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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 things about to change for the better? Obviously we need the winter and darkness as it is all part of the cycle of things but you do reach a point when the brighter days are very welcome again. Within many folklore traditions the area where daffodils grow wildly is considered to be a magic place and this is certainly the case with Rathvilly moat


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...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Man who Trod on Sleeping Grass', by Dora Sigerson Shorter
In a field by Cahirconlish I stood on sleeping grass, No cry I made to Heaven From my dumb lips would pass. Three days, three nights I...


A Faerie Horse?
"Long ago there lived in the townland of Doon a man named Harty. He had a farm of land near the Shannon. Every morning Harty used to find...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Dream-Song', by Walter De La Mare
Sunlight, moonlight, Twilight, starlight— Gloaming at the close of day, And an owl calling, Cool dews falling In a wood of oak and may. ...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Fairy Tea', by D. K. Stevens
‘Twas very, very long ago, in days no longer sung, when giant stood about so high, and pixies all were young. The Queen of Fairies said...


Birds can see Earth's magnetic fields, and now we know how that's possible
The mystery behind how birds navigate might finally be solved: it's not the iron in their beaks providing a magnetic compass, but a...


Welsh folklore; the 'Aderyn y Corph'
Did you know... the 'Aderyn y Corph' is a bird from Wales which chirps at the door of the person who is about to die, and makes a noise...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Message of the Rain', by Norman H. Russell
When i was a child i was a squirrel a bluejay a fox and spoke with them in their tongues climbed their trees dug their dens and knew the...


A February Goddess: Remembering The Little Things
February the 8th, is the Festival of Broken Needles in Shinto and Buddhist traditions. On this day, women will gather up all of the...


Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Feed The Birds', by Sylvia Spencer
Birds of Britain, I watch them fly high beautiful birds as they wing to the sky. They are a star studded spangle of gracious charm. A...


Observation about the nature of Piskies (Pixies)
I always understood the Piskies to be little people. A great deal was said about ghosts in this place. Whether or not Piskies are the...
