Cú Chulainn, one of Ulster’s most famous legendary characters, is the hero of this five part cartoon series. In five action filled five-minute programmes we follow his daring deeds from his boyhood to his tragic death. This bilingual series contributes to a range of learning areas across the Northern Ireland KS1 and KS2 curricula including Language and Literacy, The World Around Us, Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and Art and Design.

The great thing about this series based on the legendary hero from the Ulster Cycle, is that the programmes have been recorded in both Irish and English, so not only do they tell kids about the legends of their past but also help in keeping the Gaelic tongue alive. Continue Reading »

The famous timber circle dating back 4,000 years which was found in the sea off the Norfolk coast (England) is to return to the county in a permanent display. Seahenge, with 55 oak posts and a central upturned stump dating from the Bronze Age, was found emerging from a beach at Holme-next-the-Sea in 1998. Timbers were studied at the Bronze Age

Centre, Peterborough, then preserved at the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth. Next month Seahenge will go on display at the Lynn Museum in King’s Lynn.

After Seahenge was excavated, 3D laser scanning revealed the earliest metal tool marks on wood ever discovered in Britain. Archaeologists at the Bronze Age Centre, believe between 50 and 80 people may have helped build the circle, possibly to mark the death of an important individual. Seahenge became exposed at low tides after the peat dune covering it was swept away by winter storms.
Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Norfolk County Council has been provided for the Seahenge Gallery project at the Lynn Museum which will house the timber, displayed in its original formation.

The central stump, which is still being treated, will join the gallery at a later date. The main display at the museum is mirrored by a full-sized fibreglass replica showing how the structure would have appeared when it was constructed in 2049 BCE, complete with a model of a Bronze Age man. Visitors can enter and explore this area.
Lynn Museum project manager Hannah Jackson said mystery still surrounds what prompted the Bronze Age people to create the circle.

“The upturned stump could have been like a table top on which the body of a very important member of the community who had died would be laid out for the birds and animals to pick the flesh off. Then they would remove the bones for burial elsewhere, and that fits in with what we know of Bronze Age burial rites,” she said.

John Gretton, of Norfolk County Council, said:

“Whilst the research done on the timbers has led to some historians drawing conclusions, the original function of Seahenge remains mysterious, and I hope that visitors will flock to the newly restored Lynn Museum to speculate on the ancient meaning behind the timbers – which we were able to rescue for all time from further damage.”

The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is £3 adults, £2.50 concessions and £1.65 for four to 16-year-olds.

Source

A replica of an Iron Age roundhouse, created after extensive research on prehistoric sites at West Heslerton and Pickering, has been built at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole (North Yorkshire, England), and is expected to attract thousands of tourists this summer. The venture has seen teams of youths on the Community Pay-Back Scheme, five local schools, and scores of volunteers working on the project. “It has been a real community project, ” said Bex Carver, the museum’s learning manager.

In addition to fitting out the roundhouse as it would have been in the Iron Age, the venture also has its own livestock. In the next few weeks a small flock of Soay sheep from the Orkneys will be lambing.

The project has also been given help under the Every Child Matters Campaign, and local teachers are being encouraged to use the roundhouse to provide pupils with ‘hands on’ history lessons, through placement sessions which are being arranged said Bex.

It is an educational resource centre which we feel will be invaluable to Ryedale schools in bringing history alive.

Source

There was one time a woman named Colloo in Close-ny-Lheiy, near Glen Meay, and she had a child that had fallen sick in a strange way. Nothing seemed wrong with him yet crosser and crosser he grew, nying-nyanging night and day. The woman was in great distress. Charms had failed, and she didn’t know rightly what to do. It seems that, about a fortnight after birth, the child, as fine a child for his age as you would see in a day’s walk, was left asleep while the mother went to the well for water.

