fiagai-cnuasaitheoir - Tumblr blog

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

No Mabon is not really an Irish Pagan Holiday. Instead we celebrate Goats for some reason.

Between Lúnasa and Samhain the non-irish-made wheel of the year, designed by a British man inserts a Cornwall based holiday Mabon.

Though this holiday seems cool it is not really irish or connected to those other holidays.

There are however accounts on dúchas.ie discussing a different holiday between these two dates is what i believe to be related to Fómhar na Géanna. Fómhar= Autumnal harvest time. Géanna=Goats

(Note: most info on fomhar na géanna refers to title of a christian catholic holiday in March, gé also means goose. But Géanna can be a plural of gabhar)

(But yeah. It feels related to puck fair. And they always move pagan holidays around when they turn them christian.)

A festival named Puck Fair falls on August 11th rather than September 24th

To find out more info, look into Puck Fair. Described on wikipedia as:

The Puck Fair/ Aonach an Phoic, meaning "Fair of the He-Goat", 'poc' being the Irish for a male goat is one of Ireland's oldest fairs. It takes place annually from 10–12 August in Killorglin, County Kerry.

Puck Fair c.1900 Description

Bronze statue of "King Puck" in Killorglin Every year a group of people go up into the mountains and catch a wild goat. The goat is brought back to the town and the "Queen of Puck", traditionally a young school girl from one of the local primary schools, crowns the goat "King Puck".

The goat is then put into a small cage on a high stand for three days, and on the 3rd day of the fair, he is brought down to be led back to the mountains. In the middle of the town square, he is crowned and this signifies that the festivities may begin. The pubs stay open until 3.00 AM which is a legal exception due to the fair as all bars in Ireland normally must close at 2.00 AM. This is a source of contention with the local police.”

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Making elderberry syrup from the tree that overhangs my garden. I picked the big umbrellas of small black berries off, washed them, then combed the berries off the stalks by running a fork through the cluster. The berries went in a pan and were covered in water.

You don't have to worry too much if bits of stalk get in there too - it's all going to be strained later.

I didn't have any ginger root (which you would normally add), so I've added a teaspoon of ground allspice instead. I simmered this for ten minutes, then strained the liquid through cheesecloth.

It's like a scene from Hannibal. My hands are red and my sink is purple. The cheesecloth is never going to be the same again.

After that, I measured how much liquid I've got and added an equal amount of sugar. (I had 1000ml of liquid, so that was a whole kilo of sugar.)

Then I simmered it again for 5 minutes, and put it in sterilized bottles.

I'm going to have to find some smaller bottles and make some nice labels, and then a lot of it can be given away. There is way too much for me to use.

Elderberries are really good for your health - they're antiviral and help support your immune system. Plus this syrup is completely delicious used on ice-cream or pancakes, or added to hot water for drinks or taken neat to soothe colds.

The final product, minus one bottle open in the fridge and one bottle given away (exchanged for a jar of home made bramble jam.) Final volume produced = 1.5 litres

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Cál ceannann (anglicised to ‘colcannon’ )

"Colcannon. Originally and Irish dish of boiled potatoes and cabbage or kale mashed together and flavoured with onion, shallots, or leeks and cream or butter...The word 'colcannon' is from the Gaelic cal ceannann' which literally means white-headed cabbage. However, the cannon' part of the name might be a derivative of the old Irish cainnenn', translated variously as garlic, onion, or leek. Therefore it can be suggested that in its earliest form colcannon may have been a simple mixture of some brassica and allium. One of the earliest Irish references to the dish as a mash of potatoes and cabbages is found in the Diary of Wiliam Bulkely, of Bryndda, near Amlwch in Anglesey, who made two journeys to Dublin in 1735...The dish was introduced into England in the 18th century, where it became a favorite of the upper classes...In Ireland colcannon was associated traditionally with Hallowe'en (31 October) festivities, when it was used for the purposes of marriage divination. Charms hidden in bowls of colcannon were portents of a marriage proposal should unmarried girls be lucky enough to find them, whilst others filled their socks with spoonfuls of colcannon and hung them from the handle of the front door in the belief that the first man through the door would become their future husband."

---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 203)

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Scottish witches stealing peoples milk on Hogmanay

Broad-leaved pondweed to keep the cows from witchcraft

Theres a TG4 documentary called ”An Diabhal Inti” which actually discusses how the witchcraft concept as we know it was brought over from Scotland to Ireland

Before this we mainly had a history of paganism. But witch trials became a relatively new concept. (Its actually quite a cool documentary with Irish and Scottish experts for anyone interested in learning irish who wanna brush up on their Irish would enjoy it)

Another description of Scottish witchcraft

*this book is from the 18th century so it used the word “celtic races” this is an outdated term. The celtic race is not a thing!!!

Yarrow

Another account except this time the herb that was used to steal other peoples milk

Water cress

so in conclusion

pondweed was used to protect your milk from being stolen

watercress was used to take peoples milk

yarrow gives you a mystic dream that tells you who your true love will be

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Plants with a connection to irish fairies

Foxgloves / lus an bean sidh

Cow parsnip / odhran

The dock leaf / copagach

Were all credited as being able to break fairy spells

Water lily / Buillite

Was known to be very powerful

As were rushes found in a place of fairy mythology

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Irish traditional summer solstice cake

Goody is a popular Irish dish prepared by boiling bread in milk with the addition of sugar and various spices. It is believed that goody was invented in the 18th century or before. Today, it is traditionally consumed on the 23rd of June.

 A variation was also prepared using milky tea to soak the bread.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Irish Spring Equinox Customs

”Drowning the Shamrock”

The shamrock was originally associated with the Celtic goddess Danu/Anu with the three leaves representing her status as the maiden, mother and crone of Ireland. Mother of the Tuatha De Danann.

Danu has a strong connection to the land and water.  She is a goddess of fertility, bounty, plenty, prosperity, wind, rivers, water, wells, wisdom, and inspiration. And the Shamrock, being a goddess of three statuses.

An account from Duchas, The Irish Folklore Archive explains how Irish people used to drown the shamrock.

The account describes how a woman would go down to the “River Schene” to physically drown the shamrock. And men who they would plomáis would occasionally push them in. They would put the shamrock in the water of a river as a tradition. The account explains how this term was used differently to describe people who stay out all night drinking in pubs. But the original meaning was not that.

Well Worship: This is the Well of the White Cow on the hill of Tara, renamed St Patricks Well.

Danu has a strong association with water worship and wells. It is thought through her association with water, the River Danube was named after her.

Irish Spring Equinox traditions generally consist of well worship and well visiting to cure ailments.

“St Patricks well is in Earlsbog. Gowran. People draw water from it especially in summer time when the rest of the wells are dry. People visit it on St Patricks day or any day as it is supposed to cure any ailments.”

“There is a well up in Cahershanny the name of it is St. Martins well. It is a cure for sore eyes. On St Patricks day they go there.”

“Tubberpatrick: It is said that if you wash a wart in this well and then throw some thing into this well the wart will be cured.”

Well worship is linked to pagan times and a lot of it was brought forward into catholic irish traditions.

Crops and Fertility

Danu is heavily associated with the land. As mother of the country

“Patricks day is thought a lucky day for planting crops. From St Patricks day until the first of May is the time for setting potatoes in my district.” -duchas.ie

The First of May is Lá Bealtaine. So between the Spring Equinox and Lá Bealtaine is when crops should be planted.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

I needed to add this @ociarmhaic because i have mentioned so many times how important it is to pronounce Irish words correctly. Its so important to get this stuff right!!!! Especially when making videos intended to educate people.

Different to usual posts but interesting video and insight on human sacrifices.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Different to usual posts but interesting video and insight on human sacrifices.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Lá Féile Bríd Shona

Lá Féile Bríd

it was an old custom for the children to dress up a rag doll and then go from house to house collecting money. A few days before Brigids day all the girls make crosses and rag dolls. The girls get ready. They put old clothes on them and each of them gets a rag doll. They go out in groups of two. They go round to every house. They used to get a penny in some houses two pennies in other houses and so on like that.

This is still practiced by some communities in Ireland.

Often these would be straw dolls that they would dress in white. Some people dressed up a sod of turf. Some called it the Biddy, some called it a Brighid óg or Brídeóg. They would go from door to door looking for pennies or anything the people will give them. They have a little song -saying " Something to bury poor Biddy ".

They would go to three or four villages. When they had travelled to all the villages they would count up the money and divide it between them.

Rushes were a big part of tradition. People often made rush hats and crosses (Crosóg Brígdé) that involved special rituals. (The crosses are something that evolved because Brigid was initially a pagan god adopted by christianity

But a lot of the practices to do with the cross are very pagan seeming)

The crosses are left up in the roof of the house. The cross is supposed to save the home from thunder and fire.

When the meal is being prepared, the family member who cooks gets potatoes ready. They peel the skin off them and boil them. They put salt and onions and mashes altogether with a beetle. These mash potatoes were called Bruightees. When the Bridget's cross is finished. The cross is put under the pot of Bruighteens. The family sit down to supper. They usually had a great feast on Bridgets day.

Some women would get a silk handkerchief which they called a Brattag-Breeidge. They would bless this handkerchief and give it to one of their daughter's who went with it outside the house.

The door would be latched. The daughter or child leaves the Brattag on a rose bush. Then would come back and raps at the cabin door. The mother asks who is there and the girl answers "I am Bridget". The woman answers a hundred thousand welcomes to ye Bridget. The door is opened and the younger girl enters and this brings a blessing to the home. When morning comes Bridgets day the Brattag is taken in from the rose bush, it is blessed. Brattag is preserved in the home and is used as a cure a sick or dying person. They go to three or four villages. When they have travelled all the villages they count up the money and divide it between them

It is an old custom to measure a piece of ribbon on the wall on the eve of Bridgets Day which is the second of February and to put it out on a tree that night and bring it in next morning and if it measures the same length as the night before it may be used as a cure for a headache by putting it round the head. Some people have great belief in the cure and when they get a headache they put his bandage round the head and get cured immediately.

Theres a saying that if the hedgehog comes out of his hole on Bridgets day, if he see his shadow he will go in again for he knows that Winter is not yet over, but id he does not see it, he will remain outside for he knows Winter is over.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Lá Féile Bríd Shona

The Brigids Cross

The Irish goddess Brigit ruled transformation of all sorts: through poetry, through smithcraft, through healing. Associated with fire and cattle, she was the daughter of the god of fertility, the Dagda; as mother of Ruadán, she invented Keening when he was killed.

Edit: I have been informed that the cross is actually a yonic symbol and the original shape was a diamond. Link to post here: https://fiagai-cnuasaitheoir.tumblr.com/post/674074199929798656/yonic-symbolism-and-imbolg-a-friend-of-mine-r%C3%B3is%C3%ADn Some texts call Brigit a triple goddess or say that there were three goddesses with the same name, who ruled smithcraft, healing, and poetry, respectively. This triplication, a frequent occurrence among the Celts, typically emphasized or intensified a figure’s divine power. This may be why the idea of the cross was adopted so well when Christian colonialism was brought in.

Because the Irish pagans who believed in the idea of trinity for their Gods. Typically saw three entities under one god/goddess. This concept of triplication is why the shamrock was considered sacred by the Irish pagans.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Lá Féile Bríd Shona

Yonic Symbolism and Imbolg

A friend of mine Róisín is after informing me that the Brigids Cross is a actually a yonic symbol.

Many of the old crosses were diamonds and didn’t have as many of the long arms.

The same shape found in the entrance stone of newgrange used to represent fertility and birth.

There was a phallic stone found at newgrange as well.

Brigids day is when the animals start giving birth,

There is also a tradition called “Brigids Bed” where people make a nest of rushes and straw in case Brigid needs a bed. And women would also give birth into the Brigids Bed. Because women would give birth on all fours, so they’d but that under them and the baby would land on it.

The Gaeilge saying for “as long as I can remember” directly translates to “since my head hit the straw”.

The word “bolg” in imbolc is a reference to to a womens belly and pregnancy.

A lot of female historians suggest that Síle na Gig was a guide to women on the correct way to give birth because the mortality rate in birth was high and modern contraception didn’t exist back then.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

This is a different post to usual things I post here but there is gonna be a Russian missile fired into the Irish sea. it will really harm the eco system and the sea creatures. Please sign this petition to encourage the government forces to take this seriously. Especially if your aren’t Irish. Share if you can.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

This is a different post to usual things I post here but there is gonna be a Russian missile fired into the Irish sea. it will really harm the eco system and the sea creatures. Please sign this petition to encourage the government forces to take this seriously. Especially if your aren’t Irish. Share if you can.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Bríd blesses everything yonic

•If you are a parent-to-be giving birth

•If you have a friend, partner or family member giving birth

•I‘m sure she would bless people getting bottom surgery to help them stay safe and healthy when getting a vagina (similar to how she protects people from mortality during childbirth)

•Empowers all people with vaginas (and who intend to get vaginas) and that we stay safe and healthy

•also the health of plants and gardens and just life in general.

Yonic Symbolism and Imbolg

A friend of mine Róisín is after informing me that the Brigids Cross is a actually a yonic symbol.

Many of the old crosses were diamonds and didn’t have as many of the long arms.

The same shape found in the entrance stone of newgrange used to represent fertility and birth.

There was a phallic stone found at newgrange as well.

Brigids day is when the animals start giving birth,

There is also a tradition called “Brigids Bed” where people make a nest of rushes and straw in case Brigid needs a bed. And women would also give birth into the Brigids Bed. Because women would give birth on all fours, so they’d but that under them and the baby would land on it.

The Gaeilge saying for “as long as I can remember” directly translates to “since my head hit the straw”.

The word “bolg” in imbolc is a reference to to a womens belly and pregnancy.

A lot of female historians suggest that Síle na Gig was a guide to women on the correct way to give birth because the mortality rate in birth was high and modern contraception didn’t exist back then.

[fiagai-cnuasaitheoir]

Yonic Symbolism and Imbolg

A friend of mine Róisín is after informing me that the Brigids Cross is a actually a yonic symbol.

Many of the old crosses were diamonds and didn’t have as many of the long arms.

The same shape found in the entrance stone of newgrange used to represent fertility and birth.

There was a phallic stone found at newgrange as well.

Brigids day is when the animals start giving birth,

There is also a tradition called “Brigids Bed” where people make a nest of rushes and straw in case Brigid needs a bed. And women would also give birth into the Brigids Bed. Because women would give birth on all fours, so they’d but that under them and the baby would land on it.

The Gaeilge saying for “as long as I can remember” directly translates to “since my head hit the straw”.

The word “bolg” in imbolc is a reference to to a womens belly and pregnancy.

A lot of female historians suggest that Síle na Gig was a guide to women on the correct way to give birth because the mortality rate in birth was high and modern contraception didn’t exist back then.