Tag: Samhain
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Samhain and the Cailleach
Cover art by Jurga Creations “I feel the nights stretching away, thousands long behind the days, till they reach the darkness where all of me is ancestor.” Annie Finch Although Halloween was celebrated on the 31st of October, another anciently acknowledged ‘thinning of the veil’ and, for many, the changing of the year, will not…
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The Truth About Wicker Men
“Don’t you see that killing me is not going to bring back your apples?” Sergeant Neil Howie, The Wicker Man, 1973 One of the historical accusations made against the Celts and Druids was that they burned sacrificial victims in giant wicker men. Victims would be live, and both human and animal. The imagery is powerful,…
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Samhain: Cauldron of the Ancestors
“I feel the nights stretching awaythousands long behind the daystill they reach the darkness whereall of me is ancestor.” Annie Finch This time in between Samhain and the Winter Solstice is a time of descent. We descend into our inner being; into our darkness to find what it is we will bring into being at the Winter…
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Werewolves and Related Folklore
“We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought…
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The Headless Horseman and Related Folklore
“…this sequestered glen has long been known by name of Sleepy Hollow … A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.” Washington Irving Cover art “The Headless Horseman” by John Quidor Washington Irving wrote his famous American tale of the headless horseman in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow…