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_outlineMystic Wells
British Goblins: Welsh Folk Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881)
Book 4 Chapter 2
by
Wirt Sikes
All about the beheading of St. Winnifred and the mystic well that sprang up where her head fell. How the waters of mystic wells can be either beneficent or malicious - they can cure diseases, mental or physical, as well as curing love-sickness. Sikes also tells us sooe of the stories associated with Barry Island.
Running Order:
- Their Good and Bad Dispositions 1:46
- St. Winifred's Well 4:48
- The Legend of St. Winnifred 6:35
- Miracles 9:28
- St. Tecla's Well 11:50
- St. Dwynwen's 12:44
- Curing Love Sickness 13:00
- St. Cynfran's 14:30
- St. Cynhafal's 15:23
- Throwing Pins in Wells 15:32
- Warts 15:36
- Barry Island and its Legends 17:08
- Ffynon Gwynwy 20:22
- Propitiary Gifts to Wells 21:02
- The Dreadful Cursing Well of St. Elian's 23:09
- Wells Flowing with Milk 25:34
- St. Illtyd's 25:50
- Tafi's Well 28:40
- Sanford's Well 29:31
- Origins of Superstitions of this Class 30:48
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.
St. Winifred
St. Tecla
St. Cynfran
St. Cynhafal
Barry Island
Ffynon Gwynwy
St. Elian's
St. Illtyd's
Tafi
Sanford
Lourdes, France
Cambria
Ffynon Mair (Well of Mary)
Holywell
Duke of Westminster
Drayton
St. Winifred, or Gwenfrewi
Elerius
Robert of Salop
Cotton MSS.
Caradoc
St. Beino
Lethean
Denbighshire
Gwern Degla
Llandegla
Llandwyn, Anglesea
Dan Cupid
Ffynon Dwynwen (Fountain of Venus)
Iolo MSS.
Seithenhin the Drunkard
Aphrodite
'Rhad Duw a Chynfran lwydd ar y da!'
(the grace of God and blessed Cynfran on the cattle)
Brychan
Abergeleu
St. George's Well
Pennant
Mars
Llangynhafal parish, Denbighshire
Gloucestershire
Barry Island, near Cardiff
St. Barruc, or Barri
Lord Windsor
St. Cadoc
Gwalches
Merlin
Camarthen
Etna
Stromboli
Typhonn
Vulcan
Camden
Malkin
Ffynon Gwynwy, near Llangelyniin church, Carnarvonshire
Archaeologia Cambrensis
Pliny
Clitumnus
Cyff-elian
Llanelian, Denbighshire
Penrhos
Gower, near Swansea
John the Baptist
Canute
River Taff
Newton Nottage, Glamorganshire
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.