Strange reports of Blarney Castle's Badger Cave

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120313-015

Badger Cave
* Blarney Castle, Blarney, Ireland * http://www.blarneycastle.ie *

This little gem underneath the Blarney Castle has many myths and legends surrounding it. Folklore or Urban lore based on its name has rumors it was dug out by a giant badger. More trustworthy lore claims it was the escape route used by the garrison when Cromwell’s general Lord Broghill besieged the castle and fired down from Card Hill above the lake and broke through the tower walls. He found only two trusty old retainers and the garrison gone. He was hoping to find the fabled golden plate but appeared that it was taken through the caves to escape his capture. Some say the plate was sunk in the lake. Some say its buried in the tunnels. No one really knows what happened to the mythical treasure. Great expenses have been incurred to find it – from excavations, draining the lake, and battles. There are believed to be three passages in these caves – one that leads to Cork, another to the lake, and another to Kerry. However, no one seems to be able to find these legendary passages …. An excavation of the main tunnel in 2007 produced nothing except a potentially Neolithic flint flake and over 340 most-likely modern animal bones. However in 2010-2011 some ghost hunters called the “Echo Ghost Hunters” investigated the site and captured an image of a man in the 3rd floor window of the castle (no stairs or access to that window) and recorded strange Kll meter hits in the caves. Could these naturally occurring passages been used by the Tuatha de Danann before humans built the castle in the 10th century of the Common Era? No one knows, no written records remain on the prehistoric origins of the castle grounds – there is a Druid cave, a witches’ kitchen, a fairy glade, a Druid’s circle and sacrificial altar – or so they say – in the The Rock Close.

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Fairy Rings (mushrooms)

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Fairy Ring
aka fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring, pixie ring, ronds de sorciers, sorcerer’s rings, witches rings, hexenringe, dragon circles, faerie rings, fairy rings, elf circles, elf rings, elferingewort, cylch y Tylwyth Teg
article by Tom Baurley / Leaf McGowan, Technogypsie Research,
© 2013 (12/29/13) – All rights reserved – www.technogypsie.net

Every now and then you’ll discover these mysterious rings in the woods and think immediately they were the mark of faeries / fairies. They are a naturally occurring ring of mushrooms that can be found in the woods, on a lawn, or in a meadow.

Folklore:
~ Ah the many mysteries of these fairy rings. Nothing radiates more folk or fairy lore than does the magical ring of mushrooms that opens a natural gate between the worlds. This is the reason they are called “Fairy Rings”. They are also known as “sorcerer’s rings” (France: ronds de sorciers), “witches’ rings” (German: “Hexenringe“), “dragon circles”, etc. The Germans believe they mark the site where witches had done their dances during Walpurgis Night, while the Dutch claim the circles show where the Devil placed his milk churn. In Tyrol, it is believed they were created by a dragon’s tail had laid there and nothing but toadstools could grow there for seven years.

Much of folklore warns humans from ever entering them, for they were guarded by harsh magic, faerie magic, or giant bug-eyed toads that would curse those who entered them. Some say, those who enter a fairy ring would lose their eye. In English, Scandinavian, and Celtic lore – fairy rings are the result of fairies or elves dancing and in such regard they were called “elf rings” or “elferingewort” (translates to “a ring of daisies caused by elves dancing”) as early as the 12th century C.E. in written record.

Olaus Magnus in the “History of the Goths” published in 1628 claimed that fairy rings are burnt into the ground by the dancing of elves and in his “Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus” says the brightness of the ring is Puck who refreshes the grass after a fairy dance. Thomas Keightley, a British folklorist, claimed that even in 20th century C.E. Scandinavia the beliefs were still strong that these were created by dancing elves. He warned that those humans entering the ring would allow the trespasser to see the elves, but might also trap the intruder in thrall of their illusions.

Rings are known as cylch y Tylwyth Teg in Wales as late as the 19th century and once again represented a place where faeries are dancing in a group. Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, England, and Ireland still have stories being told of them. Some tell tales of joining a fairy dance within the ring, this act sometimes opening a portal between the worlds, and trapping some humans eternally – especially if they have fairy food and drink after the dance. The parties are known to be done during moonlit nights as the rings only become visible to humans the following morning.

In the Philippines, these fairy rings are also associated with diminutive spirits. Theree are 20th century tales of fairies dancing around a hawthorn thereby creating a fairy ring around them with a tree in the center. Ethnographic tales of a Balquhidder Scotland resident who claims the faeries sit atop these mushrooms and use them as dinner tables, while a Welsh woman says they use the umbrellas as parasols and umbrellas, and in Devon that a black hen with chickens will appear sometimes at dusk in a large ring on the edge of Dartmoor, while Manx and Welsh legends from the 1960’s claim fairy rings appear where there is an underground fairy village underneath.

The Dartmoor’s “Pixies’ Church” is a rock formation that is supposedly surrounded by a fairy ring, and the Northern Wales Cader Idris site consists of a stone circle where fairies like to dance. Some believe that those trespassing into the fairy ring will meet the wraith of Psyche and Eros as it is forbidden for Psyche to view her love and when she does, her palace disappears and she is left alone. Some say fairy circles are sacred spaces and if interfered with will lead to a curse. There is an Irish telling of a tale that once a farmer built a barn atop a fairy ring despite his neighbors warning him not to – he was struck senseless one night and a local ‘fairy doctor’ had to come over to break the curse, he dream t he had to destroy the barn to make amends. Some believe even collecting dew from the grass or flowers of a fairy ring would bring bad luck. Legends claim one who enters the ring will die at a young age, others claim they are a ‘galley-trap’ so that if a thief or murderer enters the ring they will be hung. Those who enter the ring become invisible to mortals outside of the ring, and visible to the fairies within the ring and unable to escape it. Sometimes the fae will force the intruder to dance to the point of exhaustion, injury, death, or madness.

