#Moytura

[innervoiceartblog]

A moonrise viewed from the mound of Shee Lugh on the summit of the ridge of Moytura. In the sky, representing Balor's Eye, is an image of the huge stone basin found in the eastern chamber at Knowth. - Michael O'Flanagan

http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/moytura/moytura1.html

[paracawsal]

30 Days of Them: Day 1

Introduce us to your God, but do not use Their name.

She sees all who are born in battle: whether of the sword or of the heart/mind/body.

She is the tension in the air before a storm, the smell of the earth after. The needed destruction- to bring new beginnings, ripping away what is no longer needed, what should never have been. Her ravenous crows clear fields of the battle dead, of the things about to rot and decay. She speaks a future of peace- and of destruction.

She is the strength of a team, of an army, of a people. The sustenance of the battle-hearth, the joy of a team after a much-needed victory. The words in her throat are the weapons in her fist; In the mossy margins, her battle-magic bolsters her people.

She is strength. She is sovereignty. She is love.

[eyebrightatmidnight]

The Irish Mythological Cycle

Lebor Gabála Érenn - Book of Invasions

Cath Maige Tuired - Battle of Moytura Aided chloinne Tuireann - The Fate of the Children of Tuireann

Aided Chloinne Lir - The Fate of the Children of Lir

Tuan mac Cairill's Story to Finnen of Moville - Tuan mac Cairill's Story to Finnen of Moville The Colloquy between Fintan and the Hawk of Achill The Voyage of Bran

The Tale of Etain

The Taking of the Sid The Dream of Oengus

The Tale of Mongan

The Settling of the Manor of Tara Candlelit Tales: Irish Mythology Podcast

Myth, legend & romance : an encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition The sacred isle : belief and religion in pre-Christian Ireland

The Celts : a history

Irish superstitions Historic Ireland : 5,000 years of Ireland's heritage

The world of the Druids

Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend

[talonabraxas]

Lugh 'Celtic God' Talon Abraxas

The Irish god of nobility, Lugh of the Long Arm was a master of crafts and a cunning warrior. He was both Ollamh Érenn and King of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and wielded the Spear of Assal, which none could stand against.

His dwellings were at Tara in County Meath, and at Moytura, in County Sligo. His holy day was Lughnasa, which fell on August 1st.

[kellygreenphotography]

The Morrigan after the Destruction of King Indech

My obsession with Irish mythology and specifically The Morrigan continues. This digital drawing made without AI and completely on my XPpen Graphics tablet in Photoshop is based on a line in The Second Battle of Moytura. If you want to read more about how and why I created this piece then check out my Patreon link in my bio and support my work. If you want to learn more about Irish Mythology, always learn from native Irish first. I can recommend: https://irishpaganschool.com/

[forfeda-project]

GODSTONES - NUADA

Nuada is portrayed in the lore as a noble king and warrior, who wields a magical sword and sacrifices both his hand and his kingship to aid the Tuatha Dé. He appears in such tales as The Fate of the Children of Tuireann and both Battles of Moytura. He may also be an ancestor of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, and may be related to (or identical with) Nechtan.

This is an art series depicting the Gaelic gods as ancient statues, with designs loosely inspired by historical finds, such as the Boa Island and Tandragee idols from Northern Ireland, and the Ballachulish Figure from Scotland. In this piece, Nuada is pictured with his signature sword and silver hand.

(I promise I'm not dead, just been busy! New stuff coming soon)

[tuatha-de-danann-blog]

The Morrigan makes it rain fire and blood...

"It was then that Badb and Macha and Morrigan went to the Knoll of the Taking of the Hostages, and to the Hill of Summoning of Hosts at Tara, and sent forth magic showers of sorcery and compact clouds of mist and a furious rain of fire, with a downpour of red blood from the air on the warriors’ heads; and they allowed the Fir Bolg neither rest nor stay for three days and nights." -1st Battle of Moytura

[caraecethrae]

Chris Thompson: There's something about the Dagda . . . He's an earth-shaper, an earth-maker, and one of His strongest points seems to be the separation of dry land from water. It's there in His name, isn't it?

