DOCSLIB.ORG

The Cailleach and Brigit in the Ritual Landscape of Scotland: Gateway to Understanding the Past, and Ourselves

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Cailleach and Brigit in the Ritual Landscape of Scotland: Gateway to Understanding the Past, and Ourselves The Cailleach and Brigit in the Ritual Landscape of Scotland: gateway to understanding the past, and ourselves. Woman Spirit Ireland: Study Day on Samhain with Stuart McHardy Saturday, October 15th 2016, Marino Institute, off Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9 Chaired by Nuala Ahern, (Former Green M.E.P) and co-founder of Mythic Links Since 1994 Woman Spirit Ireland has organised and resourced Festivals of Brigit in Ireland and abroad with the aim of recuperating and reclaiming a female-centred tradition of spirituality. In recent years, however, it has become obvious that the figure of Brigit (saint or goddess) through her rituals, symbols, stories, artefacts and landscape is deeply embedded in the ancient cosmologies, spirituality and images of divinity of Old Ireland, Europe and beyond. Tantalising trace evidence still exists here in Ireland, and Woman Spirit considers that we have a special responsibility to continue to excavate, reclaim, and celebrate such traditions to counter some of the toxic narratives now dominating our planet. For that reason, Woman Spirit Ireland recently organised several study days focussing on two of the quarter days: Imbolc and Bealtaine. This year we are privileged that Stuart McHardy has agreed to be our main resource person. Drawing on his extensive work on the Scottish landscape and ritual traditions, his presentations will focus on the Cailleach at Samhain, and the relationship between the Cailleach and Brigit in ancient lore and landscape. His presentations will complement those of other recent resource persons who generously offered their time and resources. Fr. Seán Ó Duinn spoke on the ritual landscape of the four quarters days at Duhallow; Michael Dames spoke of Cailleach traditions in Britain and Ireland; Professor Séamas Ó Catháin shared his recent research on the parallels between the Irish Brigit and Northern European rituals; Anthony Murphy shared his findings on Irish archaeomythology. Stuart’s presentations will be multi-dimensional, comprising his rich store of visuals, stories, ritual traditions, and landscape often associated both with the Cailleach and Brigit, and taking the form of stone circles, eyes, breasts, sleeping figures, and mountain top sites. He will also speak of the Nine Maiden traditions found in Scotland and Ireland. This particular aspect of Stuart’s work places the Irish and Scottish references to nine maidens within an international emerging field where the most ancient traditions of divinity are being recuperated. For that reason, the following two links have kindly been offered by Helen Hwang from her recent book “The Mago Way”, where parallels can be found between the nine maiden motifs in the traditions of Brigit and the Cailleach, and ancient Korean cosmology! https://www.academia.edu/23180378/The_Female_Principle_in_the_Magoist_Cosmogony_from_The_Mago_Way_Re- discovering_Mago_the_Great_Goddess_from_East_Asia_Mago_Books_2015_ https://www.academia.edu/9870679/Magos_Muses_and_Matrikas_The_Magoist_Cosmogony_and_Gy nocentric_Unity_include d_in_The_Mago_Way_Re- discovering_Mago_the_Great_Goddess_from_East_Asia_Mago_Books_2015_authored_by_Helen_Hye -Sook_Hwang A particular focus of the day will be that of relating Stuart’s findings in Scotland to the Irish heritage. Participants are welcome to bring related resources — images, photographs, stories — on the topics to further our work in these areas. Biography Stuart McHardy is a storyteller and author of thirty books. He is a published poet, an accomplished musician/singer and has been lecturing on Scottish History and Folklore for Edinburgh University’s Centre for Open Learning since the early 1990s. He was a founder member and is a past President of the Pictish Arts Society and through much of the 90s was Director of the Scots Language Centre in Perth. An experienced broadcaster he has recently produced MYTHOGRAM1, a new way of telling stories for the digital age. He has published and presented his work in many parts of the world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls1HGq3XkF4 More biographical and bibliographical information: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/profile- author/2784 Key recent publications: 2003 The Quest for the Nine Maidens; 2005 On the Trail of Scotland’s Myths and Legends; 2006 On the Trail of the Holy Grail. 2010 A New History of the Picts; 2012 The Pagan Symbols of the Picts (All Luath Press). To read some of Stuart’s recent work on Cailleach traditions and landscape: https://stuartmchardy.wordpress.com/ Registration Venue: Marino Institute, off Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Date: October 15th Time: 10:00 — 5:00 Course Registration fee: €70:00 full fee; Early Bird (register by Oct 1st) €60:00; Concessions: (full time students and unemployed, €35:00). You can register online by using the Paypal donate button below that will take you directly to our Paypal account (also called Institute for Feminism and Religion). If you prefer to use the postal system, please send registrations to this address: Woman Spirit Ireland, 30A Parkhill Rise, Kilnamanagh, Dublin 24. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Understanding Handwriting, Abbreviations, Dates and More Dan Poffenberger, AG® British Research Specialist ~ Family History Library [email protected]
