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 Music
British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)
Book 1 Chapter 7 by Wirt Sikes
Sikes talks about the magical Birds of Rhiannon, tells us the legend of Shon ap Shenkin, the story of the Magic Harp, all about Welsh fairies and harps and the story of Iolo ap Hugh.
Running Order:
- Section 1 1:20
- Birds of Enchantments 1:40
- The Legend of Shon ap Shenkin 3:22
- Birds of Enchantments 1:40
- Section 2 5:55
- Harp Music in Welsh Fairy Tales 5:59
- Legend of the Magic Harp 7:37
- Section 3 12:58
- Songs and Tunes of the Tylwyth Teg 12:54
- Section 4 15:20
- The Legend of Iola ap Hugh 15:26
- Mystic origin of an old Welsh Air 20:48
- The Legend of Iola ap Hugh 15:26
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.
Shon ap Shenkin returns home
- Tylwyth Teg
- Iola ap Hugh
- Rhiannon
- Lady Charlotte Guest's 'Mabinogion,'
- Pant Shon Shenkin
- Carmarthenshire
- Taffy ap Sion
- Catti Maddock of Brechfa
- cymmoedd
- Craig-y-Ddinas
- Cwm Pergwm
- Vale of Neath
- Cader Idris
- Morgan ap Rhys
- cwnv da
- haw - Donkey
- Gwaed dyn a'i gilydd!
- Caliban
- Morgan Gwilym
- Cylepsta Waterfall
- Edmund Daniel
- Arail
- Cefn Bach
- Hafodafel
- Cân y Tylwyth Teg'
- Dowch, dowch, gyfeillon mân,
- O blith marwolion byd,
- Dowch, dowch, a dowch yn Iân.
- Partowch partowch eich pibau cân,
- Gan ddawnsio dowch i gyd,
- Mae yn hyfryd heno i hwn.
- Ffarwel Ned Pugh
- Morda
- Ceiriog
- Sycharth, the fortress of Glyndwrdwy
- Chirk Castle
- Elias ap Evan
- Ogof
- Land-Maelstrom of Diaboly
Ffarwel Ned Pugh
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.