#The book of Celtic Wisdom

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

"The Ice Cave" 1950 by Georgia O'Keefe. : Guillaume Gris

* * *

“You are so knitted into a day. You are within it; the day is as close as your skin. It is around your eyes; it is inside your mind. The day moves you, often it can weigh you down; or again it can raise you up. Yet the amazing fact is: this day vanishes. When you look behind you, you do not see your past standing there in a series of day shapes. You cannot wander back through the gallery of your past. Your days have disappeared silently and for ever. Your future time has not arrived yet. The only ground of time is the present moment.”

- John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara, The Book of Celtic Wisdom

[a-h-mad-hish]

“One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.”

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, by John O'Donohue

[mountain-sage]

“Love is the threshold where divine and human presence ebb and flow into each other.”

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

O'Donohue, John

[eyeoftheheart]

Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven, The Empyrean by Gustave Doré

“There is a lovely idea in the Celtic tradition that if you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times. In the kingdom of love there is no competition; there is no possessiveness or control. The more love you give away, the more love you will have. One remembers here Dante’s notion* that the secret rhythm of the universe is the rhythm of love, which moves the stars and the planets. Love is the source, center, and destiny of experience.”

~ Anam Cara: A Book Of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue

*“L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. The love that moves the sun and the other stars.”

~ Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto XXXIII, 1320.

(This line appears at the very end of Dante’s Divine Comedy, where Beatrice reveals to Dante the ultimate source of cosmic order and divine will: love. In Dante’s cosmology, this divine love is responsible for the motion of the heavens, symbolizing the ultimate force that governs the universe.)

[carlmccolman]

Whether your spirituality is Pagan, or Christian, or a little bit of each (which makes you very Celtic indeed): Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! #books #bookstagram #wisdom #Celtic #spirituality (at Clarkston, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp5GhJiOTcX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[alchemicalcodes]

Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom. John O'Donohue.

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

Celtic beliefs in trees (28)

Ph for Phagos (Beech) - all year around, the Celtic Tree Calendar (Ref)

Stars: Mercury, Saturn; Gender: female; Element: air, earth; Patrons: Ogma, Thoth, Hermes, Mercurius, Odin, Kronos; Symbols: learning + knowledge, wisdom + understanding, prosperity

The beech tree is a tree of learning, a symbol of prosperity and success. When walking through a beech forest, the large trees with the smooth, silver-grey bark and the curves created by the trunk and branches are like a living elephant or rhinoceros, giving you a sense of relief all year round.

In spring, the beech forests are bright and breezy, and the bluebells are in full bloom, the contrast between the dazzling young leaf colours and the blue announces that ‘spring has come’. In spring, the beech spreads soft, translucent, golden-green leaves with a fan-like shape, and in summer these leaves eventually become hard and dark green in colour, changing to yellow, reddish brown or golden in autumn. It is an essential tree for the forest.

The beech tree symbolises the written word, human innate wisdom and ancient knowledge. In olden times, writing was written on beech wood, and the first books were made by binding thinly cut beech wood. Before that, they were scrolls.

The beech tree is associated with deities of wisdom, knowledge and intelligence, such as Odin in Norse mythology, who brought us the runes, or the inventor of the Ogham script; the great warrior of the Tuatha Dé Danann; the monstrous strength of the eighty oxen; and the Celtic god, the sun-faced Ogma. And because of its connection with the creation of the secret code alphabet, it is also a symbol of divination and prophecy.