    Understanding Handwriting, Abbreviations, Dates and More Dan Poffenberger, AG® British Research Specialist ~ Family History Library [email protected] Introduction Searching English records can be daunting enough when you are simply worrying about the time period, content and availability of records. A dive into a variety of records may leave you perplexed when you consider the handwriting styles, Latin, numbering systems, calendar changes, and variety of jurisdictions, record formats and abbreviations that may be found in the records. Objectives The objective of this course is to help you better understand: • Handwriting and Abbreviations • Latin • Numbers and Money • Calendars, Dates, Days, Years • Church of England Church Records Organization and Jurisdictions • Relationships Handwriting and Abbreviations Understanding the handwriting is the most important aspect to understanding older English records. If you can’t read it, you’re going to have a very hard time understanding it. While the term ‘modern English’ applies to any writing style after medieval times (late 1400’s), it won’t seem like it when you try reading some of it. More than 90% of your research will involve one of two primary English writing scripts or ‘hands’. These are ‘Secretary hand’ which was primarily in use from about 1525 to the mid-1600’s. Another handwriting style in use during that time was ‘Humanistic hand’ which more resembles our more modern English script. As secretary and humanistic hand came together in the mid-1600’s, English ‘round hand’ or ‘mixed hand’ became the common style and is very similar to handwriting styles in the 1900’s. But of course, who writes anymore? Round or Mixed Hand Starting with the more recent handwriting styles, a few of the notable differences in our modern hand are noted here: ‘d’ – “Eden” ‘f’ - “of” ‘p’ - “Baptized’ ss’ – “Edward Hussey” ‘u’ and ‘v’ – become like the ‘u’ and ‘v’ we know today.
    [Show full text]
  • Unity in Diversity, Volume 2
    Unity in Diversity, Volume 2 Unity in Diversity, Volume 2: Cultural and Linguistic Markers of the Concept Edited by Sabine Asmus and Barbara Braid Unity in Diversity, Volume 2: Cultural and Linguistic Markers of the Concept Edited by Sabine Asmus and Barbara Braid This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Sabine Asmus, Barbara Braid and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-5700-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5700-0 CONTENTS Introduction .............................................................................................. vii Cultural and Linguistic Markers of the Concept of Unity in Diversity Sabine Asmus Part I: Cultural Markers Chapter One ................................................................................................ 3 Questions of Identity in Contemporary Ireland and Spain Cormac Anderson Chapter Two ............................................................................................. 27 Scottish Whisky Revisited Uwe Zagratzki Chapter Three ........................................................................................... 39 Welsh
    [Show full text]
  • Celtic Solar Goddesses: from Goddess of the Sun to Queen of Heaven
    CELTIC SOLAR GODDESSES: FROM GODDESS OF THE SUN TO QUEEN OF HEAVEN by Hayley J. Arrington A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Women’s Spirituality Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Palo Alto, California June 8, 2012 I certify that I have read and approved the content and presentation of this thesis: ________________________________________________ __________________ Judy Grahn, Ph.D., Committee Chairperson Date ________________________________________________ __________________ Marguerite Rigoglioso, Ph.D., Committee Member Date Copyright © Hayley Jane Arrington 2012 All Rights Reserved Formatted according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition ii Abstract Celtic Solar Goddesses: From Goddess of the Sun to Queen of Heaven by Hayley J. Arrington Utilizing a feminist hermeneutical inquiry, my research through three Celtic goddesses—Aine, Grian, and Brigit—shows that the sun was revered as feminine in Celtic tradition. Additionally, I argue that through the introduction and assimilation of Christianity into the British Isles, the Virgin Mary assumed the same characteristics as the earlier Celtic solar deities. The lands generally referred to as Celtic lands include Cornwall in Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Brittany in France; however, I will be limiting my research to the British Isles. I am examining these three goddesses in particular, in relation to their status as solar deities, using the etymologies of their names to link them to the sun and its manifestation on earth: fire. Given that they share the same attributes, I illustrate how solar goddesses can be equated with goddesses of sovereignty. Furthermore, I examine the figure of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Pilgrimage Stories: the Farmer Fairy's Stone
