Filed under: Uncategorized

As i commented on a previous post, it is very common to find on Irish and Welsh medieval literature references to courageous warriors and brave dogs respected by their loyalty, and often given as a gift to them. Many argue Celtic hounds to be either the Greyhound, Scottish Deerhound, Irish Wolfhound or even a mix of all these breeds.
A very particular case is the one related to the The Fionn Cycle , also known as the Fenian Cycle–for Fionn‘s warrior band, the Fianna–the “Fionn Cycle” traces the exploits of Fionn mac Cumhaill, the wandering, woodland warrior of Irish myth. They were popular in both Ireland and Scotland, each country producing numerous narratives and poems on the subject.
It is usually assumed that Bran and Sceolan were Irish Wolfhounds, since this breed was used to hunt Wolves and Deer, but they were also used as war dogs to attack men on horseback and knock them from their saddles to be killed by others.
Bran and Sceolan are monstrous dogs, wonby Finn from a kind of Celtic version of the monster Grendel inBEOWULF, who had been stealing babies from a young champion’shouse. Like their mother, they are gifted hunters with a strange mixtureof colours and great savagery in other versions.
Bran is described in Bardic legends as A ferocious, white-breasted, sleek-haunched hound; standing as high as mid-chest of a full grown man; fiery, deep black eyes that seemed to swim in sockets of blood. Sceolan was described as Slightly smaller than the black beast, small headed, having eyes of a dragon, the claws of a wolf, the vigour of a lion; and the venom of a serpent.
Filed under: Uncategorized
In the calendar system we have provided as an example, this moon is typically named the Candle Moon. this name refers to the light of the candles which (in many traditions) serve as a representation of the celebrations of Imbolc, Candlemas, The Festival of Lights, and Brigantia, to name but a few of the many fire festivals celebrated on or around February 2nd to celebrate and encourage the return of the sun and with it, the renewal of hope.
In many other belief systems there are already time-honored traditions for the establishment of a calendar. We have encluded a few examples here for you to consider.
In the Celtic Tree Calendar the name of this moon is Luis (Rowan) which runs from January 21st to February 17th.
The Runic Calendar of Nordic traditions, (which is governed by half months rather than full months), divides this moon of the year by Sigel (sun) from February 12 through February 26th, and Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) from February 27th through March 13th.
The Goddess Calendar names this moon of the year after Bridghit and runs from January 23rd through February 19th.
The American Backwoods Calendar refers to this moon of the year as the Snow Moon and is determined by whichever full moon falls in February.
This is a time for awakening. This is the time when the slow energy of the winter quickens and our thoughts turn towards beginnings… The beginning of the thaw… the beginning of a new cycle of growth… the beginning of that which is to come after the prolonged rest of the winter darkness.
In history this moon brings the fever of love and is named after the Roman goddess Juno Februa, patroness of the passion of love. To this day February 14th is celebrated as a day of love and dedication throughout much of the world.
Whether you know this as the Sap Moon, Rowan Moon, Candle Moon, or the Worm Moon, you know the best use of this newly awakened energy is purification and preparation for the rebirth promised in the noticeable lengthening of the days. However this moon is named, it speaks to the rituals of purification and preparation for the return of the sun.
Today these rituals of purification and preparation are reflected in traditions of “Spring cleaning” the self denial of the lenten season, and even the lighthearted prognostication of “groundhog day”, all of which are aimed at planning for future growth and fertility through present preparation.
So, with all that information to guide you, think of this moon as the perfect opportunity to prepare the path you would like to follow for the rest of your own personal year and observe it with the things that represent a dedication, (or a re-dedication), to your chosen path.
If you select a personal name for this moon, this name too, should correspond to whatever reflects re-dedication to your chosen path for you.
This is a time for Awakening
The beginning of a new cycle of growth…
The beginning of that-which-is-to-come after the prolonged rest of the winter darkness.
This is what I’m saying SweetPea… it’s like the whole universe has just yawned and stretched and rubbed her eyes to a brand new morning. What do you usually do with a morning? Wake up, wash up, and wind up to start the whole rest of the day.
