Stop Sign Pic: jordansawatzky

The Guardian reports that David Cameron has ordered ministers to carry out the government’s biggest U-turn since the general election by abandoning plans to change the ownership of 258,000 hectares of state-owned woodland. Caroline Spelman, the environment secretary, will announce on Friday that a consultation on the sale of forests will be ended after a furious backlash that united Tory supporters with environmentalists and the Socialist Workers party

“The consultation is going to be terminated,”

a government source has said. A No 10 insider added:

“It’s a cock-up. We just did not think.”

The prime minister, who told MPs that he was not happy with the government’s handling of the issue, has ordered Spelman to:

• End the consultation on plans to dispose of about half of the 258,000 hectares of woodland in England run by the Forestry Commission by 2020.
• Establish an independent panel with environmentalists to reach consensus on reforms to improve access and biodiversity in forests.
• Drop clauses in the public bodies bill that would allow the government to sell off all of England’s forests. Under current laws only 15% of forests can be sold.

One government source said:

“We have heard, we have listened. The consultation will be canned. The consultation will be terminated. It is now a case of coming up with something everyone is happy with.”

The U-turn represents a victory for an unlikely coalition of disparate groups launched in October. The grassroots website 38 Degrees started a petition which, by last night, had attracted more than 531,000 signatures. One poll suggested 84% of the country opposed the sale.

Read more about the story on the Guardian’s website.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Saint Ivo of Kermartin (17 October 1253 at Kermartin, a manor near Tréguier, Brittany, France – 19 May 1303 at Louannec, Brittany), also known as Yves (in France), Yvo, Ives, or Ivo. He is a saint and patron of lawyers and abandoned children. Saint Ives is also the patron saint of Brittany. His feast day is on May 19. His first name is often associated with his family name, Yves Helory (also : Helori or Heloury, the orthography was not fixed at this time).

Life

He was the son of Helori, lord of Kermartin, and Azo du Kenquis. In 1267 Ivo was sent to the University of Paris, where he graduated in civil law. He went to Orléans in 1277 to study Canon law. On his return to Brittany having received minor orders he was appointed “official”, the title given to an ecclesiastical judge, of the archdeanery of Rennes (1280); meanwhile he studied Scripture, and there are strong reasons for believing that he joined the Franciscan Tertiaries sometime later at Guingamp. He was soon invited by the Bishop of Tréguier to become his official, and accepted the offer in 1284. He displayed great zeal and rectitude in the discharge of his duty and did not hesitate to resist the unjust taxation of the king, which he considered an encroachment on the rights of the Church; by his charity he gained the title of advocate and patron of the poor. Having been ordained he was appointed to the parish of Tredrez in 1285 and eight years later to Louannec, where he died of natural causes, after a life of hard work and constant fast.

Veneration

He was buried in Tréguier, and was canonized in June 1347 by Clement VI, his feast being kept on 19 May. He is the patron saint of lawyers. On his tomb was supposedly inscribed in Latin: Sanctus Ivo erat Brito/ Advocatus et non latro/ Res miranda populo. Roughly translated, this means: “St Ives was Breton/ A lawyer and not a thief/ Marvelous thing to the people.” Literally translated, it is a quip that refers to the fact that lawyers have a reputation for thievery. The church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome is dedicated to him. Poetically, he is referred to as “Advocate of the Poor.”

Source

Originally posted 2008-05-20 17:47:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: Benderish

ArchaeoNews reports that a last-gasp attempt to build a world-class visitor centre at Stonehenge in time for the 2012 Olympics is in tatters because of a major row between the country’s two leading heritage organisations over its location. After spending £38 million of public money over almost 20 years on aborted schemes, including most recently one by Denton Corker Marshall, then architecture minister Margaret Hodge promised last December to have a £20 million temporary centre ready for the influx of tourists during the 2012 games. But with little more than six months remaining before a planning application needs to be submitted, the project is in deadlock after the National Trust and English Heritage clashed over which site it should be built on.

Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-01-05 09:26:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Pic: The BS Report

Labour and Conservative MPs united to keep ‘Cornish’ off the 2011 census last night, as the Government voted down a proposal from North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson, to have it included, Cornwall 24 reported on the 4th December. Mr Rogerson said the Cornish national identity should be recognised with a tickbox, just as the Scottish, Welsh, English and Northern Irish identities will be.

He tabled an amendment to the legislation which enables the census to happen, and gained backing for his initiative from the Liberal Democrat leadership. Labour MPs voted against, while Conservatives sat on their hands.

