Show Notes
The first frost isn’t just a shift in weather — it’s the moment the Cailleach rises. Mountain-shaper. Storm-bringer. Guardian of the wild herds. This week on Wild Kin, we travel into the heart of her mythology:how the winter crone shaped the landscape, why she appears at the turning of the season, and what her ancient stories reveal about aging, power, and the wisdom found in darkness.
Resources and References Blackie, Sharon: If Women Rose Rooted. September Publishing, 2016. Jones, Mary: Cailleach Bérri: The Lament of the Old Woman of Beare. (Primary text translation.) Martin, B. K.: Lament of the Old Woman of Beare: A Critical Evaluation. Medium Ævum, 38(3), 1969. PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Post-reproductive Lifespan in Humans and Whales. 2019 (Grandmother Hypothesis reference) Ritari, Kati. Images of Ageing in the Early Irish Poem Caillech Bérri.Studia Celtica Fennica, 19, 2022. Whyte, A. C. The Cailleach in Scottish Place-Lore and Place-Names. Journal of Scottish Name Studies, 14, 2020.
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He's remembered as a warrior, a poet, a healer, and a craftsman all at once, and an entire Celtic harvest festival still carries his name three thousand years later. In our Lughnasadh season finale, we're meeting Lugh- the many-skilled god behind it all. We'll trace his rise from a prophecy to one of the most well-documented festivals in the ancient Celtic world. For more Celtic-inspired stories and resources, subscribe to Wild Kin on Substack
At the height of the Lughnasadh fair, families gathered from across the land to trade, to settle disputes, and, some say, for matchmaking. This episode traces what we actually know about marriage at the ancient festival, and the surprisingly practical unions recognized under Brehon law. For more Celtic-inspired stories, subscribe to Wild Kin Studio on Substack Sources - Eska, Charlene M. Cáin Lánamna: An Old Irish Tract on Marriage and Divorce Law. Leiden: Brill, 2010. - MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962. - Howard Goldbaum, "Teltown (Tailteann)," Voices from the Dawn, July 25, 2010. - L. Winifred Faraday (trans.), "The Cattle Raid of Cualnge," sacred-texts.com, 1904. - Pádraig Bambury and Stephen Beechinor (eds.), "The Annals of Ulster," CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts, University College Cork, 2008.
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