#Gaelic Polytheism 101

[themodernsouthernpolytheist]

Gaelic Polytheism 101

So, I know there are lots of guides out there, which is part of why I’m making this post, tbh. A good friend saw me posting in a Facebook group for witches and magical folk in Appalachia...and then several folks cosigned, lol. So, I decided to turn that private message into a resource guide of sorts. This will, in all likelihood, grow and shift over time, but here it is as of October 2017.

First is a Guide to Gaelic Polytheism a friend of mine put/is putting together. For those of you that’ve followed me for any length of time, more than likely know @nicstoirm and have probably seen this, but given that this is a resource, I’m obviously including it. It’s not complete as far as I know, but has some good stuff to glance through. The whole blog is dedicated to explaining various aspects, though they haven’t been super active there lately. 

I’ll also include my own Wordpress. There’s a lot of crossposting for folks that follow me here, but not always and sometimes I leave out certain details here because of the nature of the platform.

I’m also gonna include both the Gaelic Polytheism tag on Tumblr (though with a caveat of skepticism for a certain someone who mentions Lovecraft in their bio. The trollishness is real, which makes it nigh impossible to take anything else they say seriously) and the Gaelic Polytheism tag on Wordpress. Obviously these will update over time and it’s always a good idea to read from a variety of sources to see what directions you’re pulled in and what resonates most with you. Since there is no liturgical hierarchy, practices can look very different. 

I’m also gonna include this one cause there’s a TON of really GREAT information, but with a caveat. The people that wrote most of the things in the General Resources and Social Media headings are the people who run Gaol Naofa, a Gaelic Polytheism organization (and really probably the largest solely Gaelic Polytheism). They claim to be super inclusive, but a few years back, me and pretty well everyone under 30 at the time left the organization because some pretty significant transphobia popped up. Without too much detail, I think the original interaction was salvageable, but certain leadership stepped in and blew it all to hell. At this point, I’m glad to know, tbh. The scholarship in so much of their stuff really is excellent, but I always feel the need to put that out there up front, too for personal safety. There are also a lot of links there with really good info, too, especially the blogs down at the bottom, most of whom aren’t associated with GN as far as I know.

If anyone has anything they think makes sense in a beginner’s guide in terms of free online resources, please let me know! This was put together quickly and on the fly, so I’m in no way sayin it’s complete or comprehensive. I think a 102 guide would be somethin really cool to create, plus book lists and all kinds of other things if they don’t currently exist in a concrete form, so feel free to include that, too. 

[tarotss88witch]

I always knew this.? hmm 😒

Cool.. going t OK h a vd to SHARE Zef

Earliest art of Pan!

Thanks to @thegrapeandthefig​ for finding this for me! : )

We’ve all seen Pan depicted as a satyr, so when I read that the first depiction of Pan was of him as a goat I really wanted to see what that looked like (this is from “The cult of Pan in ancient Greece” by Borgeaud  btw). Anyway, here it is! I thought I would share it here in case anyone else was interested!

Here’s a picture that shows the other stuff around him

This is from 500—490 BCE and was found in Arcadia (Pan’s origin) it was probably painted by an Attic craftsman. The paper states that this was a representation of a demonic Pan but I’m not sure what that means exactly. Ofc Pan wasn’t generally considered a demon (and what that word means for ancient Greeks is probably different than what it means to us today). And if someone who knows more about this has something to add I’d love to hear it! Anyway yeah! Pan is cool and this is literally the earliest art of him that we still have today and I think that’s pretty neat!

Sources below also as always if I got anything wrong please let me know : )

Keep reading

[atchiu-ruad]

Hello, new folks!

If you are here because you were trying to find the grove that did the GaelPol 101 booth at IPPD, congratulations and welcome, you found us!*

*Well, you found me, Kai, in particular, because I’m the only one that runs this blog, but I’m the easiest point of contact at present and if you have a question for one of the other members of the grove in particular, I can pass it on and post their answer. 

If you are not here because we met at IPPD, welcome & please still feel free to ask questions if you have them!

If you want to poke around the blog, some of my most commonly used tags are #All Her Creatures for things that give me Flidhais feels, #beginner questions for community discussions/asks/etc. that touch on frequently asked questions for people just starting to learn about Gaelic Polytheism, #Kai mutterings for original posts or discussions I’ve added to, and devotional writings are usually tagged #prayer or #poetry. You’ll also see the tags #ancestor veneration for ancestor-related stuff, and tradition or deity-specific things tagged with the tradition or deity’s name. 

There’s also the #pagan bullshit and #polytheist problems tags if you want to spend some quality time facepalming, but you should probably be aware that I say fuck a lot in posts that earn those tags** :D 

**I say fuck a lot in general; this blog will not be a reliably pleasant reading experience for you if you are disturbed by swearing

[mrs-k-cottage-witch]

Hi, you're one of the few witchcraft blogs I'm following so far. Do you or anyone you follow have resources on super beginner info on Irish Polytheism? I'm half Irish (dad is from Ireland) and I really want to find out more, but I'm not sure where to begin. If this has been asked before I'd love links to previous asks so you don't have to answer the same question for the billionth time :)

Thanks for asking! One of my favorite resources is the Guide to Gaelic Polytheism! Here are some links for you

Guide to Gaelic Polytheism - https://guidetogaelicpolytheism.wordpress.com/

Getting Started - https://guidetogaelicpolytheism.wordpress.com/guides-and-how-tos/

Gael Pol 101 Getting Started - http://gaelpol101.tumblr.com/tagged/getting_started

Boggan Has some great advice, here is one - https://bogganbeliefs.tumblr.com/post/151484910698/whats-the-best-way-to-start-learning-about or just check out @bogganbeliefs

@nicstoirm is also a great resource! they are awesome :)

Tairis - http://www.tairis.co.uk/  - good resources but the site is weird to navigate right now ( its under construction? maybe?)

Good luck or rather ádh mór !