This is a prayer for imbas, or, loosely, ine inspiration, taken from my book By Land, Sea, and Sky. The prayer itself was modified from Dia Liom a Laighe 2, Carmina Gadelica volume 1, by alexander Carmichael.
Imbas With Me
Imbas(…)
Author Archives: Lairbhan
Brighid
“Three renovators of the world: the womb of woman, a cow’s udder, a smith’s moulding-block.” – Traditional Irish Triad
One of the most popular Irish goddesses in modern times is Brighid, also called Brigit, Bríd, Brig, Bric, Bride, Brigantia, Brigandu.(…)
4 Thieves Vinegar
Well this blog isn’t about anything heathen or CR related, but it is about something I really like and use myself. 4 Thieves Vinegar is an herbal vinegar mixture that has been used, so the story goes, since the time of the Black Plague. According to the myth during(…)
Spirits of the land, Spirits of the Otherworld
One thing that both the Irish and Norse culture share is a fairly similar view of Otherworldly spirits, often in modern times called fairies. Since honoring, connecting, and working with these spirits is, and always has been, the main aspect of my practice(…)
Examples of a yarrow blessing charm from the Carmina Gadelica
Possibly one of the best resources for modern Celtic practioners is Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, a collection of prayers and charms that was gathered in Scotland during the 19th century. Much of the material is Christian but with strong native Celtic themes; this lends itself(…)
Faerie lore – Daoine Sidhe
This month we will look at the highest rank of faeries, often simply called the Sidhe <pronounced “shee”>, also called the Shining Ones, Fair folk, the Gentry, Tylwyth Teg <pronounced “terlooth tay>, Aos Sidhe, Daoine Sidhe, the Good Neighbors, Alfs,(…)
Uruz – the second Rune
This month’s rune is the second rune of the first aett, called Uruz, Urur or Ur. Uruz symbolizes the aurochs, a now extinct species of wild cattle, and the shape of the rune – a squared off upside down U – is a clue to its meaning, resembling(…)
Druids and the Soul
The question was asked over on Tumblr: what do we know about the Celts’ and Druids’ beliefs about the afterlife. This seems like a good topic to blog about, especially on a sunny Monday morning so here we go…
Let’s begin by looking(…)
Shamrock Charms
Most people are aware that shamrocks, espcially those with more than three leaves, are considered good luck. In the Carmina Gadelica volume 2 we find two charms that can be recited if a person happens to find such a shamrock in order to ensure good luck and(…)
St. Patrick’s Day, snakes, and Irish-American pride
Next week is Saint Patrick’s feast day in the Catholic church, which is probably an odd thing for me to blog about, but the past couple years there has been quite the controversy among some pagans about this day. This year there are anti-Saint Pat’s day events and such(…)