The Goddess at Lughnasadh

Taltiu, slow Magmor’s daughter,
‘Tis she that cut down the forest.
Lugh’s foster-mother, men declare,
The place of this assembly (is) round Tailtiu.

(The Edginburgh Dinnshenchas" by Whitley Stokes, Folklore IV)

Given that Lughnasadh is a time of joyous celebration, it is surprising to learn that Lughnasadh was originally funerary games for Tailtiu, the foster mother of the Irish God Lugh, who died clearing forested land for cultivation. This information is given in a Medieval poetic anthology known as the  Metrical Dindshenchas:

"Long was the sorrow, long the weariness of Tailtiu, in sickness after heavy toil; the men of the island of Erin to whom she was in bondage came to receive her last behest. She told them in her sickness (feeble she was but not speechless) that they should hold funeral games to lament her - zealous the deed."

Bila, Aboriginal Sun Goddess

The Aboriginal peoples of Australia have numerous myths associated with land and "country" (their particular location). This means that every "country" had their own particular "genii loci", protective spirits or localised myths., as well as what psycho-analysis Carl Jung would describe as the "collective unconsciousness" - similar themes appearing not only around the country but also around the world.

 

The beautiful Flinders Rangers, home of the Adnyamathanha people.

 

Water - the Source of Life

A new calendar year and the Summer's heat has arrived to this dry brown land.  With the Australian weather patterns often moving across the country from west to east, the heatwave that Perth was sweltering under around Christmas time, is now making its presence felt in the southern central states - however the heat has intensified due to the desert.

As the life force energies can very quickly be sapped from the living during this intense heat, I thought I would share an article that has a cooling watery feel that had originally been posted on my old blog.  It is important that in the heat we keep our fluids up.  It is also vitally important that we keep an eye out for those who may not be able to look after themselves - the elderly and infirmed, our pets, and local wildlife.  It doesn't cost much to put a couple of extra bowls of water out (in shadey places) or to knock on someone's door to ensure that they are coping, or even drop them off a bag of ice.