Now Herself forgot to put the tongs on the cradle, and, when she came back, the child was crying pitiful, and no quatin’ for him. And from that very hour the flesh seemed to melt off his bones, till he became as ugly and as wizened a child as you would see between the Point of Ayre and the Calf. He was that way, his whining howl filling the house, for four years, lying in the cradle without a motion on him to put his feet under him. Not a day’s res’ nor a night’s sleep was there at the woman these four years with him. She was fair scourged with him, until there came a fine day in the spring that Hom beg Bridson, the tailor, was in the house sewing. Hom is dead now, but there’s many alive as remember him. He was wise tremenjus, for he was going from house to house sewing, and gathering wisdom as he was going.Well, before that day the tailor was seeing lots of wickedness at the child. When the woman would be out feeding the pigs and sarvin’ the craythurs, he would be hoisting his head up out of the cradle and making faces at the tailor, winking, and slicking, and shaking his head, and saying

“What a lad I am!”

That day the woman wanted to go to the shop in Glen Meay to sell some eggs that she had, and says she to the tailor: “Hom man, keep your eye on the chile that the bogh [poor dear] won’t fall out of the cradle and hurt himself while I slip down to the shop.” Continue Reading »

A bit delayed (I normally like to get the episode on to the site and feed at 00:00 GMT on the day of release) but the new episode is here! You can find the Shownotes for this episode here and you can listen to it online here. It should soon be appearing in your feeds for iTunes and other podcatchers as well. The next main task is to get the forums up and running so that we can all chat to each other again.

We hope you enjoy the story!

A form of Welsh popular belief as to the whereabouts of fairy-land corresponds with the Avalon of the Arthurian legends. The green meadows of the sea, called in the triads Gwerddonau Lion, are the Green fairy islands. Many extraordinary superstitions survive with regard to these islands. They were supposed to be the abode of the souls of certain Druids, who, not holy enough to enter the heaven of the Christians, were still not wicked enough to be condemned to the tortures of annwn, and so were accorded a place in this

romantic sort of purgatorial paradise. In the fifth century a voyage was made, by the British king Gavran, in search of these enchanted islands; with his family he sailed away into the unknown waters, and was never heard of more. This voyage Is commemorated in the triads as one of the Three Losses by Disappearance, the two others being Merlin’s and Madog’s. Merlin sailed away in a ship of glass ; Madog sailed in search of America and neither returned, but both disappeared for ever.

In Pembrokeshire and southern Carmarthenshire are to be found traces of this belief. There are sailors on that romantic coast who still talk of the green meadows of enchantment lying in the Irish channel to the west of Pembrokeshire. Sometimes they are visible to the eyes of mortals for a brief space, when suddenly they vanish. There are traditions of sailors who, in the early part of the present century, actually went ashore on the fairy islands – not knowing that they were such, until they returned to their boats, when they were filled with awe at seeing the islands disappear from their sight, neither sinking in the sea,nor floating away upon the waters, but simply vanishing suddenly. The fairies inhabiting these islands are said to have regularly attended the markets at Milford Haven and Laugharne. They made their purchases without speaking, laid downtheir money and departed, always leaving the exact sum required, which they seemed to know, without asking the price of anything. Sometimes they were invisible, but they were often seen, by sharp-eyed persons. There was always one special butcher at Milford Haven upon whom the fairies bestowed their patronage, instead of distributing their favours indiscriminately.
The fairies inhabiting these islands are said to have regularly attended the markets at Milford. They made their purchases without speaking, laid down their money and departed, always leaving the exact sum required, which they seemed to know, without asking the price of anything. Sometimes they were invisible, but they were often seen, by sharp-eyed persons. There was always one special butcher at Milford Haven upon whom the fairies bestowed their patronage, instead of distributing their favours indiscriminately.

The Milford Haven folk could see the green fairy islands distinctly, lying out a short distance from land: and the general belief was that they were densely peopled with fairies. It was also said that the latter went to and fro between the islands and the shore through a subterranean gallery under the bottom of the sea. That isolated cape which forms the county of Pembroke was looked upon as a land of mystery by the rest of Wales long after it had been settled by the Flemings in 1113.

A secret veil was supposed to cover this sea-girt promontory; the inhabitants talked in an unintelligible jargon that was neither English, nor French, nor Welsh; and out of its misty darkness came fables of wondrous sort, and accounts of miracles marvellous beyond belief. Mythology and Christianity spoke together from this strange country, and one could not tell at which to be most amazed, the pagan or the priest.

