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<\/a>Y Mabinogi \u2013 The Second Branch<\/a><\/em>\nby Damh the Bard
\n14 tracks, 1 hr 20 min
\nDigital download: \u00a310 ($12.56 at current exchange rates). $19.99 on iTunes.
\nCD:\u00a0 \u00a315 ($18.84 at current exchange rates)<\/p>\n
Last year brought us Y Mabinogi \u2013 The First Branch<\/a><\/em>\u00a0from Damh the Bard. This is Damh\u2019s bardic performance of the ancient Welsh tales first written down in the 11th<\/sup> century. Their origins are in a much older oral tradition \u2013 their settings and themes are straight out of Celtic paganism.<\/p>\n The second branch of\u00a0The Mabinogi<\/em>\u00a0is titled \u201cBranwen, Daughter of Llyr.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s the story of Bran, giant and king, his sister Branwen, and how she was married to the King of Ireland to form an alliance but that alliance was poisoned by Efnissien, Bran and Branwen\u2019s half-brother.<\/p>\n This is not a pleasant story. It\u2019s what happens when the rich and powerful are overcome by jealousy and deceit.\u00a0 Damh didn\u2019t bowdlerize the stories \u2013 some of it was hard to listen to. I asked Damh what it was like to work this dark material for weeks and months.<\/p>\n It was a hard but incredibly powerful journey. When I created the First Branch, Cerri made me a Rhiannon pendant that I wore throughout the creative process. For the Second Branch she made me a pendant of two Ravens, but the journey was so intense in the end I had to take it off and place it on my altar. I was immersed in the story for a year, but in that year I needed some time out.<\/p>\n My songs are celebrations of our paths and our community. But there was no place for the uplifting Damh the Bard anthem here. The story took my songwriting into areas I wasn\u2019t used to, but I think it has helped me grow as a songwriter, and I have to say I\u2019m very happy and proud of the resulting album.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m half way to the full Four Branches!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Kristoffer Hughes returns as the medieval Welsh monk, writing down the tales as they were told to him. S. J. Tucker provides vocals on \u201cThe Birds of Rhiannon\u201d and Blanche Rowen sings on \u201cA Forest on the Ocean\u201d and \u201cRaven\u2019s Tears.\u201d<\/p>\n But mainly this is Damh the Bard, not just telling but performing these tales in as authentic a manner as has been done in centuries. If you want the real Mabinogi<\/em>, uncensored for Victorian sensibilities, give it a listen.<\/p>\n edited by Lora O\u2019Brien and Morpheus Ravenna We are living in the early days of a polytheist restoration. Gods who for centuries have been treated as myths or archetypes or merely as characters in old stories are being worshipped again. We are likely many years away from having large public temples as our ancestors did. But what we do have is an ever-increasing numbers of devotional books dedicated to individual deities. My own bookshelf has volumes for the Morrigan, Hera, Poseidon, Hecate, Athena, Brigid, and \u201cthe Horned God in all of his manifestations.\u201d There are more volumes I don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n In a conversation that no one can remember exactly when it took place, Lora O\u2019Brien, Morpheus Ravenna, and Jon O\u2019Sullivan decided it was the Dagda\u2019s turn. More likely \u2013 as Lora describes in the Foreword \u2013 that\u2019s what they heard the Dagda telling them.<\/p>\n The Dadga is one of the Tuatha De Danann, the Gods of Ireland. He was and is known as \u201cthe Good God.\u201d He has many skills, including crafting, right judgement, and warriorship. He is the master of the harp, and he possesses one of the Four Hallows of the Tuatha De Danann \u2013 a cauldron from which no company ever left unsatisfied.<\/p>\n Harp, Club, and Cauldron<\/em> is longer than most books in this theme, because it\u2019s more than a devotional anthology. The first section is \u201cResearch\u201d \u2013 it consists of scholarly examinations of the literature and archaeology around the Dadga. The second is \u201cPractice\u201d \u2013 essays describing how different people worship and work with the Dadga, including how they do His work in this world. The third is \u201cInspiration\u201d and consists of poems, prayers, and stories for and about this Good God.<\/p>\n Harp, Club, and Cauldron<\/em> will help you learn more about the Dadga, His lore, and how contemporary polytheists interact with Him today.<\/p>\n Traditional Witchcraft is one of the more popular forms of magic these days. I know a bit about it, but not a ton. I know a lot more now that I\u2019ve read Besom, Stang & Sword<\/em>. The book presents traditional witchcraft in a clear, easy to learn manner, and it does so within the context of a complete tradition that is non-religious but filled with spirits.<\/p>\n There are lists of spells for various purposes. The use of the besom, the stang, and the sword in witchcraft are explained in detail. There are chapters on herbs for witches and on divination. The chapter on necromancy is basic but useful.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a chapter on the Witches\u2019 Sabbat. The role of the devil in traditional witchcraft is neither whitewashed nor sensationalized. I don\u2019t work with the devil because of my need for a clean break with Christianity<\/a>, but you can\u2019t deny the fact that witches from the Middle Ages through contemporary times did and do.<\/p>\n The first chapter on defining traditional witchcraft is perhaps the most helpful of all. It\u2019s not Wicca, it\u2019s not working with Nature, it\u2019s not Goddess worship, and it\u2019s not magic\u2026 or at least, it\u2019s not only magic. It\u2019s certainly not fashion<\/a>. Rather, \u201cwitchcraft is about sovereignty\u201d \u2013 witchcraft is about the power of the individual to walk their own path.<\/p>\n Most of us don\u2019t have a traditional witch living next door who can teach us her skills and traditions, but we can learn from Christopher Orapello and Tara-Love Maguire.<\/p>\n The holidays are upon us but I\u2019m not quite done for the year. I\u2019ll have the usual Under the Ancient Oaks year-end features next week. \u201cThe 4 Best Posts of 2018 You Didn\u2019t Read\u201d will be up on Sunday, and \u201cThe Top 10 Posts of 2018\u201d will be up on Thursday.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll return to my regular blogging schedule on January 1.<\/p>\nHarp, Club, and Cauldron<\/h1>\n
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<\/a>Harp, Club, and Cauldron \u2013 A Harvest of Knowledge: A curated anthology of scholarship, lore, and creative writings on the Dagda in Irish tradition\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\npublished by Eel & Otter Press: November 2018
\n301 pages
\nPaperback: $20.90<\/p>\nBesom, Stang & Sword<\/h1>\n
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<\/a>Besom, Stang & Sword: A Guide to Traditional Witchcraft, the Six-Fold Path & the Hidden Landscape<\/a><\/em>
\nby Christopher Orapello and Tara-Love Maguire
\npublished by Weiser Books: December 2018
\n304 pages
\nPaperback: $16.11, Kindle: $11.99<\/p>\nHoliday blogging<\/h1>\n
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