Isolde Carmody: 'It is, yeah. That part of His name where He is Athgen mBethai Brightere . . . the Brightere is "dry land." So He is the Regeneration of the World of Dry Land.'

Thompson: 'That would make Him the land-maker, the island rising out of the water, which makes Him kind of primal.'

Carmody: 'It does, rather. He's also Obthe Olaithbe, the Refuser of The Great Flood . . . So there's these images of holding back the tide or the sea, or even reclaiming land from bog, or. There is that, There's that sense that on a small island, you have to..'

Thompson: 'You need every bit of land.'

Carmody: 'Yeah, and you're constantly under threat from the sea.'

Carmody, I. & Thompson C. (Hosts). Episode 7: Reflections of Moytura – The Landscape of a Story [Audio podcast episode]. In Story Archaeology.

[taisestarr]

Lugh Samildánach’ aspects

Here starts the series of posts about Lugh Samildánach’ aspects. I took the epithets that Lugh has from different myths and associated it with the division of Ireland from the ‘Suidigud Tellaich Temra’ (The Settling of the Manor of Tara): 

knowledge in the west — Scál find (“light phantom”) battle in the north —  Lonnbéimnech/Lonnansclech ("fierce striker") prosperity in the east — Lámfada (“long hand”)   music in the south — Ildánach ("skilled in many arts")  kingship in the centre — Samildánach ("equally skilled in all the arts")

This is how I explain the difference between Ildánach and Samildánach. Ildánach as a potential of Samildánach, young Lugh starting his story. Sam means "together" according to this dictionary. It's all aspects together indeed.

Lugh always has all aspects, I separate them for better understanding in devoting and to follow Lugh’s way of self-improvement. Epithets are associated by their meaning and I’ve never seen such mapping before. I consider Lugh's story in myths as a development path. And that's the path anyone could follow with Lugh's support, as he does support improvement by his nature :)

Here are the parts of myths corresponding to the aspects:

Ildánach is a young Lugh that comes to Tara, telling and proving his skills in ‘The Second Battle of Moytura’. All that “Question me, I am…”. Lugh is called Lonnannsclech and Samildánach in that part of myth, I deliberately choose to name him Ildánach and will explain it later. This is an aspect of an artist and the patron of the arts, the favorite handsome young man that everyone’s loving. It’s similar to Apollo. 

Lugh Lonnbéimnech (or Lonnansclech) is a warrior and trickster from the battle itself in Battle of Moytura and in ‘The Fate of the Children of Turenn’. This aspect is rageful, similar to young Odin and other fierce tricksters, Loki in some way.

Lugh Lámfada is a high king after the victory in the Battle of Moytura. This aspect is related to a calendar myth strongly. He does a lot for nature and he is a balanced ruler. He manipulates the weather, the sun’s movement. He is responsible for the harvest and nature's well-being, Lughnasadh is his festival. This aspect was a tricky one to aggregate. I based my research on this great video by Fortress of Lugh — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrLUdqtyxZk and added some parts of myths and legends to it. This will be a long story :) 

Scál find is how I call Lugh’s manifestation after his death. He is the Scál in ‘Baile in Scáil’, and he is called Scál find in this ancient poem https://ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/kings02.html. Also, Find matches Lugh. To explore this aspect fully, I’ve added Lugh’s appearance in myths about Cú Chulainn: ‘Compert Con Culainn’ and a piece of ‘Táin Bó Cúailnge’, where Lugh comes to Cú Chulainn. This aspect of Lugh is very similar to Manannán.

Lugh Samildánach combines all these aspects, just like a high king in Tara must have skills of all 4 parts. And the young Lugh Ildánach demonstrates skills of every Ireland’s part when he comes to Tara: knowledge, battle, prosperity and music.

Lugh is a god of mastering and development. The way he appears in myths is also a path of self-development. There are keys for anyone in myth and I’ll explain all of them. This will be an interesting journey for several months with 2 or 3 posts every week.

