My new book Pagan Portals Lugh comes out the beginning of May and so today I’d like to share an excerpt from it for everyone.“After
the death of Nuadu and of those men, Lug took the kingship of Ireland, and his
grandfather Balar the Strong-smiter fell at his hands, with a stone from his
sling. Lugh was forty years in the kingship of Ireland after the last battle of
Mag Tuired”
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This title is taken from something I often say when talking about the Echtra Nera: "Darn it Nera you had one job". Its a reference to the fact that in the story Nera is given the job of watching his son’s cow by his wife and when he falls asleep the cow is ‘borrowed’ by the Morrigan, resulting in not only the Táin Bó Regamna immediately but ultimately the Táin Bó Cuiligne as well. In other words…
"‘Gold is for the mistress — silver for the maid —Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade.’‘Good!’ said the Baron, sitting in his hall,‘But Iron — Cold Iron — is master of them all.’"- Kipling, ‘Cold Iron’Folklore about the Othercrowd stretches back centuries, with much of the recorded material we have focusing on protection against them. This is logical as they were thought to be able to…
I’ve written before about resources, more generally, for studying the Good Neighbours across the Celtic language speaking cultures that acknowledge them and a few years ago I wrote about good resources for Irish paganism specifically. But I don’t think I’ve ever written a list of resources I trust for learning about the Irish Daoine Uaisle in particular so today seems like a good day to tackle…
I was recently asked on my Patreon by one of my patrons if I could translate a modern Irish piece from the school’s collection at Duchas.ie. I’m not fluent in modern Irish but offered to give it a try as it is one of the school’s pieces that was recorded only as Gaeilge. Its also a very interesting piece, recounting the abduction of a newly married man by the Daoine Maithe and his subsequent…
I’ve written before about the liminal Gods of the Fairy Witchcraft I practice, including the seasonal pairings of the Lady of the Greenwood and Lord of the Wildwood and Queen of the Wind and Hunter as well as the sisters Thallae and Thessilae, the Lord of Mischief, and the Queen of Apples; in my books I’ve also touched on several others relating to the ocean and storms. The thing about these…
I haven’t done a book review in a little bit so let’s jump into one today for Kris Hughes ‘Lugh Lleu A Collection of Poems and Tales’ published in 2020. This is a short book and features 5 poems and 4 stories as well as an introduction. The introduction lays out the author’s intent with the book which is to explore the areas of crossover between the Irish deity Lugh and the Welsh god Lleu…
The subject of fairies is a complex one and with the amount of good, bad, and ridiculous material floating around online there’s a lot of confusion. Here are seven basic things about the subject that everyone should know:
The Word Fairy Is A Catchall Term – Although we use fairy as if it were specific the word is and has always been a generic term applied to a range of beings. Its history goes…
I’m about to say something very unpopular here. The current trend to refer to absolutely anything cute, odd, unusual, or beautiful as ‘fae’ is actively encouraging the disenchantment and disempowerment of the concept of fairies and the Otherworld. It also often leans into ableism, objectification, and exoticismNot a fairy but a deer at the Seneca Army Depot in New York. Photo © blmiers2 / Flickr…
I am occasionally asked about this so I thought it would be easiest to simply post a list here of all of my published and forthcoming work.
Articles
“Healing
Ritual for the Ocean Waters”, Circle Magazine issue 109 summer 2011
“A
Gaelic View of Samhain”, Celtic Guide, vol. 1 issue 10 Oct. 2012 “Celebrating Imbolc with the Family”, Air n-Aithesc, vol.1 issue 1, Feb.
2014
“The Witch, the Bean…