Irish-American Witchcraft: Books On Irish Paganism And The Fairy Faith

When it comes to my particular flavor of witchcraft people occasionally ask me to recommend books that would be good for people interested in following the same approach. Obviously my own book on the subject – called “Fairy Witchcraft” – is going to come up but that was written as a bare bones introduction. There are many other really important books that a person should be familiar with and I thought for this week’s blog I’d give a short list of some of them as well as a few other mixed media items that can be enormously helpful in familiarizing people with the mythology and folk practices.

Books:

The Sacred Isle by Dáithí O’hOgáin – discusses Irish religion from pre-Christian times through conversion.
The Year in Ireland by Kevin Danaher – an overview of holidays and folk practices throughout the year.
A Practical Guide to Irish Spirituality: Sli Aon Dhraoi by Lora O’Brien – a great overall introduction to modern Irish paganism. I’d also recommend the author’s older book, “Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch”
Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry by W. B. Yeats – a look at folklore and belief, especially fairylore.
Celtic Gods and Heroes by Sjoestedt – discusses both the gods and tidbits of folklore and mythology
The Gaelic Otherworld by John Campbell – an overview of Scottish folk beliefs and folk lore
The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans Wentz – the classic text on the Fairy Faith its a bit dated at this point having come out in 1911 but it includes fairy beliefs from a wide array of Celtic cultures.
Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore – by Ellen Evert Hopman – a great book on traditional Scottish fairy beliefs and related practices
Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee – excellent artwork and some great tidbits of folklore sprinkled in
Elves, Wights and Trolls by Kveldulfr Gundarson – a look at Norse and German fairy beliefs and some comparison with the Celtic beliefs. Very useful for looking at how different closely related cultures viewed their fairies.
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by reverend Robert Kirk – written in the 17th century its a short but fascinating look at traditional Scottish fairy beliefs
The Secret Commonwealth and the Fairy Belief Complex by Brian Walsh – a review and analysis of rev Kirk’s book but extremely insightful and should be read in addition to Kirk’s book for its commentary on beliefs about fairies
Meeting the Other Crowd by Eddie Lenihan and Carolyn Green – excellent book on Irish fairy lore

Besides books there are some movies that I’ve found helpful in conveying the general feel of the beliefs themselves, and these include:

Movies:

The Secret of Roan Inish, (1995) Sony Pictures – the story of a family that used to live on a remote Irish island but has moved to the mainland and their connection to the seal people, called roan.
Into the West (2011). Echo Bridge Home Entertainment – two boys try to free a horse they believe to be a pooka.
The Secret of Kells (2010) New Video Group – an animated film about a boy apprenticed to a monk who befriends a forest spirit.
Song of the Sea (2014) Universal Studios – an amazing animated film that tells the tale of Ben and his sister Saoirse who is the last Selkie left and the only one who can save all the Irish aos sí with her song – except she’s mute. (this one is my 7 year old daughter’s favorite movie)
Fairy Faith (2001) Wellspring Media – a documentary by a Canadian film maker who traveled around North America, Ireland, and the United Kingdom interviewing people about their beliefs relating to the Fair Folk. Unfortunately out of production and hard to find on DVD now, but you can watch on youtube here
Kin (2013) Five Knights Production – part of a series, hard to easily describe in words but this short film is visceral and very Fey. It can be watched on Vimeo here