Compassion?…
Passion?…
Joy?
Whatever it is… roust it out and splash a little cold water on it. There is no better time than the fresh start of a whole new cycle to re-dedicate yourself to those things that are of the utmost importance to you… so…
You sure?
Good!
As I already commented on previous posts under the Druidry label, Celts have always had a special devotion for Nature, particularly as an expression or manifestation of the deity and divinity expressed with in Nature, not as Nature itself.
This connection is deepened through reverence, ritual and meditation. A very personal experience indeed, spirit reaching to spirit. Through these religious practices we know that nature is sacred, we know that it is an expression of the divine, worthy of reverence.
Perhaps the most important object in nature to the early Celts as to most primitive folk was the moon. The phases of the moon were apparent before men observed the solstices and equinoxes, and they formed an easy method of measuring time. The Celtic year was at first lunar–Pliny speaks of the Celtic method of counting the beginning of months and years by the moon–and night was supposed to precede day
But how about the sun? Possibly sun festivals took the place of those of the moon
Sun-worship may have superseded other and grosser forms of Nature worship.
Professor Rhys refers to the tendency of the savage “to endow the sun, moon, the sky, or any feature of the physical world admitting of being readily acknowledged with a soul and body, with parts and passions, like their own.”
In all ages, in all climes, and in all nations, the Sun, under various names and symbols, was regarded as the Creator and as sustainer of all things.
A Scotch dance, the Reel, still keeps up the memory of the old Celtic circular dance. There is, also, the Deisol, or practice of turning sun-ways, to bless the sun. This was from right to left, as with Dancing Dervishes now, or the old Bacchic dance from east to west. Plautus wrote, “When you worship the gods, do it turning to the right hand.” Poseidonius the Stoic, referring to the Celts, said, “At their feasts, the servant carries round the wine from right to left. Thus they worship their gods, turning to the right.” The Highland mother, with a choking child, cries out, “Deas-iul! the way of the South.” A Dîsul Sunday is still kept up in Brittany.
A stone was dug up in the road from Glasgow to Edinburgh, on which was an inscription to Grannius, the Latin form of grian, the sun. Enclosures in the Highlands were called Grianan, the house of the sun. On Harris Island is a stone circle, with a stone in the centre, known as Clack-na-Greine, the stone of the sun. At Elgin, the bride had to lead her husband to the church following the sun’s course.
But did the Irish indulge in this form of idolatry?
Some writers, zealous for the honour of their countrymen, have denied the impeachment. Even the learned O’Curry was of that school, declaring–“There is no ground whatever for imputing to them human sacrifice–none whatever for believing that the early people of Erinn adored the sun, moon, or stars, nor that they worshipped fire.”
Morien, the modern and enthusiastic Welsh Bard, is equally desirous to remove from his sires the reproach of being sun-worshippers “One of the Welsh names of the sun,” he remarks, “proves that they believed in a personal God, and that they believed He dwelt in the sun That name of the sun is Huan, the abode of Hu” (the Deity) Elsewhere he writes, “There was no such a being as a Sun-God in the religious systems of the Druids. They named the sun the House of God (Huan-Annedd Hu).” Again, “The Gwyddorr (High Priest), was emblematical of the Spirit of God in the sun. The Gwyddon was clad in robe of virgin white, symbolizing light and holiness.
His twelve disciples, representing the twelve constellations, formed the earthly zodiac. They too were robed in white.” Morien is the ablest living advocate of Welsh Druidism, but his views on that subject are somewhat governed by his extensive reading, his love of symbolism, and his poetic temperament.
The Milligans, in their learned story of the Irish under the Druids, say, “They worshipped the sun as their principal Deity, and the moon as their second Deity, like the Phœnicians.”
