Ancient Calendar & Pagan Holidays: June23 : Cú Chulainn and Lord and Lady of the Sidhe

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Present Day Pagan Holiday: Day of the Lord and the Lady of the Sidhe — Otherworldly aspects of the Divine.

Quoted Text

FROM the earliest ages the world has believed in the existence of a race midway between the angel and man, gifted with power to exercise a strange mysterious influence over human destiny. The Persians called this mystic race Peris; the Egyptians and the Greeks named them demons, not as evil, but as mysterious allies of man, invisible though ever present; capable of kind acts but implacable if offended.

The Irish called them the Sidhe, or spirit-race, or the Feadh-Ree, a modification of the word Peri. Their country is the Tir-na-oge, the land of perpetual youth, where they live a life of joy and beauty, never knowing disease or death, which is not to come on them till the judgment day, when they are fated to pass into annihilation, to perish utterly and be seen no more. They can assume any form and they make horses out of bits of straw, on which they ride over the country, and to Scotland and back. They have no religion, but a great dread of the Scapular (Latin words from the Gospels written by a priest and hung round the neck). Their power is great over unbaptized children, and such generally grow up evil and have the evil eye, and bring ill luck, unless the name of God is instantly invoked when they look at any one fixedly and in silence. Link (Source)

End of Quoted Text

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Ancient Calendar shows an observance to Cú Chulainn, today, who happened to be an Irish born Hero.

Ireland, land of the forty shades of green, offers us a wealth of unforgettable Legends and Lore. If you have never looked into it’s past, maybe today’s calendar will inspire you to do so.

Cú Chulainn was born of a God and mortal woman. His father was Lugh, who many said Cú Chulainn was the reincarnation of. His mother was, Deichtine. She was the sister of King Conchorbar Mac Nessa.

It is said that a Druid prophesied that Cú Chulainn would be a great warrior (beginning at seven) and would be famous until the ends of time even though his time to walk in this earth would be short.

Battle after battle, the Druid did not lie, until Cú Chulainn met his end only after a Queen conspired with all of his enemies in order to bring him down.

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Featured artist – Katherine Soutar

Katherine Soutar is an artist who has been well known in Pagan circles for some time, for her gorgeous unicorns and dancing cats. She has recently created an extraordinary set of covers for a county by county series of books on the folktales of the British Isles.

Katherine Soutar’s work for the History press is a unique collaboration between illustrator, storytellers and publisher. She reads the entire manuscript of each folk tales book and crafts the perfect cover image based on its content and her own extensive research.

She has supplied the cover artwork for every title in the Folktales series, now at over 70 books and still counting, she is also responsible for the covers for the newly commissioned Ghost tales series.

Katherine Soutar (Caddick) lives in Shropshire with husband Bill Caddick who is a songwriter and musician and son Tam, an aspiring writer. She is a member of the Association of Illustrators and has been working in collaboration with storytellers and musicians turning their words into images for many years.

She also works in an academy school part time, introducing students to warm glass techniques, animation, illustration and printing

‘Transforming words into pictures is what I love to do most’

Katherine said, “I have recently started to think about some of the universal stories that appear in many different cultures across the globe and ways that I could explore the connections between us that we so often miss whilst we are focusing on our differences, I would like to produce some work that expresses this and see this as a project I could perhaps work with international storytellers on. Watch this space.”

You can read a Folklore Thursday interview with Katherine here – http://folklorethursday.com/creative-corner/interview-katherine-soutar

Facebook: Katherine Soutar Caddick Artist

Twitter: @kate_dancingcat

website: katherinesoutarillustration.com