[princepsfianna]

Some thoughts on the faith. (CR)

all images come from the 1910s public domain (mfw religion is so dead no non christian art of it is made, its joever, so fucking joever for us.....)

Our faith is dead, we must admit that. Her honour is gone, her valour is and God knows what else. She has been driven from the towns, tuathas, from glen and city into the annals of history. Worse yet for those of the Scottish herald for all we have are the Irish annals to go off. Or, if we are lucky, Roman sources from the first century AD. Alas virtually all Scottish national deities have since vanished from our records. I wonder every night if there was national deities. We know there was some like Clota, Goddess of the Clyde. Yet she was a regional deity not a deity in the same way as Brighid. Sadly for Clota, for instance, we have scarce any records about them or how to worship, revere and indulge in them. “Almost all the rivers of Scotland were abodes of goddesses, but about many of them there are no surviving stories. The character of a goddess was suggested by that of a river. The goddess of the river Forth, for instance, was ‘the deaf or soundless one’, because the Forth is a comparatively silent river; the goddess of the Clyde, on the other hand, was ‘the purifying one’, because the old people knew it as a river which scoured the country it passed through, and carried much mud and clay seaward when in flood.” Donald MacKenzie, 1917. Scottish Myth and Legend.

And all we have to go off are books written in a disparate time from who knows when to the great war till now. There is no serious academic study because- what is there to study? We must admit that the Christians have effectively erased our faith and they did a good job of it. Our only vestiges remaining in what we preserved in their faith and the scattered sources we can piece together. At the second battle of Moytura we see Morrígan deliver a speech to the men of Connaught as they prepare for battle. “I shall see a world that will yet be dear to me. Summer without flowers, Kine shall be without milk, Women without modesty, Men without valour, Captives without a King…(six word gap) Woods without mast, sea without produce… (40 word gap) the false judgement of old(wise) men, the false precedents of brehons(judges), every man ab etrayer, every boy a reaver. Son will enter his father’s bad, father will enter his son’s bead, everyone will be his brother’s brother ni law! (gap, eight words.) An evil time! Son shall deceive father, Daughter shall deceive mother!” What can this describe but today? She is lamenting this world in decay, fortelling a cycle of death and renewal in the cyles of civilisation. We are clearly in these events, woods are going without mast and seas without produce at our own hands. Summer will literally be without flowers and the leaders and judges of this world have gone awry for power and money. Let’s look at Fionn MacCumhaill, a Scottish hero from the boyheed deeds. Finn saw that he and many of his heroes would fall in battle and that he himself should do so and be reborn. We see a similar theme with Cú Chulainn in Táin Bó Cúailnge! He declares that he will rise again in times of great need when Ireland calls her champions to rise.  Now- first things first Ireland already had her time of great needs.. You are late… But more seriously he’s clearly telling us bluntly that when the Irish (Celts) are in desperate need he will arise. We can interpret this as him telling us that when we are in need, heroes will arise to save the Celtic nation and bring it back. Let’s look at the book of invasions or Lebor Gabála Érenn. Now this was compiled a few centuries after the conquests but it incorporates native faith which was around at the time. It was compiled with this in mind, quoting it and Lugh. “And it was foretold that his coming would bring the end to the Fomorian oppression, that the sun would shine again upon the land of the Gael!” The Fomori are a race of supernatural beings with great strength who come from the sea.. They are also defeated by the Tuatha Dé Danann. The Fomori are clearly the prophesied Saxon and Germanic incursions and Lugh is clearly to represent when the Gaels liberate themselves. Lugh is a warrior and was also a God of war and justice. Therefore it makes sense that Lugh would be the one, or one of the Gods to announce that as, Rosc Catha na Mumhan put it so eloquently. “I know well by the chilly weather, By the fury of Thetis on the shore. By the tuneful singing of the birds, That my Caesar would return free from gloom! That sound is joyus for Munster! And for the downtrodden descendents of warriors! The sounds of waves clashing on the side of ships, Thunderously advancing to our aid! 

…. 

