1ST REVIEW for QUEEN OF KINGS:
Here's a tidbit from my first review for Queen of Kings - coming July 7, 2009. Cornelia Amiri combines all the elements of a great story in her latest Queen of Kings. It takes place in the wonderful location of Ireland; paranormal effects, and strong as well as engaging characters with a hint of romance thrown in the mix. Ever since I first discovered Cornelia and her druids, I have become a fan." Reviewed by Cheryl - http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
STONE AGE DISCOVERY OF THE MONTH:
Scientists battle to reproduce ancient glue used in the stone age. A sticky solution helped bring down massive horned buffaloes.
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413652
BRONZE AGE DISCOVERY OF THE MONTH:
Archaeologists working on the National Trust's Golden Cap Estate uncovered a rare find – a Neolithic settlement exposed by cliff erosion.
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413651
ANCIENT FOOD DISCOVERY OF THE MONTH:
Archaeologists uncovered 29,000 B.C. Kitchen Pit - roasted mammoth was one of the last meals served in the prehistoric kitchen
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146413654
HERE IS JULY'S SURF THE NET WITH A VIEW:
Lughnasa at Youtube
By Cornelia Amiri
1. Dancing at Lughnasa in Glenties
Meryl Streep's visit to Glenties in Co. Donegal in Ireland, the town on which the film and play is based. She greets children and townsfolk for the film premiere in gorgeous Glenties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uom1xU8eSI
2. Lughnassadh "The Celebration of Lughnasadh) Lammas & Corn Dollies)
This lovely, peaceful video honors the earth and the old traditions by which our ancestors celebrated the harvest and the great bounty of grains, fruits, and vegetables mother earth unselfishly gives us.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teynV8i1mmA&feature=related
Great rendition of the traditional Lughnasa ballad, "John Barley Corn." Robert Burns even published a version of this song in 1782. It is the song that in the # 3 video above that the men are dancing to.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NNgLqz89Z8&feature=related
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH:
Lughnassadh
by Cornelia Amiri
Lughnassadh, pronounced LOO-nahs-ah, is the Celtic Harvest festival, celebrated July 31 or August 1st. Named after the sun god Lugh, a tall, muscular warrior with sky blue eyes and a hallo of golden light which blazed around his thick flaxen hair. He was also known as Lugh of the long arm because of his magic spear, which never missed its mark. The earth goddess of Lughnassadh is Tailtiu
in Ireland and Blodeuwedd in Wales. The difference between the two is shown in the Welsh and Irish versions of the tale of Lugh or Llew.
The Irish version begins with forbidden love between Cian, a Tuatha De Dannan and Eithne, a Fomorian. Eithne's father locked her in a high tower. With the help of a druidess, Cian flew on a cloud to the tower and climbed in Eithne's
window. Nine months later they had twin boys. Eithne's father threw the babies into the sea to waylay the chief druid's prophecy that his grandson would defeat him in battle. Though one baby drowned, the other swam away. The sea god, Mannanann MacLir, found the babe and gave him to a warrior woman, Tailtiu, pronounced tell-shuh.
After Tailtiu taught him everything she knew, the boy, Lugh, went to Tara, the hill fort of the Tuatha De Dannan. The porter asked him what skills he had to offer. When he said he was a warrior the gatekeeper told him they already had warriors. Lugh continued, saying he was a healer, then a smith, and so on. Each time, the porter said they had someone with that skill. Finally Lugh told him if they already had one person who could do all those things, he would leave. The gatekeeper let him in and Lugh became King of Tara for a year and a day.
Leading the Tuatha De Dannan in battle against the Fomorians, Lugh struck the Fomorian's evil eye with his slingshot. When the rock hit the evil eye, it
looked at Lugh's grandfather, Balor. As the evil eye killed all within its sight, Baylor died instantly. Thus the Fomorians were defeated. But Lugh's foster mother, and a royal lady of the Fir Bolog, Tailtiu, had to clear a vast
forest to plant grain for her people. She died from the strain and exhaustion. Lugh ordered a fair, with feasting and funeral games, be held each first harvest, in her honor, the Lughnassadh.
