Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

—
IrisJi Superstitions. §->
and the appearance of clouds.
Prodig-ics were not always
perceived but by favoured parties. Thus we read in (.ne
poem, " The King alone beheld the terrible sight, and he
foresaw the death of his people." Showers of blood were
thus beheld. Bards at times recognized the sounds of
approaching death on the strings of their harps.
Miracles were of ordinary occurrence, and of varied
character. Tales were told of early saints crossing the
Irish Sea b}^ standing upon their garments laid upon the
water. They are similar to what is noted in Hucher's Lc
Saint Graal, where a number of Christians came to Britain
upon Joseph of Arimathea's shirt, which grew^ in
the number mounting upon it.
size with
Transformations, especially into animal forms, have been
implicitly believed in by the peasantry. Some perceive in
this the system of Totemism. Prof. Rhys was led to
recognize a Dog-totem in
Ireland from the number of dognames.
Conaire, son-of-bird, must not eat bird
; and
Cuchulainn, the hero, named after a dog, was told not to
eat of dog ; he was ruined by breaking the order. " The
descendants of the wolf in Ossory," we are told in IWvidtrs
of Eriji, " could then transform themselves into wolves."
The wolf was the totem of Ossory.
Druids, as tradition relates, could change men into
animals or trees.
Dalyell's Darker Sitperstitions of Scotta}i(l
gives a number of such transforming stories. Thus Minerva
changed Ulysses, for fear of his enemies
:
" She spake, then touched him with her powerful wand
;
The skin shrunk up, and withered at her hand :
A swift old age o'er all his members spread,
A sudden frost was sprinkled on his head."
An Indian
changed himself to a mouse to catch a tair\'
dancer. So many Irish tales relate to transformations,
though more for war strataq;em than love bcguilcments.