📖 Ancient Restoration
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In Celtic story-telling tradition, men who righted the standing stone were admitted into the warrior ascendancy on completion of the feat.
📖 Ancient Restoration
In Celtic story-telling tradition, men who righted the standing stone were admitted into the warrior ascendancy on completion of the feat.
The megalithic stone is associated with a 'test of sovereignty'. In it Arthur has to retrieve the sword. The Lia Fáil at Tara is king-namer.
📖 Ancient Restoration
The megalithic stone is associated with a 'test of sovereignty'. In it Arthur has to retrieve the sword. The Lia Fáil at Tara is king-namer.
In the Celtic cycles ancient stones can be inhabited by mysterious sentinels. Mastering this entity affirms the hero's truth of purpose.
📖 Ancient Restoration
In the Celtic cycles ancient stones can be inhabited by mysterious sentinels. Mastering this entity affirms the hero's truth of purpose.
The Kilnasaggart Pillar Stone in Co Armagh - Ireland's oldest Christian stone monument, dated to c. 700 AD.
Was it for this they died?
Their children called oppressors,
Their graves defaced,
Their culture derided.
Was it for this they died?
To be lectured that our suffering was less,
From the mouths of those who harmed us,
Due to our skin.
Was it for this they died?
To not rid us of one planter,
But to import another,
Who see no connection to us.
Was it for this they died?
Our success in overcoming taken for supremacy,
Our charity smothered by a sea of envy,
The fruits they shielded for us taken again by force.
Was it for this they died?
- Íomhar an t-Ulchabhán
Their children called oppressors,
Their graves defaced,
Their culture derided.
Was it for this they died?
To be lectured that our suffering was less,
From the mouths of those who harmed us,
Due to our skin.
Was it for this they died?
To not rid us of one planter,
But to import another,
Who see no connection to us.
Was it for this they died?
Our success in overcoming taken for supremacy,
Our charity smothered by a sea of envy,
The fruits they shielded for us taken again by force.
Was it for this they died?
- Íomhar an t-Ulchabhán
📖 Ancient Restoration
The Five Graces of Fortitude, Faith, Charity, Hope and Chastity - Margaret Henry's Memorial, Kylemore Abbey, Galway.
Tully Mountain in the distance at beautiful Connemara, County Galway.
📖 Ancient Restoration
The earliest record of football in Ireland is from the Statute of Galway in 1527, which outlawed hurling but allowed the playing of football ('caid') to continue. Modern Gaelic football originates from this medieval game, with standard rules adopted by the…
The traditional game of Caid is similar to Gaelic football & was esp. popular in County Kerry. 'Caid' refers to the ball, made of animal skin / bladder. Played in the winter months, with tripping, pushing & wrestling employed to bring the ball 'home' to the winner's parish.
📖 Ancient Restoration
The traditional game of Caid is similar to Gaelic football & was esp. popular in County Kerry. 'Caid' refers to the ball, made of animal skin / bladder. Played in the winter months, with tripping, pushing & wrestling employed to bring the ball 'home' to the…
The Sam Maguire Cup, the prize of the All-Ireland Football Championship, was inspired by the 8th century masterpiece the Ardagh Chalice.
📖 Ancient Restoration
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The idea of an 'honourable draw' in sport/combat is well attested in ancient Europe. In Greece a referee would share the prize between wrestlers of equal skill; in Irish myth the Tuatha Dé returned Connacht to the heavily defeated Firbolg. Ties turn foes into friends.
📖 Ancient Restoration
In the Irish tale 'The Priest's Soul', a man thinks himself so clever he teaches there’s no Heaven, Purgatory, Hell and even that men have no souls. Upon his death a soul leaves his body and that was the first butterfly ever seen in Ireland. 🌷🦋
"The significance of the butterfly in Irish folklore attributes it as the soul and thus it has the ability to cross to the Otherworld. It is also a symbol of transformation and creation." - Butterflies in Irish Folklore (1994) by A. Bonach
📖 Ancient Restoration
"The significance of the butterfly in Irish folklore attributes it as the soul and thus it has the ability to cross to the Otherworld. It is also a symbol of transformation and creation." - Butterflies in Irish Folklore (1994) by A. Bonach
In Scottish Gaelic a butterfly is 'dealan dé', meaning thunderbolt of God 🌩️🦋
(Gormán Coiteann - Common Blue)
(Gormán Coiteann - Common Blue)
📖 Ancient Restoration
In Scottish Gaelic a butterfly is 'dealan dé', meaning thunderbolt of God 🌩️🦋 (Gormán Coiteann - Common Blue)
In Irish myth the butterfly is related to love, rebirth, & the ancestors. In the Wooing of Étaín an enchantress turns love-rival Étaín into a pink butterfly. After 14 years of storms, she flies into the cup of a noblewoman; she is drunk, gestated & reborn to unite with her lover.
📖 Ancient Restoration
In Irish myth the butterfly is related to love, rebirth, & the ancestors. In the Wooing of Étaín an enchantress turns love-rival Étaín into a pink butterfly. After 14 years of storms, she flies into the cup of a noblewoman; she is drunk, gestated & reborn…
In Irish folklore the spider was helped in its nocturnal weaving by fairy spirits. During the day these fairies would travel to the nearest woman's spinning-wheel, bringing her work ill or luck that day.
📖 Ancient Restoration
In Irish folklore the spider was helped in its nocturnal weaving by fairy spirits. During the day these fairies would travel to the nearest woman's spinning-wheel, bringing her work ill or luck that day.
There’s a legend about Robert the Bruce and a spider:
In 1306, after suffering defeat, Bruce hid in a cave on Rathlin Island. While there he watched a spider struggling to build its web. He uttered: “If at first you don’t succeed, try & try again”. He won Scottish Independence.
In 1306, after suffering defeat, Bruce hid in a cave on Rathlin Island. While there he watched a spider struggling to build its web. He uttered: “If at first you don’t succeed, try & try again”. He won Scottish Independence.
📖 Ancient Restoration
The Púca are shape shifting creatures from Irish folklore. Some tales describe them as bloodthirsty beings, often doing harm to unwary travelers. However on 1st November, the "Púca's Day", it behaved courteously, and delivered sage advice to willing listeners.
The Fear Dorcha ('the dark man') is a mysterious, malignant fairy in Irish lore. Perhaps the most feared entity in the myths, he is "predator of the weak and enemy of the strong". Servant of the Queen of the Dead, he is the chief agent of mortal abduction.