I’m doing my weekly book review on Thursday this week…
I have a new book to add to my recommended reading for new heathens: Heathen Gods by Mark Ludwig Stinson. This book is a great way for anyone to get a feel for what heathenry is and not only learn the basics of it but get some good advice about starting out …
Author Archives: Lairbhan
Aisling – a poem
Aisling
By Morgan Daimler
The sun sinks slowly to her rest
As I go, shivering, to my own,
And even as her travels continue –
A dream of shadows
Broken by warm light –
So too does my spirit scorn sleep,
Racing across …
Green Faced Witches
One thing that never changes about the larger pagan community is that there are awlays trends going around. This year I keep running across a poem written in 1999 by “Angel” that talks about witches being depicted with green faces as a result of torture ( Halloween Witch if you want to read it). It’s been going around for a while of course but this year it seems to have really gained …
Samhain
I love this time of year. Halloween has been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember and when I became pagan I incorporated the practices that I loved about Halloween with the ones I learned went along with Samhain; luckily for me trick’or’treating and dressing up in costume are pretty strongly connected to the old Celtic custom of guising which have continued until today. In Ireland up until around a hundred years ago there was still a practice of a small parade led by …
Scél lemm dúib…
In honor of our unusual October snow storm, arriving today, and Samhain:
Scél lemm dúib:
Dordaid dam,
Snigid gaim,
Ro-fáith sam;
Gáeth ard úar,
Ísel grían,
Gair a rith,
Ruirthech rían;
Ro-rúad rath
Ro-cleth cruth,
Ro-gab gnáth
Guigrann guth;<br …
Baby Blessing
I’m having a rough time this week with migraines as the weather is changing, so instead of not blogging at all, I decided to offer a published (but under my copyright) piece that might still be of some interest.A Baby Blessing Ritual
The child should be dressed in something beautiful and meaningful for the family. If indoors a small altar can be created with a candle (triple wicked if possible) and a …
Book review – 21 Spells for Assured Sucess
And now for something completely different…. 21 Spells for Assured Success by Boudica
This book is written by a Facebook friend of mine and while it isn’t my usual genre I found it to be both interesting and useful so I decided to put a review of it up here on my blog.
I really enjoyed this book, being fond of spellwork that is pragmatic and intended …
Who were the Druids – part 2
So in a previous blog I looked at evidence supporting the roles of the Druids as ritual leaders, judges, and seers, but this is only a small piece of who the Druids were. We also have evidence that within their societies they were sacred poets, teachers of wisdom, and the ones who understood the deeper mysteries of the natural world, and magic users, however discussing the bardic role of Druids alone is complicated enough to take a whole blog on it’s own, so we will have to get to the other …
Integrated Celtic Recon
So I know I haven’t been blogging regularly lately and there are several reasons for that; one of them I’m proud to announce today. I have been working with several friends on a new forum based community and study program called Integrated Celtic Reconstructionists; it is based on the idea of bringing different Celtic recons together with a larger sense of community and on providing a guided self study program that people seeking training can use. My own part in all this has been very small …
Book review – Freya, Lady, Vanadis
For this Monday’s book review I am going to look at the book Freya, Lady, Vanadis: an introduction to the goddess by Patricia Lafayllve.
This book is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the Goddess Freya. This is an indepth, academic look at her which goes beyond the surface examinations found elsewhere. Each chapter deals with different aspects of the mythology and how they shape our understanding of this goddess in relation to sex, love, war, …