The top of the tall trees are announcing That the Gaels shall not be fettered for long! … Gather all the men of blood of the Mil, Those whoms veins have but a drop of pure blood Whoms rights are trampled, tormented by evil! And may he strike a blow to the keeper of chains! And that sound will be the rarest joy for Munster

ANd for the sad descendants of the mighty Who await the sound of waves on the ships Drawing boldly on the seas to support us!” 

Lugh is foretelling us that the sun will shine again upon our land. That the Gaels, the celts will be restored to order. That the oppression will be ended, in this case I would make bold as to equate the Fomori with Rome and England. This will therefore require the return of our religion. Our religion will be restored after this event transpires. I don’t exactly know how but my guess is that a prophet will arise, presumably a form like Cú Chulainn. Who arises when we need our champions. A warrior will arise who is also a scholar and like Cú Chulainn will emulate his life and while doing so end the oppression of the Celts forevermore. Now.. If I was younger I would equate Liam Lynch to this figure but Lynch never restored our faith so I won’t. But I do think, in a time not so far that this figure will emerge. I think already the great and masterful plan is in motion and though I can’t see it I think it will be a great plan. The Celtic cultures are undergoing a great revival at the moment. I can feel it, I can hear it, the trees are not declaring but something is and I will find it. Things are tough for our races in the last few centuries but after centuries things are looking up. This generation, which I would not rather have been born but this one may- Brighid willing. Be the first one to take up the mantle of our ancient race and redeem it from its humiliation and shame. With this sort of rant over I will end it with a quote from a nation once again.  When Boyhood’s fire was in my blood, I read of ancient freemen, For Greece and Rome Who bravely stood, Three hundred men and three men. And then I prayed, I yet might see. Our fetters rent in twain! And Ireland, long a province, be  A nation once again! A nation once again!  A nation once again!  And Ireland, long a province, be A nation once again! 

Now- I do find it (mildly) bemusing the Irishmen reads about foreign culture not his own to be free. Because of English suppression of our shared heritage and heroes. But I digress, boyhoods fire is in my blood and I pray that I might yet see the Celts as one nation yet again. But it’ll probably not happen, oh well. We pray, we pray. 

[mask131]

A fantasy read-list: A-2

Fantasy read-list

Part A: Ancient fantasy

2) Mythological fantasy (other mythologies)

Beyond the Greco-Roman mythology, which remained the main source and main influence over European literature for millenia, two other main groups of myths had a huge influence over the later “fantasy” genres.

# On one side, the mythology of Northern Europe (Nordic/Scandinavian, Germanic, but also other ones such as Finnish). When it comes to Norse mythology, two works are the first names that pop-up: the Eddas. Compilations of old legends and mythical poems, they form the main sources of Norse myths. The oldest of the two is the Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda, an ancient compilation of Norse myths and legends in verse. The second Edda is the Prose Edda, so called because it was written in prose by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson (alternate names being Snorri’s Edda or the Younger Edda). Sorri Sturluson also wrote numerous other works of great importance, such as Heimskringla (a historical saga depicting the dynasties of Norse kings, starting with tales intermingled with Norse mythology, before growing increasingly “historically-accurate”) or the Ynglinga saga - some also attributed to him the Egil’s Saga.

Other “tales of the North” include, of course, Beowulf, one of the oldest English poems of history, and the most famous version of the old Germanic legend of the hero Beowulf ; the Germanic Völsunga saga and Nibelungenlied ; as well as the Kalevala - which is a bit late, I’ll admit, it was compiled in the 19th century, so it is from a very different time than the other works listed here, but it is the most complete and influential attempt at recreating the old Finnish mythology. 

# On the other side, the Celtic mythologies. The two most famous are, of course, the Welsh and the Irish mythologies (the third main branch of Celtic religion, the Gaul mythology, was not recorded in texts). 

For Welsh mythology, there is one work to go: the Mabinogion. It is one of the most complete collections of Welsh folktales and legends, and the earliest surviving Welsh prose stories - though a late record feeling the influence of Christianization over the late. It is also one of the earliest appearances of the figure of King Arthur, making it part of the “Matter of Britain”, we’ll talk about later.