    PILGRIMAGE STORIES: THE FARMER FAIRY’S STONE By Betty Lou Chaika One of the primary intentions of our recent six-week pilgrimage, first to Scotland and then to Ireland, was to visit EarthSpirit sanctuaries in these ensouled landscapes. We hoped to find portals to the Otherworld in order to contact renewing, healing, transformative energies for us all, and especially for some friends with cancer. I wanted to learn how to enter the field of divinity, the aliveness of the EarthSpirit world’s interpenetrating energies, with awareness and respect. Interested in both geology and in our ancestors’ spiritual relationship with Rock, I knew this quest would involve a deeper meeting with rock beings in their many forms. When we arrived at a stone circle in southwest Ireland (whose Gaelic name means Edges of the Field) we were moved by the familiar experience of seeing that the circle overlooks a vast, beautiful landscape. Most stone circles seem to be in places of expansive power, part of a whole sacred landscape. To the north were the lovely Paps of Anu, the pair of breast-shaped hills, both over 2,000 feet high, named after Anu/Aine, the primary local fertility goddess of the region, or after Anu/Danu, ancient mother goddess of the supernatural beings, the Tuatha De Danann. The summits of both hills have Neolithic cairns, which look exactly like erect nipples. This c. 1500 BC stone circle would have drawn upon the power of the still-pervasive earlier mythology of the land as the Mother’s body. But today the tops of the hills were veiled in low, milky clouds, and we could only long for them to be revealed.
    [Show full text]
  • W.I.S.E. Words 1983 2018
    W.I.S.E. words The Newsletter of W.I.S.E. Family History Society Wales – Ireland – Scotland - england Volume 19, Number 4 Denver, Colorado October, November, December 2018 Celebrating 35 Years W.I.S.E. is 35—What Will the Next 35 Years Bring? Volume 19 began with a 35th Anniversary article, and it’s fitting to close with one as well. For the past year I’ve had the opportunity to assemble and peruse 1,090 pages of W.I.S.E. Words and have gleaned these nuggets from our history. Because of the breadth of information contained in over a thousand pages, I concentrated on reading through the Presidents’ messages through the years. One common theme was a smorgasbord of excellent programs through the years, which has allowed our society to fulfill its mission of fostering interest in the Genealogy and Family History of the British Isles, increasing the educational opportunities and knowledge of the society members and the general public, publishing W.I.S.E. Words, and supporting the Denver Public Library with the donation of at least 155 books. Commenting on the quality of the programs, then President James Jeffrey posed the question in 2006, “How many other North American British Isles groups can lay claim to having hosted the President of the Guild of One-Name Studies, first Vice President of the Federation of Family History Societies, Pres- ident of the Federation, and the founder of the Ulster-Scots History and Heritage Soci- ety?” (W.I.S.E. Words, Volume 7, Number 2, April May June 2006, page 16).
    [Show full text]
  • Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, by 1
    Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, by 1 Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, by William Butler Yeats This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry Author: William Butler Yeats Editor: William Butler Yeats Release Date: October 28, 2010 [EBook #33887] Language: English Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, by 2 Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY AND FOLK TALES *** Produced by Larry B. Harrison, Brian Foley and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) FAIRY AND FOLK TALES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. EDITED AND SELECTED BY W. B. YEATS. THE WALTER SCOTT PUBLISHING CO., LTD. LONDON AND FELLING-ON-TYNE. NEW YORK: 3 EAST 14TH STREET. INSCRIBED TO MY MYSTICAL FRIEND, G. R. CONTENTS. THE TROOPING FAIRIES-- PAGE The Fairies 3 Frank Martin and the Fairies 5 The Priest's Supper 9 The Fairy Well of Lagnanay 13 Teig O'Kane and the Corpse 16 Paddy Corcoran's Wife 31 Cusheen Loo 33 The White Trout; A Legend of Cong 35 The Fairy Thorn 38 The Legend of Knockgrafton 40 A Donegal Fairy 46 CHANGELINGS-- The Brewery of Egg-shells 48 The Fairy Nurse 51 Jamie Freel and the Young Lady 52 The Stolen Child 59 THE MERROW--
    [Show full text]
  • Vestiges of Midsummer Ritual in Motets for John the Baptist
    Early Music History (2011) Volume 30. Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261127911000027 M A A Email: [email protected] FIRE, FOLIAGE AND FURY: VESTIGES OF MIDSUMMER RITUAL IN MOTETS FOR JOHN THE BAPTIST The thirteenth-century motet repertory has been understood on a wide spectrum, with recent scholarship amplifying the relationship between the liturgical tenors and the commentary in the upper voices. This study examines a family of motets based on the tenors IOHANNE and MULIERUM from the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June). Several texts within this motet family make references to well-known traditions associated with the pagan festival of Midsummer, the celebration of the summer solstice. Allusions to popular solstitial practices including the lighting of bonfires and the public criticism of authority, in addition to the cultural awareness of the sun’s power on this day, conspicuously surface in these motets, particularly when viewed through the lens of the tenor. The study suggests the further obfuscation of sacred and secular poles in the motet through attentiveness to images of popular, pre-Christian rituals that survive in these polyphonic works. In the northern French village of Jumièges from the late Middle Ages to the middle of the nineteenth century, a peculiar fraternal ritual took place. Each year on the evening of the twenty-third of June, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose its new chief. Arrayed in a brimless green hat in the shape of a cone, the elected master led the men to a priest and choir; Portions of this study were read at the Medieval and Renaissance Conference at the Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Vienna, 8–11 August 2007 and at the University of Chicago’s Medieval Workshop on 19 May 2006.
