Whenever the subject of the fairies comes up it is best to remember that they are not the twee little things of pop culture. Even among the diverse groups of fairies though some deserve more caution and respect than others. One group that was particularly feared is the slua sí, the fairy host.
Category Archives: By Land Sea and Sky
Tech Duinn
For many people Donn is seen as the first ancestor and ultimately the God of the dead in Irish paganism. There is a lot of folk belief behind this and I’ve previously written about Donn elsewhere but today I thought it might be interesting to take a look at two passages in Old Irish which mention Donn and the story of how Tech Duinn got it’s name.
Read All the Things!
Those of you who enjoy my translation efforts, don’t worry I have some interesting bits about Tech Duinn and Donn coming out tomorrow, but today I wanted to shift back a bit into a more discussion style blog. I’ve noticed a trend lately of people asking for opinions about books and getting some strangely territorial responses. What I mean by that is responses which seem to assume there is one – and only one – book worth getting on a particular subject. It can get very Highlander-esque (“There can be only one!”) with people advocating for one book and putting down others like there was some sort of epic prize to be won.
How the Dagda Got his Magic Staff
‘Aed Abaid Essa Ruaid misi .i. dagdia druidechta Tuath De Danann ocus in Ruad Rofhessa Eochaid Ollathair mo tri hanmanna.’
“I am Aed Abaid Essa Ruaid that is the good god of sorcery of the Tuath De Danann and Ruad Rofhessa, Eochaid Ollathair are my three names*.”
The Four Jewels of the Tuatha De Danann
Tuath De Danand na Set soim
Ceithri cathracha i r-robadar Tuatha De Danand ic foglaim fheasa ocus druidechta…
The Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Danann
The Tuatha De Danann were in four cities learning wisdom and Druidism…
The Dindshenchas of Emain Macha
An Dindshenchas de Emain Macha
Cid diatá Eomuin Machae? Ni hanse. …
The Story of the Name of Emain Macha
Why the name of Emhain Macha? Not difficult. …
Historic Love Magic: Not Just A Woman’s Art
Recently in a discussion the subject of laws against women using witchcraft to lure a man into marriage came up, and while it is an interesting topic it made me think that we tend to always look at love magic as something done by women to get a husband and not the other way around. In reality there is quite a bit of evidence in both Irish and Norse material to support men using magic to get a wife as well. So I thought, in the interest of fairness, it would be good to look at the other side of the love magic coin, that is men using magic against women in affairs of the heart. Continue reading…
Aislinge Óenguso: Oengus’s Dream
My newest translation project, the text of the “Aislinge Oenguso”. This was a fun and interesting text to do, but a bit time consuming. I did make a few changes in the English, choosing to take a looser approach to the literal translations in order to preserve the flow of the story, and keeping all verbs in the past tense. You may also note that in the text the goddess Boínn is referred to with the definitive article as “the Boínn”; this reflects the Irish material where she, like the Dagda, is given the definitive “the” before her name. This convention seems to have been lost in English but is clearly present in the original Irish of the story.
Morrigan’s Call Retreat 2015
I have just returned from the second annual Morrigan’s Call Retreat and once again find myself sitting here trying to put into words an experience that is really impossible to describe. Last year the Retreat was new and smaller, fewer people, a wild and otherworldly location, and the energy of the entire weekend was a challenge to step up and answer Her call. This year was very different: more people, a new location that had more of civilization to it, and an energy that was not about hearing Her call as much as about reclaiming ourselves and our own power in this world.
Preconceived Notions and Being a Goth Pagan
I’ve been thinking lately about stereotypes and the way that preconceived notions and expectations shape our larger pagan community. Pervasive buggers, you know, stereotypes creep in where we least expect them. Just when we think we’re in a safe place, a place free of preconceived judgments, bam! we run headfirst into one. We all experience this, I think, some of us to greater degrees than others, depending on who we are and what we identify as.