I'm Back

 I know that it's been almost four years since I posted anything and I must admit that I forgot about this blog and just moved on with my life. Things have changed in going on four years. One of the huge things was that my mother passed on to the Otherworld. I felt this loss that I never thought I would experience and I felt that the only thing that I had left was my spiritual path. It has taken me a full year but I have come back to this blog and the Druid path. I will be posting a ton of photo's of nature, of my experiences, and many other things that I think is important.

I look forward to the journey starting all over again.

Irish Gods: Elcmar

Got this from Wikipedia.

In Irish mythology, Elcmar or Ecmar (modern spelling: Ealcmhar) was the husband of Boann and belonged to the semi-divine race the Tuatha de Danann, the people of Danu. In the Dindsenchus regarding Codal, Elcmaire is described as a judge.^[1] It has been suggested that he is Nuada under another name, or that his name is an epithet for Nechtan the river god. At first glance he appears to be associated horses but there is also a school of thought that says his name means The Evil One.^{[citation needed]}

Chief steward

According to the Yellow Book of Lecan, Elcmar served as chief steward for Dagda, one of the most important and powerful of the Danann. His wife was Boann, goddess of the River Boyne, who according to myth developed a great passion for the Dagda. To consummate this union, Dagda sent Elcmar to High King Bres on an errand around the time of Imbolc. Boann, like her Greek counterpart Alcmene, got pregnant. To protect the sensibilities of his steward and the life of the child, the Dagda held the sun still for nine months so Boann's pregnancy lasted only one day. Boann named the baby Mac Og and gave him to the Dagda. The child was reared by his half brother, Midir, safely away from any retribution that Elcmar might desire.
Elcmar and Oengus mac Og eventually meet when the Dagda passes out the sithens and omits giving one to Oengus. To make up for his mistake, the Dagda tells Oengus how to trick Elcmar out of the Brugh na Boinne. On Samhain Oengus challenges him to a duel and defeats him but spares his life if Elcmar will give him the Brugh for day and night. For his life Elcmar accepts the offer.
The absence of an adjective leads to Elcmar losing the Brugh to Oengus. To placate his steward the Dagda gives him another sithen. There is no love lost between Elcmar and Oengus, and Elcmar is watching the infamous hurling match that led to Midir losing his eye.
Although Boann is not named specifically as the mother of Englec, the daughter of Elcmar, there are no tales of Boann ever leaving her husband. Englec develops an incestual passion for her half brother, although she has never seen him. Slipping away to a hurling match where she expects to see Oengus, she ends up being carried off by other sidhe.
Englec winds up Midir's lover. Elcmar kills Midir afterwards. In turn, Oengus kills Elcmar for killing Midir.

Changing Paths, Sort Of

This blog will be changed to reflect something that I've been doing over the last several months and that's Druidcraft. I've been practicing this for about five months and I really love the blend of Wicca and Druidry. The name of the blog will not change but what I'm posting will. I hope that you will enjoy it and thanks for coming.

Blog's Been Up 1 Year

Today marks one year that my blog has been up. With Yule next month I will be working on one thing that's for sure. Less posts. I will still continue to post the Irish gods but I will be limiting my blog to articles that are Druid related and later on marking my second year down this path. I'm also thinking about posting some poetry as well.

We'll see what happens and I know that it will be good.

Irish Gods: Elatha

Got this from Wikipedia.

In Irish mythology, Elatha or Elada (modern spelling: Ealadha) was a king of the Fomorians and the father of Bres by Ériu of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The imagery surrounding him suggests he may once have been a sun^[1] or moon god.


Elatha is quoted as being the "The beautiful Miltonic prince of darkness with golden hair". He was the son of Dalbaech and a king of the Fomor, he was father of Bres by Eri, a woman of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He came to her over the sea in a vessel of silver, himself having the appearance of a young man with yellow hair, wearing clothes of gold and five gold torcs. He was one of the Fomor who took part in the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh.
During the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh, Elatha, son of Dalbaech, watched over Dagda's magic harp, Uaithne, sometimes called Dur-da-Bla, "the Oak of Two Blossoms," and sometimes Coir-cethar-chuin, "the Four-Angled Music." He is said to have a sense of humor and a sense of nobility.
Though considered to be the Fomorian father of Eochu Bres, Elatha (Elada) was also the father of the Dagda, Ogma, a son named Delbaeth, and Elloth (the father of Manannan mac Lir) according to the Lebor Gabála Érenn. The mother of these Tuatha De Danann chiefs may have been Ethne, the mother of Lug, based on Ogma' often cited matronymic "mac Ethliu." Since Ethne was Fomorian, this means they are all Fomorians. This is rather confusing, but may betray the battle between the two groups as actually being about the new generation of gods displacing the older generation.


