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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Táin Bó Regamna


    This is my first attempt at translating an entire story. I chose the TBR both because it is one of my favorites and because it is fairly short. I will give the full Irish text^ first then follow with my translation of it; normally I'd go with a rather literal version but I'm going to try to find a balance between staying true to the language and staying true to the intent of the phrasing. Unlike the previously translated versions I could find I did tackle the Morrigan's satire poem but I will say upfront that the wording is obscure and it was given in the Irish text I have as a single block which I had to break down into lines at my own discretion; the translation should be taken as a suggestion rather than definitive. It does however include what appear to be intriguing  references to the Tain Bo Cuilgne and I think it deserves inclusion even if it is difficult. Also it explains why Cu Chulain's reaction to hearing it is to leap back....


Táin Bó Regamna

A mbuí Cú Chuluinn i nDún Imrid gu gcúala ní an géim. Co ndíuchrustar triana chotlad conid corustar asa imda go riacht ind aridin ina suidiu for lár. Íar sin immach do suidiu ar les. Cu mbu hí a ben bertho a étach ocus a armb ina diaig. Co n-facco ní Láeg aro chinn ina charpat inneltai oc Ferta Læig intúaig.
‘Cid dot-ugai?’ ol Cú Chuluinn fri Lóeg.
‘Géim ro-chúalai issin maigh’, ol Lóeg.
‘Cid leth?’ ol Cú Chuluinn.
 ‘Aníarthúaig amne’, ol Lóeg.
‘Ina ndiaig’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
Tíaguit ass íarum gu hÁth da Ferta. In tan mbátar ann íarum gu gcúalatar culguiri in charpuit hi toíb Grellchui Culguiri. Tíaguit fóe co n-faccatar ní in carpat ara cinn no reimib. Óenech derg foa ocus óenchoss fo suidiu ocus síthbe in charpuit sethnu ind eich co ndechuid geinn trít fri fosad a étain anair. Bean derg hissin charpat ocus bratt derg impi ocus di braí dergai lé ocus a brat eter di feirt in charpuit síar co sliged lár ina diaig ocus fer mór hi comuir in charpuit. Fúan forbbthai imme ocus gaballorg finnchuill fria aiss og immáin na bó.
 ‘Ní fóelid in bó lib oga himmuáin’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Ní dír duit éim a hetercert na bó so’, ol in ben. ‘Ní bó charat na choigcéliu duit.’
‘Is dír dam-so éim baí hUlad huili’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Eter-certar so in ba, a Chú’, ol in ben.
‘Ced arndid i in ben atum-gládathar?’ ol Cú Chuluinn. ‘Cid nach é in fer atom-gládathar?’
‘In fer sin at-gládaigther-su’, ol in ben.
‘Ia’, ol Cú Chuluinn, ‘ol is tusso ara-labrathar.’
‘hÚargóeth sceo lúachuir sgeo. . .ainm in fir sin’, olsí.
 ‘Amae, is amru fot in anmu’, ol Cú Chului nn. ‘Ba tusa trá atom glátathar in fecht so ol nim acalladar in fer. Cía do chomainm-siu féin?’ ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Ní ansa. In ben sin at-gládaither-su’, ol in fer, ‘fóebar beo béoil, coim diúir, foltt sgeanb, gairitt sgeo úath hí a hainm’, olse.
‘Meraigi do-gníth-siu dim-so’, ol Cú Chuluinn, ‘fon innus sin.’
Lingid Cú Chuluinn la soduin issin charpat ocus fo-rrumai a da chois fora dib glúinib-siu ocus a chleitíni fora mullach.
‘Na himbir imrinniu éim formb’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Scuith dim didiu’, olsi. ‘Am bancháinti-siu ém’, olsí, ‘ocus is ó  Dáiriu mac Fiachno a cCúailgniu tuccus in mbuin si a ndúais n-airchetail.'
‘Cluinium th'airchetal didiu’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Scuith dim nammá’, ol in ben. ‘Ní ferdo duitt amin na chrothai húas mo chinn’, olsí.
Tét didiu Cú Chuluinn íarum co mbuí eter di feirt in charpuit.
Gaibid-se in laíd si: Doermais nomgaib
gaib eti eblatar
tairichta muirtemniu
morochrat romlec dianedim
fiach amainsi nachach
toarbair adomling
airddhe oenmairb
maige sainb croí chengach
cocbith mestin-
glinne let leiss
finn frithoiss dobeoib
brectith reth tuasailg
osdum arai
airdd cechlastair
cuailngne a chuchuluinn...
...arindlindsi arsoegaul de antuaith .i. cluas indairmgretha. 
   Fo-ceird Cú Chuluinn bedg ina charpat feissin íarum. Naicc ní i nneoch íarum in mnaí nach in carpat nach in n-ech nach in fer nach in mbuin ocus co n-faco-sium íarum ba hén-si dub forsin chroíb ina farrud.
‘Doltach ben atat-chomnaic’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Is Dollud dono bias forsinn greallaig si co bráth’, ol in ben. Grellach Dolluid íarum a hainm ó hoin ille.
 ‘Ochti ro-feisind bed tú ní samluid no-scarfamais’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Cid donrignis’, olsí, ‘bieith olec de.’
‘Ni chumgai olc dam’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘Cumgaim écin’, olsin ben. ‘Is oc do ditin do báis-siu atáu-so ocus bia’, ollsí. ‘Do-ucus-sa in mboin si éim’, olsí, ‘a síd Crúachan condo rodart in Donn Cúailgni lem .i. tarb Dáre maic Fiachnui ocus is é aret bia-so i mbetho gu rab dartaid in lóeg fil ina bruinn ina bó so ocus is hé consaídfe Táin Bé Cúailgni.’
‘Bíam airdirciu-sa di din Táin hí sin’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
‘‘Géna a n-ánrado. 