Source: British Goblins: Welsh folk-lore, fairy mythology, legends and traditions.

Author: Wirt Sikes

Published: 1880

A new fansite for the works of Mary Stewart, perhaps the most famous of Romantic authors, has been started by two sisters with a passion for passion. As a resource for information about Mary Stewart’s works it is superb and it is there that I found details of all five of Mary Stewart’s Arthurian books (only 3 of which I have read!). Mary Stewart is one of those authors that leaves a nostalgic ring in my head – throughout my childhood, I seem to remember my mother carrying about books by either Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt or Anya Seton.

The five Arthurian novels are:

1. The Crystal Cave

2. The Hollow Hills

3. Last Enchantment

4. The Wicked Day

5. The Prince and the Pilgrim

The Crystal Cave

Who was Merlin? Was the famed magician of Camelot and King Arthur’s court really a sinister, all-powerful being from another world? Was he truly a Prince of Darkness? Or was he a man with the passions of other mortals? A man with unique intelligence and unusual gifts? Why was he so feared? How did he come by his occult powers? Why was the crystal cave so important to him?

The HollowHills

The Hollow Hills takes place in a fifth-century Britain fraught with superstition and fear, where no life is safe, no law is stable, and where a king risks accusations of murder and adultery to get himself an heir. For his own safety, the boy Arthur, rejected as a bastard by his father, is long kept ignorant of his parentage.

The Last Enchantment

Merlin, whom men call “enchanter,” is the narrator of this magnificent and haunting novel of Dark Age Britain, which begins with Arthur now King by right, having drawn the sword Caliburn from the stone. He instantly plunges into fierce warfare against the Saxon enemy, fighting to achieve the “small miracle” of unity and independence that Britain alone attained among the dependencies of a crumbling Roman Empire.

But Merlin’s story focuses on a different kind of warfare against more subtle and dangerous enemies. Of these the chief is Morgause, rose-gold witch and half-sister to Arthur, whom she snared incestuously to her bed, an act resulting in the birth of a son, Mordred, who will be the most dangerous of all. In fact, the book begins with the desperate and bloody attempt to find and murder this child. It fails, and one by one Merlin’s other prophecies are realized: the passion and grief of Arthur’s marriages; his betrayal by friends and kinfolk; Merlin’s overpowering but short-lived love.

The Wicked Day

The Wicked Day is the gripping story of Mordred, bastard son of King Arthur by incest with his half-sister Morgause, witch-queen of Lothian and Orkney. Morgause sent the child to the Orkney Islands to be reared there in secret, in the hope that one day he would become, as Merlin the Enchanter had prophesied, the doom of her hated half-brother.

When Mordred is taken from his rude life as a fisherboy in the islands and suddenly thrust into the full panoply of the High King Arthur’s court, he learns of his true parentage and rises to a position of trust in his father’s kingdom. But, as the plots and counterplots of the last part of Arthur’s reign unfold, Mordred is drawn into the tangled web of tragedy that is the climactic drama of the Arthurian legend.

The Prince and the Pilgrim

The prince, our hero, is named Alexander. He is but a tiny infant when his father, Prince Baudouin, is brutally murdered by the King of Cornwall in a remote corner of England. Aided by a trusted servant, Alexander’s mother escapes the same fate by fleeing with her son to a safe and secret haven. When Alexander comes of age he sets out to Camelot to seek justice from King Arthur and avenge the death of the father he never knew.

The cat, whether wild or domestic, is sacred to the Goddess in Celtic tradition, appearing in Irish, Welsh and Breton folklore. But it is in Scotland that is found a particularly powerful connection. A number of Scottish clans held the cat as their totem animal: those of MacIntosh, MacNeishe and MacNicol the domestic cat, and the MacBain the wild cat. The cat-people, a Pictish tribe known as the Kati, lived in Caithness, the ness or promontory of the cats, and in Sutherland in Gaelic is the Cataobh – cat country.