    [Show full text]
  • Mary Condren, Th.D. Already, in the Run-Up to Hallowe'en, in Our Neighbourhoods Malevolent Forces Are at Work. Burnt out Cars
    Mary Condren, Th.D. Already, in the run-up to Hallowe’en, in our neighbourhoods malevolent forces are at work. Burnt out cars, bangers, toxic fireworks, are encouraged by shopfront images: evil witches on broomsticks, or even Dracula, the emerging patron of Samhain in our time. Maybe it is time to revisit the Old Ways, and maybe even a Me-too Movement for Witches is long overdue? In Ireland, Samhain, (October 31st) today’s Hallowe’en, is traditionally associated with the figure of the Cailleach, whose traditions are beautifully recovered in Gearóid Ó Crualaoich’s book, The Book of the Cailleach. Along with her daughters, the cailleacha, sometimes known as goddesses, the Cailleach, dropping huge boulders from her cloak created the world — mountains, rivers, wells, and megalithic sites such as the Hill of the Witch at Lough Crew. Her mná feasa the Wise Ones of old Ireland continued her memories and traditions in ritual and song. However, in Old Irish classical literature, the Cailleach traditions are largely re-interpreted and inverted. Ongoing struggles against the Old Ways are reflected in the Book of the Gathering or Invasions. In the Dindshenchas (stories of how places got their names), cailleacha are drowned, gang-raped, or otherwise disposed of, often for going widdershins around the well as they drew on ancestral stores of inherited wisdom, medical intuition, and herbal cures. The 9th century, Lament of the Cailleach Beara, reflects the demise of the mná feasa the Wise Women, now colonised and decrepit. One of the last invaders to Ireland, the Sons of Mil (representing Hebrews and Christians) made a pact with the Tuatha dé Danann (People of the Goddess, Danu) whom they had defeated.
    [Show full text]
  • Varro's Roman Seasons
    HAL, Submitted 30 November 2019 Varro's Roman Seasons A. C. Sparavigna1 1 Dipartimento di Scienza Applicata e Tecnologia, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy The four seasons of the Roman calendar, as described by Marcus Terentius Varro, are different from our seasons, in the sense that they start on days which differ from those that we are using today. In his Books on Agriculture, Varro shows that the Roman seasons started on the Cross Quarter-days instead than on the Quarter-days of the year as it happens today. Besides the classic subdivision in four parts, in the Books on Agriculture we can also find the year divided into eight parts, that is eight seasons having quite different lengths. In our discussion of Varro's seasons we will compare the days he mentions for the separation of seasons to the Cross Quarter- and Quarter-days that we find in Celtic calendars. Keywords: Chronology, Roman Chronology, Julian Calendar, Celtic festivals. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.3559524 Marcus Terentius Varro (116 - 27 BC) was a Roman scholar and writer. In his political career, he became tribune of the people, quaestor and curule aedile. Supporting Pompey, Varro reached the office of praetor [1,2]. He was also one of the members of the commission that carried out the agrarian plan of Julius Caesar for the resettlement of Capua and Campania (59 BC) [2]. During the civil war, Varro commanded one of Pompey's armies in Spain. After the battle of Pharsalus, he reconciled with Julius Caesar, and Caesar appointed him to oversee the public library of Rome [1].
