"‘Gold is for the mistress — silver for the maid —Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.’‘Good!’ said the Baron, sitting in his hall,‘But Iron — Cold Iron — is master of them all.’"- Kipling, ‘Cold Iron’Folklore about the Othercrowd stretches back centuries, with much of the recorded material we have focusing on protection against them. This is logical as they were thought to be able to…
Author Archives: Lairbhan
Resources for Studying the Daoine Maithe
I’ve written before about resources, more generally, for studying the Good Neighbours across the Celtic language speaking cultures that acknowledge them and a few years ago I wrote about good resources for Irish paganism specifically. But I don’t think I’ve ever written a list of resources I trust for learning about the Irish Daoine Uaisle in particular so today seems like a good day to tackle…
Man Recovered From the Fairies – A Story
I was recently asked on my Patreon by one of my patrons if I could translate a modern Irish piece from the school’s collection at Duchas.ie. I’m not fluent in modern Irish but offered to give it a try as it is one of the school’s pieces that was recorded only as Gaeilge. Its also a very interesting piece, recounting the abduction of a newly married man by the Daoine Maithe and his subsequent…
Liminal Gods – Deeper Theology
I’ve written before about the liminal Gods of the Fairy Witchcraft I practice, including the seasonal pairings of the Lady of the Greenwood and Lord of the Wildwood and Queen of the Wind and Hunter as well as the sisters Thallae and Thessilae, the Lord of Mischief, and the Queen of Apples; in my books I’ve also touched on several others relating to the ocean and storms. The thing about these…
Book Review: Lugh Lleu A Collection of Poems and Tales
I haven’t done a book review in a little bit so let’s jump into one today for Kris Hughes ‘Lugh Lleu A Collection of Poems and Tales’ published in 2020. This is a short book and features 5 poems and 4 stories as well as an introduction. The introduction lays out the author’s intent with the book which is to explore the areas of crossover between the Irish deity Lugh and the Welsh god Lleu…
7 Facts Everyone Should Know About Fairies
The subject of fairies is a complex one and with the amount of good, bad, and ridiculous material floating around online there’s a lot of confusion. Here are seven basic things about the subject that everyone should know:
The Word Fairy Is A Catchall Term – Although we use fairy as if it were specific the word is and has always been a generic term applied to a range of beings. Its history goes…
Keeping the Word Fae Meaningful
I’m about to say something very unpopular here. The current trend to refer to absolutely anything cute, odd, unusual, or beautiful as ‘fae’ is actively encouraging the disenchantment and disempowerment of the concept of fairies and the Otherworld. It also often leans into ableism, objectification, and exoticismNot a fairy but a deer at the Seneca Army Depot in New York. Photo © blmiers2 / Flickr…
Complete List of My Published Work
I am occasionally asked about this so I thought it would be easiest to simply post a list here of all of my published and forthcoming work.
Articles
“Healing
Ritual for the Ocean Waters”, Circle Magazine issue 109 summer 2011
“A
Gaelic View of Samhain”, Celtic Guide, vol. 1 issue 10 Oct. 2012 “Celebrating Imbolc with the Family”, Air n-Aithesc, vol.1 issue 1, Feb.
2014
“The Witch, the Bean…
Thorns – a poem about fairies
My yard is all over thorns,raspberry, rose, hawthorn,sweet white flowers in springbright red berries in autumnbut spring or autumn,full green or bare brown,the thorns remain constant.Don’t be fooled by thefair flowers, soft petalled, or the round, ripe berriesjuicy and tart on the lips;these are temptationsluring the unwary and the bold.One misstep, one stumbleone hand grasping too faror too…
Hilda: Blending Folklore and Fiction
One of my seven year old son’s favorite shows is Hilda on Netflix, so its safe to say I’ve seen all the episodes of both seasons repeatedly. Its a fun show with a great premise and lively characters. Based on a comic the animated show follows the adventures of the eponymous heroine, a young girl raised in the wilderness who moves to the city of Trolberg, and tangentially her friends. The show…