Commenting, Mr Rogerson said:

Cornish is an identity of its own, distinct from that of the English, and it should be recognised as such. We have already made progress by getting the Government to ‘code’ any answers where a citizen writes that their national identity is Cornish, but this will still vastly underestimate the number of Cornish people since many will simply tick ‘British’ or ‘English’.

It makes sense to include a tickbox, so that every Cornish person makes their identity known.

Andrew George, MP for the West Cornwall constituency of St Ives and the Isles of Scilly added:

We made an important and useful step forward at the last census in 2001. We should recognise and celebrate the different groups, identities and peoples of the world. Cornwall wants to put itself into the celebration of diversity. Not cut itself off.

Read the full article on Cornwall 24.

Originally posted 2010-01-02 08:01:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Branwen Pic: Gary Colcombe

There are many Gods and Goddesses that can be considered to be the Celtic Gods or Goddesses of Love. Amongst those of Irish mythology we can count Aengus Og, Brighid and Aine or Anu. Amongst the Welsh we can count Arianrhod, Branwen and Blodeuwedd. The Scottish Celts also have young Angus as the God of love as does Manx Mythology. In general there seems to have been a great crossover and exchange of mythological material between the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Welsh stories. It is probably true that many of the religious practices of the Ancient Celts travelled between the tribes and were adopted, adapted or rejected depending on the customs and beliefs of the tribe involved in the meeting. I don’t know of any Cornish or Breton Love deities at the moment, so if any Celts of those nationalities can enlighten me that would be absolutely brilliant.

Gods in Irish Myth

Aengus Og

In Irish mythology, Óengus (Old Irish), Áengus (Middle Irish), Aengus or Aonghus (Modern Irish) is a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann and probably a god of love, youth and poetic inspiration. He was said to have four birds symbolizing kisses flying about his head (whence, it is believed, the xxxx’s symbolizing kisses at the end of lovers’ letters come from).
He is also called Aengus Óg (“Aengus the young”), Mac ind Óg (“son of the young”), Mac Óg (“young son”) or Maccan. [wiki]

We also find him in Scottish Mythology as Angus mac Og.

Brighid

In Irish mythology, Brigit or Brighid (“exalted one”) was the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán. She had two sisters, also named Brighid, and is considered “a classic Celtic Triple Goddess”. [wiki]

When her son died, she is said to have lamented his death with the first ‘keening’ (a sort of unearthly death-wail) heard in Ireland. She is also said to be the Goddess of the Hearth. Her love is that of the family and the home.

Danu/Aine/Anu

In Irish mythology, Danu  is the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: “The peoples of the goddess Danu”). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land. [wiki]

The Goddess known as the primordial Mother Goddess giving birth to the Gods, her children, known as the Tuatha De Danaan. Her love, again,  is that of the Mother. Some commentators see Brighid as a form of the Mother Goddess also, equating their roles.

Gods in Welsh Myth

Arianrhod

Arianrhod is a figure in Welsh mythology who plays her most important role in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy; the Welsh Triads give her father as Beli Mawr. In the Mabinogi her uncle Math ap Mathonwy is the King of Gwynedd, and during the course of the story she gives birth to two sons, Dylan Ail Don and Lleu Llaw Gyffes, through magical means. [wiki]

Due to the ‘improper’ nature of her conceptions and later births (i.e. the unknown father), she is seen as the Goddess of Lust and Desire.

Blodeuwedd

Blodeuwedd Pic: Wiki

Blodeuwedd or Blodeuedd, (Middle Welsh composite name from blodeu ‘flowers, blossoms’ + gwedd ‘face, aspect, appearance’: “flower face”), is the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes in Welsh mythology, made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by the magicians Math and Gwydion, and is a central figure in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. The hero Lleu Llaw Gyffes has been placed under a tynged (a doom or fate) by his mother Arianrhod that he may never have a human wife. So as to counteract this curse, the magicians Math and Gwydion: [take] the flowers of the oak, and the flowers of the broom, and the flowers of the meadowsweet, and from those they conjured up the fairest and most beautiful maiden anyone had ever seen. And they baptized her in the way that they did at that time, and named her Blodeuedd. Some time later, while Lleu is away on business, Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr, the lord of Penllyn, and the two conspire to murder Lleu. [wiki]

Blodeuwedd’s story is primarily about Love – real, fallible mortal love, It is more than the ‘lust’ that the births of Arianrhod suggest and it is yet something that we can all relate to in our long-term relationships, our married lives. It is a human love.