In the Welsh version, The high druid, Math the Ancient, brother of Don, needed to appoint a new virgin to sit by Don's throne so he could place his feet in her
lap to keep them warm. The god Gwydion suggested Arianrod, keeper of the circling Silver Wheel of Stars. Math preformed a magical test to see if Arianrod was indeed chaste. And when he touched her belly with his finger, the goddess began to cry out with labor pains and right then and there she gave birth to two sons, proving she wasn't a maiden. One was a sea creature. Math named him Dylan
and threw him into the sea. The other baby was a large unformed lump. Gwydion took him and put him in a dark, dry chest. There he grew into a beautiful boy.
Arianrhod gave that baby three geases or taboos. She would not give him a name, nor weapons, and he would have no human wife. No one else could give him these three things men need.
When it was time for the boy to have a name, Gwydion disguised the boy and him as cobblers. As the boy mended Arianrhod's shoe, a bird flew overhead. With his
slingshot, the boy shot the wren with a single stone. Impressed, Arainrhod exclaimed, Llew Llaw Gyffes, which means the little one has many skills. As Gwyidon took off his disguise, he told Arianrhod she had named the boy. Then her hill fort fell under sudden attack and she gave Llew weapons so he could help her fight. Arianrhod told Gwydion though she had been tricked into naming and
giving arms to Llew, she would never give her son a wife. Math and Gwydion conjured Llew a wife out of flowers. Her name was Blodeuwedd, pronouonced Blod-Eye-With. The festival of Luchnassah celebrates the wedding of the Welsh
Earth Goddess to the Sun God Llew.
But Bloddeuwedd fell in love with another man. Gwydion had put a gease on Llew that he could only die if he was standing with one foot on land, one foot in water, and killed with his own spear. Blodeuwedd tricked Llew into standing with one foot in the bath, one foot on the floor while her lover stabbed him in the heart with his own spear. Bloddeuwedd represents the earth Goddess, wanting the blood of the god king to fertilize her soil. Llew shape shifted into an eagle and flew away. Gwydion found Llew and changed him back. Then Gwydion changed Bloddeuwedd into an owl so she would only show her face at night.
During the Bronze Age, Lughnassadh included choosing a god king, a king for a year and a day. God kings represented the fertility of the land, which had to be stopped to allow ripening to take place. So the God Kings were sacrificed in honor of the Earth Goddess and to help their people. Thousands of years ago, sacrifices were replaced with other traditions.
As Lughnassadh celebrates the marriage of the earth to the sky, hand fasting marriages were celebrated at this time. Single men lined up on one side and unmarried women on the other. They paired off and married for a year and a day.
The couple had to return to the same place the following year to make their marriage permanent. They could also divorce the following year at the festival by simply standing back to back, facing north and south, and walking out. Going their separate ways. Single once more.
An important part of Lughnassadh was the harvest of corn, wheat, oats, and barley, as well as fruits like berries and grapes. A loaf of bread made from the new corn was dedicated to the goddess. The tribe's chieftain or druid may have taken loaves of fresh baked bread, broke off pieces, and handed them to each member of the tribe as they walked sun wise around a large bon fire.
Fruit gathering was also part Lughnassadh. Young men and women paired off to pick bilberries and didn't return until nightfall. The boys thread berries into
bracelets for the girls. Before going home, the girls took off their bracelets and left them on the hillside. After climbing back down the hill the young men participated in games such as horse racing. The White Stead is a common
companion of Lugh. The horse is the embodiment of the Goddess of Sovereignty who delivered spirits to Otherworld. In the coastal lands, people drove horses down
to the beach and into the sea on Lughnasadh.
To celebrate Lughnassadh at your home, make a centerpiece of dried wheat sheaves, whole grain breads, acorns, hazel nuts, and grapes. Get the whole family involved in baking homemade bread. Say a prayer, thanking god for the
harvest or the bounty of food you have year round. Share your Celtic heritage with others at the table by telling them the story of Lugh or Llew.
