#Celtic#MythologyMonday: Both the warrior-queen #Aoife and #Scathach had raised an army & were about to fight each other. Scathach didn't mention this to #CúChulainn, for the handsome youth had become dear to her, so she gave him a sleeping draught to make him slumber through the battle, as she believed Aoife too much for any man to defeat. Although the potion would have conquered the senses of anyone else, CúChulainn lay asleep for but an hour before stirring.
Source:https://emeraldisle.ie/the-trials-of-cuchulainn
#MythologyMonday: The #TuathaDéDanannrefined the art of brewing until the ale of their smith and brewer #Goibniu was strong enough to endow the drinker with immortality. #Irish epics connect ale with the festival of #Samhain, when the boundaries between this world and the #Otherworld were blurred.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: In the #Scottish highlands holly and gorse were sacred trees of the #Cailleach Bheur, a blue hag, who was associated with #winter and the protection of animals during the season. She was reborn every All Hallows Eve and brought back the winter weather with her magical staff, which froze the ground with every tap. On Beltane Eve she returned to the Earth, throwing her staff beneath a gorse bush before turning to stone.
Source: https://druidry.org/resources/furze
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: The lengthy flowering of furze, also known as gorse or whin, led to the country saying: when the gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of fashion. The habit of adding a sprig of furze bloom in a bridal bouquet is thought to allude to this, the all-year-round blossom being a symbol of continuous fertility.
Source: https://druidry.org/resources/furze
Manannán, spirit of the oceans, commissioned the craftsman Lucra to make him a shield of wood, which came from a withered hazel tree, on the fork which Lugh had set the severed head of Balor. The venom had penetrated this tree, killing or blinding workers trying uprooting or handling it.#Celtic
Source: https://emeraldisle.ie/manannan-mac-lir
Two very magical things Manannan possessed: one was a boat called the Ocean Sweeper. The other was a milk-white horse, Enbarr of the Flowing Mane, which could travel over the sea-waves as quickly as it could on land, and never get wet; it could fly through the air, too, more swiftly than the strong wind blows in March. Sometimes, when one or other of the heroes had any great deeds to perform, Manannan would lend his Ocean-Sweeper and his white horse to them, so that they should not fail.
Source: Heroes of the Dawn by Violet Russel #Celtic https://twitter.com/jimfitzpatrick/status/1025054089707757568
Manannán, spirit of the oceans, was said to be the high king of three realms, or perhaps it was only one place under three names. These were Emain Ablach, the place of the apples, where Lúgh was raised, a land filled with swans and yews. Manannán gave to Lugh a magical spear which he used to slay Balor of the evil eye, master of the dreaded Fomorian race.#Celtic
Source: https://emeraldisle.ie/manannan-mac-lir
The earliest legends of the Gaels say it was Manannán, spirit of the oceans, who led the surviving Tuatha to safety after they lost their war with the Milesians and vigorous race of men, protecting them and cloaking them in the mist of invisibility, the féth fíada, hiding their homes and strong places, their halls and mounds in a supernatural fog.#Celtic
Source: https://emeraldisle.ie/manannan-mac-lir
The #druid from the #Glauberg (@Keltenwelt_News) probably wears leather armour and the shield and dagger of a warrior. His gold jewellery shows that he must have been very rich. He wears a leather cap called a "mistletoe crown". #Celtic
Source: zdf.de/dokumentation/zdfinfo-doku/die-druiden-geheimnisvolle-priester-der-kelten-102.html
Druid from the Glauberg, World of the Celts in Glauberg, photocredit 1. Neu-Kelte
Ritual insignia such as crowns differentiated #druids from the secular community. This iron crown from Roseldorf – the only #Celtic ceremonial headwear from mainland Europe – dates to 330-150 BC. It was destroyed on purpose before sacrifice.
Source: Natural History Museum Vienna
The birch hat (diameter 35 cm) of the man from the burial mound in #Hochdorf distinguished him from the other members of his tribe. He was not only a tribal leader, he also led the sacrifice. It is therefore reasonable to assume that we are dealing here with a #sacral king, the forerunner of the #druids. The state archaeologist of Baden-Württemberg, Dirk Krausse, explains two other unusual finds: With a heavy iron axe, the deceased apparently killed defencible sacrificial animals (deer, cattle) by striking them on the forehead. A spear was then used to kill the animals with a blow to the heart.`#Celtic
Source: zdf.de/dokumentation/zdfinfo-doku/die-druiden-geheimnisvolle-priester-der-kelten-102.html
The so-called "Warrior of Hirschlanden" may be a sacral king. He wears a hat or helmet that tapers upwards - possibly comparable to the find of the #druid from Hochdorf - a torc and a belt with a typical Hallstatt dagger. All these symbols point to a higher rank of the person depicted. The man could be wearing a mask. The interpretation as a mask is likely due to the narrow eye sockets, a flat nose and a mouth slit. All facial features appear to be slightly shifted downwards.#Celtic
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_of_Hirschlanden
#LegendaryWednesday for #MothersDay: New mothers on the Isle of Man made certain that a pair of their husband’s trousers was always in their bed, for the pants would scare fairy kidnappers away.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday for #MothersDay: As a child, Lugh was fostered by Queen Tailtiu of the Fir Bolg, a race defeated by the Tuatha de Danann. It is said that Lugh held his foster mother in great esteem, and that when she died, he set up the festival of Lughnasadh on August 1st in her honour. This took place every year in what is now known as Teltown in Co Meath, and involved horse races, Irish martial arts contests, feats of sportsmanship, and all manner of feasting, trading and entertainment. As a result, Lúnasa become the Irish name for the month of August.
Source: Ali Isaac
#Celtic#LegendaryWednesday for #MothersDay: Over time a man had hit his wife three times. Thus the Sidhe had to go back to lake Llyn y Fan Fach. But the mother returned sometimes to help and instruct her sons, and in particular one called Rhiwallon. In due course Rhiwallon and the other sons went to the court of Rhys Gryg of Deheubarth, where they became famous doctors who are known today as the Physicians of Myddfai. A number of their medical formulae remain in the #Welsh manuscripts.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_y_Fan_Fach
#LegendaryWednesday for #MothersDay: #Matres or #matronae are nature deities of a particular area. They are usually represented as three figures with the attributes of fertility. Typically the mothers are shown seated; often they appear to be of different ages (young maiden, fertile mother, and aging crone), but they are also sometimes depicted as identical triplets. They hold sacred objects: sacrificial knife, offering plate (patera), foodstuffs, bread, fish. Since many, if not most, Celtic divinities are connected to the fertility of the land and the people who depend upon it, it is not surprising that these goddesses are associated with food and abundance.
Source: P. Monaghan Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore
#Celtic#MoonDay: „One of the highest figures among the ancestors the Gaels reverenced was Elatha, Ealadha or Elathan, a prince of the Fomorians and the father of Bres of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He was most associated with the moon since he visited Eriú by night in a silver boat.“
Source: emeraldisle.ie