Download or read book The Otherworld written by Tom Sherlock and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belief in the existence of a parallel world and in otherworldly phenomena has long been established in Irish tradition, and facets of such belief continue to be found in contemporary Irish society. This book, with two accompanying compact discs, examines aspects of the enduring fascination the Irish imagination has with supernatural beings, encounters, and occurrences, as represented in song and music. The material contained in this publication, which includes recorded sound, photographs, and manuscript transcriptions, is drawn from National Folklore Collection/Cnuasach Bhealoideas Eireann at University College Dublin. The book addresses a number of illuminating aspects of popular tradition, such as: the connection between the supernatural and excellence in the performance of music and song * the dangers inherent in engaging with the fairies * the fear of abduction or loss * benign supernatural encounters * the existence of otherworldly creatures * the physical landscape, as perceived in inherited oral knowledge. There are encounters that reflect the blending of Christian and non-Christian ideas. The inclusion of contemporary performers alongside older archival material is testament to the fact that the National Folklore Collection continues to grow and remains the most important repository of Irish vernacular culture. The songs, music, and lore contained here are the foundation stone upon which the book rests, and the selected examples are illustrated with numerous black-and-white photographs. There can be little doubt that the full spectrum of human experience is better comprehended with an understanding of traditional lore and belief. The Otherworld: Music & Song from Irish Tradition addresses an important aspect of that human experience and seeks to encourage just such an engagement. It is a book for both the general reader and scholars of folklore. (Series: Scribhinni Bealoidis / Folklore Studies - Vol. 21) *** "The book itself boasts an endlessly informative text and many resonant photographs of singers, musicians, collectors and -- most of all -- landscape features. The last of these record Ireland's unsettling countryside, home to fairies, banshees and ghosts, and serve to set already evocative songs and tunes in places that are of, at once, this world and the otherworld. If there is another compilation like this one, I have never heard of it, and I doubt that it could be as stimulating as this one, a unique and (almost literally) haunting excursion into mystery and melody." - Jerome Clark, Rambles.Net, May 18, 2013 *** "This remarkable book with its breathtaking old photos (and two magical CDs) offers Irish traditional music and song associated with fairies of the Otherworld... Material was gleaned from all over Ireland, and not just from professional musicians; most was collected from islanders, urbanites, farmers, students, teachers and Travellers... Most songs are sung a cappella, and most instrumentalists perform solo, offering intense listening experiences, as jigs, waltzes, laments, dirges, and recitations chronicle legends, local history, religion, and supernatural happenings." - The Celtic Connection, June 2013~

Download or read book Irish Tales from the Otherworld written by Bob Curran and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extraordinary tales that have been passed down from generation to generation, and are now published for the first time.

Download or read book The Otherworld Voyage in Early Irish Literature written by Jonathan M. Wooding and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With The Otherworld in Irish Literature and History, Jonathan Wooding presents a major collection of essays by some of the best-known academics in Ireland, Britain and America today.

Download or read book Early Irish Myths and Sagas written by and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 1981-09-17 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world - part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle freely with the gods. From the vivid adventures of the great Celtic hero Cu Chulaind, to the stunning 'Exile of the Sons of Uisliu' - a tale of treachery, honour and romance - these are masterpieces of passion and vitality, and form the foundation for the Irish literary tradition: a mythic legacy that was a powerful influence on the work of Yeats, Synge and Joyce.

Download or read book Music and the Celtic Otherworld written by Karen Ralls-MacLeod and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering themes close to Scottish and Irish folklore, this work explores the universal concept of the spiritual dimension of music from the Celtic sources.

Download or read book Heart of the Fae written by Emma Hamm and published by . This book was released on 2017-11-17 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beauty and the Beast meets Irish Mythology in this sweeping retelling of the beloved fairytale.

Download or read book Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld written by Sharon Paice MacLeod and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-05-21 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The early medieval manuscripts of Ireland and Britain contain tantalizing clues about the cosmology, religion and mythology of native Celtic cultures, despite censorship and revision by Christian redactors. Focusing on the latest research and translations, the author provides fresh insight into the beliefs and practices of the Iron Age inhabitants of Ireland, Britain and Gaul. Chapters cover creation and cosmogony, the deities of the Gaels, feminine power in narrative sources, druidic belief, priestesses and magical rites.

Download or read book Magic and Myth written by Michael Scott and published by Yearling. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Myths, legends, and magic are woven together in a collection of enthralling Irish fairy tales from the New York Times bestselling author of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. A haunting midnight dance that steals children away... An eerie fairy island that appears once every seven years... A magical silver horse that emerges from the depths of a dark lake... Venture into the Otherworld with eleven timeless, enchanting Irish fairy tales that uncover the haunting, hidden world of the Sidhe--the fairy-folk. A master of Irish mythology, bestselling author Michael Scott has crafted stories guaranteed to enthrall young readers who love magic, legends, and lore. And don't miss the companion collection of Irish folktales, Legends & Lore!

