#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: There are about 1200 known crannogs in #Ireland, but it is estimated that there are probably many, many more yet to be discovered. The majority are concentrated in the drumlins area of the midlands, the north and north-west of Ireland. There are thought to be up to 300 on Lough Gara. Lough Allen also has numerous crannogs with a submerged stone pathway leading to them. The Black Islands of Lough Ree numbered 52. They were often built in small clusters overlooking a larger one further out in deeper water… the home of the chieftain, perhaps.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Crannogs were in use in #Ireland from the middle Bronze Age into the seventeenth century. A crannog is an artificial island constructed from brush, timber, clay, peat and stone, often supported by timber piles. Large stones were added to their edges, probably to protect them from the force of the water. The surface would have been topped with a fine layer of earth and sand. The old Irish word is crannóc, from crann, meaning ‘tree’ and óg, meaning ‘young’. It is not known if this term refers to the island itself, or the structures built upon it.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Dún Dealgan means ‘the stronghold of Dalgan’ in #Irish. According to legend, long before it became the home of Ulster’s hero, #CùChulainn, it was originally the site of a fortress constructed by a Fir Bolg chieftain by the name of Delga.
This legendary and historic site is situated on a ridge just outside of Dundalk, overlooking the Castletown River, known also as Abhainn Chaisleán Dhún. The tower, known as ‘Byrne’s Folly’, which is still standing today, was built by a local landowner named Patrick Byrne. He was quite a character by all accounts, as he was reputed to have made his fortune by smuggling.`
Source: Ali Isaac
#FolkloreSunday: Behind the fortification of Cronk ny Merriu are the remains of a homestead. Originally believed to have been build in the #Celtic #IronAge it was later re-occupied during the Norse Period. The site has a building nearly rectangular in construction with three doorways and a standard Norse central hearth. Remains of this building are clearly visible.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronk_ny_Merriu
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Angus is supposed to have made his home at #Newgrange, near the Boyne the underground temple which was formerly called Brugh na Boinne. The old stories say that three trees grew there which were always heavy with fruit, and whoever rested at Brugh na Boinne and ate of this fruit would be deathless.
Source: Heroes of the Dawn by Violet Russel
#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
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „Near the village of Tressé, a cow owned by the fairies was said to have caused some damage in the meadow of a farmer whose anger was swiftly assuages by one of the fairies who gave him a piece of bread in compensation, telling him that it would neither shrink nor harden as long as he kept it a secret.“ https://bonjourfrombrittany.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/the-fairies-of-the-swells/
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: A story from #Brittany „relates that, after a long absence, a lord returned to his castle with a beautiful young woman whom he had married in a distant land. She always wore dresses so long that no one, not even her husband, had seen her feet. Indeed, it was only after having sworn never to look at them that he was able to become her husband. They lived happily until one day he scattered some ash on the floor of their bed chamber. The instant she entered the room, her husband saw the imprint of crow’s feet on the ash. Carried away by anger and pain, the lady, a most powerful fairy, cursed the lord and his lands; the castle sank into the earth with all its inhabitants and was covered by water. The site it once occupied now forms a lake whose depth no one has yet been able to fathom.“ https://bonjourfrombrittany.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/the-fairies-of-the-swells/
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „During the wars of the Revolution one of the fairies that lived near Saint-Cast once fell in love with one of the soldiers garrisoned nearby. She followed her lover and kept him safe wherever the army sent him. Indeed, while they were together, the soldier was never injured and only knew the taste of triumph. However, the fairy subsequently abandoned him and all luck left him immediately; he was wounded and all the battles in which he fought ended in bitter defeat.“ https://bonjourfrombrittany.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/the-fairies-of-the-swells/
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: A fisherman was floundering off the coast. Through the evening mist he saw a white-clad woman beckoning him ashore. Anxious to avoid the treacherous rocks that skirted the coast, the fisherman tried to tack away from the shoreline but was helpless against the power of the waves. His small boat was quickly engulfed and was smashed against the walls of a cave where he lost consciousness. He awoke the following morning to find himself in a smart new boat filled with clean tackle and a great catch of fish. https://bonjourfrombrittany.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/the-fairies-of-the-swells/