Griann, Greine, Grianan, Greienham, have relations to the sun. The hill Grianan Calry is a sunny spot. The word Grange is from Griann. There is a Grianoir in Wexford Bay. The Grange, near Drogheda, is a huge cone of stones, piled in honour of the sun. Greane, of Ossory, was formerly Grian Airbh. As Graine, the word occurs in a feminine form. The beautiful story of Diarmuid, or Dermot, and Graine is clearly a solar myth The runaway pair were pursued by the irate husband, Finn Mac Coul, for a whole year, the lovers changing their resting-place every night. One bard sings of “Diarmuid with a fiery face” The last Danaan sovereign was Mac Grene The, cromlech on a hill of Kilkenny is known as the Sleigh Grian, hill of the sun. The women’s quarter of that dwelling, was the Grianan, so-called from its brightness.
Bel is also the sun in Irish, as in eastern lands. Beli was their god of fire Bel-ain were wells sacred to the sun. The Irish vernal equinox was Aiche Baal tinne the night of Baal’s fire. The sun’s circuit was Bel-ain, or Bel’s ring. A cycle of the sun, or an anniversary, was Aonach (pro. Enoch); and it is singular that we are told that the days of Enoch were 365 years.
Hecateus mentions the Hyperboreans of an island north of Gaul worshipping the sun. Diodorus speaks of the island’s idolatry, saying, “The citizens are given up to music, harping, and chanting in honour of the sun.” In Walker’s Bards, we read of the Feast of Samhuin, or the moon, in the temple of Tiachta. “The moon,” says Monier Williams, the great Vedas authority, “is but a form of the sun.”
The circular dance in honour of the sun was derived from the East. Lucian says “it consisted of a dance imitating this god” (the sun). The priests of Baal indulged in it. A Druid song has this account–“Ruddy was the sea-beach while the circular revolution was performed by the attendants, and the white bands in graceful extravagance.”
Fosbroke alludes to the revolving, with the sun, as a superstition. “At Inismore, or Church Island, in Sligo, in a rock near the door of the church, is a cavity, called Our Lady’s Bed, into which pregnant women going, and turning thrice round, with the repetition of certain prayers, fancy that they would then not die in child-birth.”
A Scotch writer observes–“The hearty Celts of Ireland say, ‘The top of the morning to you.’ Are these expressions to be regarded as remnants of Dawn-worship? It may be so, for many similar traces of the worship of the sun and moon, as givers of good fortune, are still to be found.”
An Ode to the Sun in the “Leabhar breac” (“The Speckled Book”) has been thus rendered by an Erse authority:–“Anticipate, my lays, O Sun! thou mighty Lord of the seven heavens–mighty governor of the heaven–sole and general God of man–thou gracious, just, and supreme King–whose bright image constantly forces itself on my attention. To whom heroes pray in perils of war–all the world praise and adore thee. For thou art the only glorious and sovereign object of universal love, praise, and adoration.”
Crowe, who observes, “The sun was a chief deity with us as well as the Greeks,”–adds, “I have long thought that the great moat of Granard was the site of a temple to the sun.”
The Rev. F. Leman, in 1811, spoke of an inscription upon a quartzose stone, at Tory Hill, Kilkenny, in old Irish characters, which he read Sleigh-Grian, hill of the sun. “Within view of this hill,” said he, “towards the west, on the borders of Tipperary, rises the more elevated mountain of Sleigh-na-man, which, from its name, was probably consecrated to the moon.”
When Martin was in the Hebrides, he came across observances reminding him of solar worship. “In the Island of Rona,” said he, “off Ness, one of the natives needs express his high esteem for my person, by making a turn round about me, sun-ways, and at the same time blessing me, and wishing me all happiness.” Again–“When they get into the Island (Flannan) all of them uncover their heads, and make a turn sun-ways round, thanking God for their safety.” The Rev. Mac Queen mentions that every village in Skye had a rude stone, called Grugach, or fair-haired, which represented the sun; and he declares that milk libations were poured into Gruaich stones.
Travellers have written of Hebridean boats, going out to sea, having their heads rowed sun-ways at first for fear of ill-luck on the voyage. Quite recently one observed the same thing done by Aberdeen fishermen, who objected to turn their boat against the sun.