For Irish mythology, we have much, MUCH more texts, but hopefully they were already sorted in “series” forming the various “cycles” of Irish mythologies. In order we have: The Mythological Cycle, or Cycle of the Gods. The Book of Invasions, the Battle of Moytura, the Children of Lir and the Wooing of Etain. The Ulster Cycle, mostly told through the epic The Cattle-Raid of Cooley. The Fianna Cycle, or Fenian Cycle, whose most important work would be Tales of the Elders of Ireland. And finally the Kings’ Cycle, with the famous trilogy of The Madness of Suibhne, The Feast of Dun na nGed, and The Battle of Mag Rath. 

Another famous Irish tale not part of these old mythological cycles, but still defining the early/medieval Irish literature is The Voyage of Bran. 

# While the trio of Greco-Roman, Nordic (Norse/Germanic) and Celtic mythologies were the most influential over the “fantasy literature” as a we know it today, other mythologies should be talked about - due to them either having temporary influences over the history of “supernatural literature” (such as through specific “fashions”), having smaller influences over fantasy works, or being used today to renew the fantasy genre.

The Vedas form the oldest religious texts of Hinduism, and the oldest texts of Sanskrit literature. They are the four sacred books of the early Hinduist religion: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. What is very interesting is that the Vedas are tied to what is called the “Vedic Hinduism”, an ancient, old form of Hinduism, which was centered around a pantheon of deities not too dissimilar to the pantheons of the Greeks, Norse or Celts - the Vedas reflect the form of Hinduist religion and mythology that was still close to its “Indo-European” mythology roots, a “cousin religion” to those of European Antiquity. Afterward, there was a big change in Hinduism, leading to the rise of a new form of the religion (usually called Puranic if my memory serves me well), this time focused on the famous trinity of deities we know today: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The classic epics and supernatural novels of China have been a source of inspiration for more Asian-influenced fantasy genres. Heavily influenced and shaped by the various mythologies and religions co-existing in China, they include: the Epic of Darkness, the Investiture of the Gods, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, or What the Master does not Speak of - as well as the most famous of them all, THE great epic of China, Journey to the West. If you want less fictionized, more ancient sources, of course the “Five Classics” of Confucianism should be talked about: Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, as well as Spring and Autumn Annals (though the Classic of Poetry and Book of Documents would be the more interesting one, as they contain more mythological texts and subtones - the Book of Changes is about a divination system, the Book of Rites about religious rites and courtly customs, and the Annals is a historical record). And, of course, let’s not forget to mention the “Four Great Folktales” of China: the Legend of the White Snake, the Butterfly Lovers, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, as well as Lady Meng Jiang.

# As for Japanese mythology, there are three main sources of information that form the main corpus of legends and stories of Japan. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), a chronicle in which numerous myths, legends and folktales are collected, and which is considered the oldest literary work of Japan ; the Nihon Shoki, which is one of the oldest chronicles of the history of Japan, and thus a mostly historical document, but which begins with the Japanese creation myths and several Japanese legends found or modified from the Kojiki ; and finally the Fudoki, which are a series of reports of the 8th century that collected the various oral traditions and local legends of each of the Japanese provinces.

# The Mesopotamian mythologies are another group not to be ignored, as they form the oldest piece of literature of history! The legends of Sumer, Akkadia and Babylon can be summed up in a handful of epics and sacred texts - the first of all epics!. You have the three “rival” creation myths: the Atra-Hasis epic for the Akkadians, the Eridu Genesis for the Sumerians and the Enuma Elish story for the Babylonians. And to these three creation myths you should had the two hero-epics of Mesopotamian literature: on one side the story of Adapa and the South Wind, on the other the one and only, most famous of all tales, the Epic of Gilgamesh. 

