Celtic Myth Podshow
Gary, Ruth and their friends bring you ancient tales, stories, legends and mythology of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. Stories full of the bravery of heroes and heroines, the magnificent pantheon of gods and goddesses and the magic and wonder of druids, faeries and folklore. You'll also find some 'Special' Shows with music, modern stories, some great information and lots more from the modern Celtic community weaved in with the main story Shows.
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Seal Skins & Sea Spray CMP SP44
09/09/2020
Seal Skins & Sea Spray CMP SP44
This is a huge show all about that magical seal-people of Celtic myth, the Sekies. You'll hear five fantastic pieces of music, two old stories, and one lovely modern story from the Faerytale Apothecary. It also includes some fascinating Selkie folklore from Morgan Daimler's New Dictionary of Fairies.
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The Assembly of the Wondrous Head CMP054
07/06/2020
The Assembly of the Wondrous Head CMP054
The Saga of Branwen reaches its conclusion The Saga of Branwen reaches its conclusion in the company of the Head of Bran on the mystical island of Gwales. This time out of time is known as the Assembly of the Wondrous Head. This episode is the 12th and final episode of the Second Branch of the Mabinogi. Full Show-notes, with sources and credits, can be found on our main Website at Running Order: Intro 0:38 News and Views 1:05 Recap 2:47 Story 4:22 These Hollow Hills (Once More) - 15:20 We hope you enjoy it! Gary & Ruthie x x x It's always great to hear from you! Email or call us with We'd like to wish you 'Hwyl fawr!', which is Welsh for Goodbye and have fun, or more literally Wishing a Good Mood on you! Get EXTRA content in the Celtic Myth Podshow App for , & Contact Us: You can leave us a message by using the Email us at: . Facebook fan-page , Twitter () or Snapchat (), Pinterest () or Instagram () Help Spread the Word: Please also consider leaving us a rating, a review and subscribing in or 'Liking' our Facebook page at as it helps let people discover our show - thank you :) If you've enjoyed the show, would you mind sharing it on Twitter please? Ways to subscribe to the Celtic Myth Podshow:
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The Bed of Branwen CMP053
06/29/2020
The Bed of Branwen CMP053
Sorrow upon sorrow as the seven lonely knights return to Anglesey with their dying King...
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Betrayal and Redemption CMP052
06/22/2020
Betrayal and Redemption CMP052
Efnissien comes to an important decision and war breaks out amongst the celebrants in the Great House. The war between the Irish and the Welsh takes on a drastic turn as the Irish use the mystic Cauldron of Regeneration to bolster their numbers.
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The Two Temptations CMP051
06/15/2020
The Two Temptations CMP051
Matholwch offers to build Brân the Blessed a house large enough to house him and offers him loyalty in exchange for peace. As a Client King of Brân's, Brân would become the King of the Two Islands.
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The Hosting of the Island of the Mighty CMP050
06/08/2020
The Hosting of the Island of the Mighty CMP050
King Brân gets some very disturbing news about Branwen and gathers the Host of Prydein to avenge the insults done to his sister. A long and bloody war ensues but will Branwen be rescued?
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Of Kitchens and Kings CMP049
06/01/2020
Of Kitchens and Kings CMP049
Matholwch and Branwen set up home in Ireland and a son is born to them. After a while, the King hears whispers from his people and Branwen suffers a terrible fate.
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The Cauldron of Rebirth CMP048
05/25/2020
The Cauldron of Rebirth CMP048
Matholwch accepts the honour price that Bran offers him but Bran soon realises that the Irish King is still not truly happy. The Welsh King comes up with an honour price higher than any ever paid before to ease the heart of the Irish King.
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Blood on the Land CMP047
05/18/2020
Blood on the Land CMP047
Nissien and Efnissien arrive home from Rome and Efnissien discovers that the marriage between Branwen and the Irish King Matholwch has been arranged without his knowledge or presence. He feels he has suffered a great insult and exacts a most horrific revenge.
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The Price of Peace CMP046
05/09/2020
The Price of Peace CMP046
Is Matholwch going to be the right husband for Branwen? Will Bran and Matholwch agree on a policy of mutual aid should either the Kingdom of Erin or the Island of the Mighty be invaded? And if they do, will Branwen be happy and what exactly will be the Price of Peace.
