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…
Category Archives: By Land Sea and Sky
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…
Tri Cuirn o Cormac ua Cuinn – The Three Goblets of Cormac grandson of Conn
Today I’d like to offer a shorter translation piece for you:
Cuirn sin tucad do Cormac u Cuinn dar muir
Feacht n-ann do luid Aedh Oirdnidhi mac Neill Frosaidh mic Fearghuile mic Maile Duin do ordugud fer cuigid Connacht. Do luid dar Eas Ruaidh ocus do baithed a fuis meisi ocus a cuirnn ann. Tainic Aedh co riacht Corca Tri, co n-deisidh a tigh righ Corca Tri. Coeca righ do riguibh Eirenn maille…
Online Fairy Resources
I’ve posted various recommended reading lists before but I thought it would be both helpful and fun to post a selection of assorted links to online resources for the subject of fairylore here that don’t fall into the realm of ‘recommended reading’. There are after all other media one can look to for education on the subject and there’s some great music and fiction as well. Many of these are also…
Magic in Motion – Circles and Compasses in Folklore
The idea that movement in magic has significance is of course an old one and can be found in both folk magic and folklore. In witchcraft we see this reflected in the idea of casting a circle and in some forms of modern traditional witchcraft in casting the compass*, and we also find the idea in references to early modern witchcraft which involve the idea of moving directionally around a space…