She told him that his father was Elatha, one of the Kings of the Fomorians; that he had come to her one time over a level sea in a great vessel that seemed to be of silver; that he himself had the appearance of a young man with yellow hair, his clothes decked with gold and five rings of gold around his neck. She had refused the love of all the young men of her own people, had given him her love and cried when he had left her.^{[citation needed]}

Before he left he had given her a ring from his own hand and had bade her give it only to the man whose finger it would fit. Eri brought out the ring and put it on the finger of Bres and it fit him well. She and Bres and some of their followers then set out of the land of the Fomorians. At long last they came to that faraway land. Elatha the local King saw the ring on Bres’ hand and asked him the whole story and said that Bres was his own son. Elatha then asked Bres what it was that drove him out of his own country and his own kingship. Bres answered truthfully: “Nothing drove me out but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their treasures from the people and their jewels and their food itself. And there were never taxes put on them before I was their King. And still I am come to look for fighting men that I may take Ireland by force”. Elatha listened and then bade him go to the chief King of the Fomorians, Balar of the Evil Eye.^{[citation needed]}

Names

These are the names that Elatha has gone by and where that name stems from.

• Elatha - T. W. Rolleston: Myths and Legends of Celtic Race
• Elathan - Charles Squire: Mythology of the Celtic People
• Elathan - Lady Gregory: Gods and Fighting Men

Elathan is used incorrectly by Squire and Lady Gregory, as Elathan is the genitive case of Elatha and means 'of Elatha'.
According to Lady Gregory the etymologie of Elatha is "art" or "knowledge" in the bardic sense.^[2] The name Elathan could also mean "(he) of the art" the n is justified in this case. This could explain why Ogma (inventor of the ogham script) is son of Elatha(n) (bardic knowledge).

Irish Gods: Neit

Got this from Wikipedia.

In Irish mythology Neit (Néit, Nét, Neith) was a god of war. He was the husband of Nemain, and sometimes of Badb. Also grandfather of Balor, he was killed at the legendary Second Battle of Moytura. The name probably derives from the proto-Celtic *nei-t-^[1] meaning fighting or passion. A similarly named deity appears on two Celtiberian inscriptions,^[2] as a Romanized Mars Neto and as Neito. Neit is also described as the uncle of the Dagda, who gave him Ailech Neit (Neit's Stonehouse), which is elsewhere described as the grave of Aed, son of the Dagda.

Irish Gods: Midir

I got this info from Wikipedia.

In the Mythological Cycle of early Irish literature, Midir (Old Irish) or Midhir (Modern Irish) was a son of the Dagda of the Tuatha Dé Danann. After the Tuatha Dé were defeated by the Milesians, he lived in the sidh of Brí Léith (believed to be Ardagh Mountain, Co. Longford). In the First Recension of the Lebor Gabála, Midir of Brí Léith is made the "son of Induí son of Échtach son of Etarlam".^[1] The name Midir may come from the old Irish word for a judge, midithir.

 Midir is one of the leading characters in the Old Irish saga Tochmarc Étaíne ("The Wooing of Étaín"), which makes leaps through time from the age of the Túatha Dé Danann to the time of Eochaid Airem, High King of Ireland. Midir was the husband of Fúamnach, but later fell in love with Étaín, receiving the help of his foster-son and half-brother Aengus (also Oengus) to make her his new bride. This provoked Fuamnach's vengeance against the young new wife, causing her a number of disgraces until after several transformations (including water, a worm, and a butterfly or dragonfly) Étaín fell into the drink of another woman and was reborn. She later married Eochaid Airem, at that time the High King of Ireland. Far from giving up, Midir made an attempt to bring his wife back home, going to see the king and challenging him to many games of fidchell. Eochaid won all but the last, when Midir won and asked a kiss from Étaín as his prize. Eochaid kept his word and allowed Midir the kiss, but Mider turned himself and Étaín into swans and left the royal residence through the chimney. Eochaid did not accept the loss of his wife and pursued them. Then Midir used his magical powers to turn fifty women into similar to Étaín, offering the king the possibility to choose only one. Eochaid, trying to find the true one, chose his own daughter by accident and lost Étaín, also fathering a daughter upon his own daughter in the process.

Midir figures in a brief anecdote about the stingy poet Athirne, son of Ferchertne, in the heroic age portrayed by the Ulster Cycle. The story, entitled Aigidecht Aitherni ("The Guesting of Athirne") in one manuscript, recounts that Athirne came to Midir's house in Brí Léith and fasted against him so that he obtained from him his three magical cranes which stood outside his house denying entry or hospitality to anyone who approached. Moreover, "[a]ny of the men of Ireland who saw them could not face equal combat on that day."^[4]
Midir also interfered when Fráech attempted to woo Treblainne.
Midir is described as the father of one of the Machas as well as Bri Bruachbrecc.^[5]
Midir is described as the foster-father of Aengus in the Metrical Dindsenchas