Folk Practices

Winter time is always a time for me to ponder on those who have passed. Their missing faces from the celebration table hit pretty hard at this time of year. I don’t mean to be maudlin but it’s a reality we will all encounter at some point. It got me thinking. As this is the darkest time of the year, what those who came before us thought of at this time of year? What were the beliefs of the folks who saw fairies and ancestors as ever-present. Is it animism? Is it fairy faith? This is a thought piece rather…

It’s the time of the year when I start thinking about the more witchier side of life and the name Nicneven and Hecate starts to be whispered of. Wrapped in warm blankets,  looking out across to Fife and beyond as the grey clouds stream past, the apple trees shaking free their russet, yellow and golden leaves and sweet steam from my tea fogging up the window as it warms my hands. I always feel that Scotland is ideally itself in this Autumnal weather, there’s something that seems to suit it, the land stands proud as it loses it’s summer gloss,…

Recordings of a radio show about the Lore of the land, discussing folk lore and tales of the land in and around the UK, including Scotland.

In a earlier post, I discussed the Cailleach and her associated role in Gaelic culture. She represents a power as vast and as wide as the Scottish landscape but a role that is also nurturing  and intimately fruitful as the role of the wise woman (or man) in Scottish folklore. Unlike scottish witchcraft as a catch all term we have phrases that cover a wide variety of roles so called witches used to do. The bean/fear fease (wise women/man) bean ghlúine (midwife) bean chaointe (keening women) and the death midwife are all roles that derive and inspire their performance from…

The Cailleach is a very interesting figure in Gaelic even possibly Celtic myth and beyond.The above video represents some of the Cailleach’s folk stories, the first about the priest who tries to count the bones in her house and dies of old age because he can’t count them all there are that many. The other part of the tale about the encroaching of man signified by the barking dog and her need to renew herself to become young again. In the previous post I discussed some of the background to the Cailleach and some of the folk tales that relate to…

As we move into the winter months I can’t think of a more appropriate force and mythological figure to write about. The Callieach is someone very close to me, and a reason why this website is called as it is. Recently I have noticed with interest posts written about her, some accurate some not so much, so I thought I would offer my humble opinion on this fascinating figure.