Corp Criadhach

Unfettered Wood has done a blog post on the Corp Criadhach, the doll, or poppet in Scottish witchcraft.

Change of Address

As readers of this blog may have noticed, the url address has changed.  It is now located at http://www.ancestral-gael.com/  So, why the change?

Over the last few years, I have been refining my polytheist leanings and focussing on one particular area, more particularly polytheist traditions of the highlands of Scotland.  Also, I continued to undertake genealogical research, discovering the majority of my ancestors originate from the south-west of Ireland, but also, it seems there are links to Scotland and the Northern Ireland plantation settlers.   In light of this, I felt I better understood the pull that the north-west, particularly Wester-Ross, has on me. 

I also attempted to learn Scots Gaelic, was forced to take a break shortly after I started, but I hope to return to it.   I also started reading blogs and books by Gaelic Polytheists and felt this better suited me, too.  To that end, I still  read around Irish and other related myths, and I continue to learn more about Irish witchcraft traditions as there is very little on the polytheist and magical practices of Gaelic Scotland, presumably because it is thought the language, and culture(?) originated with northern Irish settlers/invaders some time in the fourth century [correct me if I am wrong].

In all this, I learned that the word "celtic" was generally applied only to the languages, and not necessarily the modern cultures most people refer to when they use the word.  So, I decided "gael" was a more appropriate word to apply to my user name.   It has taken some time to make the change - it's never as easy as you think - and change links, domains, email, etc.  The look and appearance of this blog have not changed because that is simply too technical for me, and I'm just not that creative.

My hope is that this doesn't inconvenience readers, and followers of this blog too much; and I hope, too, that the change is understandable.

An Award!

This is a little off-topic for my blog, but I received this from one of my favourite bloggers, Bee-Leaf. It was a very nice gift to receive at the end of a long, arduous week. Thank you Bee-Leaf for your kind comments about my blog, too.

The Rules for those recieving an award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received the award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Put links of those blogs on yours

5. Leave a message on the blogs nominated

So, here are my nominees:

Bo, for the marvellous blog entitled "The Expvlsion of the Blatant Beast" ~ an eclectic mix of thoughts from 28-year old medievalist, currently at Oxford (but a Junior Research Fellow in Cambridge from October 2008) who write eloquently on a range of subjects including medieval studies, paganism, music, literature, art and who also (on rare occasions) displays iconographic art he has produced. Always, always a blog to read if you want to be made to think and I feel priveleged to have found, and be able to understand this particular blog.

"Cylch Riannon" ~ although Lee posts are infrequent they are always worth reading as he expounds on his explorations through brythonic paganism. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, I am always glad to see a new post at this particular site.

Mochenddu's Weblog ~ as written by Craig is another pagan blog that gives one pause for thought. Craig often describes his practice as feral (druidic?) paganism, though his blog displays a very definite academic knowledge in several areas. Although another infrequent poster, this blog is well worth watching, and reading because of the interesting thoughts on some (very thorny) issues that Craig is want to post.

One particular jouranl that I particularly love reading, and would read every single day if I had continuous internet access, is Leanne's "Somerset Seasons" site. Another pagan and one who takes marvellous pictures of animals, sunsets, home-baked goods, crafts and life in general. Nearly every post has a great picture to accompany the text, and I am oft-times pea-green with envy at the life this lady leads. Its pure joy reading her posts; a kind of comfy sofa chair by the fire blog that makes you feel very, very welcome.

I am always trying to keep up with some of my favourite authors and one, in particular, has only returned in the last two days after injury. I am overjoyed to see Wendy Mewe's online diary "Brittany Blues" back online.

With a keen interest in a photography, "Scenes of Ireland" is an online journal to which I look forward with eager anticipation every day. This particular site belongs to a friend, Geraldine, who has a very similar camera to mind and, as she experiments, I get the benefit of her knowledge and I also get to glimpse parts of Ireland I have not previously visited. Geraldine has a keen eye and the photographs often have a little something magical about them.

And, there is nothing in those rules that says you can't nominate the same person twice; just different blogs, so I am nominating another of Geraldine's blog sites: "Dreams of Reality" where you can read her poetry - and read it you should!

So that completes the list of online journals to which I want to send this award. Thanks everyone for posting your thoughts and activities and allowing me a unique access into your lives.