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Dreaming the Crow CMP045
03/31/2020
Dreaming the Crow CMP045
A huge Irish fleet arrives on the shores of Wales with an interesting proposal for Bran, the Welsh High King. Matholwch, the Irish High King, arrives on the shores of Wales with a proposition for Bran the Blessed, the High King of Wales. He suggests a marriage between the two islands: the Emerald Isle and the Island of the Mighty by arranging a marriage between Branwen and the Irish High King, Matholowch.
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The Eagle Strikes CMP044
03/03/2020
The Eagle Strikes CMP044
The great King Llyr marries Penarddun in a great feast attended by the High King, who has a special plan for him. Their marriage is full of joy but sadly interrupted by a terrible tragedy. Penarddun faces a horribe decision.
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The Fostering of Pryderi CMP043
02/02/2020
The Fostering of Pryderi CMP043
Part 1 of the Second Branch of the Mabinogion story. Dyfed's chief Druid, Pendaran has some serious news for Pwyll and Rhiannon. Their young boy Pryderi has to be sent away to be fostered in the the court of Bran the Blessed.
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Celtic Myth Podshow Promo Long
01/30/2020
Celtic Myth Podshow Promo Long
Grab this promo if you are looking for a slightly longer (1m 23s) version of our promo. Email us at [email protected] if you would like WAV versions of our promos.
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Celtic Myth Podshow Promo Short
01/30/2020
Celtic Myth Podshow Promo Short
Grab this promo if you are looking for a short 30-second promo for the Celtic Myth Podshow
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Another Writer's Journey
12/12/2018
Another Writer's Journey
Please accept my apologies for writing about myself. I generally try and avoid this as I feel I am nowhere near as important as the stories I tell (and those that we tell as far as the Celtic Myth Podshow is concerned). That having been said, let's plunge on in! When I moved from Primary School to Secondary school (after the now legendary 11+ examination), one of my favourite lessons was the English class. At 11 years old I was far too young to understand much about Grammar or story/poem analysis, but I loved the act of creation involved in summoning imagery and meaning from words. Plain and simple words that when strung together could create pictures in my mind and feelings in my chest. One memory that sticks in my mind as significant because it told me, even at that tender age that I had an intense desire to write, was a class exercise that progressed over an entire term. We were each asked to write a single-page, short and concise story and then read it to the entire class. I was in heaven! I wrote an adventure story involving a dangerous trek in the jungle and eventual possible rescue. My story stretched the limits of our allotted time as I had filled well over a dozen pages of the small A5 exercise books that we used to be given at school. After I had finished - I don't remember exactly what the teacher said - my fellow class-mates were asked to give their feedback to the teacher and they all asked for more detail about my story and for the tale to be completed. The teacher, perhaps bowing to popular pressure, asked me to complete the story and for the next couple of weeks I wrote continuing episodes and read each out in turn to the class. The joy I felt in entertaining my peers with my my writing is a joy that has never left me. To give pleasure with mere words is something that can never be underestimated. As my relationships with my school-mates developed, I played many games and don't remember writing much other that the allocated tasks that we were all set. Our play-ground games however were rapidly becoming increasingly complex. A small group of my intimate inmates decided to each take on the role of a particular leader/hero/ruler on a planet in some imaginary Science Fiction universe that we had decided upon. My own planet of bio-mechanical inhabitants acquired technical drawings of the transport system within its major cities, biological descriptions of the alien inhabitants (vaguely resembling cones on wheels as I recall!) and each city having its own history mapped out. Hours and hours of work. It never got used in our games of course, but for me the creation of back-story was as essential as the game itself. Writing after Leaving School? As my school-years were coming to an end, my close-knit circle of buddies discovered the very first 3 volume box-set of an imported game from America, ridiculously named "Dungeons & Dragons". The game was what later came to be known as a 'role-playing game' with one person acting as a story-teller come referee come guide and the other players taking on a role of a character within a Fantasy-based universe. The big difference between this and other traditional methods of story-telling was that the actions that the players decided to take determined the future course of events within the story. The Fantasy universe moulded itself around us as we played. We were living in the story! I had come home! What an amazing discovery. It wasn't long before I, myself, took on the part of the Dungeon Master (as the referee was called) and was creating my own interactive stories with a group of players. My own game had maps (based on hex-paper) that were filled in as the players explored the world I had created plastered all over one wall of my very small flat and the remaining space in my flat taken up with as many chairs as I could fill into the space. At one stage, our story had over ten people meeting weekly to continue their adventures and the whole story arc carried on for over