ケルト人の樹木の信仰 (28)

Ph は Phagos (ﾌﾞﾅ) - 1年中、ケルトの木の暦（参照）

星: 水星、土星; 性: 女性; 要素: 空気、土; 守護神: オグマ、トト、ヘルメス、メルクリウス、オーディン、クロノス; シンボル: 学習＋知識、知恵＋理解、繁栄

ブナの木は、学びの木、繁栄と成功の象徴でもある。ブナの森を歩くとき、その大木は銀灰色のした滑らかな樹皮、幹や枝がつくる曲線はまるで生きた象か犀のようで、一年中安堵感を与えてくれる木だ。

春、ブナの林の中は明るく風もよく通り、ブルーベルが一面に咲き誇り、眩い若葉色とブルーのコントラストに「春が来た」ことを知らせてくれる。春になると、ブナは半透明の柔らかい金緑色の葉を扇状に広げ、やがて夏にはこの葉が硬くなり濃い緑色になり、秋には黄色、赤褐色、金色へと変化していく。森になくてはならない木だ。

ブナの木は書かれた文字、人間が生まれつき備えている知恵、古代の知識を象徴している。ブナの木は、ルーン文字をもたらした、北欧神話のオーディンや、オガム文字を発明し、トゥアサ・デー・ダナンの偉大な戦士で八十頭の牛にも勝る怪力の持ち主、ケルトの神である太陽の顔を持つオグマなど、知恵、知識、知力をつかさどる神々と関連している。そして秘密の暗号アルファベットの創造と関係があることから、占いや予言の象徴ともなっている。

[innervoiceartblog]

Once the soul awakens, the search begins and you can never go back. From then on, you are inflamed with a special longing that will never again let you linger in the lowlands of complacency and partial fulfillment.

― John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

[undinesea]

If you look at a page of poetry, the slim word shapes are couched in the empty whiteness of the page. The page is a place of silence where the contour of the word is edged and the expression is heightened in an intimate way.

John O’Donohue, “Taste and Speech,” from Anam Ċara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

[esoteric-chaos]

Ferns - The Mundane and Magical 101

Working with my local land more has taught me to source local plants and connect with them. By properly taking care of it and working the land. That also means connecting with local plant spirits.

The Fern is one of those species of plants. This wonderful herb is abundant, protective and hold much wisdom for they are very old. With some dating back to 360 million years (or so they say). It is known some species can live up to a hundred years.

They are full of wisdom, you might just learn something from them if you actively work with them as a spirit.

Scientific Name:

Family: Pteridophyte

Parts used: For species of Fern it varies

Planet: Mercury

Element: Air

CAUTIONS: ALWAYS check with your local herbalist and doctor before consuming any medicinal medicine as they will be able to direct you on proper dosages. Some medications can also interact and so can some conditions with certain herbs.

IMPORTANT: Some Ferns are harmful (like the Pteridium genus aka Bracken Fern) to the airways and can let off spores that can harm or cause death in immunocompromised people. Always be wary of Fern species around pets as well. Source and research responsibly.

Uses in Herbalism and Healing:

Certain Fern species are used to treat different ailments. Ex. Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) used for arthritis while Maidenhair Speenwort (Asplenium tricomanes) is used for coughs.

Always check which fern species is used as some can counteract and aren't always used for the same ailment.

On a fun note, Fiddlehead Ferns are used from a culinary standpoint and are quite delicious when prepared correctly.

Uses in Magic:

When placed in the home, it is said to hold protective properties, and when planted at the doorstep.

Dried Fern, when burned, carries exorcism properties.

Some folklore speaks that when Fern is burned outside, it causes rainfall.

When carried or worn, Fern has the power to guide to treasure.

Some Celtic and Irish legends speak of Ferns being used in from healing to magic.

A Slavic folk tale speaks of a flower on a fern that blooms for a very short time on the eve of the summer solstice. It is said it brings fortune to the person who finds it. In some tales, it allows humans to understand animals talking. It is guarded by malevolent entities. Though the one who succeeds in gathering it can receive earthly riches, that attainment has always brought unlucky energy to the poor soul, so some leave it alone.

Recipes:

A very yummy recipe using Fiddlehead ferns. Check it out!