 Brisfe a mérchatho.
Bia tigba na Táno.’’
‘Cinnus con-igfa-sa anní sin’, ol in ben. ‘Ar in tain no-mbia-sa oc comrac fri fer comthrén comchroda comchliss comfobaith coméscaith comchiníuil comgaiscid comméti friut .i. bam esccung-so ocus fo-chichiur curu immot chossa issinn áth gu mba héccomlunn mór.’
‘For-tonga do día tuingthe Ulaid’, ol Cú Chuluinn, ‘fortat-naesab­ su fri glaisslecta ind átho ocus nicot bia ícc húaim-siu de gu bráth manim derguis-so.’
‘Bia sod-sa dono glass duit-si’, olsí, ‘ocus géba bréit dot dóidind deiss conicci do rigid clí.’
‘Tongu-sa do día tuingti hUlaid’, ol Cú Chuluinn, ‘not-benabsi secham gom chletíne gu mbeba do súil it chinn ocus nocot bia ícc húaim-siu de go bráth manim dergais-si.’
‘Biam samuiscc-siu finn áuoderg dono’, olsissiu, ‘ocus do-rag issinn linn hi fail inn áthu in n-atan ro-mbia-so oc comrucc fri fer buss choimchliss duitt ocus cét noud finn n-óbrecc imm diaig ocus membuis inn ét huili im diaig-siu issin n-áth ocus con-bibustar fír fer fort-so a llaa sin ocus géttair do chenn ditt issinn áth sin.’
‘Tungu et reliqua, fo-chichiur-sa hurchur asmo thábaill fortt­ sa co memba do gerr gara foat ocus nico mbia ícc húaim-si de co bráth manim dergais-si ocus nicom géntar-so a llá sin etir’, ol Cú Chuluinn.
Scarsait íar sin ocus luid Cú Chuluinn for cúlo dorithisiu do Dún Imrith ocus luithi in Morrígan cona buin hi síd Crúachan la Connachta.
 - Irische Texte mit Übersetzugen und Wörterbuch by Stokes
These cows are Christmas and Tricia. They belong to my sister, and have never been involved in a tain...that I know of.


   When Cu Chulain was in Dun Imrid he heard something; it was the roaring of cattle. So that he woke up and was thrown out of bed and reached the bench that was sitting on the floor. After that he went outside into the yard. And it was his wife, following behind him, who brought his clothing and his armor. And he saw something in front of him, Laeg in his chariot, harnessed at Ferta Laeg in the north. 
  "What brings you?" said Cu Chulain to Laeg.
   "The roaring of cattle that I heard in the field," said Laeg.
    "What direction?" said Cu Chulain.
  "In the north-west, thus," said Laeg. 
   "Follow on them," said Cu Chulain.
 After this they went out to Ath de Ferta. After, while they were there, they heard a noise of the chariot in the side of Grellach Culgairi. They went down and saw a chariot before them. One red horse with a single leg was pulling it, and the shaft of the chariot went through the horse to the front of it's forehead. A red-haired woman with red eyebrows was in the chariot with a red cloak around her shoulders; the cloak hung down at the back of the chariot and dragged on the ground behind her. There was a big man in front of the chariot wearing a tunic carrying a forked white hazel stick that he used to drive the cow.
  "The cow is not pleased with her driving," said Cu Chulain. 
  "Indeed it is not necessary to you to judge this cow," said the woman. "It is not a friend's nor a companion's cow to you."
  "Indeed, the cows of all the Ulstermen are necessary to me," said Cu Chulain
  "You decide much, oh, Cu Chulain," said the woman.
   "Why is it that the woman speaks to me?" said Cu Chulain. "Why not him, the man, who speaks to me?"
  "It's not the man that you shouted to", said the woman.
   "Ha!", said Cu Chulain, "Speak and you speak in his voice."
   "Cold wind-conflict-brightness-strife is his name" she said
    "Indeed, that name is wonderful throughout", said Cu Chulain. "Then you are bound to speaking the course of this conversation for the man. What do you name yourself?" said Cu Chulain.
     "Not difficult. The woman who you are speaking to," said the man, "is Keen edged-small lipped-plain cloaked-hair-sharp shouting-fierceness-a phantom."
   "You give me an idiot's counsel"*, said Cu Chulain, "based in this."
Cu Chulain jumped beside her in the chariot and set his two feet on her knees and his dart** against the crown of her head.
  "Who puts this point indeed?", said Cu Chulain.
   "A small something then", said she. "I am a woman satirist indeed", said she, "and it is from  Dáire mac Fiachnai of Cuilgne that I bring the cow; she is a poet's reward for a poem"'
   "I'll hear the poem then", said Cu Chulain.
   "A small something only", said the woman. "Not manly to you thus while brandishing over my head", said she.
  Then after that Cu Chulain went so that he was between the two poles of the chariot.
She gave this poem: "Low-born-foundation you grab,
Take a herd driven,
Eastward-blown Muirrthemne,
Great misery, chief stone, hurrier,
Raven fierce but not
Bringing floods of terror
Peak of fame unique death
great greedy heart, every start
World-warring judgment
Half a glen severed
Bright wild place, your life
Deceitful arrival runs
Over poet's-demands
Over mound's messenger
Your direction, every burning
Cuailigne, oh Cu Chulainn.." 

