I’ve posted various recommended reading lists before but I thought it would be both helpful and fun to post a selection of assorted links to online resources for the subject of fairylore here that don’t fall into the realm of ‘recommended reading’. There are after all other media one can look to for education on the subject and there’s some great music and fiction as well. Many of these are also…
Magic in Motion – Circles and Compasses in Folklore
The idea that movement in magic has significance is of course an old one and can be found in both folk magic and folklore. In witchcraft we see this reflected in the idea of casting a circle and in some forms of modern traditional witchcraft in casting the compass*, and we also find the idea in references to early modern witchcraft which involve the idea of moving directionally around a space…
Following in the Tracks of Hooves – a Pilgrimage in Ireland
Sheep tracks at Healy Pass
I’m just back from a recent trip to Ireland, helping co-facilitate a tour for Land, Sea, Sky Travel to the Beara peninsula. Most of the tour, of course, was focused on that job of facilitating for the people on the tour, but I had my own moments of experience as well and as I sit here back at home processing all of that I thought I’d share a little bit of what the…
Upcoming Releases 2018
The second half of 2018 is going to be busy for me with published pieces being released, and since I often have people asking me what I have coming out and when I thought it might be helpful to recap here.
August 31, 2018 – Seven Ages of the Ages. An anthology by Moon Books that features a series of articles from various authors each focusing on a different aspect of the goddesses in history. I…
Translation – Compert Mongan
Below is a new translation I’ve done of a section of the Conception of Mongan. It’s a very interesting story and I quite like this version which focuses more on Fiachna’s wife perspective than the other common story.
COMPERT MONGAN… Asbertsa dagní didiu ar atá do chéle i ngúais már. Tucad fer húathmar ara chend nad forsabatár & atbéla leis. Dia ndernam mád tú caratrad berae mac de. Bid amre…
Odin and the Wild Hunt – Excerpt from ‘Pagan Portals Odin’
The following is an excerpt from my recently released book ‘Pagan Portals Odin’
Cover art by Ashley Bryner
“The Wild HuntThe Wild Hunt is a group of spectral horsemen who ride the air at night, accompanied by hounds and horses, and led by a fearsome Huntsman (or in some cases Huntswoman). The Hunt is found in several areas of Western Europe as well as America and who exactly they are as well…
Aspects of the Táin
Editor: J.P. Mallory
Publisher: December Publications
Published: 1992
ISBN: 0951706829
Pages: 159
Review: This is one of those must read books that you should read along side The Táin. It starts with … Continue reading…
Inside the Táin
Full Title: Inside the Táin – Exploring Cú Chulainn, Fergus, Ailill, and Medb
Author: Doris Edel
Publisher: Cruach Bhán Publications
Published: 2015
ISBN: 978-3-942002-20-2
Pages: 371, including 2 Appendices, Works Cited and Index
Synopsis: This is the first literary-critical study of the Táin Bó Cúailnge in its entirety, and as an autonomous literary work. Continue reading…
Possession by Fairies or Elves
I’ll note as I begin that I will in this article be using the terms elf and fairy synonymously, as general terms for Otherworldly beings. This reflects the generalized use of the terms in the source material I’m referencing in writing this. For those who prefer to see the terms as applying to specific beings, understand that what follows would then apply equally to both.
That fairies or elves…
Translation: Tond Clidna/Cliodna’s Wave
Today I wanted to do a piece from the Metrical Dindshenchas and I thought I’d take on a new look at poem 38 ‘Tond Clidna I’ since I will be heading off to southwestern Ireland in a few weeks.
Tond Clidna I
Clidna chend-fhind, búan a bét,
‘con tuind-se tánic a héc;
damna d’a máthair beith marb
inní dia tarla in sen-ainm.
5] Dia ndernad in t-óenach the
ac lucht tíre tairngire,
is é thuc in…