Sources and extra reading material:

Please remember while I provide sources, some content is my own UPG from working for years intuitively with this herbal ally. What you do not see from my sources assume it is my UPG and take what information you will. Always cross-reference and research yourself. All medical knowledge will be sourced.

Medical Links:

Cao, H., Chai, T., Wang, X., B. Morais-Braga, M. F., Yang, H., Wong, C., Wang, R., Yao, H., Cao, J., Cornara, L., Burlando, B., Wang, Y., Xiao, J., & M. Coutinho, H. D. (2017). Phytochemicals from fern species: Potential for medicine applications. Phytochemistry Reviews, 16(3), 379-440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-016-9488-7

Spiritual:

Books:

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham

Links:

Want to check out my other posts? Here’s the Masterpost

[pigeonflavouredcake]

My Grimoire Research Library

this is a list of my major resource I've referenced/am currently referencing in my big grimoire project. For books I'll be linking the Goodreads page, for pdfs, websites and videos i'll link them directly.

There are plenty of generalised practitioner resources that can work for everyone but as I have Irish ancestry and worship Hellenic deities quite a few of my resources are centred around Celtic Ireland, ancient Greece and the Olympic mythos. If you follow other sects of paganism you are more than welcome to reblog with your own list of resources.

Parts of my grimoire discuss topics of new age spiritualism, dangerous conspiracy theories, and bigotry in witchcraft so some resources in this list focus on that.

Books

Apollodorus - The Library of Greek Mythology

Astrea Taylor - Intuitive Witchcraft

Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham - Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands and Forests

John Ferguson - Among The Gods: An Archaeological Exploration of Ancient Greek Religion

Katharine Briggs - The Fairies in Tradition and Literature

Kevin Danaher - The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs

Laura O'Brien - Fairy Faith in Ireland

Lindsey C. Watson - Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome

Nicholas Culpeper - Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Plutarch - The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives

R.B. Parkinson - A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Around the World

Rachel Patterson - Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness

Raleigh Briggs - Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills

Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass

Ronald Hutton - The Witch: A History of Fear in Ancient Times

Rosemary Ellen Guiley - The Encyclopaedia of Witches and Witchcraft

Thomas N. Mitchell - Athens: A History of the World's First Democracy

Walter Stephens - Demon Lovers: Witchcraft S3x and the Crisis of Belief

Yvonne P. Chireau - Black Magic: Religion and The African American Conjuring Tradition

PDFs

Anti Defamation League - Hate on Display: Hate Symbols Database

Brandy Williams - White Light, Black Magic: Racism in Esoteric Thought

Cambridge SU Women’s Campaign - How to Spot TERF Ideology 2.0.

Blogs and Websites

Anti Defamation League

B. Ricardo Brown - Until Darwin: Science and the Origins of Race

Dr. S. Deacon Ritterbush - Dr Beachcomb

Folklore Thursday

Freedom of Mind Resource Centre - Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control

Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Royal Horticultural Society

The Duchas Project -National Folklore Collection

Vivienne Mackie - Vivscelticconnections

YouTube Videos

ContraPoints - Gender Critical

Emma Thorne Videos - Christian Fundie Says Halloween is SATANIC!

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - The Source Of All Conspiracies: A 1902 Document Called "The Protocols"

The Belief it or Not Podcast - Ep. 40 Satanic Panic, Ep 92. Wicca

Wendigoon - The Conspiracy Theory Iceberg

Other videos I haven't referenced but you may still want to check out

Atun-Shei Films - Ancient Aryans: The History of Crackpot N@zi Archaeology

Belief It Or Not - Ep. 90 - Logical Fallacies

Dragon Talisman - Tarot Documentary (A re-upload of the 1997 documentary Strictly Supernatural: Tarot and Astrology)

Lindsay Ellis - Tracing the Roots of Pop Culture Transphobia

Overly Sarcastic Productions - Miscellaneous Myths Playlist

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - SATANIC PANIC! 90s Video Slanders Satanists | Pagan Invasion Saga | Part 1

