L, luis, the mountain ash in the Ogham. Confers ... - Rodney Mackay

More documents

Recommendations

Info

the Men the Maid's so that each of the young Men lights upon a girl, and each of the Girls upon a young man... each having two Valentines; but the man strikes faster to the Valentine to whom he has fallen"These traditions came to America, although the conservative Puritans of New England objected, saying: "No lad shall attend a mark on the fourteenth of February." After a three year sea-voyage, Captain James Kemble kissed his wife in a public place (February 14, 1764) and was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for setting a bad example. LATHEAN ARAIDH, the special days; araidh, traditional, old, superannuated, old-fashioned, antique, ancient. Related to ard, high, lofty. The quarter-days of Liughnasad, Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. While most Europeans celebrated Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day with a great fire, the Celtic people took little notice of the sun when it was highest in the sky, saving their energies until the night of October 31. They recognized two seasons: summer and winter, demarcated by May Eve and Samhainn Eve. These dates are unrelated to astronomical events. There are a few places in central Europe where the year is bisected as was is in ancient northern Scotland. In this cattle-herding places, May Day was celebrated along with Samhainn. Beltane, or May Eve was much like Samhainn its essentials. Both holidays saw mummers making the rounds, extorting cash, or kind, for a day-long feast to take place during the daylight hours There was "first-footing" and a dampening of hearth fires so that they might be rekindled from "new-fire". Of the two feasts, that held on Samhainn Eve was the more important since the Celts dated their year from it rather than from Beltane. On the Isle of Man, where Celtic lore had a long battle against Saxon tales and myths, the first day of November was regarded as New Year's Day through the last century and the first quarter of the current
one. The Manx mummers, dressed in animal skins, used to make the "rounds" on that evening (calculated from the Old Style calendar) shouting, "Tonight is New Year's Eve, Hogunnaa!" The style of divination practised at this time also suggests that they sought new beginnings. Finally, the Celts wherever they were found throughout Europe agreed that the following day marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. "When autumn to pale winter resigns the year", it was thought natural that the "nach maireann", those no longer alive, might wish to assemble at the bonfires of men to seek a little comfort and the good cheer provided by former neighbours. In the parish of Callender the fires blazed down through time until the late eighteenth century, leaving us with some notion of the rites which accompanied them. When the fire was almost extinguished, the ashes used to be raked into a circle and stones were placed near the circumference by the families who had established the flame. Next morning, the stones were carefully examined to see if any had been heat crazed or displaced over-night. If this was the case it was presumed that an individual represented by the stone must be considered fay and incapable of survival for more than twelve months. In certain villages children begged peat from each householder with the exhortation, "G'e us peat t' burn the witches!" When they had collected enough, they added straw, furze and whatever other burnable matter they could find and played the game of jumping the smoke and flames. When the mass was reduced to ashes they scattered them as widely as possible becoming completely unrecognizable in the process. In most places it was considered ill mannered to leave the fire until the last ash was extinguished of its own accord. As the last ember flickered out the master of the fire would shout out, "May the cropped black sow take the hindmost" or more recently "The De'il take the hindmost". It can be suspected that some of these survivals point out former ways of selecting victims for the bone-fire, which
Page 1 and 2: L, luis, the mountain ash in the Og
Page 3 and 4: swore himself to strict secrecy. Th
Page 5 and 6: handled bowls were placed in line;
Page 7 and 8: LAMHRAG, a slut, an awkward person,
Page 9 and 10: Invariably found guilty and sentenc
Page 11 and 12: Maidenhead, pointing out fertility
Page 13 and 14: another to the death. The boy who o
Page 15: morning, coming back to the home wi
Page 19 and 20: volumes survived at the time of Joh
Page 21 and 22: was the most prominent god of the p
Page 23 and 24: LIA FAIL, lia, great stone; vali, c
Page 25 and 26: possibility although the two groupi
Page 27 and 28: LIUSDAIR. a chemist. "Lius is the w
Page 29 and 30: LOCH DEARG, the Red Lake, Ireland;
Page 31 and 32: Abbot of Iona in his Life of Saint
Page 33 and 34: Eng. fly. The festival known as the
Page 35 and 36: Outer Isles, eventually they follow
Page 37 and 38: LUAIREAGAN, a grovelling person, on
Page 39 and 40: hearth-spirit known as the hob or h
Page 41 and 42: as lobarcain and luch, a mouse, Cy.
Page 43 and 44: He was nicknamed Lugh Lamfada, “L
Page 45 and 46: France; Leiden in Holland; Liegnitz
Page 47 and 48: Lugh's creative spear is not descri
Page 49 and 50: H.A. Guerber says that, "In the beg
Page 51 and 52: This former god of the sun was not
Page 53 and 54: the face of the flower facing south

L, luis, the mountain ash in the Ogham. Confers ... - Rodney Mackay

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?