In Ireland and almost certainly throughout the Celtic world, the skin of a wild cat was used by warriors. An ancient Irish bard speaks of Talc son of Trone, who is called the cat-headed chief since his battle-dress included the skin of a wild cat, with its head attached to his helmet. The Irish Yellow Book of Lecan describes warriors wearing cats’ heads, one of whom was noted as a Gaelic champion and one of the Irish kings was called Cairbar cinn chait – Carbar of the cat’s head. Although the cat was used by warriors, as was the boar, raven and bear, to invoke the avenging and protective power of the gods, it was still considered an animal associated with the Goddess and the feminine. For this reason both positive and negative attributes of the cat can be seen in folklore and tradition. As an animal clearly of the Goddess and in close contact with the spirit-world, the cat has been the victim of extraordinary persecution and cruelty. Her ability to see and work in the spirit-world makes the cat an ideal ally for any shaman and it was due to the Church’s fear of such powers that many thousands of cats were tortured and put to death by burning in baskets in both Britain and France.

The cat as a creature of the Goddess was often perceived as somehow ‘unholy.’ It was considered unlucky to see a cat as the first animal of the year unless you were a MacIntosh or of the clan Cattan (whose chieftain is called The Great Cat). The goddess Brighid, who is known in Irish tradition as ‘the daughter of the bear,’ had a cat as a companion. In Welsh tradition the goddess Ceridwen in her manifestation as the great sow Henwen gives birth to a wolf cub, an eagle, a bee and a kitten. Unfortunately this last grows into the Palug Cat – one of the Three Plagues of Anglesey – that is killed by King Arthur and Cai only after a lengthy struggle.

Another tale that shows the fierceness of the cat and its role as a guradian can be found in the Irish Voyage of Maelduin, one of four spiritual tales called immrama, meaning mystical voyages. In this tale, the Druid Nuca teaches Maelduin how to build a magical boat in which he plans to avenge the murder of his father. He and his companions almost reach the murderers’ island but winds blow them out to sea and they are lost for three days and nights.

They then come to a series of islands, many of which are presided over by animals. The first is the Island of Giant Ants, the second the Island of Many Birds and so on until they reach the tenth – the Island of the Cat. There they discover a ‘noble hall, a king’s fit dwelling.’ Food and drink is in copious supply and there are soft beds and golden benches for them to rest upon. In this great hall lies treasure: silver brooches, gold-hilted swords and wide torcs. But no one is present except a ‘quick, hungry cat poised on a pillar.’ Against Maelduin’s wishes, his foster-brother tries to steal a gold necklace but in a moment his body is turned to a pile of ash by the ‘fiery paw of the wondrous cat.’ The cat is seen here in her role as guardian of Otherworldly treasure.

The cat teaches respect and caution. She is sensual and will accept affection only on her terms. She is proud, independent and capable of observing both this world and the next…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellas_Cat

Pagans and druids, mark your calendars and book your airplane tickets. An Australian entrepreneur hopes to open a Stonehenge replica by the December 21 solstice, just in time for New Age revelers.”I’m doing it because I can,” said Ross Smith, the former owner of a successful microbrewery business who plans to build the monument on his property in Western Australia.

“Nowhere in the world has a complete Stonehenge been built.”

The U.S. $1.26 million project, to be called The Henge, will include 101 granite stones arranged in an inner and outer circle, a central altar, and will span 110 feet (33.5 meters).

“I’ve studied plans of the original and that’s what The Henge will look like,” Smith said.

Smith called The Henge “a business venture.” An entry fee will be charged and it will be hired out for weddings and other events.

He hopes his replica will attract 200,000 to 300,000 tourists per year to the Margaret River region, already renowned for fine wine, chocolate, and cheese.

