Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, 1571, quoted by Robert Hardy, ,Longbow: A Social and Military History, 1976. Both hilarious and moving, this book is perfect for anyone looking for a way to introduce their children to the natural world - or if you fancy reclaiming your own childhood! When it is destroyed, they set off on an adventure to find more of their kind, a journey that takes them first into the deep countryside and then the heart of a city. In the same humble volume is the writings of a cross old cove as ever lived, named Gildas, who didn’t approve of the way people went on. They set out on a journey to find a new home, as well as to try and meet more of their kind who, in the face of human environmental destruction, seem to be disappearing.

Irish-American Witchcraft: Oak, Ash, and Thorn – the Irish-American Witchcraft: Oak, Ash, and Thorn – the

I realize safe might be a strange word to use when talking about a tarot deck, but that is the word that comes to mind when I look at this artwork. The pome fruit and tree of the apple is celebrated in numerous functions in Celtic mythology, legend, and folklore; it is an emblem of fruitfulness and sometimes a means to immortality. This book was an excellent modern addition to the ‘tiny folk’ stories which are ever-popular for a reason. There were orcs and ents, dwarves and elves, demon hounds and giants in the landscapes and mindscapes of England long before they re-emerged in the pages of Tolkein.In the Irish tale Echtra Condla (The Adventure of Conle), Conle the son of Conn is fed an apple by a fairy lover, which sustains him with food and drink for a month without diminishing; but it also makes him long for the woman and the beautiful country of women to which his lover is enticing him. The elder, having clusters of white flowers and red or blackish berry-like fruit, has many associations with the fairy world in oral traditions of recent centuries in Celtic countries. It slowly struck me that there may be a possibility of the existence of ethereal beings that can only belong to the wild beauty of nature, so small and so delicate that they miss our sights. Instead of providing a large guidebook, which does not align with the minimalist, eco-friendly approach the deck creators have embraced, there are two additional cards included with the deck. The legend told of how Wayland, or Weland, a blacksmith whose works were the wonder of the world, was enslaved and crippled by a greed-blinded king and forced to work for him alone, and how he enacted his revenge in the most terrible way.

Oak, Ash and Thorn - pk Oak, Ash and Thorn - pk

I will send you Geoffrey of Monmouth where is a lot of names-might prove useful-rum names, Sir, as ever was. There were Balder and Ing and others long-forgotten, whose swords and carved idols are still dragged up today from riverbeds and bogs. We follow Moss, Burnet and Cumulus, three little creatures known as Hidden Folk, who have started to become invisible.

Humanity’s baleful influence is constantly bemoaned but not really dramatised: it’s not human action that destroys the protagonists’ ash-tree home or imperils Moss at the end that, or really constitutes any of the obstacles. Over a century ago, in Puck of Pook’s Hill, Rudyard Kipling resurrected Puck, the impish faerie that Shakespeare had himself laid down from the collective memory centuries before.

Books by Melissa – Melissa Harrison

Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan channel. I don’t necessarily agree with all the changes and directions that the new beliefs are taking, and in some cases I outright argue against them, but nonetheless belief is a fluid thing.

Fergus, the hapless brother of Niall Noígiallach (of the Nine Hostages) in Echtra Mac nEchach Muigmedóin (The Adventure of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedón), signals his sterility when he rescues from a burning forge only the 'withered wood' of yew, which will not burn. Moss has gone missing and the others are frightened of meeting Vesper, a vixen enlisted to help them find their friend, but they are told that they can trust her and … “ the moment they were looking up at the vixen’s beautiful golden eyes, they found that they could communicate quite easily…. Three Hidden Folk who have lived together for centuries have their house (Ash tree) demolished by a storm, and the eldest one of them starts to go invisible.

BY ASH, OAK AND THORN - Chicken House Books BY ASH, OAK AND THORN - Chicken House Books

We must learn how to live together, the wild creatures know this, but mortals are still learning the essential lessons of harmony. Movingly she expresses the sadness of our broken relationship with the Wild World – “ Mortals often harm the Wild World, knowingly and unknowingly – but that’s only because they don’t know we are their brothers and sisters.Adventure into the wild world of the Hidden Folk - Their job is to look after the natural environment, and if you pay attention you may even catch a glimpse of one! Britain’s ethnic minorities bring stories, folk legends, songs and still-living religions from India, Africa, eastern Europe and elsewhere. The evergreen yew with dark green, poisonous, needle-like leaves and red berries has commonly symbolized death in classical antiquity.