Many Welsh legends talk of this, luring mortals within and then dace them to deatIt is supposedly even more dangerous for a human to enter the ring during Samhain (Halloween) Eve or May Day / May Eve as this is the most sacred dancing nights of the fae and they would be horribly angered if disturbed on such momentous times. There is a tale of a shepherd who accidently disturbed a ring of rushes where fairies were getting ready to dance – in such reaction they held him hostage until he married one of them. One can only gain escape from the ring by outside help. A Welsh method was to cast wild marjoram and thyme into the circle to befuddle the fairies so they can help their friend or family out of the ring. Others claim one needs to touch the victim with iron and that would let them exit. Rescue though could be as simple as someone reaching in and pulling their friend out of the ring. One Langollen farmer claimed he had to have four men tie him to a rope so that when he entered the ring to save his daughter they could pull him out.

Christian theory is to rely on the faith to break the enchantment, alternatively using a stick from a rowan tree (wood the cross that Jesus was on was made from) would break the curse or the stating of the phrase “what, in Heaven’s name” would break it. The longevity of the rescue could be as long as a year and a day to wait and the victim would appear in the same spot s/he vanished before being able to pull them out. Time also moves faster in the realm of fae, so what seems like an hour could be days, weeks, or years later. Those rescued could also lose memory of their encounters. It was told of a man who escaped the fairy ring, once he stepped outside of it he crumbled to dust. Another moulders away after his first bite of food after he escaped the ring. In the Aberystwyth region, a woman who was saved from the fairy ring once touched by metal disappears.

Most claim that the only way one can safely explore a fairy ring is to run around it 9 times which will allow the runner to hear the fairies dancing underground, while others claims this sprint must be done during a full moon and the runner travelling in the direction of the sun others a widdershins direction will allow the fairies to take control of the sprinter. If the runner miscounts, to do it a 10th round would be a fateful error. If one wears a hat backwards this will confuse the fae and make them inable to pull the wearer into the ring.

Science:
They start to grow when a spawn (mycelium) of a mushroom falls in a selected spot and sends out a underground network of fine tubular threads called hyphae which grow out of the spore evenly in every direction, forming a circular mat of underground hyphal threads. These produce mushrooms that grow upwards in similar patterns as below ground and eventually the underground mycelium at the center of the circle dies out, but its living edges keep growing year to year and the diameter of the ring keeps increasing and as the ring’s underground network dies out until the surface ring can no longer be detected.

These are very common with the Agaricus campestris that measures normally around six feet in diameter. But also the Marasmius oreades, nicknamed the fairy ring mushroom, will form a large irregular ring that have been recorded upwards of 1,200 feet in diameter.

Science has two prevalent theories as to how fairy rings are formed – one idea is that a sporocarpus delivers a spore underground and the presence of that fungus there can cause withering or color changes in the grasses above it. These spores give blossom to fungi and mushrooms through the soil after rainstorms, but also grows a huge network of thread-like mycelia in the soil and while the mushrooms look like individual fungi, they are all a part of the mycelia just beneath the soil’s surface.

The other theory is that the rings are formed by connecting oval genets of the mushrooms with other neighboring mushrooms. In this way if they grow in a ring or an arc, they are continuously grown from the center of this object. Fairy rings also create a necrotic zone during their composition and decomposition – this is an area in the grass or local surface plant-life that has withered or died away. Fairy rings can cause arcs, circles, rings, double arcs, sickle-shaped arcs, and other geometric formations during this process.

The Fungi will deplete the soil of other usual readily available nutrients like nitrogen which makes the plant life in the circle to become discolored while others will cause luxuriant growth as they release chemicals which act like hormones. Some theories believe they are dependent on wildlife such as rabbits – as in the case example of the fairy rings on Shillingstone Hill in England, where chalky soils on higher elevation slopes and meadows produce numerous rings – and its believed the rabbits mow the grass short and add to it nitrogen-rich droppings that feed the soil the nitrogen the mushrooms need, feeding the mycelium. Later generations of fungi grow outwards as the parent generations have depleted the nitrogen levels, and as the rabbits keep dropping n’ cropping the grass, they ignore the fungi, take away competition by the consumption of the grasses, allowing the mushrooms to prosper.

Once a circle of mushrooms reaches a 6 meter diameter, the rabbit droppings will replenish the nitrogen levels in the center and a secondary ring can grow within the first. There are two recognized forms of fairy ring fungus – (1) tethered – found in woods and are formed by mycorrhizal fungi living in commensalism with the trees. (2) free – mushroom fungi that are not connected with other organisms and are often found in meadows as they contain saprotrophic mushrooms. Within this type the Calvatia cyathiformis will affect the local grass to grow more abundantly while the Leucopaxillus giganteus causes the grasses to wither.

The are 60 species of fungi that can grow in fairy ring patterns – the most popular is the edible Scotch bonnet (Marasmius oreades) that is also known as the fairy ring champignon. The largest ring recorded was near Belfort, France at nearly 600 meters in diameter (2,000 feet), over 700 years old, and was the Infundibulicybe geotropa fungus. Southern England’s South Downs rings formed by Calocybe gambosa also seem to be several hundred years old.

Species that form fairy rings:
Agaricus arvensis, Agaricus campestris, Agaricus praerimosus, Amanita muscaria, Amanita phalloides, Amanita rubescens, Bovista dermoxantha, Calocybe gambosa, Calvatia cyathiformis,
Clitocybe dealbata, Clitocybe nebularis, Clitocybe nuda, Clitocybe rivulosa, Chlorophyllum molybdites, Chlorophyllum rhacodes, Cyathus stercoreus, Disciseda subterranea, Entoloma sinuatum, Gomphus clavatus, Infundibulicybe geotropa, Lepista sordida, Leucopaxillus giganteus, Lycoperdon gemmatum, Marasmius oreades, Sarcodon imbricatus, Tricholoma album, Tricholoma orirubens, Tricholoma pardinum, Tricholoma matsutake, Tuber melanosporum, and Vascellum curtisii.

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Morrigan

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091112-144

The Morrigan

by Leaf McGowan, Technogypsie Productions, on December 28, 2013. © 2013: All Rights Reserved – www.technogypsie.net

Also known as The Phantom Queen (“Morrigan”), The Great Queen (“Morrigan”), “Morrigu”, “Morrigna”, “Morrighan”, “Mir-rioghain” (modern Irish), “Morrighan”, “Morgan”, “Mir Rigan”, “Morrigu”, “The Dark Fae Queen”

Goddess of Life, Death, Battle, strife, and sovereignty

Ancestry: Father was Aed Ernmas, Her mother was Ernmas and she has two sisters known as badb and Macha. Her sons were “Glon”, “Gaim”, and “Coscar”.

