BBC includes Pagan on their Interfaith Calendar

Somehow I don't see Fox News doing something like this, where the BBC has included pagan holidays on their interfaith calendar.

Then again, we're the country that has museums featuring cave-men riding dinosaurs.


(okay... I'm not positive Creationist museums have exhibits featuring cavemen riding dinosaurs, but would it surprise you?)

Links to Celtic Classics

I found a couple of other links to share.

The first is the Tain Bo Cualnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). It has a 1914 translation alongside an Irish transcription. The pronunciation guide and listing of names may be of interest to some people.

The second is a site that has a summary of the Mabinogion. I will caveat this by saying I haven't perused the rest of the Timeless Myths site, so I can't vouch for other content.

Links aplenty

Liz just sent in a bunch of links for the Cauldron. A few of these I've been to (though most not in quite a while) and the rest are new to me.

That means plenty of surfing time ahead.

Language link and liturgy musings

First, the link, since it will be of more interest to the general reader. This link is to a site that let's you search some online Gaelic dictionaries.

It was some liturgical musings that got me thinking about languages in the first place.


I get inspirations and ideas at the worst times, usually right in the middle of ritual (though I guess that shouldn't be surprising) and while I'm driving. Usually by the time I to where I can actually sit down and try to get my thoughts into font, I've been distracted.

In this case it has to do with my Tribe's liturgy framework. There's been one piece that has felt a little off during the past couple of rituals, and while mulling over a recent conversation with Sherri, the pieces fell into place in my head.

1) Language - I use a Welsh phrase even though our "liturgical markers" are Irish. Originally, it didn't bother me, probably because my patron diety is Welsh. But now when I think about it, it's almost like there's a grating noise. I don't know what changed, but I have the feeling it needs to be fixed.

2) Diety - I call on a diety by name, and it is the only diety referred to by name in the framework. My talk with Sherri got me thinking on ways to be more inclusive regarding our liturgy, and this stuck out like a sore thumb.

3) Passive - I ask the above diety to open the gate for me. I now feel like I should be the one opening the gate rather than being Mr.-Lazy-Druid and asking a god to do it for me. As soon as this occured to me, I started visualizing it in my mind and the notion meshed well with my other ritual visualizations.

I don't know exactly how the new opening of the gates will go yet, but once I do I think that I'll post both versions of the piece so folks can compare.

Ritual Phrase samples

This is an ADF page with examples of various useful phrases in various Celtic languages.

Unfortunately, for the high quality samples, you need to be a member. But the regular samples are available to anyone.


I have a little trouble with the lower quality clips because of the background noise, and at times the speaker goes a little too fast. Hearing the phrases repeated slowly might be helpful. Then again, it's free. I could always get off my lazy butt and learn a language.

Sacred Text Archive

Exactly what the title says, and there are a lot available besides just Celtic. Take a look here to kill an afternoon.

I like reading the legends and tales for clues to the mindset of the people of the time and how the viewed the world and culture around them.


Speaking of killing an afternoon... still under construction. I've started digging into the horror that is the template under Bloogle.