Branwen

Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a major character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is sometimes called the Mabinogi of Branwen after her. Branwen is a daughter of Llŷr and Penarddun. She is married to the King of Ireland, but the marriage does not bring peace. In Ireland, Branwen is eventually treated cruelly by her husband Matholwch as punishment for Efnisien’s mutilation of the horses (though not before she gives birth to an heir, Gwern). She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother and Bendigeidfran brings a force fromWales to Ireland to rescue her. [wiki]

The love that Branwen shows is the true love that brings about sacrifice, she agrees to go to a foreign country to pledge peace with her marriage – she gives her self in sacrifice. This purity of heart is where she gets her name Branwen from: meaning white (or pure) breast. The earlier version of her name is Bronwen and its derivation is white crow, again her singularity and value as the most beautiful woman in the world is made clear here.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

The Wicker Tree Poster Pic: Dread Central

The Wicker Tree is a 2010 film by British director Robin Hardy. The film contains several similar elements to the 1973 film The Wicker Man, but is neither a sequel nor a remake of that film. It is due for release in 2011. Based on Hardy’s own 2006 novel Cowboys for Christ, the film focuses on Texas pop star turned gospel singer, Beth (Brittania Nicol) and her cowboy boyfriend, Steve (Henry Garrett), both devout evangelical Christians from the church Cowboys for Christ, sent on a mission to spread the word of God to the people of Scotland.

The Story

Young Christians Beth and Steve, a gospel singer and her cowboy boyfriend, leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland . When, after initial abuse, they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are. [wiki]

Below is the Teaser to the film found on YouTube, but there is also a longer version that contains blood and nudity, so we can’t show it, but if you want to see it after our warnings you can see it on YouTube or the movie’s official website.

More Info

These days, The Wicker Man probably makes many think of derisive laughter, elated confusion and Nicolas Cage getting  attacked by bees. But the original 1973 cult film still holds up as a chilling, uncomfortably funny horror movie about the power of fear, desperation and faith. Its director Robin Hardy has been struggling for years to make a companion-piece, and now, more than 30 years later, the trailer for The Wicker Tree has arrived. Those scared of naked women wearing horse masks may want to look elsewhere today. Ah yes, it’s probably NSFW.

But before I get to the imagery, I want to get a few problems with this trailer out of the way. First, it’s hard to tell exactly how well this film will work, since anyone familiar with the film knows that the young Christian country singers who decide to visit that creepy Scotish island are doomed from the start. It’s true that the first film’s success wasn’t entirely due it’s shocking ending, but now that we know exactly how things are supposed to go down, it begs the question of what another movie could possibly offer. Also, I do not care how twisty and menacing they look – wicker trees are just not as scary or iconic as huge wicker men. [MovieLine]

A Possible Trilogy?

Film Junk has this to say about the new movie:

The May Queen? Pic: Film Junk

We’ve heard rumblings about a Wicker Mansequel for a couple of years now, but it was never really clear (to me, at least) whether or not this thing would actually get made. However, recently the very first teaser trailer for The Wicker Treearrived online, so apparently they found the money to make it a reality after all. Writer/director Robin Hardy has returned to this cult classic some 37 years later to continue the story, which is pretty amazing in and of itself. It seems to be more of a retelling of the original, with Christopher Lee playing a similarly evil role, although I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be the same character.

This time around there are two young Christians from Texas who foolishly bring their missionary work to Tressock, Scotland, where they fall victim to the pagan villagers. Nicolas Cage’s The Wicker Man remake has kind of turned this movie into a joke in recent years, but for obvious reasons Hardy seems determined to restore some credibility to the name. The original was loosely based on the novel The Ritual by David Pinner and the screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer, but this movie is based on a novel that Hardy wrote himself called Cowboys for Christ. He actually plans to do a third movie as well to create a trilogy. Production on the film is reportedly complete, although a release date is still TBA. For more info, stay tuned to the official website.

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Was this how the find looked? Pic: Highways Agency

Wales Online reports that rare Iron Age artefacts buried as part of a religious offering have been unearthed by an amateur treasure hunter. Two bronze bowls and a bronze wine strainer, described by an expert as of “great importance for the UK,” were found by Craig Mills in his home city of Newport, South Wales. The 35-year-old security guard came across the items in the Langstone area in December 2007, only nine months after he took up metal detecting.

The items are believed to have been made around AD 25-60 and were buried at the time of the Roman army’s campaign against the Iron Age Silures tribe of South Wales, between AD 47 and 75. Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-04-01 09:37:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

FAE Magazine 14 Pic: FAE Magazine

SPRING ISSUE of FAE OUT 1st FEB! In issue 14 you can find out about Brian Froud’s soon to be released book ‘How To See Faeries’. There’s an exclusive feature with Mermaid Melissa. Learn about Faery Belly Dance with Cara B who is also our cover faery! In issue 14, the spring edition of FAE, you can find out about Brian Froud’s soon to be released book ‘How To See Faeries’. There’s an exclusive feature with Mermaid Melissa. Learn about Faery Belly Dance with Cara B who is also our cover faery! Take a glimpse into a year in the life of visionary artist Josephine Wall, and find out about the ‘Green Fairy’ associated with the drink Absinthe, with Ceri Norman. As a brief aside, you can look forward to a reading from Ceri’s brand new book Celtic Maidens.

Read an special interview with Taloch, front-man of the mighty Dolmen. Doreen Virtue returns with her exclusive Fairy Card feature, and new columnists, the Faerie Whisperer Aurora Brierley, Fairy Folklorist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, and the Leprechaun’s Music Reviewer grace the pages. Gabriella Szabo’s vibrant art features, and Felicity Fyr Le Fay takes us on a global Faerytale. In the spirit of Valentines Day, Flavia-Kate Peters leads us on a ‘Faery Romance’ visualisation, and the Faerie Goddess Mother answers your questions, plus fashion with Zizzy Fay, Pixie Glamour and Magical Masks, and much much more inside this jam packed issue of FAE!

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: Damerham Archaeology Project

Two 6,000-year-old tombs have been unearthed in Hampshire (England) in one of the biggest archaeological finds for years. The discovery, thought to be among the oldest ever made in the UK, is set to shed new light on the life led by the county’s earliest settlers. Flint tools and fragments of pottery have already been retrieved from the Neolithic site at Damerham in the New Forest. The find has been made by a team of experts from Kingston University in London.

 Archaeologist Dr Helen Wickstead said she and her colleagues were ‘stunned and delighted’ when evidence of the prehistoric complex came to light. She added

 "Some artefacts have already been recovered and in the summer a team of volunteers will make a systematic survey on the site. If we can excavate, we’ll learn a lot more about Neolithic people in the area and discover things such as who was buried there, what kind of life they led and what the environment was like 6,000 years ago." Continue Reading »

Originally posted 2009-07-01 08:30:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

St Bridget’s Cross

It’s a strange concept when you begin to realise that the world and the universe is moving all around you and is not the static thing that you’d like to think it should  be. You see, to my mind, Imbolg or Candlemas should be on February the 2nd because that’s what it always has been. At least, that’s what it says in all the books. However this year, because of the eccentricity of the planet’s orbit around the sun, the actual date of Imbolg is today, the 4th Feb.

Christy McAlister, founder of the stimulating Facebook group, Celtic Paganism offers us some thoughts about Imbolg for this year, ending with a great quote from Lara Owen.

Imbolc is quickly upon us! What sort of things are you doing to celebrate the approaching Spring and the Fire Festival of Brighid?

Simple things to do to honor Imbolc include praying to Brigid (and others if you feel so moved), lighting new candles throughout the house, wearing new clothes of Spring color, and making lists of intentions for the upcoming season. If you want to have a feast, the dish of choice is roast lamb, because of the birthing of lambs this time of the year. Remember also that Imbolc is a great time to detox or fast, as the watchwords for this phase are purification and cleansing.

“The purity of the Imbolc symbolism is very much part of the newness of the year. Life is refreshed by cleansing, by letting go. This is a time to release attachment to past pain, to let go of whatever out-dated stories about yourself and your life you are hanging onto, to allow the healing of forgiveness and acceptance to soothe old injuries of heart and soul.

It is an excellent time to review what has and has not already been achieved, and to assess which of your dreams you still want to pursue and which ones you might as well let go of.

It’s a potent time to clear away past disappointments, to let go of old ideas about yourself, and step fully into the present. And on the mundane and physical level, it’s a great time to clear out and give away all that stuff you no longer need.

This year Imbolc gets an extra boost of new energy by falling the day after a potent and especially energetic New Moon. See my recent post at Planetary Energies for more information about this. And at the actual moment of Imbolc (early in the morning of Feb 4 for those of us in Europe, or late at night on Feb 3 if you live in the US) when the Sun is at 15 degrees, the Moon is exactly conjunct Neptune, heightening the spiritual potential for this window of time that the ancients considered to be magically charged.”

- Lara Owen

If you would like to leave your own ideas for the celebration in the comments below, we’d love to read them! HAve a lovely and blessed Holiday time!

———————————

You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Descripition Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Appbrain at http://www.appbrain.com/app/celtic-myth-show/tv.wizzard.android.celticmythpodshow841 or by using the QR code opposite.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.