Corresponding Deity: “Nemon” (Venom), “Macha” (Battle and the Mother), “Fea” (Hate), “Badbh” (Fury); Anu; and “Anand”.

Associations: War, Life, Death, Dark Fae, Dark Elves, Ravens, Crows, the Earth, Mugwort, Yew Trees, Willow Trees, Quartz Crystals; strife, and sovereignty

Forms/Shape shifting: Hag, The Carrion Crow, eel, wolf, heifer, old crone,

Sacred Sites: Plain of Muirthemne (Dundalk, County Louth); Cave of the Cats (Roscommon, county Roscommon); River Unshin (Corann); “The Paps” hills in the North or The Di Chich na Morrigna (pair of hills) (‘two breasts of the Morrigan’) in County Meath; The Cooking Pit of the Morrigan (Fulacht na Mor Rioghna) burnt mound site in County Tipperary; and others.

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Cave of the Cats, Rathcroghan, Ireland

Description: – The Morrigan, the Triple Goddess, known in modern film fantasy (such as “Lost Girl”) as the Queen of the Dark Fae goes far back to the origins of Irish mythology. She is depicted as a Faerie Queen as well as a Goddess. She was the Goddess of Death, Battle, Life, strife, War, and sovereignty. She resided in the Northern realms which were associated with that of the Earth, justice, and the Ancestral Dead. As a Triple Goddess she was also the Crone aspect of the Earth Goddess. The other aspects were “Macha” as the “Mother” and “Anu” as the “Maiden”. She was known to many as the Goddess of War, Life, and Death. She could take life as quickly as she could give life. She was often seen teamed up with the Furies : The Goddesses of War as “Fea”, “Nemon”, “Badbh” (as her three aspects) and “Macha”, “the Mother” who was also the “battle fury”. Indo-European translations suggest that the term “Morrigan” roots as meaning “terror” or “monstrousness” relating to the Old English “maere” meaning “nightmare”, Scandinavian “mara” or Old-Russian “mara” also meaning “nightmare” and “rogan” meaning “queen”. She was known as the “Great Queen”, “Phantom Queen”, and/or “Queen of Demons”. She was notorious for appearing before great warriors when their life was in danger offering them an alternative and assistance in exchange for a commitment, item, or duty. She was known to have appeared before Cuchulainn in a variety of forms. His father, the Dagda, was recorded to have made love to her during creation myths. Cuchulainn was said to have described her as a beautiful woman with streaming long hair, red eyebrows, and wearing a long red cloak and armed with a gray spear riding in a chariot. While he was in battle, she challenged him as an eel, wolf, old crone, and heifer. Other theorists claim the cult of the Morrigan can be tied into many of the other megalithic Goddess cults such as to Matrones, Idises, Dosir that appeared as triple Goddesses as well. Many of these inter-related to fate, death, and birth. Others say the Morrigan is more similar to Norse Mythology’s – the Valkyries as harbingers of death, using magic to cast blessings or curses on warriors and heroes and choosing who will live and die. She was a known shape shifter who could change form at will. One of her favorite battlefield shapeshifting forms is either the crow or raven. The Morrigan has also been accused of inspiring the Irish monnerbund groups who would band together as a group of young warrior-hunters who lived on the borders of society and participating in lawless activities before joining the mainstream when they got older. Some say these groups as well as the Fianna dedicated themselves to her and that she was their Matron. They would gather together at the infamous Fulacht na Mor Rioghn burnt mound sites and cook their hunted deer here somewhat in the like regard of the three hags who cooked the hound in the Cuchulainn myth. She is also seen as a guide to the Underworld or Otherworld, with mazes and passageways, tunnels and caverns leading not only to her lair, but those of Otherworldly entities and places. In this way she is seen as a a dark Queen of the faerie kingdom. She will choose the souls and spirits that she wants to guide down certain paths whether correct or incorrect in achieving their chosen destinations. She is known to use foul weather to cloak passageways or roads, with subtle mists or dense fog, storm clouds, thunder, lightning, or bezerk noises to misguide the traveler. As a Goddess of Sovereignty she is associated with the land and the earth, also as seen as the ruler of the land by granting victory and kingship to those she deems fit. According to myth, legend, lore, archaeology, and literary evidece she could have been the first and earliest of the tribal / territorial Goddesses in Ireland, whereas her connection to land, kingsip, and sovereignty was important if tribal land threatened.

Folklore: There are many Irish myths and legends involving the Morrigan, and this list is but a sampling: The Tain Bo Cuailgne, The Morrigan and Cuchulainn, The Battle of Muirthemne, Bres Mac Elatha and the Tuatha De Danann, The Hostel of the Quicken Trees, The Exploits of the Dagda, The Awakening of the Men of Ulster, The Morrigu, Cruachan, Dagda, The Courting of Emer by Lady Gregory, The Story of the Tuatha De Danann, and Donn Son of Midhir to name a few. In the “Battle of Mag Tuired” (Cath Maige Tuireadh), the Dagda comes across the Morrigan on Samhain at the river Unius where she is washing herself with one foot on each side of the river’s bank. It is said the river was formed from her urination. The Morrigan makes love to the Dagda just before he goes to battle with the Fomorians and they form a tryst. She promises him she would summon the great Druids of Ireland to cast a spell on behalf of the Tuatha De Danann destroying Indech, the Fomorian King, taking from him “the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his valour.” She was believed to have taken two handfuls of his blood and depositing them in the Unius river. As the battle is about to be joined, Lugh, of the Tuatha De Danann asks each of them what power they are bringing to battle … he was unable to interpret the Morrigan’s reply, but knows it involved pursuing, destroying, and subduing. In Battle she chants a poem that breaks the battle and the Fomorians are driven off into sea. After that, she chants another poem that celebrates the victory and prophesizes the end of the world. When she appeared before Cuchulainn as a beautiful red-headed warrior, he turned away her amorous attempts, and apparently in due form during his battles in the Ulster Cycle conflicted him as a heifer, eel, wolf, and old hag. During his battle at Muirthemne, she appeared to him as three crones who were roasting a hound on a rowan spit. He was not to eat of the meat for his namesake was after the hound. Eating such would be forsaken and represent the day he dies. The crones shamed him into eating the tabooed flesh and that led to his death in battle that same day. The Morrigan transformed to the form of a black crow, flew to his corpse, and sat on his soldier so that the enemies knew he was truly deceased. Another Cuchulainn’s death tale depicts Cuchulainn encountering the Morrigan as a hag washing his bloody armour in a ford prophesizing his death. After this, Cuchulainn holds himself up tied to a standing stone with his own entrails so he could die standing upright and it is in this pose that the Morrigan transformed as a crow lands on his shoulders so all knew he was dead. Another tale talks of the Morrigan appearing as an old crone trying to cross a stream in front of Diarmuid O’Duibne. No one in Diarmuid’s company took pity on her except he, and went to the stream carrying her across the water on his back. During this act, she transformed into a beautiful tall sidhe woman who was from Tir na nog. She blessed him with the gift that no woman could ever resist his look or refuse him. A woman named Grainne fell in love with him causing him to gain the wraith of Fionn Mac Cumhaill who was also trying to woo’ her. Another legend tells about the Morrigan luring away Odras’ bull. Odras then follows her to the Otherworld through the cave of Cruachan. The Morrigan discovering this, awaits for Odras to fall asleep and then turns her into a pool of water. I’ve always wondered if this “cave of Cruachan” is the “Cave of the Cats” in Roscommon, and if the the pool of water just beneath the rockfall leading up to a hole and passage to the Morrigan’s house is poor old Odras?

