Consider this a bit of a crash course – or the cliff notes version – in fairy etiquette. Like anything else on this subject for every rule or guideline there’s an exception (see my last blog on eating fairy food if you don’t understand what I mean by that) but this offers the broad strokes. Before reading this its important to keep in mind that the Fair Folk in general are not humans and are not…
Category Archives: By Land Sea and Sky
Fairy Food: “Bite No Bit, And Drink No Drop”
“And what you’ve not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit while in Elfland you be and never will you see Middle Earth again.”
– the Ballad of Childe Rowland
I’ve previously discussed the food of Fairy in the context of what fairies themselves eat but today I thought it would be interesting to look at humans in relation to…
Riding the River; My Journey into Paganism
My journey into Paganism is something I’ve talked about before, but I don’t think I’ve ever written explicitly about it here. Since there’s a blog theme going around taking on that idea I thought it might be interesting to look at it here.
Many people when you ask them ‘How did you end up pagan?’ have a straightforward answer – they found a book or they met a particular person. My own…
The Baobhan Sìth
One of the most interesting Scottish fairies, to my mind, is the Baobhan Sìth (pronounced roughly Bah-van Shee). There are only a few stories preserved in folklore about this spirit, and they are fairly homogeneous in painting a picture of female fairies, usually appearing in groups, who seduce young men and kill them by drinking their blood. They seem to be members of the Fuath – generally…
Witchcraft of The Devouring Swamp
My friend at Via Hedera wrote a great post about her green witchcraft in the context of her river and its spirits called “Green River Witchcraft”. You should definitely give it a read. It has me thinking about the way that where we live, the environment we live in, shapes how we relate to spirits and perhaps our witchcraft or wider spirituality. For my friend at Via Hedera that means green,…
Cliodhna: Goddess and Fairy Queen
The Following is an Excerpt from my book Pagan Portals Gods and Goddesses of Ireland
Cliodhna –
Cliodhna, also known as Clíona, is considered both one of the Tuatha Dé Danann in older mythology and a Fairy Queen in modern folk lore. Her name may mean ‘the territorial one’, likely reflecting her earlier role as a sovereignty Goddess; her epithet is Ceannfhionn (fair headed or fair haired)…
poem translation ‘Lugh’s Arrival at Teamhair’
This is an excerpt from a 14th century poem; this portion is telling about Lugh’s arrival at Temhair during the larger story of the Cath Maige Tuired. It’s short but very interesting and worth a read I think. I’ve included the original Irish and then my translation.
Crow perched on signpost in front of the Duma na nGaill, Teamhair, Ireland
Tabhás do Lugh, leannán Teamhrathoir i nEamhain,dá…
Chess – A Between the Worlds Short Story
Several people have asked me to write a short story that gives some more backstory for a few of the characters in my fiction series, and I thought it would be a fun thing to do. In the spirit of that one person suggested incorporating ‘strip chess’, and since I love a challenge here you go.
This story would take place after the fifth novel. Some caveats for those who don’t read my fiction it…
Leprechauns
If you mention the subject of fairies to most people and ask them to name a type of fairy being, many immediately jump to Leprechauns. For a variety of reasons they have become well-known, or at least people believe they know them well and certainly every March there will be the requisite pop-culture article on Leprechaun lore. What is presented there though is often a shallow view of a much…
Oiche Fhéile Eóin – Lá Fhéile Eóin
When it comes to holidays in my personal practice I’ve always focused most on the fire festivals, Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasa, and Samhain, but for many years midsummer has played a role as well. Specifically it has been a time for me to honor the fairy Queen Àine, but last year I found that starting to shift a bit as I was drawn to celebrating on June 24th – Lá Fhéile Eóin – rather than on…