a year. That was something that required almost constant attention and a vast amount of time and energy to complete. Something that I would never advise anyone of even half-sane mind to contemplate doing! Turning to Myths & Legends Coming into my early 20's, my daily reading consumption increased and although I didn't put pen to parer at this time not only did my love of fiction grow and evolve but my love of mythological and religious stories also grew. My interests spread into a more academic and factual direction in order to find out where these stories came from and to seek answers as to why some versions of the same story were different and why there were similarities between stories from widely different cultures around the world. This was a long time before I discovered Joseph Campbell! My love of story, mythology and comparative religion eventually lead me to study ritual and magic - which, in my opinion, is yet another variety of living story. But that is really a different tale that I shall save for another day. One of my greatest loves from my first days at Secondary schools was Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the whole Middle-Earth mythos. To be fair, it is a love that I carry with me to this day. Back in 1977, I found the Silmarillion to be hard reading at my first attempt, but I fast grew to love it. In particular, the Song of Creation found in the first part, Ainulindalë, tells of the creation of Eä, the "world that is" struck a deeply resonant chord within my soul. What happened next is something that I look back on with great awe and wonder. Without realising it, my next actions were to act as a prelude to the type of story-telling that I was to take up again 30 years later! I recorded myself reading the Ainulindalë accompanied by music by Tangerine Dream (I think the album was Phaedra) and loved every minute. It was only when I listened to the cassette recording that I was over-whelmed and the hairs on my arms stood up and my heart raced with some form of excitement that I had never felt before. Something magical had happened. When I was reading about the Horns of Ulmo, resounding in the Deep Waters, there were horn blasts in the music. So much synchronicity happened in this reading whose true significance I missed at the time. This was something unique and wonderful. But hey-ho! - I was 18 years old, and forgot all about it in the rush of rapidly expanding teenage hormones in the following months. Time for a Quick Break Let's take a small break in the narrative here, while I grab a glass of water, you get to wonder what on earth you are doing wasting your time reading the drivel that I have written and I skip forward in time. As we go, we can jump over several failed attempts at both fiction and non-fiction writing, and arrive at the point in my life where my long-suffering wife (the gorgeous Ruthie) and I decide to start a podcast about Celtic Mythology. The was born at Imbolc, 2008 - it seemed to us a suitable birthing time. Reading the complex Irish myths out aloud seemed to us an excellent way of learning them, understanding them and perhaps help other people out with the same tasks. It was only natural that eventually we would want to cover all the stories of the Celts that we could find. For two years, I scripted the ideas we came up with and along with friends and family we recorded and released shows every fortnight. There was no way in this or any other universe that we could maintain this pace and were it not for my becoming seriously ill and requiring major surgery due to Cancer at the end of 2009, I think I/we would have burned out and never carried on making any shows or telling any more stories. Health is something that when you are healthy you can often take for granted. I certainly did. Without it, each physical movement initially and later any focus or concentration became something that rapidly drained my energy. I learned about Spoon Theory very quickly indeed. Google it - it's worth it. Life events (family, career, housing, finances etc.) began to overtake us in 2015-2016, and the rate at which we could produce shows dwindled as more and more of our focus and attention had to be placed on far more immediate concerns. I think we only managed to get out one show in 2016 and another in 2017. Early in 2017, I discovered that I had Leukemia and we were again forced to focus on health and the need to rapidly find a new home. Patience, Pacing and Priorities It is strange that no matter how important your writing is to you, or how much you value your creative work and no matter how much pleasure you get from seeing or hearing the joy that other people have from hearing or reading your work, there is no way that the inspiration will flow when your life's basics are under threat. I thought that writing and creating would be a great distraction form the more serious problems in our lives. I was, however, totally wrong. It just wouldn't happen. It took time - a long time - for me to even begin to accept this. Starting a new podcast, , was my refusal to accept that I could do nothing creative during this time. Eventually this podcast too had to come to a halt as life's needs escalated. This was a frustrating time that I am glad we seem to have passed through. It is over and I hope I have learned some very important lessons about patience, pacing and the priorities in our lives. At the height of the Summer heatwave in this year (2018), we moved and began to unpack and settle. I could feel the relaxation beginning to seep into my bones. Despite the mountains of boxes around me, the presence of inspiration began to make itself felt. For me, inspiration works in a very strange and yet defined way. It seems I have to make space in my life and my head, start the process off by