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just by the pool’s edge, before the shamble
up to the Morrigan’s Home
Cave of the Cats, Rathcroghan, Ireland

History: The earliest manuscripts referring to her are in the 8th century O’Mulconry Glossary saying that “Macha” is one of the three “morrigna”. 9th century Latin Vulgate translation of the Book of Isaiah as the Lmaia translating to Herbrew Lilith, described in the glosses as “a monster in female form, that is a morrigan”. The 9th century C.E. Cormac’s glossary also describes her as does a gloss in the H.3.18 manuscript of “gudemain” meaning “spectres” with a plural form as “morrigna”. The earliest account depicting the Morrigan as an individual was during the Ulster Cycle stories where the tale between her and Co Chulainn are told in the Tain Bo Regamna (“The cattle Raid of Regamain”). In the 12th century texts known as the “Mythological Cycle” she is also described and told tales about. In the “Lebor Gabola irenn” she is listed amongst the “Tuatha De Danann” as a daughter of Ernmas, granddaughter of the Nuada. In the Mythological Cycle, Ernmas is said to have three sisters known as uriu, Banba, and Fodla which are synonyms for Ireland and were married to Mac Cuill, Mac Cocht, and Mac Graine, the last three Kings of Ireland that were Tuatha De Danann. Ernmas had three daughters who were Badb, Macha, and the Morrigan that were described as being “wealthy”, “springs of craftiness”, and “sources of bitter fighting”. The Morrigan was also referred to as being named “Anand”. She had three sons, “Glon”, “Gaim”, and “Coscar”. The 17th century “History of Ireland” by Geoffrey Keating stated the oriu, Banba, and Fodla worshiped Badb, Macha, and the Morrigan respectively. The 1870 publication of “The Ancient Irish Goddess of War” by W.M. Hennessey was very popular in dressing the Morrigan as a war or battle Goddess. She was also at times linked with the Banshee because of her raven or crow-like shape shifting image and her involvement with foretelling omens, oracles, and prophesies involving certain warrior’s and hero’s violent deaths, just as the Banshee do. The scholar Patricia Lysaght states that “In certain areas of Ireland this supernatural being is, in addition to the name banshee, also called the badhb.” It was through this interpretation that the Morrigan was known not only to cry out imminent death but also the outcomes of war.

Present-day Rites and Rituals:

Many Neo-Pagans today celebrate, worship, honor, and pay tribute to “The Morrigan”. This can be found in many different Pagan traditions such as Druidism, Wicca, Witchcraft, and Celtic Shamanism. Sometimes she’s included in ceremonies with other Deities, while others actually set up permanent shrines in her honor. These shrines sometimes have items sacred to her such as a bowl of brine and blood, raven or crow feathers, red cloth, menstrual blood, and anything else that represents life and death, fertility and war, the crow, or mythology associated with her. Some modern-day Morrigan cults suggest that the rites be kept sweet and simple, to encompass her mythos, and add in elements of her symbology. They say when you fee her presence to offer her something of value to you such as your blood, hair, or favorite beverage. She is infamous attendee of initiations regardless of being a birth, a death, transformation, or a commitment. Some ritualists call the Morrigan down into their cauldrons in order to gain her prophecy or wisdom there.

Bibliography / Recommended Reading / References:

 

Banshee

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Banshee
Bunworth Banshee, Fairy Legends and Traditions of
the South of Ireland by Thomas Crofton Croker, 1825
This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.
This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a
copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

The Banshee

An Irish malevolent female Faerie that is often connected to a family even though she lives in the woods, bog, or forest. They are known to scream like a howling wind or a screeching of an owl plummeting to its prey when a family member’s death is imminent and will continue onwards long after the death in mourning. This is where the common phrase “scream like a banshee” comes from. Some blame the Keener women who wail in mourning at funerals gave birth to the legend of the banshee. They seem to be attached to families that have the Ó or Mac prefix. They harber omens of death and messages from the underworld. Their main purpose is to warn of death by beginning to wail if someone is about to die. Some say they only warn if someone is about to die in a violent means such as a tragic accident, murder, or catastrophe. They are not always seen, mostly heard, especially at night. Some claim the island winds that Ireland, Scotland, and England experiences howling through the windows, shutters, or glass panes sound like a banshee and is the root of the noise. I can attest every windy night I’ve spent in Ireland, I’ve heard what I imagine to be the wail of the banshee. In fact as I write this, the wind is making such noises coming through the windows and wood work. Another logical explanation is that of the owl – Screech Owls have a similar sound to that of banshees and during their nocturnal hunts are known for their chilling screech.

