Lughnasa is also called Lughnasadh, Lunasa, Brón Trogain, Lunsadal, Laa Luanys, Calan Awst, and Gouel an Eost, and Alexei Kondratiev conjectures that the Celts of Gaul may have called this celebration Aedrinia (Kondratiev, 1998). The many names of the holiday show it’s pan-Celtic character, and demonstrate that it could be found across the Celtic world. Several of the names for the holiday are references to the beginning of autumn or of the harvest.
a prison of my own making
I find myself in a quandary today. I woke up in prison. It’s not at if I haven’t always been here, but the reality has finally hit me. I’m in a self created, well maintained prison. And other than a quick exit, I have no idea what to do to open the gates. This […]
Celtic – A Comparative Study
Author: D.B.Gregor
Publisher: The Oleander Press
Published: 1980
ISBN: 9780900891564
Synopsis:
“A marvelous book which is both readable and scholarly”
Odin By Any Other Name
Most Gods have a variety of different epithets attached to them and some have several different names that they are known by but none may have as many as Wodan who many know as Odin. If we look at all the different mythology and lore we find that Odin has more than 200 different names that he uses in different contexts or is known by in different places. Each of these names can be useful in helping us better understand who this enigmatic God is and I have also found it very useful to call on specific names of Odin when I need to honor or pray to different aspects of his energy.
the Story of the Sword
“Fergus dixit ’ ‘Fó fer fris tibther manip sceó mera mórgnímo merthar airbiur mo chlaidib mache mind mosdísem calga de Galión gáir…”
“Fergus said: ‘By the point of my sword, halidom of Macha, swiftly shall we wreak vengeance on swords following on a cry (for help)…”
-Tain Bo Cuailgne
Finding Your Gods
If there’s one thing that seems to be a constant in neopaganism and polytheism it is the rush by newcomers to the concept of multiple deities to find “their Gods”. I have seen endless iterations of this over the years, of people who have converted from another faith who then immediately feel the need to declare who their Gods are.
Teagasca
Full title: Teagasca: The Instructions of Cormac Mac Airt
Author: C. Lee Vermeers
Isa
The third rune of the second aett is Isa, which is equivalent to the letter I in English. The rune looks like a straight vertical line. Isa is most strongly associated with ice. The Icelandic rune poem calls Isa:
“bark of rivers
and roof of the wave
and destruction of the doomed.”
Of Trance Work (UPG)
Trance work was a very hard concept for me to understand. My mind could never be quiet enough for me to go into trance. I wanted something that is close to what is said the Irish Filidh did to see visions. The early Irish filidh are said to have composed their poetry and had mantic visions through various techniques involving things like incubatory darkness, liminal times or places such as dusk and dawn or doorways, and the ingestion of raw substances such as the meat of sacrificed animals. (1) I decided to go with the incubatory darkness route in my own way.
Spellcrafting
So I was asked a while back what components are necessary for successful spellcrafting. Spell can be very elaborate. They can involve numerous ingredients, representations, candles, accessories, incenses, chants, motions, and all manner of things. But I’m a chaos magician. I usually like to keep things simple. What do you need to cast a spell? […]