{"id":1541,"date":"2013-08-29T11:15:35","date_gmt":"2013-08-29T11:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/?p=1541"},"modified":"2013-08-29T11:56:42","modified_gmt":"2013-08-29T11:56:42","slug":"night-sounds-an-sionnach-in-east-cork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/asenseofplace\/2013\/08\/night-sounds-an-sionnach-in-east-cork\/","title":{"rendered":"Night Sounds: An Sionnach In East Cork"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Monday night, shortly after midnight, I was pulled from my bed by the strangest sound. I had been reading when I heard it, and at first I thought it was a cow, or maybe the sheep dog down the lane. But when it came again I didn\u2019t recognize it, so I crawled over to the window-seat and leaned out of the upstairs window, hoping to hear more clearly. The valley below was shrouded in a thin mist, which was illumined under a cloudy sky. It was deathly still, with not a whisper of wind. Then the call came again, just behind the house, either on the lane or in the pasture, between the house and the Ring Fort.<\/p>\n

sionnachuighim<\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/iframe><\/em> \nTurn the Volume UP<\/p>\nThere is much rubbish about \u2018Celtic animal totems\u2019 on the internet, and while fox does play a role in some Irish folktales, there is scant mention in the mythologies. Yet there are tantalizing glimpses of Sionnach<\/em> in some Irish historical manuscripts, as well as in the remains of human sacrifice! The 17th century historical chronicle, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingirishhistory.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Annal of the Four Masters<\/a>, notes a descendent of one of the southern branches of the U\u00ed Neill<\/em> gaining the nickname \u201cAn Sionnach<\/em>\u201c, which was then passed down to his son, Bec An Sionnach Odhar<\/em> and eventually stuck as a surname. There is debate as to how the original man, \u201cThe Sinnach Finn, i.e. Tadhg Ua Catharnaigh<\/em>\u201d, came by the nickname \u201cfox\u201d but it was either his skill at \u2018acquiring\u2019 land, his murder of an esteemed poet, or his B.O. (seriously, it could have been because of his strong smell). If the name was associated with skill in land \u2018acquisition\u2019, it reinforces the image of fox as wily. If the odor bit was the cause, well what can I say \u2014 fox is known for his strong musk (and so are some Irish men)! But, the murder bit is really intriguing. In Ireland, poets were of high social ranking. To kill one put you on the path of outlaw\u2013someone \u2018outside\u2019 the bounds of ordered society\u2013as the Fianna were seen to be. And notice, the original \u2018Fox\u2019 was referred to as \u201cThe Sinnach Finn\u201d. Which leads me to human sacrifice\u2026.<\/p>\nThe Lindow Man, a bog body found in England outside modern-day Manchester, is a great example of an Iron Age sacrificial victim. He suffered a triple-death (throat cut, strangled, and hit on the head), was placed in a liminal space (bog), and was found naked, except for the strip of fox fir<\/strong> on his left arm. Leslie Jones, in a paper presented at the <a href=\"http:\/\/celtic.cmrs.ucla.edu\/22papers\/jones.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\">March 2000 Celtic Conference in California<\/a>, argues that fox fir was used to identify the victim as a \u2018sacrifice\u2019. She offers historical evidence, from other areas of the world that also practiced human sacrifice, demonstrating that the fox arm-band was \u201cpart of the rationalization process involved in the performance of scapegoating a human sacrifice\u201d. Fox is seen as an \u2018outlaw\u2019 animal, living on the periphery of human society, neither domesticated nor fully wild. It is this \u2018outlaw\u2019 function, by breaking societal taboos or living outside them, that warrants the sacrifice\u2013or allows it. <\/p>\nSo, just how are\u00a0Tadhg Ua Catharnaigh<\/em>\u00a0and human sacrifice relevant to my hearing Fox cry at midnight, in the deathly quiet of a Lughnasadh<\/em> night?<\/p>\nsionnachuighim<\/em><\/em><\/p>\nI play the fox.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What does a Witch do when she hears an eerie midnight cry on a deathly still Lughnasadh night in Cork, Ireland? I’ll give you a hint – it involves human sacrifice and body odor! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1296,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,151,24,14,158,77],"tags":[149,174,1896,1894,325,7,8,20,10],"class_list":["post-1541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connection-2","category-experiential","category-folklore","category-ireland","category-traditions","category-video","tag-animism","tag-earth-based-spirituality","tag-folklore","tag-ireland","tag-lughnasadh","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-place","tag-rural"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Night Sounds: An Sionnach In East Cork<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What does a Witch do when she hears an eerie midnight cry on a deathly still Lughnasadh night in Cork, Ireland? 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