So something that comes up fairly regularly is the question of whether Danu and Anu are the same goddess or two distinct individuals*.
I want to say up front that this is one of those fun things that scholars disagree about so what follows is not meant to be conclusive but merely reflect my opinion and the evidence I base that opinion on.
I tend to believe that Anu and Danu are different…
Bullets, the Morrigan, and My Perspective
So another Pantheacon has come and gone and the Morrigan community is currently abuzz with our very own controversy. People are blogging about it and there is quite a bit of hyperbole winging around on both sides. I’m not going to link to any of the other blogs, just google ‘bullets for the Morrigan’ and you can start wading through the results.
I really debated weighing in on this one or not…
Lost in the Ivy a Bit
Spring couldn’t get here any faster; I’m desperate for some fresh and raw materials. I have a million new brews to ferment, incense to roll, herbs to macerate, essences to distill… And I’m going to need a lot of wild materia for what I plan to achieve by …
Nuances of the words "Witchcraft" and "Witch" in Old Irish
How’s that for a boring blog title?
Seriously though, one of the reasons that I tend to be such strong advocate for an omniglot approach or at least attempting to have a basic understanding of terms in other languages that relate to our practices is that often there are nuances within those terms that are – quite literally – lost in translation. And we shape our understanding, our…
Expanded Ogham Guide
The Ogham that we are most familiar with in a modern context is the Tree Ogham which associates each letter of the Ogham alphabet with a specific tree. However there are actually many different types of Ogham associations including River Ogham, for example, and Pig Ogham. Each one is layered, both a mnemonic device which associates the letter with a word that begins with that letter and also a…
The Kingship and Landscape of Tara
**This review was first published in Air n-Aithesc Volume II, Issue II.
Editor: Edel Bhreathnach
Publisher: Four Court Press for The Discovery Programme
Published: 2005
ISBN: 9781851829545
Synopsis: (From the Four Courts Press Website)
This volume is the culmination of an inter-disciplinary project undertaken as part of the Discovery Programme involving archaeologists, historians, linguists and place-name experts. It includes …
A Prayer of Personal Power
Experimenting with a little translation of a different sort. There’s an excerpt from one of the Carmina Gadelica prayers making the rounds (without credit to the source of course*) and when I took another look at the original Gaidhlig I realized that Carmichael’s translation was more poetic than literal. I don’t have any Gaidhlig myself but it’s close enough to Sengoidelc that I can actually read…
Speaking of restaurant work …
Blessings, Darlings!
I worry about my coworkers. Most of the folks at the restaurant I work at are on the hairy edge of…
Dirt Beneath Your Fingernails
Recently a friend of mine wrote two very insightful blogs ‘The Line in the Dirt’ and ‘Deepening the Line’. Both deal with looking at the way the pagan community, in general, approaches magical and ritual practice, the laziness that’s rampant among practitioners, and the idea of what happens beyond basics.
I’ve been thinking a lot since I read them, both because she raises some good questions…
Restaurant scrounging, Part 2
Blessings Darlings!
More ethical ways food is available to those who work in restaurants.
We cut off the heels of whole loaves of bread before slicing the bread for things like French Toast. Those heels often …