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The Path of Life and the Changing Year
One of the more interesting observations I have noticed when I write about the changing seasons and the turning of the year is how many...
When We Are No Place at All
"The middle-despite the common use of that word-is not halfway between here and there, beginning and end, birth and death, right and...
Samhain and the Cailleach
Samhain, the astronomical moment of liminality, is drawing closer. Although Halloween will be celebrated on the 31st of October, the...
Seasonal Poetry & Prose: 'The Thing Is', by Ellen Bass
To love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,...
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 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...
Blúiríní Béaloidis 33 - Death
In life, there is much which seems uncertain to us. Concerning death however, there can be no doubt. It was an honour to speak with...
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...
Ancestralizing the Dead, by Malidoma Patrice Somé
Dagara people’s main job is to look the dead in the face, to treat their bodies not as remains but as temples of grace and beauty ...
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....
Divining the Future at Hallowe’en
The future, in its cloak of fog and mystery, has long been the object of curiosity and worry, urging us to grasp at the unknown and...
Blúiríní Béaloidis Episode 22 - Invisible Worlds (With Eddie Lenihan)
Our lives are built on the stories we tell. At both an individual and a communal level, they orient and mould us, shaping our...
Blúiríní Béaloidis 13 - The Soul In Folk Tradition
The idea of the existence of a soul or life-force which exists independently of the body is of considerable antiquity. In folk tradition,...
Dreaming the Dark: 'Sedna', the Siren and the Selkie (Part 4)
Part 4 of the series on Lilith as 'Sedna', the Siren and the Selkie
Dreaming the Dark: Baba Yaga, Pombagira, Santa Muerte, and Kali (Part 3)
Being Irish, I also went into a little detail about Lilith from the Irish perspective
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...