Download or read book Fairies written by Morgan Daimler and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2017-12-08 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The subject of fairies in Celtic cultures is a complex one that seems to endlessly intrigue people. What exactly are fairies? What can they do? How can we interact with them? Answering these questions becomes even harder in a world that is disconnected from the traditional folklore and flooded with modern sources that are often vastly at odds with the older beliefs. This book aims to present readers with a straightforward guide to the older fairy beliefs, covering everything from Fairyland itself to details about the beings within it. The Otherworld is full of dangers and blessings, and this guidebook will help you navigate a safe course among the Good People.

Download or read book Meeting the Other Crowd written by Eddie Lenihan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2004-02-02 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Other Crowd," "The Good People," "The Wee Folk," and "Them" are a few of the names given to the fairies by the people of Ireland. Honored for their gifts and feared for their wrath, the fairies remind us to respect the world we live in and the forces we cannot see. In these tales of fairy forts, fairy trees, ancient histories, and modern true-life encounters with The Other Crowd, Eddie Lenihan opens our eyes to this invisible world with the passion and bluntness of a seanchai, a true Irish storyteller.

Download or read book Island of the Setting Sun written by Anthony Murphy and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ireland is home to some of the world's oldest astronomically-aligned structures, giant stone monuments erected over 5,000 years ago. Despite their apparent simplicity, these megalithic edifices were crafted by a scientifically knowledgeable community of farmers who endeavoured to enshrine their beliefs in a stellar afterlife within the very fabric of their cleverly-designed stone temples.Finally back in print, this reissued edition presents evidence suggesting the builders of monuments such as Newgrange and its Boyne Valley counterparts were adept astronomers, cunning engineers and capable surveyors. Their huge monuments are memorials in stone and earth, commemorating their creators' perceived unity with the cosmos and enshrining a belief system which resulted from a crossover between science and spirituality.As investigation of this awe-inspiring civilisation of people continues on many levels, evidence is emerging that significant archaeological sites dating from deep in prehistory are linked - not just through mythology, archaeology and cosmology - but through an arrangement of complex, and in some cases astonishing, alignments. Some of these alignments of ancient sites stretch from one side of Ireland to another.While the accounts of the lives of some prominent Irish saints appear to be steeped in folklore and mystery, it seems from new interpretations of the literature that the cosmic world view which existed in Neolithic Ireland experienced a continuity right into the Early Christian period.Join us on this fascinating exploration of stones, stars and stories."The sheer amount of information contained within the book is mind-boggling. It is well thought out and structured . . . The more you read the evidence the more convinced you become."- Astronomy & Space magazine"Refreshing and fascinating . . . a wonderful magical book, sumptuously illustrated and a must for anyone who loves to delve deep into our past." - Kenny's Irish Bookshop"A fascinating insight into Ireland's ancient burial sites" - Irish Independent"A monument" - Drogheda Independent"It is a beautiful book and very well written. The information that you collected is outstanding." - Barbara Carter, co-author, The Myth of the Year and The Goddess and the Bull"The authors . . . reach interesting and challenging conclusions about the significance of ancient astronomical knowledge. The book is jammed with colour illustrations, maps and photographs. A thoroughly interesting read!" - Archaeology Ireland."An essential book that demonstrates just how much the beliefs and practicesof our ancestors were influenced by the movement of the stars, in particularthose of the constellation Cygnus - the celestial swan and Northern Cross -once seen as a source of life and the destination of the soul in death. Amust have tome for all those passionate about what remains of our fastdisappearing ritual monuments of the prehistoric age." - Andrew Collins, author of The Cygnus Mystery

Download or read book Tales of the Elders of Ireland written by Harry Roe and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tales of the Elders of Irelandis the first complete translation of the late Middle-IrishAcallam na Sen rach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick with his scribes; clerics; occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell; the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings; and the parallel, timeless Otherworld (peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies). This readable, lucid new translation is based on existing manuscript sources and is richly annotated, complete with an Introduction discussing the place of theAcallamin Irish tradition and the impact of the Fenian or Ossianic tradition on English and European literature. About the Series:For over 100 yearsOxford World's Classicshas made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Download or read book A History of Irish Fairies written by Carolyn White and published by Carroll & Graf Publishers. This book was released on 2005 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rich compendium of information on Irish fairies covers a wide range of related issues, including clothes and appearance, immortality, personality, and demonic powers of cluricauns, leprechauns, Silkies, Banshees, and Pookas.

