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Spring, the Air Element, and the Silent Extinction of Words
Imbolc marks the first day of Spring in Ireland and the Celtic Wheel of the Year. The principal element of Spring is Air, and this...
Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'A Morning Offering', by John O'Donoghue
I bless the night that nourished my heart To set the ghosts of longing free Into the flow and figure of dream That went to harvest from...
The Feast Day of Brigid (Lá Fhéile Bhríde) and the ancient Irish festival of Imbolc
If you're Irish like me, you will know that today (February 1st) is the feast day of St. Brigid (Lá Fhéile Bhríde), a fixed date holiday...
Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Ancient Language', by Hannah Stephenson
If you stand at the edge of the forest and stare into it every tree at the edge will blow a little extra oxygen toward you It has been...
Sage Advice on how to see the Fae Folk
"The condition favourable to the belief that Fairies are being seen would seem to be that the right type of person should be in an...
Is time your friend or master?
'We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.' - H.G. Wells....
Fairies and the Changing Seasons
I had a question put to me recently which I found interesting. Do fairies come and go with the seasons, and might one type of fairy be...
The Elf Stone
"The 'Elf-stone' (aka Elf-shot) is described as sharp, and with many corners and points, so that whichever way it falls it inflicts a...
Bluebell Folklore
The bluebell thrives at the start of the warmer weather but will die off from mid-June, when the trees have their full compliment of...
Spring Equinox & The Fairy Hunt
"And beyond them, almost hidden by the moon shadows, were the Lords of the Ever-Living Ones: the antlered helmets of the Wild Hunt, the...
The Fairy Wind
Some believe that the Good People travel within a 'Fairy Wind' to move from one place to another, this is why must never interfere with a...
Blúiríní Béaloidis 08 - Wind & Storms In Folk Tradition
Owing to their impact on human affairs, weather occurrences of all sorts were a source of preoccupation for our forebears, who would look...
Fairy Paths and Ghost Roads
A few posts back I wrote about the secret fairy-paths of the air, and how a person might inadvertently get whisked away being caught up...
Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Darkling Thrush', by Thomas Hardy
I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter's dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled...
The Sheela na Gig - An Ancient Fertility Goddess?
Sheela na Gig’s are stone carvings of women exposing their genitals which are found mostly on church buildings associated with the...
The Folklore of Daffodils and the Return of Spring
I noticed that the first daffodils are beginning to emerge on our local fairy fort, Rathvilly moat, so I wonder if this is a sign of...
Tír na nÓg & The Irish Otherworld
Where, or even what, is Tir na nÓg? Being a Fortean writer who happens to be Irish, as opposed to being an invested scholar or advocate...
The Secret Fairy-Paths of the Air
In previous posts I wrote about the argument that a person today is so embedded in contemporary life that they have little chance of a...
How can an Owl catch a Mouse underneath a foot of snow in total darkness?
Owls do have excellent vision, but one would need either infrared or x-ray vision to see a small mammal under snow. Instead, owls do much...
An insightful description of the Leprechaun
The Leprechauns are merry, industrious, tricksy little sprites, who do all the shoemaker’s work and the tailor’s and the cobblers for the...