    [Show full text]
  • The Voyage of Bran Son of Febal
    The Voyage of Bran Son of Febal to the Land of the Living AN OLD IRISH SAGA NOW FIRST EDITED, WITH TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND GLOSSARY, BY Kuno Meyer London: Published by David Nutt in the Strand [1895] The Voyage of Bran Son of Febal to the Land of the Living Page 1 INTRODUCTION THE old-Irish tale which is here edited and fully translated 1 for the first time, has come down to us in seven MSS. of different age and varying value. It is unfortunate that the oldest copy (U), that contained on p. 121a of the Leabhar na hUidhre, a MS. written about 1100 A.D., is a mere fragment, containing but the very end of the story from lil in chertle dia dernaind (§ 62 of my edition) to the conclusion. The other six MSS. all belong to a much later age, the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries respectively. Here follow a list and description of these MSS.:-- By R I denote a copy contained in the well-known Bodleian vellum quarto, marked Rawlinson B. 512, fo. 119a, 1-120b, 2. For a detailed description of this codex, see the Rolls edition of the Tripartite Life, vol. i. pp. xiv.-xlv. As the folios containing the copy of our text belong to that portion of the MS. which begins with the Baile in Scáil (fo. 101a), it is very probable that, like this tale, they were copied from the lost book of Dubdálethe, bishop of p. viii [paragraph continues] Armagh from 1049 to 1064. See Rev. Celt. xi.
    [Show full text]
  • The Prehistoric Solar Calendar Euan Mackie
    Time and Mind: The Journal of The Prehistoric Solar Archaeology, Calendar: An Out-of- Consciousness and Culture fashion Idea Revisited Volume 2—Issue 1 March 2009 with New Evidence pp. 9–46 DOI Euan W. MacKie 10.2752/175169709X374263 Reprints available directly Euan MacKie graduated in Archaeology and Anthropology from the publishers at St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1959 and—after a spell Photocopying permitted by excavating on Maya sites in Central America—joined the staff licence only of the Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, in October © Berg 2009 1960, where he remained as curator of the Archaeological and Anthropological collections (with a spell as deputy director) until 1998. He obtained his doctorate in Glasgow in 1974, and was an honorary lecturer in the Department of Archaeology as well as teaching evening classes continuosly since 1961. His two main research interests—in the pursuit of which he made many fieldwork trips in north Britain—are the Atlantic Iron Age of Scotland (particularly the broch towers) and the thorny question of the level of interest in astronomy and geometry in Neolithic Britain. He is the author of over one hundred book and articles in learned journals. Retired now for ten years he continues to research and publish. [email protected] Abstract The work of Alexander Thom on the geometrical and astronomical achievements of prehistoric Britain— depending as it does almost entirely on data gained from surveying and statistical analysis—is rarely referred to now by British archaeologists. Yet his idea of the prehistoric sixteen-“month” solar calendar—in which the year is divided successively into halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths—can now be tested with evidence from other fields, including some spectacular archaeological artifacts and from excavations specifically designed to examine the hypothesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Sagewoman No
    SageWoman No. 87 • Sacred Lands Cover1 BBIMEDIA.COM CRONEMAGAZINE.COM SAGEWOMAN.COM WITCHESANDPAGANS.COM BB Med a Magazines that feed your soul and liven your spirits. W & Navigation Controls Availability depends on the reader application. Previous Page Toggle Next Page Bookmarks First Page Last Page ©2014 BBI MEDIA INC . P O BOX 687 . FOREST GROVE . OR 97116 . USA . 503-430-8817 © 2015 Hrana Janto Hrana © 2015 By Jude Lally Artwork by Hrana Janto ncient and Helen O’Sullivan mothers of Loch lomond 8 A SageWoman No. 87 • Sacred Lands hen I was a child, my dad would take us the west until they reach the mountains and drop their rambling around the hills where we lived up life-giving rain. When Ben Lomond (“Ben” means above Loch Lomond, Scotland. Among the “mountain”) is obscured completely, veiled by heavily Wstones at the top of Carman Hill, I would sit ever so pregnant clouds dragging low on its slopes, you can quietly, scrunching up my eyes: in my imagination all easily feel that you are truly in between the worlds. the cars disappeared, and with a final blink, the streets and houses were rendered invisible as well. Then I would the Cailleach in Nature hold my breath, hoping I could see the Old Ones that Stuart McHardy recognizes the giantess archetype I knew lived there, the ones from the time before the of the Cailleach in a medieval poem, within the figure roads, and cars, and houses. Even though I never saw of ‘Gyre-Carolling,’ who is said to have formed Loch those ancient people, I felt the energies of the land, Lomond.
    [Show full text]