#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
Did you know that the first choice of title for Asbjørnsen & Moe was an imitation of the Grimms’: “Norwegian Folk- and Children’s Tales”? Did you know their publisher wanted them to publish by subscription (crowd funding)? Did you know the publisher withdrew support when too few subscriptions were sold?
The best preserved dolmen in west Cornwall. Dates from the early. Neolithic period.
Probably used as a repository for the bones of the dead and as a place where the living could honour and/or seek guidance from the dead. Considering it’s mushroom-like appearance, maybe there was some psychedelic trance work happening? 😄
The term quoit comes the folklore that these ancient monuments were made by giants playing quoits.
Astley Abbot's Church contains the remains of a 'maiden garland'. Heart shaped and decorated with cloth and ribbons, It exists in memory of Hannah Phillips. #folklore states she drowned on the eve of her wedding in May 1709. She still haunts the local area in her wedding dress.
#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
#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
A selkie for #MerMay (the mermaid 🧜♀️ celebration month)!
This is a hard-carved and printed lino block print of a selkie shedding her skin, seated on rocks, surrounded by harbour seals. In Celtic, Norse, Faroese and Icelandic mythology, selkies (also spelled silkies, sylkies, selchies) or selkie folk meaning 'seal folk' can change from seal to human form by shedding their skin. 🧵1/n