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The Creatures of Samhain | HubPages

The meaning of the word Samhain comes from Old Irish meaning “summer’s end,” from summer, samh and end, fuin. The modern Irish word for summer is samhradh, and Samhain is still the name for the month of November in Ireland. Celts considered sundown as the start of the day, which is why, though Samhain actually falls on November 1st, it would have been celebrated starting at sundown the night before, on October 31st. It is one of the four main festivals in Celtic tradition, making up the “quarter days,” the days between the equinoxes and solstices.

With Samhain comes a wide variety of supernatural creatures.

See more at the link below:

Source: The Creatures of Samhain | HubPages

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:

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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