However there are those that claim to have seen them, and when they do, they often appear as an ugly scary looking hag or old woman. Others claim they shape-shift and while can appear as an old hag, can also appear as a young beautiful woman. In addition to appearing as an old hag, they have been described as wearing grey or white gowns with long pale hair that they brush with a silver comb, though this could come from mixing them up with mermaids says scholar Patricia Lysaght. Some Celtic lore suggests that banshees originated from the death of a wash woman who died in childbirth and is why banshees are often seen washing or preening next to pools or fjords in the forest or along the banks of a spring or river. Though this could be a confusion of them with naiads. They are sometimes described as having winds and being in flight, while other legends confine them to walking the land in the dark of night. Some say they’ve been blended by monks descriptions of them with Lilith. Lilith is often depicted as a voluptuous female with feather like hair, wings, owl-like feet, perched atop two male lions binding them together by their waists. Some legends claim the manifestation of a banshee at first would transform into the Irish battle Goddess known as the Morrigan. She has also appeared in anamorphic forms such as a stoat, hare, hooded crow, or weasel. There are counterparts of the Banshee throughout the Western world, such as in Scotland as the “bean sith” or “bean-nighe” that is often seen washing blood stained armor or clothes of those about to die. Reports of sightings of bean sith and banshees were abundant even as of recent times. They are also found in Welsh mythology, Norse mythology, and American folklore.

A report from Kings James I of Scotland in 1437 claimed he was approached by an Irish seer who was later identified as a banshee. She foretold of his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. Irish history and mythology tell tales of many prophets who were believed to be banshees that advise the local courts of Irish Kings, and the great houses of Ireland. On Rathlin island, legend describes the banshee’s cry as a “thin screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl.” In Leinster, there are tales of the “bean chaointe” whose wail is so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, tales report of the scream as a low pleasant singing of a song. In Tyrone, reports as the sound resembling two boards being struck together. They have been said to have cried during the death of Brian Boru. 18th century C.E. American folklore talk about banshee tales in Tar River, North Carolina, though could be the report of a ghoul that was mislabeled a banshee. In South Dakota, a banshee is said to wail upon a hill near Watch Dog Butte. None of the American legends associate the wail with a oracle of death.
Bibliography / Recommended Reading:

 

Banshee

Comments Off on Banshee | Banshees, Mythology, Sightings Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Banshee
Bunworth Banshee, Fairy Legends and Traditions of
the South of Ireland by Thomas Crofton Croker, 1825
This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.
This applies to Australia, the European Union and those countries with a
copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

The Banshee

An Irish malevolent female Faerie that is often connected to a family even though she lives in the woods, bog, or forest. They are known to scream like a howling wind or a screeching of an owl plummeting to its prey when a family member’s death is imminent and will continue onwards long after the death in mourning. This is where the common phrase “scream like a banshee” comes from. Some blame the Keener women who wail in mourning at funerals gave birth to the legend of the banshee. They seem to be attached to families that have the Ó or Mac prefix. They harber omens of death and messages from the underworld. Their main purpose is to warn of death by beginning to wail if someone is about to die. Some say they only warn if someone is about to die in a violent means such as a tragic accident, murder, or catastrophe. They are not always seen, mostly heard, especially at night. Some claim the island winds that Ireland, Scotland, and England experiences howling through the windows, shutters, or glass panes sound like a banshee and is the root of the noise. I can attest every windy night I’ve spent in Ireland, I’ve heard what I imagine to be the wail of the banshee. In fact as I write this, the wind is making such noises coming through the windows and wood work. Another logical explanation is that of the owl – Screech Owls have a similar sound to that of banshees and during their nocturnal hunts are known for their chilling screech.

However there are those that claim to have seen them, and when they do, they often appear as an ugly scary looking hag or old woman. Others claim they shape-shift and while can appear as an old hag, can also appear as a young beautiful woman. In addition to appearing as an old hag, they have been described as wearing grey or white gowns with long pale hair that they brush with a silver comb, though this could come from mixing them up with mermaids says scholar Patricia Lysaght. Some Celtic lore suggests that banshees originated from the death of a wash woman who died in childbirth and is why banshees are often seen washing or preening next to pools or fjords in the forest or along the banks of a spring or river. Though this could be a confusion of them with naiads. They are sometimes described as having winds and being in flight, while other legends confine them to walking the land in the dark of night. Some say they’ve been blended by monks descriptions of them with Lilith. Lilith is often depicted as a voluptuous female with feather like hair, wings, owl-like feet, perched atop two male lions binding them together by their waists. Some legends claim the manifestation of a banshee at first would transform into the Irish battle Goddess known as the Morrigan. She has also appeared in anamorphic forms such as a stoat, hare, hooded crow, or weasel. There are counterparts of the Banshee throughout the Western world, such as in Scotland as the “bean sith” or “bean-nighe” that is often seen washing blood stained armor or clothes of those about to die. Reports of sightings of bean sith and banshees were abundant even as of recent times. They are also found in Welsh mythology, Norse mythology, and American folklore.

A report from Kings James I of Scotland in 1437 claimed he was approached by an Irish seer who was later identified as a banshee. She foretold of his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. Irish history and mythology tell tales of many prophets who were believed to be banshees that advise the local courts of Irish Kings, and the great houses of Ireland. On Rathlin island, legend describes the banshee’s cry as a “thin screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl.” In Leinster, there are tales of the “bean chaointe” whose wail is so piercing that it shatters glass. In Kerry, tales report of the scream as a low pleasant singing of a song. In Tyrone, reports as the sound resembling two boards being struck together. They have been said to have cried during the death of Brian Boru. 18th century C.E. American folklore talk about banshee tales in Tar River, North Carolina, though could be the report of a ghoul that was mislabeled a banshee. In South Dakota, a banshee is said to wail upon a hill near Watch Dog Butte. None of the American legends associate the wail with a oracle of death.
Bibliography / Recommended Reading:

 

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owl

Alot of legends surround Gougane Barra and its lake. It was here in the lake that Saint Finbarr
chased off Lú, Gougan Barra Dragon. A dragon or a sea monster like Nessie, the legends vary in their descriptions. The creature’s expulsion is believed to be the source of the large channel that is now the River Lee flowing west to the sea at Cork City. A little sea monster is memorialized in the hedge along the isle’s road. Saint Finbarr was also believed to have been led by an angel from the source of the river Lee at his monastic site to its marshy mouth where he built a monastery “out of which grew the Sea and the City of Cork”.

