Category: Celts

Thoughts on Druidic belief and authority

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date March 13, 2021
No Comments on Thoughts on Druidic belief and authority

I wrote this as a contribution to a discussion that’s ongoing in the members’ forums of the Druid Network. Those are private, so I thought I might post it here so that a broader audience can read it and contribute their thoughts.

Tags Neal Stephenson, Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talks, The Diamond Age

Annwn Arawn Celts Community Culture Cymru - Wales Druidry Druids Dyfed First Branch Fourth Branch Gwydion Julius Caesar Myrddin Places Plant Annwfn Plant Dôn Pryderi Pwyll Religion Stonehenge The Mabinogion

Stones, pigs, and Druids: a historical jigsaw puzzle

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date February 24, 2021
No Comments on Stones, pigs, and Druids: a historical jigsaw puzzle

History is a jigsaw puzzle. To gain a view of the past, we need to put together pieces gleaned from archaeology and from surviving records. Increasingly, it seems clear that we can also learn from myths, passed down through generations via the oral tradition to the point when they were recorded in writing.

There has been a flurry of articles recently about a paper published by Professor Mike Parker Pearson and his colleagues from a number of British Universities: The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales:

Tags Bell Beaker Culture, bluestones, Bronze Age, Cnwc yr Hydd, Corded Ware Culture, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Iron Age, Mike Parker Pearson, Neolithic, Stones of Stonehenge, Waun Mawn, Yamnaya

Bards Britannia Cathbad Celts Culture Druids Ovates Polytheism Sidhe Mounds Three Branches Tylwyth Teg Values

Book review: The Crow Goddess

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date November 21, 2020
2 Comments on Book review: The Crow Goddess

I first read The Crow Goddess decades ago, when I was an undergraduate. I must have found it in a second-hand bookshop somewhere – I have no recollection of where – because I’m pretty sure that it was long out of print even then. Still, if you can find a copy, it’s very much worth snapping it up as it’s the best work I’ve read of life in the ancient world of the Celts.

Tags Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cuchulainn, Emer, Leabharcham, Patricia Finney, Queen Medb, Tain Bo Cuailnge, The Morrigan

Celts Cymru - Wales Druids

The fall of Môn

We know from Greek and Roman sources that Anglesey, the island separated from north Wales by the narrow, tidal, Menai Strait, was the centre of European Druidry: the place where noble youth from across the Celtic world went to study the lore and mysteries of the Druids.

Tags Anglesey, Badung puputan, Bali, Caratacus, coracle, currach, Denpasar, Galicia, Isle of Man, Picts, Ynys Manaw, Ynys Môn

Carnyx Celts Druids First Branch Mari Lwyd Rhiannon The Mabinogion

Talking Heads

In this post I am claiming a world first. I make a connection that, having searched online, I can’t find anyone else making. What is it? Find out below…

Now, I have music on my mind…. so bear with me as I dive down the rabbit hole…

Tags John Kenny, Tintignac