   Cuchulain sprang onto his own chariot after that. Then nothing was there of all of them not the woman, not the chariot, not the horse, not the man, not the cow and he saw that she was a black bird on a branch near him.
"A hurtful woman you are," said Cuchulain.
"It is Dollud [distress] then that will be on this bog until Doomsday," said the woman. Bog of Distress was its name from that time afterwards.
"If only I had known it was you," said Cuchulain, "not this way would we have separated."
"Whatever you would have done," said she, "misfortune would result from it."
"You cannot bring misfortune to me," said Cuchulain.
"I am able indeed," said the woman; "It is bring about your death I am and shall be," said she.

 "I brought this cow then," she said, "from the fairy mound of Cruachan so that she was mounted by the Brown Bull of Cuilgne by me, that is the bull of Daire mac Fiachnai. And it is that interval you be in life, until the calf in the womb of this cow is a young bull, and it is this that stirs up the cattle raid of Cuilgne." 
  "I will be renowned through this aforementioned cattle raid," said Cu Chulain. "I will kill their champions. Defeat their big battles. I will survive the cattle raid."
  "How will you do this aforementioned?" said the woman. "For at the time of your combat with a man of similar strength, similar form, similar skill, similar quickness, similar alertness, similar tribe, similar weapons, similar greatness, against you I will be an eel throwing twists about your feet in the ford until it will be greatly unfair odds."
  "I swear to a God Ulstermen swear to," said Cu Chulain, "I will kick you against blue-grey** stones of the ford and there will be no cure for you from me for it until Doomsday if you don't ask my forgiveness."
  "I will be a blue-grey** wolf-bitch then against you," she said. "and I will take a strip from your wrist on the right up to your forearm on the left."
   "I swear to a God Ulstermen swear to," said Cu Chulain,"I will wound you myself with my dart until your eye bursts in your head and there will be no cure for you from me for it until Doomsday if you don't ask my forgiveness."
  "I will be a red-eared white heifer then," said she, "and I will come in the water in a place of the ford another time you will be at combat with a man as skilled as you and a hundred red-eared white cows after me; all the cows behind me will burst into the ford and violate fair combat**** against you. And your head will be taken away off you in that very ford."
   "I will swear by others, I will throw a cast out of my sling at you­ and with it break the lower part of your leg shortly and by no means will there be a cure for you from me for it until Doomsday if you don't ask my forgiveness and that will not be done any day at all’, said Cu Chulain.
   They separated and Cu Chulain went back along his course to Dún Imrith and the Morrigan went with the cow to the fairy hill of Cruachan in Connacht.


^ The majority of the Irish material here is from the Yellow Book of Lecan version, however the Morrigan's satire poem is the von Egerton version, both found in Windisch's Irische Texte mit Ubersetzugen and Worterbuchen

* this may be better relayed in English as "You must think I'm an idiot to tell me this" ie he thinks they are intentionally playing with him.

** literally cleittíne a small dart or javelin which was one of Cu Chulain's particular weapons.

*** for those who are interested in the use of color in Irish material its given here as glas, or literally green, but green which can be anything from a light green or blue to a blue grey.


**** in Old Irish "fír fer" literally "men's truth". This concept is the bases of honorable combat in Irish warfare and hinges on the idea of one-on-one fighting of equal opponents. It is fír fer that allows Cu Chulain to hold the ford and hold back Connacht's army during the Tain Bo Cuilgne.

Copyright Morgan Daimler

Friday, March 20, 2015

Reconstructionism - What It Is, What It Isn't, and Why I Love It

   I've said it before but it bears repeating: Reconstructionism is a very misunderstood thing. There are many reasons for why that is and why some of those misunderstandings keep being perpetuated, but mostly it comes down to assumptions and stereotypes. So today let's take a look at what reconstruction is and what it isn't. 
   Disclaimer (because I don't enjoy the sensation of being flayed): This article is meant as a general commentary on the methodology of reconstruction when applied to polytheist religion. As with anything there will be exceptions to any statement or cases where specific styles of Recon differ. I am writing it from the base of my own experience, which is primarily in Celtic Reconstructionism* and Heathenry, however I wouldn't presume to speak for all recons everywhere.
 ~ What is Reconstructionism?
     This seems like a good place to start. Reconstruction is a methodology that uses a variety of sources including archaeology, anthropology, mythology, folklore, and historical texts to reconstruct what an ancient belief or practice most likely would have been. Using this reconstruction of the old the belief or practice can then be adapted for modern practice. Or, as I like to say, reconstruction is understanding the old pagan religion so that we can envision what it would have been like if it had never been interrupted and still existed today. 
   Reconstructionism is most often applied to spirituality but it can be used for a variety of related practices including traditional non-religious witchcraft. It can also be for mystic practices used in conjunction with spiritual practices, such as the reconstruction of seership methods within Celtic Reconstruction, or of seidhr within Heathenry. 
    Reconstruction is a method that is applied to a wide array of different ancient pagan faiths including Norse, Anglo-Saxon, Minoan, Egyptian, Irish, Gaulish, and Indo-European** to name just a few. It is a method which is both sound and flexible, but which also requires personal engagement and imagination. Because of this the end result of different people's reconstruction of the same culture's religion will not be identical, although it should be similar. 
   ~ What is Reconstructionism *NOT*
   1) Recons are not mean. Well, they aren't any meaner, generally speaking, than any other community can seem to outsiders. I see this one all the time, and it is usually rooted in two things: a difference in communication style and a difference in paradigm. People within reconstructionist communities tend to have a communication style - in my experience - that is rather blunt and straightforward. In contrast people within non-Recon communities tend, again in my experience, to have communication styles that favor friendly language and more passive aggressive approaches. Recons tend to operate from a paradigm of earned respect, skepticism, and where any statement requires hard evidence to support it, while non-recons have a paradigm of immediate intimacy, trust, and acceptance of people's assertions on face value. Neither of these is inherently better or worse than the other, but they create very different cultures and expectations of behavior for the people within them. It should be obvious that these communication styles and paradigms are in many ways antithetical and it is almost inevitable that people interacting between the two groups will have issues with each other. 
   2) Recons are not re-enactors. This is another very common one, usually expressed through the criticism that Reconstructionism is flawed because "there are things that should be left in the past". Well, yes, clearly. No one is advocating the return of human sacrifice or slavery - although we are honest about the fact that these were historic practices and that understanding them is important to understanding the culture. Reconstruction is not about recreating ancient religion exactly as it was and practicing it that way, but about understanding how it was in order to make it viable today.
   I for one love indoor plumbing and refrigeration, and I'm not about to give up all modern amenities to build a roundhouse and pretend I'm living in the Iron Age. I might not mind a round house with wifi and solar panels though. Obviously just like the rest of the population there are some recons who do favor sustainable living, off the grid living, and even a rejection of many aspects of modern technology but that isn't an aspect of reconstruction itself, anymore than belonging to the SCA or going to Renn Faires is. 
   3) Recons are not books only. There is a bit of a hesitance in reconstructionist groups - or at least the ones I have experience with - to discuss actual practice and experience. I think there are several reasons for this, including that we tend to get very tangential about minutia in discussions and we get sidetracked when someone else starts disagreeing and saying their research supports a different approach. However just because we don't talk all the time about what we actually do in our daily lives doesn't mean we aren't doing anything. Just like just because a non-recon talks a lot about what they do and not much about what they read doesn't mean that they don't read anything (I like to assume anyway). Recons do like their source material, but the entire point of the source material is using it to create a viable practice. 
  4)  Recons don't hate "upg"***. This one is also often expressed as "Recons are obsessed with lore" or "Recons are pagan fundamentalists". However you say it it simply isn't true. And that's just not my opinion, I'll quote the CR FAQs here, under What Is Celtic Reconstruction (CR): " By studying the old manuscript sources and the regional folklore, combining this information with mystical and ecstatic practice, and working together to weed out the non-Celtic elements that can arise, we are nurturing what still lives and helping the polytheistic Celtic traditions grow strong and whole again." (emphasis mine). Incorporating personal experience and mystical practice is part of reconstruction, so recons obviously do not hate personal gnosis. However we do apply the same critical thinking and discernment to mystical experiences as we do to any source of information and I suspect this is where the problem comes in. Recons question everything to ascertain its veracity including spiritual experiences and that is often unpopular especially in communities that do not share the same approach. 
   But seriously people recons don't hate mystical experiences, nor do we reject anything that isn't straight out of a book. We just place a lot of value on the vast amount of combined experience and belief that is the culture we are reconstructing and we use that as a measure for the credibility of new information. 
 ~ So why do I love it? Well, honestly Reconstruction is a part of who I am. It fits my nature, my personality, and so it is something I apply to everything: my religion, my witchcraft, my fairy faith. I was always that kid who asked why and who dreamed about what something could have been. I love studying the evidence we have and asking myself what if? What if it had never stopped? What if the Old gods, the old ways, had been continuously worshiped, continuously kept? What would that look like today? I find it a fascinating puzzle and one that I am compelled to sort out. 

  Reconstruction is not a methodology for everyone, just like any other path it is simply one option among many. It appeals to certain people for a variety of reasons, and leaves other people uninterested, and that's okay. Many people who don't practice Reconstruction, and even some who do, misunderstand what it is and sometimes perpetuate stereotypes about it, and I hope this blog helped at least a little bit to shed some light on a few of them. Recons aren't out to make people cry, aren't trying to recreate the Iron Age, aren't only about reading books, and aren't against personal ecstatic experiences or gnosis. What we are about is using solid academic evidence and personal inspiration to envision what that polytheism would have looked like today if it had existed without interruption. We are about honoring our ancestors, spirits of diverse types, and Gods. We are about respecting and helping to preserve the living culture today. 
   Reconstruction isn't about living looking backwards. Its about walking forward with the past a firm path beneath our feet, guiding our steps. 



 Further reading:
http://www.paganachd.com/faq/index.html
http://moon-books.net/blogs/moonbooks/how-to-be-an-irish-reconstructionist-polytheist/
http://www.tairis.co.uk/introduction/gaelic-reconstructionist-polytheism
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2004/08/Our-Gods-And-Goddesses-Are-Closer-To-Us.aspx#

*I identify publicly as a practitioner of Celtic Reconstructionist Polytheism, however I am specifically endeavoring to reconstruct Irish polytheism. 
** Ceisiwr Serith has an interesting book called 'Back to the Beginnings: Re-inventing Wicca' which is, to all intents and purposes, an attempt to reconstruct Indo-European religious witchcraft.
***upg - unverified personal gnosis, or as Lora O'Brien puts it (and I like better) unique personal gnosis. I've also been known to refer to this as personal numinous experience, but PNE isn't as catchy of an acronym.

Copyright Morgan Daimler

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Spiritual Masochism or Why I Translate Ancient Texts Into Modern English

  Some of my regular readers have undoubtedly noticed that in the last several months I've begun posting more blog entries featuring translations of pieces of the old mythic texts. Some of you may be wondering why - or I may just be boring you to tears. A friend suggested this morning that I may want to explain why I've been doing the translations and how they relate to my spirituality and I thought it was a smashing idea so hear you go. It's a convoluted story, but maybe you'll understand a bit better how my head works and why I feel its so important to share this particular hobby.

   About a year ago while re-reading the Tain Bo Cuiligne I ran across a particular line that really stuck out to me, where Fergus swears on the point of his sword and calls it a "halidom of Macha". As I contemplated that line I found myself wondering if he had really said that in the Irish or if the translator had shifted the meaning in some way and on a whim I found a copy of the Tain as Gaeilge (in Irish) and checked. Indeed the phrase in question - "Mache mind" does mean halidom of Macha, but mind also has some fascinating layers of meaning including blade and oath. It was an intriguing thing to contemplate. 
  More time went by and I found myself, rather unexpectedly, writing a book on the Morrigan. As I worked with the quotes and translations of the source material for that I found myself once again wondering how well the translation reflected the original. Some people may not realize that the vast majority of translations we have access to for the Irish myths were done a hundred years or more ago, and during a time period when certain subjects where not always handled well and others were, shall we say, treated poetically? An example of this can be seen in Hennessey's approach to the line from Cath Magh Rath about the Morrigan where he translates "Caillech lom, luath ag leimnig" as a lean hag, swiftly leaping - but lom doesn't mean lean it means bare or naked. So properly this line says "a naked hag, swiftly leaping" and there is a significant difference, I think, in the imagery created between these two translations. And to me this matters a great deal. It also means that all the translations we have come to us through a specific filter which does, for good or ill, affect the meaning of what we are reading and change our understanding of it.
   So we've established that I am a stickler for semantics and that I am rather obsessed about what the original language actually said, as opposed to what the popular translations say. In Irish - modern Irish that is - there is a saying, tír gan teanga, tír gan anam, a nation without a language, a nation without a soul. I think this reflects a core truth, that our language is not only a basic means of communication but an expression of how we relate to and perceive reality. In psychology we call this linguistic relativity*, the idea that language effects how we think about the world. What this means in practical terms is that to truly understand a culture you must understand the language of that culture. 
   More time went by and the subject of the Morrigan as a battle goddess came up, and specifically of her inciting battle. The section in the Cath Maige Tuired (CMT) where the Morrigan incites Lugh to rise up and overthrow Bres was mentioned and I realized that although a small initial portion was translated the majority was not. In fact significant portions of the Cath Maige Tuired have not been translated due to the difficulty of the text and possibly the subject matter in those sections**. I decided to try translating the passage myself and found that what it said was profoundly meaningful to my understanding of the Morrigan as a goddess and as a deity of war. Over time I started taking on the project of translating more sections of the CMT, because I believe that it is important to read the sections previously untranslated and think about what they say. I made the decision to share these attempts here, even though I am at best a base amateur, because I wanted to offer other people who have no Irish or Old Irish at all a chance to see alternatives to the common translations and possible versions of the untranslated sections. I truly believe these portions of text are worth the effort to understand, and I also realize not everyone can read them. 
   As an Irish polytheist there is much insight and truth to be gained from reading the old myths, but there is a catch, because the translations that are available are written through a very specific lens. That lens distorts and changes what it reflects in ways that we are often not aware of. Reading the original language gives us a more direct understanding of the story as it would have been understood originally, but then presents a new challenge of taking that and putting it into a new language without losing too much of the meaning. There is a certain masochism, spiritually driven, that drives me to do this, to keep seeking to understand the old stories and to translate them. And I want to share whatever I can of it, with anyone who may be interested.

* commonly known, somewhat inaccurately, as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
** what this means for us as Irish pagans is profound, as the CMT is a very important mythic text and we are in effect relying on translations that are at best piecemeal.
 

Copyright Morgan Daimler

Thursday, February 19, 2015

The Obligatory Pantheacon Post

 I attended my first Pantheacon this year, so here is the obligatory re-cap of my experience:
Day one - travel. Who'd have thought I actually enjoy airplanes? Airports however are a form of elaborate torture. I arrived in California and was hit with immediate culture shock - you can get alcohol everywhere and it feels like early summer, and this is so not Connecticut. It was great to travel with a good friend and reconnect with other friends I had made at the Morrigan Retreat last June. I also had fun setting up a communal altar in the hotel room I was sharing with these three friends.
    Horse omens started immediately. No really, in the airport and then everywhere afterwards, horses, horses, horses. I have witnesses! Also crows everywhere. I really should have understood where this would be going but I can be slow on the uptake.
  It was a great experience setting up the traveling altars in the hotel room with my roommates. Although I am very open minded about sharing space with people of other religious persuasions and approaches I must admit staying with other polytheists was nice because there was never any need to explain anything. We all understood that altars were needed, that offerings were required, and we all had the same basic respect for those spaces and things. The communal Morrigan altar was especially powerful as all four of us are devoted to her in different ways, and since there was another Odin's woman there as well he got his space and offerings without any issue as well. There were space for other Gods being honored as well, and several jokes about the number of altars and the amount of alcohol around the room but the overall feeling was friendly and pleasant. I also set up a small space for the land spirits and Fay, as it was important to me to try to connect to the local wights.
  Later on Thursday we went to the Doubletree, the hotel where the con actually takes place, and poked around a bit, met some people including a friend from an online group that I really enjoyed spending the weekend hanging out with (we dubbed her the unofficial mayor of P-con). And then jet-lag of doom set in. Later in the evening I met the Coru Cathobouda crew at their meet and greet event which I attended with the rest of the Tuatha De Morrigan contingent (my roommates at the hotel).
Day two - registered for the con. And so it begins. Today's theme was horse skulls. Everywhere.    
    I taught a Morrigan workshop in the ADF suite and it went so well I was asked to go back Sunday and do another. Met Lora O'Brien who is really wonderful and reconnected with some of my favorite ADF people. I can safely say the ADF hospitality suite is entirely full of awesome.
 I also was able to meet several other people I had previously only known on facebook which was great. I love putting a FB name to an actual face. I must admit even though I had been warned about the size of Pantheacon I wasn't prepared for the sheer scale of it. It was larger than anything I had ever been to by orders of magnitude and because of that I didn't end up seeing or doing nearly as much as I wold have liked to, although what I did see and do was amazing.
   I attended a class by Orion Foxwood where he talked a little bit about his Faery Seership approach and also his theory of the four types of witchcraft. He is a very engaging speaker and puts on an entertaining workshop. 
Day three - the horse skulls continue. Those of you who know my old LJ/yahoo group name will get the entertainment value of my being stalked by the Lair Bhan (although it was being called the Mari Lwyd here). I'll probably do a future blog post just on that topic, but suffice to say it became something of a running joke with the group I was with.
  Very early in the morning I went to a smashing class on the Irish sidhe by Lora O'Brien - if any of you ever have a chance to go to any of her classes, DO IT!
   Later that day we wandered in to relax a bit in the Sisters of Avalon suite, admire their artwork and connect with some great people who are helping with the Morrigan sacred sites pilgrimage I'm involved in next year*. Later we hung out with some Faery Seers and learned a bit about their approach - not my cuppa but always good to learn other ways. The hospitality suites were an interesting experience in themselves, and I have to admit I thought it was really fascinating to look at the approach each one took.
      There were some spiritual shenanigans on Saturday including making offerings on a rock in a small island of trees in the parking lot. Part of my personal experience as a polytheist and Reconstructionist is that you end up making a lot of offerings, and I was lucky enough to be bunking with other people who felt similarly although the actual lead up to making the offerings should probably be categorized as a misadventure.
Day four - very early Sunday morning I went to a class on working with skull spirits because at that point it felt like I needed to figure out what was going on with all the skulls I kept seeing. It was very interesting stuff (and the Mari Lwyd was discussed of course because at that point I was still being stalked by horse skulls). Went to a class about the Morrigan, Poetry, and Prophecy - interesting info on Irish poetics but there can't ever be enough rosc catha discussion for me.   smile emoticGot to have a good chat with Morpheus and Brennos Agrocunos over lunch with the Coru and Tuatha De Morrigan folks, sort of an east coast/west coast gnoshy thing.Went to Lora's Morrigan class which was amazing, even if there were a mad amount of people crammed into a little room for it (seriously should have been in a bigger room). 
  Lora O'Brien did a workshop on the Morrigan which was intriguing and had some great food for thought in it. Hearing her talk about her firsthand experiences with the Morrigan's sacred sites, especially Oweynagat, makes me even more eager to go visit them myself. She also had a guided meditation at the end of her workshop which I found very profound. 
 Later that day I taught my second workshop, "Morrigan 2.0" in the ADF suite - anyone else noticed a theme at P-con this year?  - and had a blast doing it. ADF Druids rock! The class went well and we ended up talking about a variety of things relating to Irish Gods and mythology with a bit of Boudicca thrown in. Afterwards I was as asked to invoke Macha at the ADF unity ritual Monday morning, as if I'd say no to that! 
 That night I was dragged up to a meet and greet in the Llewellyn suite. It was an interesting experience but by far the loudest hospitality suite which made conversation a bit difficult. I enjoyed meeting Jason and Ari Mankey though and seeing the new Llewellyn releases displayed around the room.
Day five - Up very early Monday morning for the ADF unity ritual, which went really well, even if my brain ceased functioning at this point. I think I was suffering from convention burn out. And as I was standing there getting ready to thank Macha at the end of the ritual I had a strong feeling that Herself wanted the thank you in Irish. I have no idea where I pulled the words from if not Her, because by that point my mind was pretty mushy, but the words came.
    Afterwards down in the lobby I had an awesome chat over coffee with Vyviane Armstrong, Lora O'Brien, and Stephanie Woodfield about the sacred sites tour that's being planned for next year which may be one of my favorite parts of the whole con, although its hard to pick any one favorite thing.
And then - the vendor room. Wow. Please take my money awesome pagan vendors. (And I got to meet Jen Delyth and talk about, what else?, the Mari Lwyd).

The less fun part was the Epic Quest Homeward which involved two airplanes, an overnight layover in Salt Lake City airport, and New England welcoming us back to her frigid arms with a snow storm.
That's the highlights anyway, I'm sure I'm leaving half of everything out. In short, met a ton of awesome people, the craic was mighty, and I had my priestess hat on, quite unexpectedly, the whole time. Because the Work never ends.

Since people seemed to really like it, here's the Macha invocation from the ADF ritual:
"Macha Mong-ruadh
Macha of the Red Hair
Great Queen, Mighty Lady,
Uniter of opposing forces
Who was queen by her own hand
and chose the king from the most deserving
You who brought unity
Where there had been opposition and strife
Be with us now."
The "thank you" (and anyone who can correct my Irish feel free to jump in, it was a spontaneous thing) was:
"Macha Mong-ruadh
Mór Ríoghain, Bean uasal,
go raibh maith agat as do bheannachtaí
imeann i síocháin
gach croí, do bhaile"
(Macha of the Red hair
Great Queen, noble woman,
Thank you for your blessings
Go in peace
Every heart, your home)


Copyright Morgan Daimler

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Excerpt from "Celebrating Imbolc with the Family" in Air n-Aithesc volume 1 issue 1

   Of the four Irish fire festivals Imbolc is the most family oriented, although it does also have wider community aspects. Celebrating Imbolc as a modern Irish polytheist, or indeed any Celtic polytheist drawn to this holiday, is an opportunity to involve the entire family, especially children, in the traditions. While we don’t have any surviving information about the ancient ways that this day was celebrated we do have a plethora of native traditions to draw on, with the role of saint Brigit and the pagan Goddess Brighid often blurred and easily shifted fully into paganism. With some slight alteration all of these traditions can be celebrated by any pagan family to honor Imbolc and the holiday’s main deity, Brighid.
A basic overview of the Irish traditions, most of which were actively practiced into the last century, is helpful in giving the reader both an understanding of the holiday and of ways that it can be adapted for modern family practice. There were often regional variations in practice and even in the tone of the celebrations, from solemn to comical, which created a wide array of different traditions associated with this holiday (Danaher, 1972). For the purposes of modern celebration by a pagan household it would be best to focus on specific traditions and choose one tone for the festival, rather than trying to include everything noted here.
    Generally it was the daughters of the household who played the main roles, although the mother might also be called to do so if there were no daughters. This is in contrast to other traditions which place the father as the main actor in any rituals, divination, or prayers, and establish the more domestic tone of Imbolc. The prominence of women and daughters also demonstrates the importance placed on Brighid at this holiday, with the women and girls often being the main intercessors between Brighid and the family in the ritual enacted or playing the role of Brighid herself. Imbolc also places a strong emphasis on children’s participation that is lacking at other holidays which tend to have a more adult tone.
    Weaving new Brighid’s crosses – symbols of protection, health, and blessing – was an important Imbolc tradition in many places. One ritual that was enacted in Connaught, Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon, and Ulster before the Brighid’s crosses were woven for the new year on the eve of the festival was for the eldest daughter to take the part of Brighid and wait outside carrying the material for the project (Danaher, 1972). She would then knock three times, proclaiming herself to be Brighid requesting entrance; she is warmly welcomed in and the family sits down to dinner with an elaborate blessing prayer (Danaher, 1972).  The meal often prominently featured dairy products, and if the family was wealthy might also include fresh mutton (Danaher, 1972). After eating the meal the family would sit and weave the new crosses, with the largest sprinkled with water and hung up on the wall until the next Imbolc (Danaher, 1972). In parts of Leitrim there was also a children’s practice to use a small rectangle of wood and with potato paste attach peeled rushes in shapes symbolizing the moon, sun, and stars which would be hung up alongside the woven crosses (Danaher, 1972).
    Another tradition was to create an effigy or doll, called a brideog (little Brighid), representing Brighid. The Brideog might be made of straw from the last sheaf of the harvest, leftover rushes from weaving the crosses, a re-purposed child’s doll, or the dash from the butter churn. The effigy would be decorated with a white dress and mask or carved turnip, and might be comical, grotesque, or beautiful in appearance (Danaher, 1972). In some parts of Ireland the Brideog was carefully and elaborately decorated with shells, crystals, and other natural adornments (Carmichael, 1900). In some places, including Ulster, Connaught, Leinstir and Munster, the children would process from house to house carrying the brideog and pronouncing Brighid’s blessing on each home (Danaher, 1972). At each home the people give gifts to the effigy, and the mother of the household gives food to the children in the procession, usually cheese, butter, or bread; this food would later be used by the children for a feast of their own (Carmichael, 1900). In other areas including Cork, Clare, Galway, Mayo, and Kildare a brideog might not be used but rather the unmarried girls would form the procession with one of their number chosen to represent Brighid (Danaher, 1972). In Ulster it was said that the chosen girl wore a crown of rushes, called a crothán Brighite, and carried a shield (sgaith Bhrighite) on her arm; she carried Brighid’s crosses to hand out telling each household that it was the sword of Brighid (Danaher, 1972). In other areas the procession might collect food from each house, and in some cases might be comprised entirely of men or boys who would play music at each house (Danaher, 1972). In these cases the procession was often referred to as ‘Biddy Boys’ (EstynEvans, 1957).
In those homes that used an effigy as a Brideog a small bed would be prepared, made of rushes or of birch twigs, on the eve of Imbolc (Estyn Evans, 1957). In some cases the older women in the home would prepare or shape a small cradle, the leaba Bride or bed of Brighid, for the effigy to sleep in (Carmichael, 1900). In this tradition the effigy is made with great care and a ritual is enacted, much like the one mentioned earlier with the reeds for the crosses, where the effigy is taken outside and invited in. In one tradition the women of the house prepare everything and then one goes and stands in the open door, bracing on the door jambs, and loudly invites Brighid in three times, telling her that her bed is ready (Carmichael, 1900). The brideog is placed in the bed with a small wand, the slat Brighid, which may be made of birch, hazel, willow or another white wood (Carmichael, 1900).  
   