Saint Patrick was also reputed of slaying a dragon in Irish Mythology albeit depicted as a giant serpent. Serpents and dragons are often co-mingled together as the same beast in Irish myth. It was of his slaying that the red blood from the death of the sea serpent spewed into the waters of Lough Derg colored the waters as such. he supposedly killed the last remaining serpent on Saint’s Island. This was supposedly the mother of all the Irish serpents, and thereby being the mother to Lú in Gougan Barra Lake. Some claim that Saint Finbarr drowned the serpent instead of chasing him off. Others claim the serpent was slaughtered. The serpent is not always depicted as a snake, lake monster, or dragon but usually as a winged creature like the one depicted in the St. Patrick’s slaying of the beast. There is a 3000 BCE copper relief of a giant lion-headed bird named “Imdugud” found at the Temple of the Goddess Nenbursag at Tell-al-Ubaid that is more in likeness that historians believe was imagined as the dragon that Saint Finbarr and Saint Patrick slayed. Other scholars think the so-called serpent was not a several hundred to thousands pounds of dragon as both Saint Finbarr and Saint Patrick were not warriors, but rather monks armed with a staff. Perhaps it was a 20-30 pound beast some scholars say, such as Gerald Maloney, such as an ancient species of ground burrowing Owls such as “Ornimegalonyx Otero” or the fantastical Banshee, that flew in from a hole in the earth and frightened the monks and over-exaggerated to be a dragon.
One legend says that when Saint Finbarr arrived he found a serpent living in the lake. He caught the monster and threw it to one side, it landed miles away, leaving an impression of its body in the earth that filled with water and later was called Lough Allua.

Bibliography /Recommended Reading / References:

 

Pooka

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Pooka
Pooka, Phouka, Phooka, Phooca, Púka
by Leaf McGowan, Technogypsie Research © 2013

While in urban racial slurring, the term ‘pooka’ can mean a fat or slothful person lacking basic hygiene or modesty, traditionally, it is an Irish shape-shifting dark faerie spirit that would appear in a variety of forms, like horses, old hags, dogs, goats, bulls, goblins, hares, or eagles.

In County Down, the Pooka is often described as a short, disfigured goblin demanding his/her share of the harvest. In County Laois, it is depicted as a gigantic boogeyman. In Waterford and Wexford, it is a large eagle with a giant wingspan, and in Roscommon, often as a goat. Regional differences and descriptions vary. Regardless of the form, they were usually very black with blazing red eyes. “They appear here and there, now and then, to this one and that one.” According to the Urban Lore dictionary … A mountain or hill creature that preys on the weak, the lost, the confused, a weary traveler, or appears to foretell prophecy on November 1ast to those consulting it. They always appear around dusk, luring an individual to a treacherous fate, often involving a cliff or a ditch. They usually offer rides to weary travelers, sending them off at a high speed just before dumping them in a ditch and running away laughing.

They were in many terms a trickster and prankster. When chickens see a Pooka they won’t lay eggs, cows won’t make milk. It will appear in front of certain homes and call out the names it wants to take on a wild ride, and if those people don’t come out of their houses, they will vandalize their yards. Pookas have a grasp of human languages and can talk to any human in the tongue they speak, luring them into their entrapment, confusing them, and then terrifying them. Another creature that entices humans onto their backs for a ride are the kelpies.

Kelpies will take them on a wild ride and then dive into the nearest body of water to drown and eat them. The Pooka takes them on a wild ride and dumps them in a ditch, off a cliff, in a bog, or plays a trick. Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, was rumored to have ridden the Pooka … and did so by using a unique bridle and incorporating three hairs of a Pooka’s tail. He rode the Pooka in its horse form, staying on its back until it was exhausted and surrendered to his will. From this, the Boru extracted two promises from it that it would no longer torment Christian people and ruin their property and that it would never attack an Irish unless they were drunk or abroad with intent to harm. The Pooka agreed. Since the death of Boru, it has forgotten its promises and continues with its original activity.

Some believe the term “Pooka” came from the Vikings as they came to Ireland, referring to the Old Norse term “pook” or “puki” meaning “nature spirit”. These inter-related to the Germanic languages and terms for “pucel”, “pook”, or “puck” meaning benevolent or malevolent nature. Around Europe there are similarly correspondent creatures such as the Welsh “pwca” or “pwwka” or the Cornish “Bucca”, the Channel Islands “pouque” or the poulpique in Brittany. The Welch word “Gwyll,” which is their correspondence to the Irish “Pooka,” is used to describe gloom, darkness, shade, a goblin, and the nightmare, which is quite similar to the Irish creature. Some believe Pooka or Puca comes from the Irish word “poc” meaning “male goat” or “Blow from a cudgel”.

W.B. Yeats wrote about the Pooka as the Poc, meaning “he-goat,” as a wicked devilish creature. Croker said a boy near Killarney had told him, “Old people used to say that the Pookas were very numerous long ago … were wicked-minded, black-looking, bad things … that would come in the form of wild colts, with chains hanging about them.” Halloween, according to some Irish, is called “Pooka night.” In France, the Pooka are blamed for blighting crops that remain in fields or blackberries left unfit to eat. It was always suggested that children do not eat over-ripe blackberries in the fields as it was a sign that a pooka had cursed them. Sometimes, they would puke, spit, or defecate on the fruits, making them foul to eat. Sometimes farmers would leave a small share of a crop as the “puca’s share” to appease them. Pookas, however, must be civil on November 1st, their day of reign. In some regions, the entire month of November is known as the “month of the Pooka,” during Halloween in some parts of Ireland, children go out “with the Pooka,” while others stay indoors for fear of what the Pooka will do to them. During Easter, some see the Easter Bunny as the bunny form of a Pooka bringing chocolate eggs and sweets to kids at Easter, which inspired the 1950 film “Harvey” directed by Henry Koster.