# And of course, this read-list must include... The Bible. Beyond the numerous mythologies of Antiquity with their polytheistic pantheons and complex set of legends, there is one book that is at the root of the European imagination and has influenced so deeply European culture it is intertwined with it... The Bible. European literary works are imbued with Judeo-Christianity, and as such fantasy works are also deeply reflective of Judeo-Christian themes, legends, motifs and characters. So you have on one side the Ancient Testament, the part of the Bible that the Christians have in common with the Jews (though in Judaism the Ancient Testament is called the “Torah”) - the most famous and influential parts of the Ancient Testament/Torah being the first two books, Genesis (the creation myth) and Exodus (the legend of Moses). And on the other side you have the exclusively Christian part of the Bible, the New Testament - with its two most influential parts being the Gospels (the four canonical records of the life of Jesus, the Christ) and The Book of Revelation (the one people tend to know by its flashier name... The Apocalypse). 

[mewtatedbunnies]

Happy Samhain everyone!!!

Today is the day that An Mórrígan offered Her help to An Dagda for the Second Battle of Moytura. He accepted and They laid together. Samhain is often referred to as Their wedding night, and I think of An Mórrígan bringing back two handfuls of their enemy’s king’s blood as Her wedding present to Him

I hope you all enjoy any festivities you’re participating in today!

And Happy Halloween for those who don’t celebrate Samhain 🎃🎃🎃

[decadentdigest]

«FIRST AND FOREMOST, IRISH.»

There is a podcast produced by the University of Oxford, through which I became aware of an article in the New Yorker

written by Stephen Fry in 1997, after he announced that he had taken on the role of Oscar in the film Wilde. Stephen Fry shared some humorous fan letters he had received in his mailbox. But one of them read: «Dear Mr. Fry, I hope you don't forget that the key, the only key, to Oscar is that he was and is, first and foremost, Irish.»

Not that it would ever be possible to forget Wilde's Irishness, only that one might underestimate it. Over the years, much emphasis has been placed on Wilde's cosmopolitanism, not least because his individualism emerged as early as adolescence, until he became, to all intents and purposes, a homme du monde. He himself uses this description in one of his letters: «Français de sympathie, je suis Irlandais de race, et les Anglais m'ont condamné à parler le langage de Shakespeare.» Especially when we talk about the public figure he managed to create, Wilde was indeed a celebrity: Oxford provided him access to the English cultural scene and society, and the English society provided him with opportunities, in England and beyond.

In this regard, I found it enlightening to read his biography written by Matthew Sturgis in 2018. In the first two chapters, it dwells on Oscar's childhood spent with his parents in rural Ireland among archaeological remains and Celtic legends.* The belief of Lady Wilde that the Greeks were related to the Celts stimulated young Oscar's enthusiasm for the aesthetics of Greek culture. This is a fundamental aspect of Wilde's upbringing, whose eccentric personality stemmed from nothing more than a sense of nationalism and fascination with Irish folklore.

*Sir William Wilde built and owned houses in Bray and Cong. The family used to spend their holidays at Moytura House, on the shores of Lough Corrib, in Cong, County Mayo. Near Cong there is Moytura Conga, the site of the legendary Battle of Moytura, narrated in the Cath Maige Tuired (or The Battle of Magh Tuireadh) - two saga texts of the Mythological Cycle of Irish mythology.

[talonabraxas]

Born today... Maud Gonne, 21st December, 1866.image; illustration for The coming of Lugh- A Celtic Wonder tale retold by Elle Young 1909. http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/moytura/lugh.html?fbclid=IwAR2Z0xersg2a1ga4a2UkRz4slmnTyOd4MCh_VtrIcYBgSfkES8y6SzbjEl4

[fechin-fiachairecht]

"...and the three sorceresses, Badb, Macha and Morrigan. .. They fixed their pillars in the ground to prevent any one fleeing till the stones should flee."

~Cath Maige Tuired (The First Battle of Moytura)

— Mary Kate Teske

[alchemisland]

fasttime

I spend quick like time enjoyed Balling now, I was unemployed And enjoying life a lot more Now each day is a day of endurance A legendary battle, second Moytura. Mend a brick, whisking wrist spinning thickening up the admix My mixture a fixture of a fiend’s die I’m on a steady diet of champagne and violence Someday it’ll be rice and beans and steel, then another day it’ll be…