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When The Source Ran Free: A Story For The Present Time
Watching the sun rise over the wetlands, the mist fading, even here in the midst of nature there is the strange stillness of a world in ...
Ancient Irish Star Lore: The Pleiades, Fairies and the Ancestral Dead
When it comes to ancient Ireland, star lore is conspicuous by its absence. There are some theories that the Celtic stories of Gods,...
The Time of the Cailleach
It is again a time of seasonal change and the Cailleach has stepped through the veil and into our world. The fields are bare and the wind...
The Turn of the Seasons
I was reading about a white stag shot by police in England today and I was reminded of both this image by Vexim and the almost archaic...
Samhain and the Return of the Dead
As we begin to approach Samhain, and the astronomical cross-quarter, I though I'd begin to post some traditions associated with this...
Samhain and the Seed
I recently finished Andrew Micheal Hurley’s excellent folklore novel, Starve Acre. Without spoilers, the protagonist discovers the bones...
Mirror Folklore at Samhain: Reflections of The Otherworld
Although the following custom is considered romantic, I must admit that I've always found it slightly eerie and disturbing. There are a...
Fairies: Navigators or Passengers of the Dream?
Writing in Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom, Professor Lisa Bitel draws attention to the...
Burning the Fairy
I attended an excellent lecture by Dr. Thomas Waters this week entitled Fairies, Curses and Witches: The Uses and Abuses of Magic in...
The Land of Fairies and Giants
There are many places in Ireland said to be the domain of giants, as well as ancient monuments believed to have been built by them....
Taboo Folklore in the Irish Record: Sex, Death, and Dark Magic
Recently, I read posts from two different people arguing for opposing views of how Irish folklore should be treated. The first person was...
Warding Against Evil and Irish Folk-Magic Protection
Andrew Michael Hurley's novel, The Loney, is a tale of folk-magic and superstition, as well as a dark coming of age story. One of the...