  Read more in Issue one 2014 of Air n-Aithesc 
 

Friday, January 23, 2015

The Morrigan and Plans for 2015

   I'm sure many of you would rather see more translation here, and don't worry I'll get some more done soon. I'm working on a new manuscript at the moment which is taking up some time, but hopefully next week I'll get to some of the other fun untranslated bits of the Cath Maige Tuired...
  I dreamed last night of the Morrigan, and this morning I was asked to do a workshop about her (them) next month so I thought it might be good to offer a short blog today just outlining some of this year's plans, where I'll be and what I'll be doing.
  I'm going to Pantheacon next month which is a very exciting first for me. I'll get to meet a lot of awesome people and spend time with some friends, including Stephanie Woodfield who is dragging me out there with her (I haven't been on a plane since I was 10 years old). It will be an adventure. While I'm at the con I'm going to be doing an informal workshop in the ADF hospitality suite, on Friday at 4, about the Morrigan in different myths. I'm really looking forward to it and think it will be a lot of fun, and I'm honored to have been asked to do it. So if you happen to be at Pantheacon and in the mood to hang with some Druids and talk Morrigan, come check it out.
  In June I'll be at the second annual Morrigan's Call Retreat teaching a workshop or two and helping with rituals. Last year was amazing and I'm sure this year will be even better. We have Jhenah Telyndru from the sisterhood of Avalon as a speaker and Mama Gina as a musical guest, as well as the usual suspects and some new faces.
   At the end of October I'll be participating in Seeking the Great Queens: a Sacred Sites Tour in Ireland. It is a sacred sites tour focusing on sites associated with the Morrigan and her mythology and includes celebrating Samhain at Tlachtga. There will be workshops, discussions, and rituals, and I have no doubt it will be a once in a lifetime experience.
   It's going to be a busy year, and very Morrigan-focused, but I'm excited about it.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

  Last year was a very busy one for me. I had four books published - Fairy Witchcraft and Pagan Portals: the Morrigan through Moon Books and the first two in my urban fantasy series Murder Between the Worlds and Lost in Mist and Shadow (self published); I also had pieces in three anthologies this year. I wrote for the blog as well as guest blogging on Raise the Horns, and writing articles for journals and e-zines, including one for Goddess Pages on the Morrigan. I taught at ADF's Wellspring, at the Morrigan's Call retreat, CT Pagan Pride Day and the Changing Times, Changing Worlds convention. And I had the always fun experience of being a guest on the podshow the New Normal as well as appearing on another podcast, Main Street Universe, where I talked about Fairies. I ventured into the new and interesting world of translating older Irish manuscript material, which I've really been enjoying (and look for more of that soon). And of course in between all those shenanigans was Real Life with children and grocery shopping and bills.
   Now we are heading into to 2015. I had genuinely intended to make this year a quiet one, but it doesn't look like that is meant to be. My next novel, the third in my urban fantasy series, is coming out at the end of this month, and I have a piece I am writing for another anthology. I have several other book projects in the works as well as articles coming out in the next issues of Air n-Aithesc, Pagan Dawn, and Goddess Alive. I'm attending Pantheacon for the first time this year, and am already scheduled to teach workshops at a spiritualist church, at the second Morrigan Calls retreat, as well as on a Morrigan Sacred Sites tour of Ireland, and tentatively at CWPN's Harvest Gathering.
  I do plan to keep up with the blog, including continuing with my translation efforts. Hopefully I will be back to my regular blogging schedule now, but I wanted everyone to understand that as my non-blog writing has increased - and as real life demands have taken a lot of my attention - it has gotten harder to give the blog the attention I want. I'd rather not write at all than write when I don't have time to cite sources and give it the quality it deserves.
  As we move into the new year my goal here, for the blog, is to find a balance between more academic entries and more experiential entries. And to get back on my twice-a-week schedule. So happy new year to you all, and stay tuned.