#Celtic#WyrdWednesday: `A fairy cow might decide to settle down on this side of the veil, producing prodigious amounts of milk until, like the mythical cow of abundance called the Glas Ghaibhleann, she was driven away by greed. One farmer who attempted to slaughter his fairy cow found her and all her progeny called away by a lake-maiden.
#Celtic#WyrdWednesday: In ancient #Ireland „the role of a physician was a hereditary one. He passed down his skills and knowledge to his offspring, and often to apprentices living with the family. In later years, this wealth of information was written down in manuscripts and books. The most famous of these is the Book of the O’Lees.“
Source: https://aliisaac.substack.com/p/march-wise-woman-or-witch
Since the time of Spanish colonization of California, the Dark Watchers of the Santa Lucia Mountains have been a thing of wonder. Los Vigilantes Oscuros have been reported from those peaks, watching the people down below: but why? #WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday#LegendaryWednesday: `At #Beltane there were great bonfires everywhere, the most important being in Uisnech, where an oenach ("reunion") was held, which was one of the most important festivals in #Ireland. There were banquets with potlatch activities, races on foot and with chariots, as well as the assessment of taxes for the following year'.
Source: Helmut Birkhan „#Kelten“
#WyrdWednesday#LegendaryWednesday: The #druids used their great magic (chants) to make two beneficial fires with healing flames at #Beltane. The herds were brought to these fires every year against epidemics. They made the herds pass between them.
Source: Le Roux/Guyonvarc'h „Die #Druiden“
Elixirs were the art of the descendants of Helios and Perse. Circe, master of potions, used one to turn Scylla into a bladder-like sea monster, and later turn men into pigs on her island home. Her niece, Medea, was the mistress of poisons, which unfortunately she used against her own family. #WyrdWednesday
#WyrdWednesday: „To fast against one’s enemy was a traditional form of protest in ancient #Ireland and #Wales. When a wrong had been done, the victim would sit upon the doorstep of the oppressor, taking no food and telling passersby of the crime committed.“
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore #nonviolence
Photo: Le_leggi_di_Brehon_MG Galloz, Le leggi di Brehon, CC BY-SA 4.0
#WyrdWednesday: Amadán was the son of a king, who was dispossessed of his lands by invasion. Hiding in the wildwood, the fool grew into a hairy giant who, despite his unattractive features, married into the usurping family, only to kill his in-laws in retribution for their crimes. After many adventures and battles, the Amadán was restored to his own family and went forth to battle other giants.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore https://twitter.com/MinaStillwater/status/1592851574916644865
In the Middle Ages, many Christian Scandinavians believed that the Norse gods had actually been humans from Troy who had fled their burning city and immigrated to Scandinavia, where they had used magic to make the locals believe that they were gods.
To drink from the Well of Wisdom, the Norse god Odin had to give one of his eyes to Mimir, the Well's guardian. In some versions, this is simply a general sacrifice, but in others it's a trade - the eye gives Mimir Odin's knowledge just as the drink gives Odin Mimir's.
🎨 Emil Doepler
The huldufólk (hidden folk) of Iceland are human-sized fairies whose communities are hidden in the hills. Sometimes they are depicted with cow tails. It is said that if the huldufólk marry a human, their cow tails fall off, and they become human themselves.
🎨 Brett Manning
Many old buildings in Europe, even churches, have carved on their walls a face made of leaves or vomiting vegetation, called a "Green Man." There's a lot of debate about how this design began or what its purpose was, but many assume it was originally a pagan god.
In alchemy, the green lion devouring the sun represents how aqua regia (a potent acid) can dissolve and purify base matter - first step of the alchemical Great Work. It also symbolizes how purifying one's shining ego is needed for spiritual enlightenment.
When Gawain, King Arthur's nephew, chopped the head off the Green Knight at New Year's as part of a "game," the Green Knight picked up his head and told Gawain to meet him next New Year's to get his own head chopped off. Many scholars have debated this symbolism.
#Celtic#WyrdWednesday: Dian Cecht’s Porridge was a cure that was used in ancient Ireland for fourteen different stomach disorders, as well as worms, sore throats and colds. According to Mac Coitir, this magical concoction contained dandelions, hazel buds, chickweed, wood sorrel, and oatmeal. How effective it was, he doesn’t say, and according to myth, it was his daughter, Airmid, who was the herbalist in the family.
Source: Ali Isaac from H A G <aliisaac@substack.com>
Though the Norse term "Jotun" often gets translated as "giant," the Jotnar could be many different sizes, and many of them (Loki, Skadi, etc.) were no taller than the Aesir. They often seemed less like giants and more like simply a competing faction of gods.
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday#WyrdWednesday: The renewal of the earth and thus of fertility and wealth is especially expressed by the stag because of the annual renewal of its antlers beginning with spring.
Source: Helmut Birkhan #Kelten
In Welsh folklore, pigs originally came from the Otherworld, a gift from the fairy king Arawn. The Welsh point to all the many different kinds of marvelous food one can turn pigs into - bacon, sausages, pork chops, etc. - as proof that pigs are magical creatures.
🎨 T. Horsley #WyrdWednesday#31DaysofHaunting#Superstitiology#mythology#folklore#Celtic#Wales
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday#WyrdWednesday: Brighid would also appear to personify the conquering #spring that abrogates the icy clutches of deathly winter. This should come as no surprise because Brighid was responsible for the changing of the seasons.
Source: Wade MacMorrighan „Rekindling the Rites of Imbolg“
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday#WyrdWednesday: There are many examples of the hare having connections with the #Otherworld in #Irish #mythology and #folklore. Hares are associated with #spring, thus with the goddess of the season, and represented love, fertility and growth. In Europe, that goddess was Eostre, after whom Easter is named, but in #Ireland #Brigid is the Goddess of Spring, or #Imbolc.
Source: https://aliisaac.substack.com/
The Arthurian Romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is about how much someone will sacrifice for honour. Sir Gawain swore an oath to the Green Knight so that King Arthur wouldn't be called a coward, and then was willing to die rather than break his oath. #LegendaryWednesday#WyrdWednesday
The city of Troy was considered the epitome of culture and sophistication, so many European cultures (Italians, Welsh, etc.) claimed their ancestors had been Trojans. Medieval Christian Scandinavians even claimed their pagan gods had actually been Trojan sorcerers.
🎨 Giovanni Tiepolo #WyrdWednesday
We now know "Viking horn" helmets were never anything but ceremonial if that, and are quite rare: so why do we associate the Viking Age with winged and horned helmets? In 1876, Carl Emil Doepler, costume designer for a performance of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle, added them for extra rizz: and we've seen how pop culture has embraced this ever since. #WyrdWednesday
In later Oz books by L. Frank Baum, the Scarecrow moves in with the Tin Woodman, staying at the Tin Woodman's castle in Winkie Country. Sometimes they go off on separate adventures, but that's mainly so that they can later experience the joy of being reunited. #WyrdWednesday#BookChatWeekly
#FolkloreThursday: The #Celtic summer began with the #Beltane (‘bright fire’ or ‘lucky fire’) festival on May 1. Beltane celebrates the start of summer, the crop and pasturing season. Although scholars are non-commital, many of us believe #Beltane honors the ancient continental #Celtic sun and healer God #Belenus.
Source: #OBOD, the Order of #Bards, #Ovates and #Druids
#WyrdWednesday#LegendaryWednesday: The meaning 'Bel-Fire' possibly refers to the god Belenus (Helmut Birkhan „#Kelten“).
After Epona, he was the #Celtic deity most frequently mentioned by ancient authors in Gaul, Noricum, Illyria, Britain and Ireland. #Beltane