📖 Ancient Restoration

Cernunnos on the Gundestrup Cauldron (Jutland, 150 BC). Seated between a deer and a wolf this horned figure is thought to be a totem god of the Celtic war-bands. The Stag god, as lord of wild animals, provided the royal hunter with prey and guaranteed his…

The Instructions of King Cormac states: "everyone is a fían(na) until he becomes a property owner" - This points to a rite of passage in medieval Ireland where a young man crossed from one community to another, from a member of a fighting band, to a settled…

Etymology of Fianna: derives from 'wēd-nā', related to OIr. fíad 'wild, game, wood', OEng. wāð 'hunt' and OBret. guoid 'wild'. The ancient roving band of warriors functioned as sovereigns of pre-agrarian Celtic society, thus the connection to forests & the…

Etymology of Fianna: derives from 'wēd-nā', related to OIr. fíad 'wild, game, wood', OEng. wāð 'hunt' and OBret. guoid 'wild'. The ancient roving band of warriors functioned as sovereigns of pre-agrarian Celtic society, thus the connection to forests & the hunt.

Under Brehon law, dead ancestors could be called upon to judge in property disputes. One law describes how a claimant to the land must walk over the family burial mound without injury or death. The dead would repel outsiders, but support their own descendants.

The swearing of oaths on a saint's relic was common practice in early Ireland. The dead ancestor or saint acted as a witness to the promise, so if broken, they would incur the fury of the dead! Old Irish for relic, minn, became modern Irish for oath, mionn.

St Patrick, St Brigid, St Colmcille, Protector Saints of the Irish Who are in Heaven, Protect & pray for us.

St Patrick, St Brigid, St Colmcille, Protector Saints of the Irish Who are in Heaven, Protect & pray for us.

The Fear Dorcha ('the dark man') is a mysterious, malignant fairy in Irish lore. Perhaps the most feared entity in the myths, he is 'the predator of the weak and enemy of the strong.' Servant of the Queen of the Dead, he is the chief agent of mortal abduction.

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.

Donn, 'the dark one', was the ancestor deity of the pre-Christian Gaels - On Samhain he summons the dead to his fortress at Bull Rock.

"To me, to my house, you shall come after your death." - Donn, Lord of the Dead, ruler of Samhain - 9th century Irish manuscript.