Source

As podcasters, we are always listening to podcasts – no surprises there. One of the most amazing developments in the field is the arrival of the podcast novel.To hear an author read his/her own work to you is a real treat – and remember, most podcasts are free! With the emergence of podcasting as a new technology and the podcast novel, or Podiobook, we were inspired to bring you the tales we love. It a joy to find another podcast for you that deals with the subjects of Celtic Mythology or the Fey, and Chasing the Bard by Philippa Ballantine is well-worth listening to. The story brings us into the worlds of Shakespeare and the Fey. We cannot recommend it highly enough. The press release tells us more:

New Zealand artists have been taking the entertainment world by storm over the past few years. Peter Jackson led this invasion by bringing to life J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings. The Conchords were next as their comedy and music won them new audiences everywhere with The
Flight of the Conchords. With her own sultry combination of blues, jazz, and hip-hop, Hollie Smith is about to take her sound to the United States. And now, author Philippa Ballantine, intends to bring to the world her award-nominated tale of manipulative goddesses, friendly Tricksters and William Shakespeare through the exciting new medium of podcasting.

Podcasting is nothing new to Philippa as in 2006 she was the first New Zealand author to podcast a novel, Weaver’s Web. This introduced her work to a global audience while she herself never left her home in Wellington. Even after the novel’s conclusion, she continued to explore podcasting with Whispers at the Edge, her monthly audio journal of writing tips and looks at life in New Zealand. “I was doing this for fun and was hoping that my podcast was reaching out to others. Then the podcast was nominated for the 2007 Parsec Awards’ Best Writing Podcast. I was thrilled. It was when I attended a convention in Atlanta when complete strangers would say to me ‘You’re Pip! I know you from your show. “Simply amazing.”

After loaning her voice to other podcast novels such as Murder at Avedon Hill, Metamor City and assuming the lead role as Askana Moldarin in Morevi: Remastered, Philippa now brings Dragon Moon Press’ Chasing the Bard, her own Sir Julius Vogel nominated novel, to life. This dark fantasy epic place William Shakespeare in the midst of his own midsummer nightmare, and a dark goddess plots to use his bardic powers to save her world whether he want to or not. This ambitious project will feature an international voice cast of other well-known podcasting personalities. “When Pip asked me to be the voice of Shakespeare, I couldn’t say no,” says American writer, actor, and podcaster, Tee Morris. Also an author with Dragon Moon Press and co-author of Podcasting for Dummies, Tee first discovered Chasing the Bard in 2005. “It was launched alongside a novel of mine, and suggested to me by Gwen Gades, Dragon Moon’s publisher. I was a fan of the book soon after. This is a real treat to help bring the book to life.”

“I not only hope to introduce my work to new readers, but I also hope to show the international reach of this new media,” Philippa states. “Podcasting is very exciting that way as it is an instant connection with the world. I am proud to be a literary voice for New Zealand, but I’m also having a lot of fun with my friends from around the world.”

Chasing the Bard is a free podcast of the entire novel and will also include new scenes and commentary from the author herself about novel and its production. The podcast will launch on 31 March and be made available on iTunes or directly through its website, www.chasingthebard.com. Chasing the Bard’s sequel, Digital Magic, will be available from Dragon Moon Press in August 2008. Philippa Ballantine is available for interviews and comment, and can be best reached at pip@pjballantine.net. You can find the podcast at and further information on the writer at www.pjballantine.net.

Here is something I’ve never heard of - Celtic Reiki. I’ve come across Reiki, which is a form of healing, but the World Health Guide tells us:

Celtic reiki utilizes the energy flows present on Earth and specific plants. Practitioners of this reiki use not only the universal “life force” energy present in all things but also the specific energy found in nature to heal those who needs healing.

This reiki system comes from the religious beliefs of early Celts. To the early Celts, trees are important aspects of their religion believing that trees have their own spirits. They gave the trees such high regards that they even patterned their writing system based on the trees.

The Celts’ Ogham, which is the ancient writing of Celtic people, uses symbols or letters that are cut as a series of notches and symbolizes different kinds of trees. Each letter represents a different kind of tree, specifically chosen for qualities that can be linked to spiritual concepts.

Some of the trees that are represented in the Celtic alphabet include the silver fir, birch, hawthorn, heather, ash, oak, willow, elder, yew, grove, ivy, hazel, and honeysuckle. Practitioners of Celtic reiki use the symbols from the Ogham. This reiki also follows the Celtic philosophy of bravery, honor, integrity, valor and reverence.

Does anyone have any experience of this type of healing? I’d love to know.

Source