#Celtic culture

[modark]

The Bardic Tradition

I made a long thread explaining in detail all the symbolism in this piece when I first posted it. That's lost to time now, thanks Elon. I'll try to rewrite it to the best of my ability in an abridged form.

The basic gist is that its a visual representation of the ancient Gaelic bardic tradition. Seated in the center is St. Colmcille, composing an old Irish hymn to St. Brigid, "Brigit bé bithmaith". He is holding hazel nuts, symbols of knowledge / inspiration in Irish legend. On the two pillars on either side of him are King David (left) and Orpheus (right), two famous poets from antiquity. Two legendary poets from Irish legend, Oisín and Amergin, are situated above each pillar respectively. The two fish are seen swimming "upstream" (as in the legend of the Salmon of Knowledge) toward a sheela na gig, a architectural feature / grotesque of early Irish churches which some consider to be symbols of femininity, meant to ward off evil. At the top of the image, hands from a cloud (representing God) release a white dove (representing the Holy Spirit) down to St. Brigid. She owes her angelic appearance to her being considered both a pagan goddess and Christian saint. She is guarding a flame, which symbolises poetic inspiration, and which can be seen floating above the heads of all the other figures.

[arwendeluhtiene]

Happy Ostara/Easter/belated Spring Equinox 😊🌸🌿 🐰🥚🍫! . ✨Valar and Valier series (late 2000s)✨ - 🌳🌿Yavanna Kementári🌿🌳 Initial practice sketch, the final painting and a couple of details. . I now prefer to headcanon Yavanna as dark-skinned, but I quite like how this watercolour turned out - especially the gradation of the different greens in the dress and mantle, and the trees in the background. I also love Alan Lee's original drawing on which this painting is based 🌿💚 (swipe for the comparison! Original is black and white, coloured by me as a guide for the painting). . Some years ago I started a 'Valar and Valier' project in which I took an existing painting/drawing as reference/inspiration to draw/paint one of the Valar. So far, I've done Varda, Yavanna, Nienna, Mandos and Aulë, and I also have some sketches of Nessa, Vána and Estë. Hope to get back to this project sometime! . . 🎨Media: Graphite, watercolours, inks, ink wash . 🌱References: Alan Lee's drawing of the Celtic fae Ladies of the Land of the Young, for the book Faeries.

🎨ArtStation

🎨Instagram

🎨 DeviantArt

[recently-coco]

A Question About Celtic Heritage

Hello, I wanted to introduce myself and ask a question. 

My name is Coco. I am a trans woman, and a practicing witch. 

I am white, my parents are white, and their parents are white. 

I'm deep south American, as are my parents and all four grandparents. 

However, there is clearly some Celtic nation blood in me. I see traits in my family that hint as much. I see names in my family common to anglicized versions of names from the Celtic nations. 

Being a white American, my culture has been stripped from me and replaced with consumerism and colonialism. I want to undo this. 

My witchcraft has brought me near the Celtic nations history and culture and I want to be a part of it. 

However, being white this could be a problem. I want to avoid being colonialist, especially since my family does have a large amount of anglo white colonial blood on both sides. I want my journey with Celtic culture to be authentic, and not just something I take because I feel like it's mine. 

So one thing I was hoping to find was some sort of mentor or teacher. Someone that can guide me in what is acceptable and help keep me from being harmful to the culture and the people. 

Does this community have any guidance for me? I'm honestly not sure where to start besides sending this message. Any help is welcome, even if it's to tell me to go away. 

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

Neopagans in Ireland celebrating Samhain

[gawrkin]

From Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor, by Nathen Amin

[overwatchfanskinarchive]

St. Docherty Hazard by buzzk1ll (cara)

[beatrack92]

Celtic Iron Mask

[zsorosebudphoto]

Santa Tegra, Galiza, 03-09-23

[ultra-phthalo]

- Cinnabar Moth - 'Frequent in open grassy habitats including waste ground, railway banks, gardens and woodland rides but perhaps most frequent on well drained rabbit-grazed grassland, mature sand-dunes and heathland.' A moth with bright colours that act as warning signs displaying their toxicity. They are seldom eaten by predators. And can afford to live life as a day-flying moth, living life in the sunshine, because of this.

