Lughnasadh in Ireland – Lora O’Brien – Irish Author & Guide

The 1st of August (sometimes the 2nd) is Lúnasa (Lughnasadh, Lughnasa, Brón Trogain) – the harvest festival in Ireland.

In her excellent book, ‘The Festival of Lughnasa’, Máire MacNeill wrote:

“Garland Sunday and Domhnach Chrom Dubh are two of the many names of a festival celebrated by Irish country people at the end of July or the beginning of August. It marked the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest season, and on that day the first meal of the year’s new food crop was eaten. The chief custom was the resorting of the rural communities to certain heights or water-sides to spend the day in festivity, sports and bilberry-picking.​”

Publisher: Folklore of Ireland Council; Reprint edition (January 1, 2008)

Buy the Book on Amazon.com Here.

Buy the Book from the Irish Publisher Here.

More of this excellent article on Lora O’Brien’s page:

Related Posts

Source: Lughnasadh in Ireland – Lora O’Brien – Irish Author & Guide

Mythic Symbols in Indo-European Paganism | Chris Godwin

Three Sources of Indo-European Myth

This is a simple overview of the most prevalent mythic symbols in Indo-European polytheism and comparative mythology, as it applies to Our Own Magic, which is my pet name for what we do.

I like focusing on Irish, Vedic and Germanic myths mostly because they are the best preserved of all the Indo-European sources, with all three containing strong Proto-Indo-European influences. If a practice exists in these three, it makes the strongest case that they are Proto-Indo-European, especially when supported by archeology, linguistics, and anthropological study.

See entire wonderful post here:

Source: Mythic Symbols in Indo-European Paganism | Chris Godwin

Time Tourist Outfitters, Ltd.

Time Tourist Outfitters, Ltd. (Available in BOTH print and ebook!)

Wilda had retired from the Temporal Agents for an excellent reason.

Retired First Nations Temporal Agent Wilda just wants to run her Toronto shop, garb Time Tourists, and send them on their merry way into the past. She finds contentment in her cat, her sarcasm, and her whiskey. All that changes when a deathly ill Traveller literally fell onto her doorstep, setting off a chain of events which forces her to return to the job she’d retired from decades before.

The Agency sends her and her assistant, Mattea, back into three dangerous eras of history to find the disease vector threatening the life of every modern Traveller. She searches through a teeming desert bazaar amongst the luxury of the court of Mansa Musa. She explores the dark forests of pre-Columbian America, fighting against the heartbreak of true love. She gets entangled in the convoluted politics of twelfth century Norse-ruled Orkney, sifting through the horrific carnage of a murdered village.

If Wilda can’t return in time with the right pathogen, the modern scientists can’t synthesize a cure for the disease before all the Travellers fall ill. She has to navigate politics, bandits, camels, and midnight coup d’etats, complete her mission, and return to the present, or lose herself in the depths of her own purposely-forgotten past.

Magic to Heal the World – from Cerne to Cern – Philip Carr-Gomm

‘Root and branch shall change places
And the newness of the thing shall seem a miracle.
The healing maiden will return, her footsteps bursting into flame.
She will weep tears of compassion for the people of the land,
Dry up polluted rivers with her breath,
Carry the city in her right hand, the forest in her left
And nourish the creatures of the deep.
With her blessing Man will become like God waking as if from a dream.’

from Merlin: The Prophetic Vision and The Mystic Life
by R. J. Stewart

In the online course many of you have joined – Lessons in Magic – I give examples of how simple acts of ‘magic’ have changed people’s lives dramatically for the better. You may well have an experience from your own life that demonstrates this rationalist-mindset-defying possibility. In the course we then dive into how we can work with this – to improve our own lives but also to effect positive change in the world.

More at the link below!

Source: Magic to Heal the World – from Cerne to Cern – Philip Carr-Gomm

Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders – BBC News

The ancestors of the people who built Stonehenge travelled west across the Mediterranean before reaching Britain, a study has shown.Researchers in London compared DNA extracted from Neolithic human remains found in Britain with that of people alive at the same time in Europe.The Neolithic inhabitants appear to have travelled from Anatolia (modern Turkey) to Iberia before winding their way north.They reached Britain in about 4,000BC. Details have been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

See link for more information

Source: Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders – BBC News

 

The migration to Britain was just one part of a general, massive expansion of people out of Anatolia in 6,000BC that introduced farming to Europe.

Before that, Europe was populated by small, travelling groups which hunted animals and gathered wild plants and shellfish.

One group of early farmers followed the river Danube up into Central Europe, but another group travelled west across the Mediterranean.

DNA reveals that Neolithic Britons were largely descended from groups who took the Mediterranean route, either hugging the coast or hopping from island-to-island on boats.

 

Whitehawk Woman

Podcasts

Lately I’ve been on a Podshow listening kick, and I wanted to share some of my favorites. They run a gamut between writing, Irish, Icelandic, and History.

podcast

Many of these podcasts have member-only content that you can obtain by becoming a patron. Definitely worth it! Support your podcasts! Also, leaving reviews REALLY help them.

What are you favorites? Let me know! I’m always willing to listen to more!

These are in alphabetical order, since I can’t choose favorites!

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Answer Me This – Q&A of the trivia sort

The Allusionist – A lovely podcast about the love of the oddities of language

Bitesize Irish Gaelic – Interested in the Irish language? Bitesize is a fantastic resource, and their podcast gives glimmers behind learning the language and the culture

Blúiríní Béaloidis Folklore Podcast – Delve into the folklore of the Irish

British History Podcast – an in-depth British history

Cabinet of Curiosities – Odd things in history

Celtic Myth Podshow – dramatizations of the Celtic myths, including Irish, Welsh, and news from the pagan world. Gary and Ruth are a delightful pair!

Celtic Tomes – also by Gary and Ruth of Celtic Myth Podshow, Gary reads traditional texts about Celtic myths

Clear and Vivid with Alan Alda – Besides being my childhood crush, he gives great interviews on communication and science.

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History – not for the faint of heart. Dan goes on historical rants and delves deep into the gritty parts of history

David Tennant Does a Podcast – do I need to explain more?

Druidcast – all things Druid, hosted by the talented and fantastic Damh the Bard!  Check out episode 131 for me reading a segment from Misfortune of Vision!

Endless Knot – how random things are connected

Fall of Civilizations

History Chix – the women of history

The Human Circus – Journeys in the Medieval World

Invention – all sorts of inventions through history

Invisibilia NPR – Storytelling with science

Irish Fireside – Traveling to Ireland, either in real life or vicariously? Corey and Liam are a wonderful resource, full of fantastic information.

Irish History Podcast – Specializing in the Famine years, Finn Dwyer gives intense glimpses into Ireland’s past.

It Could Happen Here – What if we had a second American civil war?

Literature and History – rather self-explanatory

Lore – legends and lore

Motherfocloir – Irish language grammar

Mythos – myths and legends

No Such Thing as a Fish – created by the folks that research the British game show QI, full of fun trivia.

Noble Blood – Stories of royalty

Northern Myths – Scandinavian, Finnish, etc. myths

Radiolab – the standard.

Radiolab: More Perfect – a breakdown of major Supreme Court decisions

Rex Factor – Grading each of the British Monarchs on scales including battliness, scandal, and legacy.

Ridiculous History – for the bizarre bits in history

Saga Thing – Grading each of the Icelandic sagas

Sawbones – the history of all we’ve done wrong in medicine throughout history. Hilarious!

Sidedoor – The Smithsonian’s Podcast

Standing with Stones – Standing stones archeaology

Story Archaeology – A fantastic and intriguing duo of women who analyze the Irish myths, their relation to culture and language, and their relation to other myths

Stuff to Blow Your Mind – General science stuff.

Stuff you Missed in History Class – some of the more obscure fun stuff in history

Stuff You Should Know – General but interesting. They ramble a bit more than most, but it’s fun. The SYSK network has a bevy of other interesting podcasts to delve into

The History of English Podcast – An incredibly detailed podcast about the origins of the English language, which definitely appeals to my inner etymologist! 3 years in and we’re not even into the 13th century yet!

The Once and Future Podcast – Interesting writing podcast with interviews with authors, actors, and other folks in the biz.

The Self Publishing Show – on publishing your own books

The Way I Heard it (Mike Rowe) – history tidbits

Useless Information – trivia!

Viking Age Podcast – While his halting delivery is distracting at first, this has a lot of great information.

Words for Granted – the origins of words.