirely insubstantial, that is they are described in the same terms as ghosts or other incorporeal spirits and are said to have no physical forms that can be touched or interacted with. This view has…
Racism is Not Part of CR – Or My Heathenry
So its late summer and once again there’s a flare up in the Heathen social media sphere relating to racism. Sadly this is nothing new. In fact three years ago, also in August, I wrote a previous blog partially about my opinion of racism. This is not a new issue.
This particular iteration came up when the Asatru Folk Assembly, a large US Heathen organization, made a public statement which has…
Racism is Not Part of CR
So its late summer and once again there’s a flare up in the Heathen social media sphere relating to racism. Sadly this is nothing new. In fact three years ago, also in August, I wrote a previous blog partially about my opinion of racism. This is not a new issue.
This particular iteration came up when a large US Heathen organization made a public statement which has widely been interpreted as…
Gods and Fairies – Excerpt from Fairycraft
Gods and Fairies – Excerpt from Fairycraft
In
Christian myth it is said that the fairies exist as beings that are between the
nature of angels and demons; many people dismiss this as later propaganda but I
believe it represents a reflection of genuine older belief. In pagan times the
fairies were seen as being of the same nature as the Gods, but on a lower
level, existing somewhere…
My Polytheism
I’ve been a polytheist for a long time now, and an animist, arguably, for longer.
Polytheism is one of those deceptively easy-but-complicated things that a person says that tells you everything and nothing all at once.
I’m a polytheist – but what does that mean? Well obviously that I believe in and honor more than one deity. That would be the easy part. But the nuts and bolts of it is where the…