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The Deer Mother: Earth's Nurturing Epicenter of Life and Death
The animal mother is one of the most ancient images of birth-giving goddess, spanning continents, millennia, and cultures. Marija...


The unearthing of Ireland's ancient Sweathouses
The sweathouses of Ireland date back to the 9th century and earlier. Now known as Bronze Age sweathouses, these ritual spaces were...


Ritual Headdresses in Celtic Europe
Wearing deer antlers as part of ritual has ancient roots in Celtic Europe – this antler frontlet was made 11,000 years ago probably for...


Winter Masks and Seasonal Rituals among the Iroquois
"False Faces, among the Iroquois, are personifications of mythical beings who live in wild and isolated regions, on the edge of the known...


Mothers Night: The Ancient Pagan Origins of Santa?
An ancient winter festival which stems from at least the Iron Age is Mothers Night or Modraniht. This celebration took place on what is...


Blúiríní Béaloidis 09 - Christmas Customs & Traditions
For this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon set out to take a critical look at traditional...


Irish Folklore: 'The Wise Wife and the Mermaid'
"There was supposed to be a Mermaid living in Lough Key. Long ago she could be seen sitting on a rock on the shore, every day, combing...


The Stigma and Taboo of having the gift of 'Fairy Sight'
For this article I wanted to open the door on the social pressures and, indeed, stigma, regarding reporting fairy encounters. Related to...


Traditional Plants of the Winter Solstice
History shows that the seasonal botanicals gathered were those thriving in the landscape around us. For us here in Europe, symbolic...


Wreaths, Cycles, and the Winter Solstice
Wreaths: (From the Middle English wrethe, a twisted garland or ring of leaves and flowers) have been used ceremonially for centuries to...


Cuetlaxochitl, Poinsettia: a Gift of Rebirth and Light from Mexico
Along with tamales, buñuelos, and champurrado, many of us bring the beauty of the elegant Flor de Noche Buena into our homes signals the...


The Ancient Midwinter Deer Mother Goddess
Female reindeer are unique with regard to other deer species in that they grow and shed antlers. This attribute is part of the mythology...


Scottish Folklore: 'The Laird of Balmachie's Wife'
In the olden times, when it was the fashion for gentlemen to wear swords, the Laird of Balmachie went one day to Dundee, leaving his...


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,...


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....
