This article originally appeared in Air
n-Aithesc, vol III, issue II, August 2016
The Cailleach
“Ebb-tide has come to me as to the sea;
old age makes me yellow;
though I may grieve thereat,
it approaches its food joyfully….
I am Buí, the Cailleach of Beare;
I used to wear a smock that was ever-renewed…”
–
The Lament of the Old…
So first a story.
I have a fairy tree in my yard and I had the idea at one point to start tying ribbons on it, in the spirit of the rag tree tradition. Now usually a rag tree is by a healing well and the ribbons or bits of cloth tied on it represent prayers for healing of either the person or someone they are praying for. I knew this but still felt drawn to put ribbons on my own tree, and I…
Fairies and trees have had a long connection in mythology and folklore. Today I’d like to take a brief look at a selection of trees and the main fairylore associated with them.
I would note that this folklore can be convoluted as the trees themselves were often reputed to have spirits, much like we might understand dryads in a modern context, but beyond this tree-spirit could also be home…
This Samhain has been an interesting and intense one for me on several levels. It has been busy in purely mundane ways and it has been just as busy in spiritual ways. But more than anything I find myself reflecting whenever my mind isn’t set on anything else on being in Ireland this time last year, on my experiences there and the initiation I underwent that I had not expected. I hear the water…
With Samhain approaching I decided to write about the Dearg Due, the closest to a classic vampire that can be found in Irish folklore. Almost immediately though I ran into a slight problem, in that I can’t find any references to this being in actual books on folklore. The only sources in which I could find the Dearg Due mentioned were more modern works and mostly ones that focused on vampires…
Athirne Áilgessach & Mider Brí Léith
Athirne Ailgessach mac Ferchertne. is e is doichlechu ro boi i nHerind. Dochoid co Mider Brí Léith co tuc corra diultada & doichle úad fora thech .i. ar dibe & ar dochill. Arna taidled fer do feraib Herend a thechsom do aigidecht l^ foigde. Na tair. na tair ar in chetchorr. Eirgg ass ol a setig. Sech thech sech thech ar in tres chorr. Cachfer do feraib…
This story is a bridge between the 6th book in the Between the Worlds series and the forthcoming 7th book. It’s main purpose is to offer some additional backstory for a few characters as well as clarify some events that occur between the two books.
The story runs at 7,370 words.
‘Birth’ – A Between the Worlds Short Story
5
Weeks Before Midsummer
Allie
shifted restlessly where she was…
I know it’s been awhile since I did a book review and this actually isn’t one that I wanted to do, but one that I have finally accepted that I needed to do. So today we are going to take a look at John Matthews 2005 book ‘The Secret Lives of Elves & Faeries’. I will preface this review with two things: I have no personal issues with Matthews work in general and have often used his Druid Source…
One of the most feared weapons of the fairies was the fairy stroke or poc sí, sometimes also called the fairy blast. There are several modern Irish expressions associated with this term including ‘poc aosán’ which is a term for a sudden illness, ‘poc mearaidh’ meaning a touch of madness, and ‘buaileadh poc air’ meaning to be elfstruck or bewitched (O Donaill, 1977). In Old Irish this might be…
There are two things that are trendy right now, although I wouldn’t say either is exactly new: fairy doors and fairy houses. The principle behind each is simple and how serious or kitschy it is depends entirely on the person making it. A fairy door is a small door, usually at least several inches high, that can be plain or decorative, and which is designed to be placed against a surface to mimic…