moving a little way towards an idea and then whatever it is that comes from outside of myself, from the wider universe, from the Realms of the Fae or the Gods or whatever (be it Awen or Imbas or just plain Inspiration), I begin to feel its breath rushing into me towards a new creation. They say the word 'inspiration' comes from from the Proto-Indo-European root *en "in" + spirare "to breathe". Breathing in the Spirit of creation from the cosmos perhaps? It is interesting that the word 'spirit' also has the same roots.... Flexing My Muscles (as if!) I felt I needed to flex my writing muscles again. "If you don't use it, you lose it" is a common expression, but I am not sure it means you forget how to write, but I think it may mean you lose contact with that flow of "spirit" or whatever that brings a creation into life and full being. I had been listening to podcasts about the Craft of Writing for some time and as October was approaching, I began to hear more and more about NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo stands for the "National Novel Writing Month" and it always takes place during the 30 days of November. In this time you do your best to write 50,000 words to create a novel (novella perhaps?). Success or failure is not strictly the main goal. The main goal of #NaNoWriMo is to get you writing. So I made a decision to write a novel. Research and preparation of that novel has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding pastimes that I have encountered in the last few years and I am incredibly excited to start writing on November 1st. My novel is going to be a ghost story set in the middle of a disaster zone at a place I know well in Hastings - the town where I was born. It's only 10 days away now and I find myself 'itchy' to start writing. As I can't start on my novel until November, I found my mind drifting to other projects. Perhaps I could start thinking about the next book for the Celtic Tomes? So, I totaled the votes cast for the next book and started some preparation. Fantastic! And yet, still the Universe had not finished with me. Unfinished Business Last week, I woke up wondering where my work period that day could be directed, opened my laptop and found myself opening up the Script for the Branwen story! The Second Branch of the Mabinogion is the next story to be told in our main podcast, the Celtic Myth Podshow, and the script is about half-way completed and stands at about 22,000 words. I found myself re-reading and editing what I had already written, suddenly aware that I was mentally preparing myself to finish the script. I sent my prayers of thanks up to the Gods or whoever was helping me with the inspiration and went to bed a very happy Gary. A few days later, the realities of the situation began to sink into my dense, Neanderthal brow and I realised that if I were to avoid the same burn-out problems that I had hit before then I would have to heed the lessons of Pacing that I had tried to learn previously. I would have to take things very slowly indeed. I would have to work in tune with Life and not separate from it. November is, for me, fully booked with NaNoWriMo and Life events, but after that, in the New Year, I can turn my attention back to the Branwen story and do some editing of my novel, some recording for Celtic Tomes and any other project that leaps into my mind. The important thing I have to remember, and I really must drive this home into my thickest of heads, is that I can only focus fully on one major project at a time. To do otherwise would be to tread, stagger and eventually fall on the stony path to a barren plain where nothing gets written. Thank you for listening to the story so far.
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CMP Special 43 Sussex Celts, Fairies & Folklore
05/01/2017
CMP Special 43 Sussex Celts, Fairies & Folklore
This is our biggest show ever! A real MONSTER of a show with an excerpt from the fascinating book, British Witch Legends of Sussex which you can get hold of from the publisher Country Books, a great story by Rudyard Kipling all about that tricky Fey, Puck and six pieces of great Fairy-inspired music. It's all topped off by two poems - including one poem read by our 9-year old Grand-daughter, Amielia!
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CMP Special 42 2016 News Update Show
05/09/2016
CMP Special 42 2016 News Update Show
We bring you a Special music show and some news about what we have been doing while we were away, what our plans are as well as 6 amazing pieces of music and a superb piece by Professor Roland Rotherham about St. Nectan, the Cornish saint.
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CMP042 A Mother's Worry, A Mother's Pride
11/02/2015
CMP042 A Mother's Worry, A Mother's Pride
Pwyll's long-time friend, Teyrnon has beaten off the Monster from the Deeps and has discovered a beautiful baby boy wrapped in silks left in its wake. He and his wife decide to rear the child, but what of the misery of Rhiannon? In this episode, Teyrnon makes a decision and we finally discover what really happened to Pwyll and Rhiannon's child.
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CMP Special 41 A Pint and a Chat with Spiral Dance
07/22/2015
CMP Special 41 A Pint and a Chat with Spiral Dance
This is the first of an irregular series of informal interviews that we'll be holding as the opportunities arise, and our first is a superb, epic Show with the fabulous Australian band, Spiral Dance. In this show, we all meet up at the pub and talk about where they have come from, how their Spirituality comes out in their music and what their plans are for the future. With five fantastic pieces of Spiral Dance magic, this is a great chat and includes a surprise appearance by some extra special guests!
