Cult Accessories CT054
Celtic Tomes
This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts.
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Festivals CT053
Celtic Tomes
The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the seasons.
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Tabu CT052
Celtic Tomes
The Irish geis, pl. geasa, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous consequences, and also an obligation to do something commanded by another.
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Sacrifice and Prayer CT051
Celtic Tomes
The Celts offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the future from the entrails of the victim. We shall examine the Celtic custom of human sacrifice from these points of view first.
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Cosmogony CT050
Celtic Tomes
The Celts may have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain, or by pillars.
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Animal Worship CT049
Celtic Tomes
Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbols or attributes of divinities.
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Tree and Plant Worship CT048
Celtic Tomes
The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local cults. This chapter also details how the Celts made their sacred places in dark groves, the trees being hung with offerings or with the heads of victims.
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River and Well Worship CT047
Celtic Tomes
Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance of the cult of waters and of water divinities. This chapter also details the many fairies and folklore creatures associated with water.
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Primitive Nature Worship CT046
Celtic Tomes
McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselves alone.
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The Cult of the Dead CT045
Celtic Tomes
The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead and other grave customs is the subject of this chapter. McCulloch also talks about the role of fairies and the festival of Samhain.
info_outlineSpectral Animals
British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)
Book 2 Chapter 3
by
Wirt Sikes
We hear abut ghostly hounds, as well as the Gwyllgi or the Dog of Darkness with the gleaming eyes, about how horses can see terrifying spectres. Sikes tells us the story of Old Anthony and the Dog of Darkness and that of Rebecca Adam who saw and heard its terrible screams..
Running Order:
- Spectral Animals 00:55
- The Chained Spirit 3:02
- The Gwyllgi, or Dog of Darkness 4:28
- The Legend of Lisworney-Crossways 5:15
- The Gwyllgi of the Devil's Nags 7:32
- The Dog of Pant y Madog 8:48
- Terrors of the Brute Creation at Phantoms 10:08
- Apparitions of Natural Objects 13:27
- Phantom Ships and Phantom Islands 14:31
Names Used in this Section
All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, are recorded here in the show-notes and we've done our best to get the pronounciations right for you.
Rev. Mr. Hughes
Anglesea
Amlwch Village
St. Elian Church
Gwyllgi
Yspaddaden Pencawr
Mousiad
Lisworney-Crossways
Mr. Jenkin
Old Anthony
David Walter, of Pembrokeshire
Cot Moor
The Devil's Nags
Rebecca Adams
Laugharne Castle, Carmarthenshire
Pant y Madog
Indiana
Andrew Jackson Davis
Auguste Comte
Mauthe Doog
Isle of Man
Shock of the Norfolk Coast
Cwn Annwn
British Goblins can be found on Archive.org
You can find out more about Wirt Sikes on Wikipedia.
Try the Celtic Myth Podshow for the Tales and Stories of the Ancient Celts at http://celticmythpodshow.com or on Apple Podcasts.
Our theme music is "Gander at the Pratie Hole" by Sláinte. You can find their music on the Free Music Archive.