I think Baba Yaga is one of my favourite witches in mythology and folklore. Appears as an old hag. Not a good or bad figure but very powerful. She has a house with chicken legs and flies around in a mortar and pestle. #FolkloreSunday#folklore#mythology
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „The crane (or perhaps the grey heron) was thought to have associations with the moon, and was sacred to the Triple Goddess. It was thought to represent magic, shamanic travel, learning and keeping secrets, reaching deeper mysteries and truths.“
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „Once, the cat was much admired for its independence, stealth and hunting prowess. In medieval times, this love of cats, particularly black cats, was considered a sign of witchcraft, and the cats were burned alive, along with the women who owned them, or were thought to own them.“
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „The mythical Cait Sidhe is a large black cat said to be the size of a dog. It was thought that witches could transform themselves into a Cait Sidhe eight times, but that on the ninth, they would remain in their cat form. Thus we have the origin of the cat with nine lives, and the fear of black cats and their associated witchy owners.“
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Ancient pagan religions were matriarchal; they believed in the Goddess and Mother Earth, and venerated the ability of the female to bring forth life. The year was counted by lunar cycles, unlike today’s Gregorian calendar, of which there were thirteen, and also thirteen menstrual cycles in a year.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: The moon is associated with the divine feminine as the female cycle was linked to the phases of the moon. In #Ireland, #Aine was Goddess of love, growth, cattle and light. Her name means “bright” as she lights up the dark. Although the origins of this superstition cannot now be traced, some say it goes right back into our distant pagan past.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: „Two very magical things Manannan possessed: one was a boat called the Ocean Sweeper, and whoever used that boat needed neither oar nor sail they simply wished to be at the place they were bound for, and the Ocean-Sweeper glided swiftly over the sea, and were the waves high as mountains it was not hindered in its progress.“
Source: Heroes of the Dawn by Violet Russel
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: The Cailleach Bheur was associated with #winter and the protection of animals during the season. This blue hag, 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: When Balor sold the Glas Gaibhneach, „he did not give Goibniu the magical halter rope to which he knew the cow was bound to return each evening. Without having the halter to restrain the cow, Goibniu employed a warrior called Cian to guard the beast. Balor distracted Cian by a ruse and when Cian took his eyes off the cow, Balor led her off quickly to his island fortress.
Cian followed in a boat owned by the powerful #Otherworld deity Manannán mac Lir. Balor had locked his daughter Eithne away from the company of men as he feared a prophecy that he would die at the hands of his own grandson. On reaching the island Cian got access to Eithne who was soon pregnant and delivered a son, Lugh. Eithne gave Cian the magical halter rope and the child and he left the island with them on Manannán’s boat along with the Enchanted Cow. Manannán fostered the child and when Lugh grew to manhood he killed Balor at the Second Battle of Moytura, thus fulfilling the prophecy.“
Source: Antiquarian Research in Co. Sligo as a Background to the Mythology and Archaeology of Moytura by Eamonn P. Kelly
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: According to legend, the Lia Fail was made by Morfessa of the lost city of Falias, and was one of the Four Treasures belonging to the Danann, which they brought with them to the Hill of Tara when they came to #Ireland. Also known as the Coronation Stone, and the Stone of Destiny, it was said its cry confirmed the coronation of the rightful High King of Ireland when his feet were placed upon it, and that its roar was heard throughout the land. It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that it must have reclined upon its side in order to facilitate a man standing upon it, rather than standing tall as it does today. Additionally, the magical powers of the Stone were said to have rejuvenated him, and gifted him with a long reign. In fact, the Tuatha de Danann revered the Lia Fail so much, they named Ireland Inis Fail after it.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
#Celtic#Mythology: #Aoife was jealous of her fostersister #Aeb, who got #Lir as a husband before her, although #Aoife loved this king dearly. And then #Aeb gave birth to the lovely #ChildrenofLir while the jealous #Aoife was barren. #Aoife could not bring herself to kill her husband's children, such as she could not have with him because of her infertility. She transformed the #ChildrenofLir into beautiful swans and left them their melodious voices.
Enchanted by Bodb Derg into an air demon, #Aoife watched over the fate of the #ChildrenofLir from the shadows.
#Celtic#FolkloreSunday: Manannán used the feathery skin of Aoife to make the crane-skin bag in which he kept all his magical treasures. These items were powerful sacred and magical objects, perhaps hard won by Manannán, and thus the use of her skin to protect them may have been seen as honourable.
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack