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If you ever wanna throw up in your mouth, read literally any Wiccan/new age pagan thing about Irish deities

If I have to read one more article homogenising Irish culture with European culture, under the umbrella term “Celtic” while citing information that is specifically about Irish culture I may light my phone on fire

Listen, I’m spiritual and a bit new to it all, but I’m also Irish and have a degree in Celtic civilisation. The word Celtic itself is a misleading term - no culture in Europe referred to themselves as Celtic. It’s an umbrella term invented by racist Roman and Greek scholars, like barbarian. The Gauls didn’t call themselves this, the Gaels didn’t call themselves this, the Picts and the Welsh didn’t call themselves this. It’s a term that has a complicated history as it’s often used as a shorthand to homogenise very complex (and often culturally separate) societies. It’s only really a term applied to language groups (continental Celtic vs insular Celtic) and social movements (that are much closer to modern times than ancient ones). Tho sometimes historians are also guilty of using the pop culture shorthand to refer to north Western Europe as Celtic (after all the “celts” are technically still a grouping of many peoples, the term is helpful shorthand when discussing it in terms of invasion/encroaching cultures/or simply geographical nods, like Asia and Europe, homogenising for the sake of an overarching point/analysis).

Anyways, I saw somebody (multiple somebodies) refer to the god Lugh as “Celtic” not Irish. And yeah, he may have some connections to the continental god Lugus, who was a Gallic god, but aside from broad characteristics and root name meanings... there’s not much to connect them. But sure, if u accept that as connected, I respect ppl citing the comparisons.

But no comparisons are made. Instead, all of the Irish stories about Lugh, from the spelling of the name, to the mythology, (and the misinformation on said mythology a la the Victorian era), is written about and then termed “Celtic” - it’s like writing about Jupiter, citing every mythology story about him and then due to the clear connection to Zeus, determining that Jupiter is actually Panmediterranean, not a Roman god.

They did the same w/ Aengus Óg and they do this with all the Irish gods. I see “Celtic” and “panceltic” get thrown around. Irish culture is not celtic culture; it’s Gaelic culture (and a bunch of other cultures mixed in due to colonisation).

Look Irish ppl refers to themselves as celts sometimes, and so does the world, and overall it’s grand, it’s fine, it’s due to pop culture latching onto a word that isn’t accurate but ultimately harmless. But when new age religions start doing it it’s a whole other ball game. Non-Irish practitioners have a responsibility to Irish culture and the highly spiritual nature of Irish culture to actually... acknowledge that it’s ours. It isn’t “pan” anything. It’s Irish. It’s Gaelic. You don’t get to generalise it and misrepresent it because you want to tweak parts of it. Most of the stuff I see about “connecting” w/ these Irish mythological figures doesn’t even have anything to do w/ the stories that surround them. You lot keep adding things and making it up, like getting drunk as a sign of celebrating a god, like my guys that’s a freaking stereotype, drinking alcohol for the purpose of celebration (not to get drunk, that’s a Dionysian thing; Irish gods encourage banter, not oblivion) is meant for actual festivals... not just whenever. It’s just... a bunch of non-Irish ppl fetishising Irish culture. With stereotypes and American dreams on what that culture actually is.

Lugh isn’t a sun god! The “celts” didn’t coincide his four week sport games w/ the astrological sign Leo on purpose since the Irish didn’t believe in astrology ! Even if there is correlation it’s not because the “celts” interacted w/ the Greeks - Lugh and that specific ritual of Lugh’s is Irish and Irish alone; it had nothing to do w/ the sun or Leo, it was only to do w/ harvest times and games, pre-Christian Gaels liked to have fun! Lugh is a storm god, lughnasa *is* how we spell it now and it’s just storm season in Ireland. Hence it being named after a storm god. The Aes Sidhe, or Fairies, isn’t the thing you think it is, it’s not that Summer/Winter court stuff you see in fantasy novels.

The word Celtic is a broad term and it doesn’t mean Irish. Gaelic or Irish means Irish. We also call our language Irish. We don’t really call it Gaelic (it’s not incorrect, but we prefer Gaeilge). Celtic Catholicism *is* a thing and it’s specifically about Irish Catholicism. Yeah, I know what I said Celtic isn’t automatically Irish, but hey I didn’t get to name the type of Catholicism. It’s different than Roman Catholicism. We don’t mess w/ fairy trees and honestly I believe that is the remnants of very old laws about respecting the environment.

Words are a larger part of Irish heritage than alcohol. Written, verbal, whatever - language is the beating heart of this country. Stories, songs. It’s all we could retain after hundreds of years of cultural and physical genocide. And for so many ppl supposedly connecting to Irish gods, and Irish spiritualism, to have no sense of pride or importance over the power of these words... to misuse them for the idealised version of these tales... you have to admit at some point that a lot of these Wiccan rituals are modern and made up, and that’s fine! Things get lost over time and they need to be reinvented. But don’t sit there, take something that pertains to somebody’s existing, living culture and misrepresent it. If you aren’t sure of something’s origins do your research. If you have a strong feeling that pears/cherries/nuts are a good offering then go for it - but don’t say that these are traditional offerings and that they represent the gods, they aren’t and they likely don’t! Irish offerings are typically just honey and milk and maybe bread or whiskey if we had it. It’s a country w/ no food culture because we didn’t have free access to food.

Look up the original stories. But not through other non-Irish people’s blogs. That’s just reaffirming your own misinformation.

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There’s a quote from Bert where he says he‘s “known big bird since he was a little bird” and the thought of it makes my heart cry so here’s that

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“Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.”

— Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

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“With every act of self care your authentic self gets stronger, and the critical, fearful mind gets weaker. Every act of self care is a powerful declaration: I am on my side; each day I am more and more on my side.”

— Susan Weiss Berry

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I’m at peace.

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The Nahui Tezcatlipoca, or Four Smoking Mirrors, are the Lords of the Four Directions, who were born at the dawn of time. They embody time and space, and hold within themselves all being. This is a page from the Tonalamatl, the Book of Destiny, which is the Mexica (or Aztec) calendar. This places the Nahui Tezcatlipoca in Their respective positions, with the days of the calendar as glyphs spread around them. What follows is a narrative which describes Their birth.

All praise to Ometeotl, our Mother, our Father, the Ancient One, Divine Mirror Who Illuminates Existence, who is All, in All, and beyond All. In the beginning, They who are One became Two, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, Dual Lord and Dual Lady, double manifestations of the One, who are known also as Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl, Lord and Lady of Our Sustenance, Our Flesh, Lord One Deer, Lady One Deer.

From Their place in the Thirteenth Heaven, in Omeyocan, the Place of Duality, They made offerings of incense, of flowery copal, and They raised Their voices in poetry and song. Their sacred blood They shed, upon the body of Nezahualcihuatl, Fasting Woman, and from Their blood the Tzitzimime arose, to weave the Tonalli of all creation. They gave birth to darkness, and of the darkness was born the sacred tree Copalquahuitl, the Flowering Copal Tree, and likewise, amid the fluttering of paper flags, was born the obsidian stone, the knife, the vehicle of sacred color.

In Their divine sacrifice, in the words of Their sacred song They gave birth to four sons, and They who are One became Four, the Nahui Tezcatlipoca, Their all powerful children, who took Their places in the four quarters of existence, and who contain within Themselves all being.

The first born was Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca, the Red Tezcatlipoca, Lord Seven Flower, crimson in color, who took His home in Tlapallan, the East, and who is the Lord of Tlaxcala, called there Camaxtli.

The second born was Yayauhqui Tezcatlipoca, the Black Tezcatlipoca, Lord Two Dog, the greatest of His brothers, who knows all thoughts, dwells in all places, and reads all hearts. He is called Moyocoya, which is to say, “All Powerful.” He was born black, and took up His abode in the North.

The third of the brothers was Yoalli Ehecatl, the Yellow Tezcatlipoca, who is Quetzalcoatl, who took His place in the West. Born were They man, and likewise woman, for They are also Lady One Eagle, the Grandmother of the River, Atoyacihtli, Sitna Yuta.

The last born, smallest of the brothers, Omiteotl, the Blue Tezcatlipoca, known also as Huitzilopochtli, took His home in the South, and is the Lord of the Mexica. He was born fleshless; a divinity of bone, and He lived thus for a period of 600 years, during which time the Nahui Tezcatlipoca did nothing, but only held Their places in creation. His duality is Lady Nine Grass, Cihuacoatl, Serpent Women, Who is His other, born like Him on this day, at this hour.

You can find this painting in my Etsy shop. Just click on the link.

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HOY ES EL DIA DE NUESTRA MADRE REINA VIRGEN MORENA! Shout out to thee one fast and truest ride-or-die homegirl, Guadalupe Tonantzin Coatlicue  Everywhere I go, I carry you with me.