Celtic Tomes
This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts.
info_outline Festivals CT053Celtic 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.
info_outline Tabu CT052Celtic 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.
info_outline Sacrifice and Prayer CT051Celtic 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.
info_outline Cosmogony CT050Celtic 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.
info_outline Animal Worship CT049Celtic 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.
info_outline Tree and Plant Worship CT048Celtic 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.
info_outline River and Well Worship CT047Celtic 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.
info_outline Primitive Nature Worship CT046Celtic Tomes
McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselves alone.
info_outline The Cult of the Dead CT045Celtic 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_outlineFairy Tales and Ancient Mythology
British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)
Book 1 Chapter 1
by
Wirt Sikes
A comprehensive exposition of ghosts, fairies, dragons, superstitions and supernatural folklore drawn from the Welsh traditions, 'British Goblins' is packed with information on fairy mythology. All proper names, and words in Welsh or other languages, will be found recorded in the show-notes below and we've done our best to get the pronounciations right for you.
Running Order:
- Book 1: The Realm of Faerie 0:46
- Section 1 1:24
- Fairy Tales and the Ancient Mythology 1:46
- The Compensations of Science 3:00
- Section 2 3:58
- Existing Belief in Fairies in Wales 4:02
- The Faith of Culture 5:33
- The Credulity of Ignorance 7:13
- Existing Belief in Fairies in Wales 4:02
- Section 3 8:48
- The Old Time Welsh Fairyland 8:52
- The Old Time Welsh Fairyland 8:52
- Section 4 11:26
- The Fairy King 11:30
- The Legend of St. Collen and Gwyn ap Nudd 12:32
- The Fairy King 11:30
- Section 5 15:32
- The Green Meadows of the Sea 15:35
- Fairies at Market 17:34
- The Land of Mystery 18:30
- The Green Meadows of the Sea 15:35
Fairies marketing at Laugharne
Names Used in this Section
Rev John Logan
St. Collen
Gwyn ap Nudd
"foi scientifique"
Archaeologia Cambrensis
Mr. John Walter Lukis, President of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society
Glamorganshire
Merthyr
Chaucer's Wyf of Bathes Tale:
In olde dayes of the Kyng Arthour, ...
Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie; ...
I speke of many hundrid yer ago;
But now can no man see non elves mo.
Dryden
Gwerddonau Llion
Gwydion
Dyfed (Demetia)
Mabinogion
Lady Charlotte Guest
Pembroke
Carmarthen
Cardigan
Vale of Neath
Craig y Ddinas
Morgana
Mor Gwyn
Morgan
king of Annwn
Avalon of the Arthurian legends
Parry's 'Welsh Melodies'
British king Gavran
Three Losses by Disappearance
Merlin
Madog
Pembrokeshire
Carmarthenshire
Milford Haven
Laugharne
Flemings in 1113
British Goblins can be found on Sacred Texts.
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.