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CMP041 Of Sea-Monsters and Golden Hair
06/25/2015
CMP041 Of Sea-Monsters and Golden Hair
We shift our attention now to the Kingdom of Gwent and its' Lord, Teyrnon, who has a terrible problem with his Prize Mare. At the same time as young Pwyll and his Bride, Rhiannon, are being punished for the 'alleged' crime that Rhiannon has committed, Teyrnon and his wife are deciding to end the unspeakable horror that comes upon the Horse every year as she tries to give birth at Beltane. What comes next is a huge surprise..!
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CMP040 Betrayal in the Nursery
03/21/2015
CMP040 Betrayal in the Nursery
Doubt begins to enter the minds of the people of Dyfed as their Lord and his Lady show no signs of producing an heir. The High Council of Druids put pressure on Pwyll to divorce his Fairy Bride and take a more 'fruitful' woman to his bed!
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CMP039 Prophecy of the Druid
08/26/2014
CMP039 Prophecy of the Druid
Pwyll and Rhiannon are finally married and enjoying the feasting in the Halls of the Otherworld. It is not too long before Pwyll and his Companions get homesick for the land of their Birth. Pwyll and Rhiannon decide to head back to Dyfed and an unexpected prophecy!
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CMP Special 40 Druid Special #2
04/26/2014
CMP Special 40 Druid Special #2
In the second of our unique Druid Interviews, we bring you the second half of our interview with the Head of the British Druid Order, Philip Shallcrass, aka Greywolf. He talks about Druidry, the BDO's Distance Learning Courses, the Ogham, the World Drum and much more. The show also contains 6 fantastic pieces of music, including one by Philip himself which he wrote for his three sons.
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CMP Special 39 Druid Special #1
04/10/2014
CMP Special 39 Druid Special #1
In a ground-breaking show for us, we bring you the first part of an interview with the Head of the British Druid Order, Philip Shallcrass, aka Greywolf. He talks about Druidry, the Order, how he discovered his Path and he even tells us how he got the name 'Greywolf'. The show also contains 4 fantastic pieces of music, including one by Philip himself which re-tells his encounter with the Anglo-Saxon God, Woden. An interview not to be missed!
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CMP038 Apple Orchards and Wedding Feasts
03/07/2014
CMP038 Apple Orchards and Wedding Feasts
Having been tricked at his own wedding feast, Pwyll returns to Dyfed in deep depression. There he has to wait for a year before he can return to the Otherworld. Only then will he see whether Rhiannon's plan will work and he can regain his Faerie Bride. But tricking the tricksters is never an easy task! In this episode we see exactly what happens when Pwyll returns on that fateful day!
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CMP Special 38 Winter Music Special 2013
01/01/2014
CMP Special 38 Winter Music Special 2013
For our holiday treat this year we have an astounding 11 wonderful pieces of music! We might even manage to slide a quick poem into the show, you never know! From the time of Samhuin to the Winter Solstice, the time of deepest dark, winter just seems to go on and on. We hope to bring you some warmth and good cheer in this show, and for those who are moving to the height of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, let's bring on the Party Season!
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CMP037 Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace!
12/14/2013
CMP037 Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace!
After a magical meeting with the beautiful and mysterious Rhiannon, a magical Lady riding a powerful White Horse, Pwyll falls deeply in love. They arrange to marry after a courtship lasting a year-and-a-day in the Otherworld Palace of her father, Hevaydd Hen. Pwyll anxiously waits for the year to pass and still tells no one of his plans. Now it is Beltane - time for feasting and match-making and Pwyll gathers his Companions to seek for his own Match!
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CMP036 To Ride A White Horse
11/02/2013
CMP036 To Ride A White Horse
It has been three long and glorious years since Pwyll journeyed to Annwn and became firm friends with Annwn and his own kingdom is just beginning to shown signs of strain. It has been hot with fine weather for so long that the possibility of drought is becoming a real threat. Pwyll has not taken a Queen and produced an heir and the people fear that the land is suffering from his lack of fertility. Pwyll, however, has other things on his mind...
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CMP Special 37 2013 Faerie Festival Special
09/27/2013
CMP Special 37 2013 Faerie Festival Special
Special Report that we have ever made after going to a Faerie Festival. We camped for three days with some lovely people, saw some incredible bands and browsed among some really great market stalls. In this show, we are going to try and bring you a taste of that Festival with a few little interviews with some of the guests we met, some of the stall-holders but mostly with an amazing 12 pieces of music!
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