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Keening Traditions and the Irish Wake
When looking at the lifecycle in terms of folklore it cannot escape ones notice that many aspects of the life cycle have clearly defined...
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...
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...
Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'Winter Crone', by Audrey Haney
Her clothes are dusk, folding shadows She walks barefoot across the land Her hair is Grey with streaks of white that fall as snow as soft...
The Elder Archetype and the Earth Element
'Remember, the ugly, old woman/witch is the invention of dominant cultures. The beauty of crones is legendary: old women are...
A Glimpse Into the Lives of Ireland's Most Notorious Witches
Alice Kyteler First up is Dame Alice Kyteler, who owned the Kyteler Inn, in Kilkenny, where she would lure local businessmen with her...
Symbolism and the Alchemy of the Archetypes
It may not look like it, but on my hands I carry the remains of two guns. The blood red color is a blend of iron oxides derived from...
Ireland's First Witch Burning: Petronilla de Meath
There is a famous Jonathan Swift quote about how the law impacts upon the rich and poor in unequal measure which reads, “Laws are like...
The Death Goddesses of Samhain and Winter.
Summer feels very far away now, and the surrender to the coming winter seems to hold more doubt and uncertainty for many than usual....
Blúiríní Béaloidis Episode 27 - The Banshee (with Professor Patricia Lysaght)
The Banshee is a well known supernatural figure in Irish folk tradition. In origin a patron goddess caring for the fortunes of her...