Irish mythology

Hi guys~

So I need to write a blog about Irish culture. There are SO many themes I could cover but there is just one which fascinates me the most: the Irish mythology! I am really excited about this because I’m really into supernatural stuff and believe all of it (don’t judge).

Okay, so did you know that Halloween was first celebrated by Celtic countries and Ireland was one of them? Hallowe’en is actually a contraction of “Hallow Even” and derived from the All Hallows Eve. It was based on an ancient Celtic festival and was the Celtic New Year. It also was the signal of the start of the winter. It was said, this was the day when the barriers between the real world and the otherworld were weakened and could be crossed. The people lit bonfires, wore ugly masks and carved scary faces on the lanterns to keep the otherworld creatures – the Faeries, the monsters, the dead and the ghosts – away. Nowadays the whole world celebrates Halloween and doesn’t even know, that many or even most of the supernatural stuff we hear and read was greatly influenced by the Irish culture!

I just want to list some of the most popular creatures. I fear I just HAVE to mention the Faeries, but I will not write down the whole Faerie lore. I don’t want to torture you, dear reader, and myself writing down everything. Because it's huge. It would take ages. But a little information is just fine I guess. 

 

So the Faeries are women with magical powers. We all may know them better just as fairies. Not all fairies have the same powers but one they all share is the ability to give people they like an endless streak of good fortune or, if they don’t like you, bad fortune. Fairies are also shape shifting masters and are known for misleading people through their illusions. They are mostly described as nice creatures and our society shows them as mostly fair women, long haired, pale skinned, beautiful. But if you anger a fairy, it is said that you will be haunted by her for the rest of your life.

And one very creepy thing about fairies are the changelings. Fairies steal human new-born babies and, after taking them, leave a sick baby behind. So fairies weren’t just nice creatures. Taking babies away isn’t nice.

But there are MORE supernatural creatures! Actually so many, I could never sum them up all together in one post.

There is the Banshee, a female spirit who attaches itself to mortal families and warns the families of disasters and death by weeping terribly. A lot.

There is also the Leprechaun, one of the most popular creatures of Ireland. Leprechauns are known for…making shoes and hiding gold and other treasures. It is said, if a human captures a Leprechaun, he could make him tell the location of treasures. But Leprechauns are witty and mischievous so they always find a way to escape the humans.

The Leanan Sidhe is also a female spirit, which makes men fall in love with her. She inspires them, is their muse but she also drains the life out of them. So people who are in love with a Leanan Sidhe end up dying very young but leaving great works of art behind, becoming well known in the whole world. 

The Irish and the Celtic people believed very strongly in the supernatural world, which influenced their culture immensely. It is one of the most superstitious regions worldwide and people still believe in all the stuff. I genuinely love it and hope it won’t change in the future. Someone has to stick to their traditions…

Okay so this is my blog entry about Irish culture and I hope it wasn’t too bad I didn’t write about historical stuff. This is just so much more interesting and representing the Irish folks more than history because it is in their way of life.

BYE BYE~