ReignBot - How Ouija Boards Became "Evil" | Obscura Archive Ep. 2

Ryan Beard - Demi Lovato Promoted a R4cist Lizard Cult

Super Eyepatch Wolf - The Bizarre World of Fake Psychics, Faith Healers and Mediums

Weird Reads with Emily Louise -The Infamous Hoaxes Iceberg Playlist

Wendigoon - The True Stories of the Warren Hauntings: The Conjuring, Annabelle, Amityville, and Other Encounters

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1963.  Herb Slodounik

[Historyinpictures]

* * * *

“You are so knitted into a day. You are within it; the day is as close as your skin. It is around your eyes; it is inside your mind. The day moves you, often it can weigh you down; or again it can raise you up. Yet the amazing fact is: this day vanishes. When you look behind you, you do not see your past standing there in a series of day shapes. You cannot wander back through the gallery of your past. Your days have disappeared silently and for ever. Your future time has not arrived yet. The only ground of time is the present moment.” - John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara, The Book of Celtic Wisdom

[a-h-mad-hish]

“Unfinished Poem I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, John O'Donohue

[mountain-sage]

Once the soul awakens, the search begins and you can never go back. From then on, you are inflamed with a special longing that will never again let you linger in the lowlands of complacency and partial fulfillment.

John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

[blackcrowing]

Blackcrowing's Master Reading List

I have created a dropbox with pdfs I have gathered over the years, I have done my best to only allow access to documents which I found openly available through sites like JSTOR, Archive.org, or other educational resources with papers available for download.

That being said I ALSO recommend (I obviously have not read all of these but they are either in my library or I intend to add them)

📚 Celtic/Irish Pagan Books

The Morrighan: Meeting the Great Queens, Morgan Daimler

Raven Goddess: Going Deeper with the Morríghan, Morgan Daimler

Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism, Morgan Daimler

Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom, Erynn Rowan Laurie

Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld: Myths, Orgins, Sovereignty and Liminality, Sharon Paice MacLeod

Celtic Myth and Religion, Sharon Paice MacLeod

A Guide to Ogam Divination, Marissa Hegarty (I'm leaving this on my list because I want to support independent authors. However, if you have already read Weaving Word Wisdom this book is unlikely to further enhance your understanding of ogam in a divination capacity)

The Book of the Great Queen, Morpheus Ravenna

Litany of The Morrígna, Morpheus Ravenna

Celtic Visions, Caitlín Matthews

Harp, Club & Calderon, Edited by Lora O'Brien and Morpheus Ravenna

Celtic Cosmology: Perspectives from Ireland and Scotland, Edited by Jacqueline Borsje and others

Polytheistic Monasticism: Voices from Pagan Cloisters, Edited by Janet Munin

📚 Celtic/Irish Academic Books

Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200, Dáibhí Ó Cróinín

The Sacred Isle, Dáithi Ó hÓgáin

The Ancient Celts, Berry Cunliffe

The Celtic World, Berry Cunliffe

Irish Kingship and Seccession, Bart Jaski

Early Irish Farming, Fergus Kelly

Studies in Irish Mythology, Grigory Bondarnko

Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, John Waddell

Archeology and Celtic Myth, John Waddell

Understanding the Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Past, Edited by Katja Ritari and Alexandria Bergholm

A Guide to Ogam, Damian McManus

Cesar's Druids: an Ancient Priesthood, Miranda Aldhouse Green

Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Miranda Aldhouse Green

The Gods of the Celts, Miranda Green

The Celtic World, Edited by Miranda J Green

Myth and History in Celtic and Scandinavian Tradition, Edited by Emily Lyle

Ancient Irish Tales, Edited by Tom P Cross and Clark Haris Slover

Cattle Lords and Clansmen, Nerys Patterson

Celtic Heritage, Alwyn and Brinley Rees

Ireland's Immortals, Mark Williams

The Origins of the Irish, J. P. Mallory

In Search of the Irish Dreamtime, J. P. Mallory

The Táin, Thomas Kinsella translation

The Sutton Hoo Sceptre and the Roots of Celtic Kingship Theory, Michael J. Enright