Download or read book Mythical Ireland written by Anthony Murphy and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-07 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mythical Ireland embodies the search for a soul among Ireland's ancient ruins, and is an attempt to retrieve something of deeper import from 5,000-year-old megalithic monuments and their associated myths. The book represents a fascinating and engaging journey through time, landscape and the human spirit. Dealing with archaeology, interpretive mythography, cosmology and cosmogony, the book attempts to grapple with a core meaning, something beyond the functional interpretations of academia. In this revised and expanded edition, Anthony Murphy delves further into the many enthralling aspects of this journey. Just how much knowledge did locals have of the secrets of Newgrange before it was excavated? Who is the Cailleach, the ancient hag goddess whose image is ubiquitous in the ancient landscape? What happened to make Ireland's Stonehenge disappear from the landscape? Who were the first kings of Tara? What were the indigenous Irish myths about the Milky Way? Did someone try to steal the Tara Brooch? Why are there myths in Ireland about flooded towns and cities? Lavishly illustrated with exquisite photographs of the Irish landscape and ancient monuments, Mythical Ireland represents a personal and yet universal journey, a quest to reimagine the shrines as empowering and transformative sacred places. Murphy invokes the druids and poets of the Boyne and thus the sídhe of the ancient texts are reawakened for a modern and turbulent world.

Download or read book Otherworlds written by Aisling Nora Byrne and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a new perspective on the "otherworlds" of medieval literature. These fantastical realms are among the most memorable places in medieval writing, by turns beautiful and monstrous, alluring and terrifying. Passing over a river or sea, or entering into a hollow hill, heroes come upon strange and magical realms. These places are often very beautiful, filled with sweet music, and adorned with precious stones and rich materials. There is often no darkness, time may pass at a different pace, and the people who dwell there are usually supernatural. Sometimes such a place is exactly what it appears to be--the land of heart's desire--but, the otherworld can also have a sinister side, trapping humans and keeping them there against their will. Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature takes a fresh look at how medieval writers understood these places and why they found them so compelling. It focuses on texts from England, but places this material in the broader context of literary production in medieval Britain and Ireland. The narratives examined in this book tell a rather surprising story about medieval notions of these fantastical places. Otherworlds are actually a lot less "other" than they might initially seem. Authors often use the idea of the otherworld to comment on very serious topics. It is not unusual for otherworld depictions to address political issues in the historical world. Most intriguing of all are those texts where locations in the real world are re-imagined as otherworlds. The regions on which this book focuses, Britain, Ireland, and the surrounding islands, prove particularly susceptible to this characterization.

Download or read book Thirty Two Words for Field written by Manchán Magan and published by Bonnier Books UK. This book was released on 2024-02-29 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rediscover the lost words of an ancient land in this new and updated edition of an international bestseller. Most people associate Britain and Ireland with the English language, a vast, sprawling linguistic tree with roots in Latin, French, and German, and branches spanning the world, from Australia and India to North America. But the inhabitants of these islands originally spoke another tongue. Look closely enough and English contains traces of the Celtic soil from which it sprung, found in words like bog, loch, cairn and crag. Today, this heritage can be found nowhere more powerfully than in modern-day Gaelic. In Thirty-Two Words for Field Manchán Magan explores the enchantment, sublime beauty and sheer oddness of a 3000-year-old lexicon. Imbuing the natural world with meaning and magic, it evokes a time-honoured way of life, from its 32 separate words for a field, to terms like loisideach (a place with a lot of kneading troughs), bróis (whiskey for a horseman at a wedding), and iarmhaireacht (the loneliness you feel when you are the only person awake at cockcrow). Told through stories collected from Magan's own life and travels, Thirty-Two Words for Field is an enthralling celebration of Irish words, and a testament to the indelible relationship between landscape, culture and language.

Download or read book The Forest Reminds Us Who We Are written by Sean Padraig O'Donoghue and published by North Atlantic Books. This book was released on 2021-07-06 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide book for tapping into the medicinal power of wild plants for recovering and maintaining spiritual, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Our ancestors drew health, strength, nourishment, and meaning from their relationship to the natural world, and yet today most of us have lost that vital connection. It should then come as no surprise that we are living in an age of unprecedented anxiety, depression, loneliness, and illness. Drawing from herbal medicine, somatic psychology, Celtic wisdom, and his own experiences, author Seán Pádraig O'Donoghue outlines an approach to herbal healing for the mind and spirit that is uniquely suited to our modern times. Plants are our wild kindred and have the power to connect us with the life within and around us. O'Donoghue takes readers on a journey through some of the ways our bodies, minds, and spirits have become unbalanced in an unbalanced world. He then blends lyrical, mythic, and scientific understandings to help us to understand the potent power of plant medicine. Also included are simple rituals designed to deepen our connections to our own bodies, the land, and both new and familiar plant allies. This is the ideal book for anyone new to herbalism, as well as seasoned herbalists, naturopaths, body workers, and psychologists.