In symbology - 'This creature is seen as a symbol of hope during difficult times. The cinnabar moth has the power to help us let go of our old ways and embrace the new.'

[makairodonx]

Gaelic huntresses springing with their Wolves

[interact-if]

Hello, do you have a list of IF about Celtic culture or mythology? I don't have a strong preference as to which country (can be Irish, Welsh, Scottish, etc), and it can be fantasy or historical, whatever you have. Thanks!

Hi Anon,

We have not found many Celtic inspired titles aside from:

Myrk Mire by @catt-nuevenor

Sacred Fire (VN) by Iceberg Interactive

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) (VN) by @moiraimyths

[universalambients]

Ireland, 1870

[raffaellopalandri]

The Winter Solstice: A Multifaceted Exploration

Happy Winter Solstice! Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com The Scientific Understanding of the Winter Solstice The Winter Solstice occurs annually around December 21st or 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Scientifically, this event results from the Earth’s axial tilt of approximately 23.5 degrees. As the planet orbits the Sun, the tilt…

[stairnaheireann]

Boa Island, Co Fermanagh

Two of the most enigmatic pieces of Irish sculpture can be found in a small cemetery on Boa Island in Co Fermanagh. The larger sculpture is a two-sided ‘Janus’ figure, with depictions of a bearded figure on both sides. Both of the depictions show an oval-faced man with large almond-shaped bulging eyes, and a straight nose. In Celtic culture, heads were very important because they were thought to…

[arwendeluhtiene]

🎨♀Herstory+Celtic throwback♀🎨 -  Graphite lineart and watercolour painting of the Scottish warrior-trainer Scáthach from Celtic myth for the 2014 FWW Stock Challenge on DeviantArt. I quite like how this painting turned out 😃 ! . . 🎨Media: Watercolours over graphite drawing . 🍀Other references: DeviantArt stock pic for the main pose, photographs of stones and Celtic swords and designs, self-picture for the skirt movement.

I wanted to draw a Celtic warrior-woman from Irish myth, so here is how I imagine Scáthach of Alba, a formidable warrior-woman with druidic skills who trained warriors in her renowned academy in the island of Skye in Alba (Scotland). She trained a lot of famous heroes, Cúchulainn among them. Her sister, Aoife, was also a great warrior-woman, even greater than herself. . .  "If Cúchulainn would go to Scathach, the woman-warrior that lived in the east of Alban, his skill would be more wonderful still, for he could not have perfect knowledge of the feats of a warrior without that." (Lady Gregory's Cúchulainn of Muirthemne).

I wrote Scáthach's name and the names of some other famous warrior-women in Irish myth in the stones using the Celtic tree Ogham alphabet: The left stone includes the names of Nessa, Conchubar's mother, and queen Medb. The stone on the right has "Scáthach banlaoch" (Warrior-woman Scáthach), plus Ogarmach, the invader daughter of the King of Greece, and Macha. . I depicted Scáthach with woad skin-paint, flowing loose hair and a checked sleeveless, ankle-length dress. Although the Celts in Gaul, seemed to favour trousers when fighting, there is evidence that the Insular Celts often preferred dresses and short/long tunics to pants. The warrior-women of this time (c. 1st Century BC) are often described in the mythology as wearing long dresses and cloaks, loose hair, a great number of ornaments, and little to no armour. The same goes for the men (with short/long tunics instead of dresses), as Celts didn't seem to be great fans of wearing armour, preferring to go to battle fully decked in all their (often encumbering) finery and/or with bare chest or directly fully naked xD

🎨ArtStation

🎨Instagram

🎨 DeviantArt

[gawrkin]

Top Ten Worst Things Arthur has done: Satirizing Kay for no reason, harming his reputation, and implicitly damaging his career. Kay is understandably pissed and subsequently quits his job. It shall be noted that being a Bard, in exchange for its prestigous position in Celtic society, is a massive responsibility not to be abused.