One of the classic Irish tales of the Pooka is that of Morty Sullivan and the Black Steed who at 14 ran off from home to America leaving his parents behind alone and sad for their loss of him until their death. When he returned, he learned of their fate, felt responsible, and sought release from his sins. While hunting for absolution one night he came upon a Pooka who lured him onto her black steed that dumped him off a cliff. Pookas can also be friendly spirits if they are well-treated and help farmers and millers with their harvest.

Another tale is about Phadrig, who fell asleep in a mill and awoke to the clatter of 6 little faeries buzzing around milling corn while a Pooka in the form of an old man wearing tattered clothes directed them with their duties. Phadrig felt sorry for the Pooka, so they bought him a fine silk suit and laid it on the floor. The Pooka was delighted and then said he was a fine gentleman and would no longer grind the corn any more. Lady Wilde wrote about Pooka that were helpful to farmers and told the tale of Phadraig differently … where the pooka appeared as a bull and told young Phadraig to come to the old mill that night … and after their meeting, the pookas would come secretly at night and do all his work for him milling the sacks of corn into flour, running the farm, and doing his chores. This made the farmer’s boy very happy and, in reward, gave the Pooka a fine suit – but then all the Pookas went off to see the world ending their work. This didn’t bother Phadraig as the farm was wealthy and allowed the farmer to retire and send Phadraig to school.

At Phadraig’s wedding, the Pooka gave him a golden cup filled with drink that ensured happiness. Others have described the Pooka as being goblin-like, vampiric, and bloodthirsty. Tales of them chasing down humans, killing them barbarically, and eating their flesh.

There is a place named in the Wicklow Mountains called the “Poula Phouk,” meaning “Pooka’s Hole,” a waterfall believed to form the River Liffey. The “Binlaughlin Mountain” in Fermanagh County is also known as the “Peak of the Speaking Horse.” This is one area where some gather in high places to meet with a speaking horse for its prophecy on Bilberry Sunday. The Poula phouk was named after an animal spirit that encountered a pooka there. Currently, there is a hydro-electric power station at this point where the river drops through a 150 fee plummet into a narrow gorge in three phases – the second drop is the pool known as the “Hole of the Pooka” and is the scene from where Padraig O’Farrell tells of a Kildare man named Grennan on a hunt chasing a fox, chased it into Tipperkevin north of Ballymore Eustace in County Kildare. The fox appeared here and led the hunter to the river Liffey. During the same point of the chase, a black steed appeared and thought to be a Pooka began to chase it too. As they raced along the Liffey, the Pooka and Grennan reached the gorge. Grennan tried to recall the hounds, though the Pooka tempted them to their fates. The fox headed for the narrow part of the gorge, spied the Pooka’s red eyes, and jumped, missing the ledge and falling into the turbulent falls below. The Pooka lept across the gorge and vanished into the woodlands. Grennan followed the hounds and the fox, all swimming desperately to get out of the pool, leading to their death. As they died, he could hear the Pooka laughing. This Pooka’s hole was also blamed on various floods caused by the power station built at its pool. Again, the Pooka’s laugh was heard.

Bibliography / Recommended Reading:

 

Morty Sullivan and the Spirit Horse

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Tale of Morty Sullivan and the Spirit Horse

The tale took place between Gougane Barra and Tobar Ghobnatan. This was the story of a 14 year old named Morty who ran away from home leaving his parents to die heartbroken when he left Ireland on a ship to America. 30 years after they died, Morty returned to find of their deaths. So he went on a pilgrimage to atone for his sins, and was recommended to do so at Ballyvourney at St. Gobnait’s well. He ran off on that advice traveling many miles on into the dark, a new moon nonetheless, with stars obscured by a thick fog. He ascended into the valleys and got lost, but pushed on to reach his destination. The fog grew thicker and thicker lost he became and in doubt he was going to find the chapel. He saw a light not far off in the distance and as it went towards it the light became distant and distant twinkling dimly through the fog. He continued onwards with his journey nonetheless for he thought it was Saint Gobnait guiding his feet through the mountains to her chapel. He realized the light came from a fire of an old woman which came to a surprise to him that a alone woman would travel as far as he on such uneven roads in the dark. He said to her “In the holy names of the pious Gobnait, and of her preceptor Saint Abban .. how that burning fire move on so fast before me, who can that old woman be sitting beside the moving fire?” and upon those words found himself close to the warm fire beside the old woman who was eating her supper. She appeared to him angry at having her meal disturbed, and her eyes would roll at him at every bite. Her eyes were not normal like human eyes, but a wild red color similar to that of an eye of a ferret. He sat in silence watching her. She asked him “What’s your name?” with a sulfurous puff of a breath coming out when she spoke, nostrils distending, eyes growing a bright red. He replied “Morty Sullivan at your service.” She replied “Ubbubbo! we’ll soon see that! and her eyes turned pale green. She said “Take hold of my hand Morty and I’ll give you a horse ride to your journey’s end” and as they did, the fire going before them, shooting out bright tongues of flame flickering fiercely. They approached a cave in the side of the mountain where the hag called for her horse – out of which came a jet-black steed with clanging hoofs. “Mount Morty Mount!” she cried seizing him with supernatural strength and forcing him on the back of the horse. He cried “O that I had spurs!” grasping frantically to the horse’s mane, catching a shadow that bore him up and bounded forward with him, springing him down a cliff onto the rugged bed of a torrent. Pilgrims coming back from Gougane Barra found him flat on his back under a steep cliff down which he had been flung by the phooka. He wads bruised by the fall and said to have sworn on the spot by the hand of O’Sullivan – “Nulla manus, Tam liberalis, Atque generalis, Atque universalis, Quam Suilivanis” never again to take a full quart bottle of whiskey with him on his pilgrimage. The lesson from this fable is to young men to stay at home, live decently, and stay sober if they can, and not to travel around the world. A tale of delusion and whiskey and a long night’s quest through the woods with hallucinations of a phooka-like hag and steed.

 

Binne the Giant and his grave

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Binne’s Cairn, The Giant’s Grave, Curraghbinny Hill, Ireland

The Giant’s Grave: Binne’s Cairn
* Curraghbinny Woods, County Cork, Munster, Ireland * Latitude: 51°48’41.35″ * Longitude: -8°17’52.72″ *

Atop the summit of Curraghbinny Hill in Curraghbinny Forest Recreation Area lies a mound of giant stones/ cairn that is locally called “The Giant’s Grave”. The grave overlooks Cork Harbour. It was excavated by an archaeological team in 1932 by archaeologist Sean P. O’Riordan. During this excavation, a large circle of giant boulders were uncovered beneath a spread of stones. Within the cairn was an arc of smaller stones closer to the center. In the center of the monument was a heap of stone and clay. That is all found within the cairn. Nearby however were found cattle teeth, cattle bone, charcoal, cremated human bone, a small bronze ring, and two collections of water-rolled pebbles imported from elsewhere. The cremated human bone found nearby was carbon dated roughly to be 4,000 years old. No one knows the exact date of the cairn, but it is estimate to be Bronze Age (2000 B.C.E. to 400 B.C.E.). The name of the woods “Curraghbinny” in Irish is “Corra Binne” named after the legendary giant called Binne. It is believed that this cairn is his burial chamber atop the hill (called a “Corra” in Irish). The stone most likely was deposited naturally during the Ice Age 20,000 years ago. The Giant’s Stone in Crosshaven went missing after the slob in the town center was filled in and was recently recovered and brought back to be displayed in the middle of Crosshaven.

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Binne’s Cairn, The Giant’s Grave, Curraghbinny Hill, Ireland

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The legend of the Giant named Binne
According to Robert Day who told the tale in 1892 about a giant named Mahain who threw two stones from Monkstown landing in Ringaskiddy and the other in Crosshaven. It is believed this was the Giant named Binne. Another local tale tells a similar tale, but this time the Giant was called Binne, and lived locally in Currabinny. He was the giant who cast the stones into Crosshaven years ago. The stone apparently has a set of fingerprints embedded into the stone leading viewers of it to believe they belonged to a giant.

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Binne’s Cairn, The Giant’s Grave, Curraghbinny Hill, Ireland

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Goibnui, the Smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann

Other names:
Govannon (Welsh), Gofannon (Welsh), and Gobannos (Gaulish), Goibniu, Goibhnet, Goibhniu.

Counterparts:
There is suggestions that Goibnui, the Smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was replaced by Saint Ghobnatan. The site of Tobar Ghobnatan had archaeological evidence of a hut and artifacts such as iron slag, a crucible, and metalworking tools leading experts to believe that the site was used for iron works before its Christian occupation. This may have been the metalworking site of Goibnui. This also led to St. Gobnait to being a Patron Saint of Iron Workers. Both names have similar roots. Monastic site where St. Gobnait’s house, well, church, and grave resides has suggestive evidence that it had formerly been a Pagan Shrine with fairy wells. Gofannon (Welsh) and Gobannos (Gaulish). He lived on in Irish myth as Goban Saor, the craftsman who built the two round towers.

Deity / King / Lord of:
Irish/Celtic God of Smiths, Faerie lord of Metal craft. Son of Goddess Danu. Brew master of Immortality elixirs.

Qualities:
iron working, smelting, metal working, brew master, beer.

Description:
Goibniu is the Irish God of Smiths and was a son to the Goddess Danu. He was the official Smith to the Tuatha de Danann. He is found in company often with Luichtne the carpenter, Creidne the wright, and Diane Cecht the leech. His parents are unknown, but believed to be the hypothetical son of Danu, brother to Dagda and Dian Cecht. Others claim his family to be Tuirbe Trágmar (father), Net (grandfather), Balor Elatha (half-brothers), and Dagda (Nephew). He continued on in Irish folklore as Goban Saor, the legendary craftsman who built the round towers.

History:
He was believed to be killed alongside Dian Cecht by a painful plague that struck Ireland.

Folklore/Mythology:
He was believed to be able to smith swords that would always strike true. He was in possession of the Mead of Eternal Life. He, Credne, and Luchtainel were believed to be the creators of the magical weapons used by the Tuatha de Danann in battle. He and his brothers Creidhne and Luchtaine were known as the Trí Dée Dána, the three Gods of art, who forged the weapons which the Tuatha Dé used to battle the Fomorians. He was believed to be a creator of beer that would make its drinker immortal. He was a master brewer for the Tuatha de Danann. His feast would protect the Tuatha de Danann from sickness and old age.

Archaeology/History:
Referred in the Book of Invasions as “Goibniu who was not impotent in smelting, Luichtne, the free wright Creidne, Dian Cecht, for going roads of great healing, Mac ind Oc, Lug son of Ethliu.” Another text referring to him was the St. Gall codex referencing him in a charm during the “Second Battle of Magh Turedh” calling upon him in a spell to remove a thorn “very sharp is GoibniuÂ’s science, let GoibniuÂ’s goad go out before GoibniuÂ’s goad!” During the Second Battle, Ruadan (son of Bres and Brighid) was sent to kill him. As the Fomorians felt he’d make a good spy, he was asked for parts of a spear from Goibniu assembled by a woman called Fron. Ruadan threw the spear at Gobniu wounding him. The spear was pulled out and he was keened by Brigid inventing the practice of keening and giving it to humankind. Keening is the high-pitched wailing for the dead often referenced to the Banshee (beansidhe). He went to the Well of Slaine, watched over by his family and healed by its magic waters, returned to battle, making more weapons for the Tuatha de Danann, and won Ireland from the Fomorians. His weapons always made their mark and wounds inflicted by them were always fatal. His ale made the Tuatha de Danann invulnerable. the Lebor Gabála Érenn describes him as as ‘not impotent in smelting’.

Monuments and Artifacts:
The site Moytura in County Sligo is supposed to be associated with him as is the Moytura site in County Roscommon.

Bibliography/Recommended Readings:

  • R.A.S. Macalister 1941 “Lebor Gabála Érenn: Book of the Taking of Ireland” Part 1-5. Dublin: Irish Texts Society.
  • Gray, Elizabeth A. 1982 “Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired”. Dublin: Irish Texts Society. URL: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T300010/index.html
  • MacCulloch, J.A. 1911 “Religion of the Ancient Celts.” Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

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Could St. Gobnata be a modernized version of Goibniu?
Statue at Tobar Ghobnatan

 

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