Celtic Warfare, Giola Canestrelli

Irish Customs and Beliefs, Kevin Danaher

Pagan Celtic Ireland, Barry Raftery

Cult of the Sacred Center, Proinsais Mac Cana

Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past, Anthony Murphy

Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1100, Aidan O'Sullivan and others

The Festival of Lughnasa, Máire MacNeill

Curse of Ireland, Cecily Gillgan

📚 Indo-European Books (Mostly Academic and linguistic)

Dictionary of Indo-European Concepts and Society, Emily Benveniste

A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principle Indo-European Languages, Carl Darling Buck

The Horse, the Wheel and Language, David W. Anthony

Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Robert S.P. Beekes

In Search of the Indo-Europeans, J.P. Mallory

Indo-European Mythology and Religion, Alexander Jacob

Some of these books had low print runs and therefore can be difficult to find and very expensive... SOME of those books can be found online with the help of friends... 🏴‍☠️

library genesis might be a great place to start... hint hint...

My kofi

[fiendishlywitchy]

Dianic/ Feminist/Goddess reads I've completed and recommend:

Ruth Barret's Women's rites, Women's mysteries. Generally teaches you how to approach priestess work and I will get it when embarking in my priestess journey in a physical copy. Moved me to tears at some points and it may trigger some who have mother issues.

Rebirth of the Goddess, Carol Christ. Actually moved me to tears in many parts and generally talks about the birth of the Goddess movement

The Living Goddess, Marija Gimbutas. Has inspired many sketches due to the lovely collection of Goddess work it has and has deeply soothed me

Keeping her Keys, Cyndi Brannen, first introduction to Hekate and her movement.

Hekate, Her sacred fires, Sorita D'Este. The introduction is a splendid recap of The Goddess's history and a rough timeline of all of her recorded existence

The Witch's path by Thorn Mooney winch i made a more in depth review here: (( As a side note it's gender friendly but none the less a useful manual))

Goddess in Everywoman by Jean Shinoda Bolen: An introduction of how Goddesses may appear on a woman's life as Archetypes. Leans on Jungian Analysis. Is an interesting way of looking at your own personal development. I've read this in a rather long time ago and debated since then including or not but it is female centered and uses the Goddess and her imagery, thus I'll allow it

Dance of The Dissident daughter By Sue Monk. Like Lisa Lister's The Witch it's the memoir of a woman coming into the Goddess. Generally Powerful read if a woman needs to unravel growing up in the bowels of patriarchal thought. Does lean on annoying female-male duality that I dislike but doesn't take away from how resonant it is none the less.

A Deusa do Jardim das Hesperides By Luiza Frazão, a goddess oriented book in Portuguese focusing on the Goddess in this specific part of the world! A wonderful book detailing the tradition that The Authoress created from the celtic inspired tradition of Avalon.

Witch: Unleashed, Untamed, Unapologetic by Lisa Lister. Part Time Memoir, Part Time actual spell book, Lisa Lister's Witch is a treat to go through. It's rather casual in its tone but all the same relies a lot of feminine wisdom with an unabashed love for the female body and exclusion of men and Trans Id men from the discussion as it should. Slight male fangirling and "Patriarchy hurts man too you guyz", so be forewarned. Still an enjoyable book to pick up!

I am in the process of reading more and definetly have more on my pile to read but this one's I have completed with most certainty and can recommend to people interested in Goddess specific things. Many of this can be found in Pdfs on Z-library if accessed through a tor browser or the brand new Anna's Archive. If curious about any books I can attempt to provide a pdf.

Coming soon: A deeper look into female spirituality @spiraldancer

~Selenita Signs out.