Related Sources:
http://druidnetwork.org/beliefs/articles/nature
The Religion of the Ancient CeltsBy J. A. MacCulloch [1911]
Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick [1894]
Perhaps the most important object in nature to the early Celts as to most primitive folk was the moon. The phases of the moon were apparent before men observed the solstices and equinoxes, and they formed an easy method of measuring time. The Celtic year was at first lunar–Pliny speaks of the Celtic method of counting the beginning of months and years by the moon–and night was supposed to precede day
But how about the sun? Possibly sun festivals took the place of those of the moon
http://druidnetwork.org/beliefs/articles/nature
The Religion of the Ancient CeltsBy J. A. MacCulloch [1911]
Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick [1894]
Filed under: Celtic Poems
O grwyn balaod ban wraith.
‘Chwid, chwid, chwidogaith!’
Gochanwn, gochenyn wythgaith.
Pan elai dy dad di i helia,
Llath ar ei ysgwydd, llory yn ei law,
Ef gelwi gwn gogyhwg:
‘Giff, Gaff; daly, daly, dwg, dwg!’
Ef lleddi bysg yng nghorwg
Mal ban lladd llew llywiwg.
Pan elai dy dad di i fynydd
Dyddygai ef pen i wrch, pen gwythwch, pen hydd,
Pen grugiar fraith o fynydd,
Pen pysg o Rhaeadr Derwennydd.
O’r sawl yd gyrhaeddai dy dad di â’i gigwain,
O wythwch a llewyn a llynain,
Nid angai oll ni fai oradain.
It was from marten’s skins that I made it.
‘Wheed, wheed, a whistling!’
I would sing, eight slaves sang.
When thy father went a-hunting,
A spear on his shoulder, a club in his hand,
He would call the nimble hounds,
‘Giff, Gaff; catch, catch, fetch, fetch!’
He would kill a fish in his coracle
As a lion kills its prey.
When thy father went to the mountain
He would bring back a roe-buck, a wild boar, a stag,
A speckled grouse from the mountain,
A fish from Rhaeadr Derwennydd.
Of all those that thy father reached with his lance,
Wild boar and lynx and fox,
None escaped which was not winged.
- Page from the Book of Aneirin
- About 1400 years ago, a Cumbrian mother sang a song to her new baby, a boy called Dinogad.
Notes
- See p117 of A. Conran’s Welsh Verse (1986). As copyright applies to translation, I’m struggling to find a version that I can produce in full for you. Tony Conran’s is the most obviously poetic, but a more scholarly translation can be found in AOH Jarman’s Aneirin: Y Gododdin (Llandysul: Gomer Press), pp68-9.
- See discussions in John Koch, The Gododdin on Aneirin: Text and Context from Dark Age North Britain (1997). Kenneth Jackson, Language and history in early Britain (1953), AOH Jarman, Aneirin: Y Gododdin (1988).
- R. Geraint Gruffydd (1990), ‘Where was Rhaeadr Derwennydd (Canu Aneirin, Line 1114)?‘, pp 261-6 in ATE Matonis and Daniel F Melia (eds), Celtic Language, Celtic Culture: a Festschrift for Eric P Hamp (Van Nuys, Californita: Ford & Bailie).
- John Koch, The Gododdin on Aneirin: Text and Context from Dark Age North Britain (1997).

There is a large amount of legends regarding the origin of lakes in several celtic countries, and in some of them, we can find the folk type of a fairy dweller, maybe remnant believes on ancient deities, or rather the Goddess herself. Welsh lore attracts me a lot on this subject, I revisit once again the character of the Gwragedd Annwn (sing: Gwraig) the Welsh lake fairies, (literally, wives of the lower world, or hell) , which pleases me most. Click here for my previous related post.
Anhawdd ein dala;
‘Twill be hard to catch us;
Not for thee is the fairy’s bed!
“British Goblins – Welsh Folklore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions” by Wirt Sikes – [1880]