Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar – touching them is a mistake. Their hair causes allergic reactions and their barbs can cause serious injuries to the eyes. They are pretty though.
I suppose its fair to say that I’m more than a tad bit cynical. This isn’t so much a matter of age as personality, I think – cynical is my natural default setting and always has been. Chalk it up to some very…
There’s an interesting tidbit of folklore in Scotland which says that the Good Folk must pay a teind (tithe) to Hell; this idea appears first in writing in two poems and seems from there to enter the wider lore particularly in the modern period. The teind is an interesting folkloric belief because it is not found in Ireland, nor was it a belief throughout Scotland until a much later period,…
Offerings are a word that gets thrown around a lot in modern paganism and polytheism, particularly in the corners of it that I lurk in. Earlier this month at the Morrigan’s Call Retreat I had a good discussion about offerings with another speaker at the event, Lora O’Brien, and she recently wrote a blog ‘Working as a Spiritual Fixer in Ireland’ which I highly recommend reading. As I’ve been…
The second part of the text on raven and wren augury. Original text followed by my translation.DreanachtMad congaire an ceanandan duit anair turus daine craibtheach cucad co n-agairbe fort. Madh anairdes gaires an drean druith uallcha doroith. Mad aniar esurraidh dobi cucaib. Mad anairtuaidh goires aes lasa mbi cele fesa no mna tic and. Mad atuaidh is inmuin leat anti tic and. Mad aniartuaidh tic…
"Is Acher in Gáith Innocht"
Is acher in gaíth innocht,fu-fúasna fairgge findfolt:ní ágor réimm mora minndond láechraid lainn ó Lothlainn
Fierce is the wind tonight
Agitating the ocean’s white hair;
I do not fear advancing across the sea
Eager dark warriors of Norway
Quatrains on Festivals
Atberim frib, lith saine,ada buada belltaine:coirm, mecoin, suabais serig,ocus urgruth do…
Or I could have titled this one ‘teaching my kids about the Good Neighbors in a post modern world’ but that wouldn’t have been any shorter, would it?
So, as I’ve mentioned, probably ad nauseum at this point the main focus of my actual day to day, rubber-hits-the-road spirituality is the Otherworldly spirits and land spirits. I also, as I am sure I’ve not often mentioned but you may have caught…
Anyone who’s been in the modern pagan or polytheist community for more than, say, 5 minutes will probably have noticed that we’re a pretty contentious bunch. We are, in point of fact, usually much better at splitting hairs than at building bridges, something that I’ve written about more than once. You see I’m of the opinion that we should worry less about whether or not the person next to us…
And now, as they say, for something completely different….
I thought it would be fun to switch things up a little bit and do something for people who enjoy my fiction. For those unfamiliar I have a four book series called ‘Between the Worlds’ which is something between an urban fantasy and paranormal romance with a lot of Celtic mythology and folklore thrown into an alternate reality mix. Its…
One
of the most well known of the Irish Gods is Lugh, Lug in Old Irish, who is given
several epithets including Lamhfada [long arm], Ildanach [many skilled], and
Samildanach [many joined skills]. He is also sometimes called either Mac Céin,
son of Cian, or Mac Ethlenn, son of Eithne (MacKillop, 1998). One of the epithets applied to him in the Lebor Gabala Erenn is ‘rind-agach’ which Macalister…
There’s a fascinating bit of text called ‘Fiachairecht ocus Dreanacht’ or, roughly ‘Raven Augury and Wren Augury’ that outlines in detail what exactly omens with these birds mean based on where they are when the omen is received. I’ve decided to do my own translation of this work by dividing it up into sections, starting with ‘Fiachairecht’ (Raven Augury). As usual I’ll give the original Irish…