So Artio the bear-goddess has come into my meditation space, and after a couple of days she's started calling me a "bear-wife." It's not just because an ancestor's totem is a grizzly bear.

And then Otso (from Finnish mythology, of all places) has ALSO come up and told me that I have the abilities of a bear-wife and need to be taught, as the Celtic gods are "too young to remember." (Most likely it's referring to how bears were driven to extinction in Britain quite a while ago.)

From what I can gather--which isn't much, since both of them are big on me using my intuition--a bear-wife is definitely a person with shamanic abilities. (Makes sense, since I'm also in a Native American influenced shamanic group.) They're also both hinting that this is not just an occupation but a title, much like how priestesses in some cultures are considered a deity's "wife."

Unfortunately, the only information I got on the phrase "bear-wife" that wasn't mistaken for childbearing was from a person's blog for their historical-fiction novel. The story is Norse-influenced and neither Celtic nor Finnish, but I'm taking any step in the right direction I can.

Anyone have resources on bear-worship, or what a "bear-wife's" abilities/duties might be? Also, websites and book recommendations are definitely helpful.

Edited to add: I've emailed Sannion at the House of Vines, and he'll get back to me around next week. Thanks a lot to wire_mother for recommending him.

Happy Beltane, everyone!

I've been lurking her for a while, but I've been getting increasingly strong prompting to quit drifting along with my path and embark on some actual legwork. The trouble is, I'm interested in learning more about filidecht, and I'm not really sure where to start. I did a vision-seeking ritual last night to ask Flidais for some advice (out of my UPG that, from her association with the guardianship of trees would also come an association with the Hazels of Wisdom), and mostly discovered that, while half-in and half-out of the water is a liminal space, it just doesn't work for me.

I already feel a strong religious connection to wordcraft, but saying that since I write stories and poems of my own I can call myself a filidh seems to me to be one of the worst kinds of presumption. Does anyone have any advice for how/where to start? I have this vague, looming knowledge that I have a great deal to learn, but feel like my textbooks are hiding from me.

Thanks in advance to everyone who answers!

Greetings! I'm a long time member lurker (I think my last post here and indeed, on FB was regarding whether the Irish had a similar concept to the Germanic concept of wyrd and that was a year and some change ago).

Something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately is personal relationship with deity and whether or not it is appropriate or wise. I wanted to share my thoughts and hopefully spark some conversation, especially from a CR perspective on this. Please bear with me as much of this is from a Heathen perspective rather than a CR one (I am what you might call a Gaelic Heathen) and will be a little lengthy.

In paganism one often finds people who are devotees of this or that deity, sometimes to the extent of being henotheistic (or flirting closely with it). In my experience, nearly every hard polytheist I've known have tended to favor or feel a closer connection with a certain deity or a handful of deities, even while worshiping the entire pantheon, so the tendency is understandable. The concept of individual relationships with deity strikes me as a rather new development (as in, something I'm not sure existed among our ancestors). That's not to say it's bad per se, just perhaps a recent phenomenon.

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I just wanted to introduce myself to the community. My name is Jason. I am pretty new to all of this. I feel drawn to the Celtic Traditions, but have been very dissatisfied with the "mainstream" ideals. I just want to learn more about the way the Celts really did things and how the worshiped. I have ordered a few books from the Paganachd reading list to get started., but it also very valuable to get some human insight from time to time.
Thanks for allowing me to become part of your group.
Jason

Several times now I've seen Caer Ibormeith's name translated as "yew berry." After some investigation, I've found that caer is "berry," and ibor is "yew." But the last word, meith, was surprising. eDil translates it as "Decay, blight, wasting, failure, both in physical and moral sense." I assumed it was just a cute girl's name until I got to that part. My first thought was that it might be connotative of the "wasting sickness" in this case, but that's not the usual word, is it? (Isn't it serglige, or something else?) More prosaically, I guess it could be a reference to the toxicity of the yew berry's seed (or the wood of the yew.) But I'm curious to see if any of you have thoughts on this.

Lately I've been getting to know the Tuatha De Danaan better, and have also been meeting with a shamanic group (Native American influenced) for whatever the former can't answer. The medicine-woman remarked that I travel to the Otherworld so easily, I have trouble grounding myself in the physical world. Even though I'm making efforts to ground myself now, random spirits/deities just come up and say hello during my evening meditation. And if I'm explicitly open or forget to ground myself, they don't even wait--they drop by almost instantly, whatever I'm doing.

I asked the Morrigan and she told me, "You don't have trouble grounding--you have the bird-sight." I've only come across that term in one of my sources (Moyra Caldecott's Women in Celtic Myth), and I never really knew what the term meant.

Ogma told me that "You can't turn it off; the closest you can do is take a break." And since things are getting hectic with Thanksgiving and family issues, I asked if the Tuatha De or ancestors could keep quiet for a week. He just... laughed and went, "A week? You'd be lucky if you go ONE DAY."

Nechtan was trying to help me ground myself, and then he looked closer at me and went, "OHHH, you have the bird-sight. Well, sweetie, I can't really help you with that part."

And then Flidais introduced herself last night (the new arrivals are getting REALLY random now that my major issues are already being sorted out), peered at my face, and went, "Ooh, someone has the bird-sight!"

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So there are three main things I found out over the past few weeks.

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And for some reason it's always "you have THE bird-sight," not just "you have bird-sight." Word-choice is really important for me since I'm a bard, so I asked what any Celtic terms would be. They usually tell me that knowing what it's called isn't the point (at least for now), as long as I understand what it is.

So I've been following this page for a little while now, and Marsaili's recent post inspired me to finally join. So, I figure I should introduce myself. I've considered myself a Celtic Reconstructionist with an Irish focus for about a year now. I've been reading the myths and legends, several blogs and forums, and fairly recently started constructing an altar that meets my aesthetic tastes with a fairly limited budget. I'm not really spiritually sensitive like many pagans that I've heard from. I never really manage to remember my dreams, never really experience any kinds of premonitions, and haven't really sensed any spirits. A few weeks ago I was doing some prayer and meditation, and I thought I felt a feminine presence, so that was encouraging, and I really want to make myself open to the gods and non-gods. I love the Celtic mythology, theology, and spirituality, and I'm really looking forward to participating in the community.

Also, some personal info: I'm a male college graduate with a major in English Literature. I'm taking a year off, tutoring and subbing, before going to grad school to pursue my MA and eventually my PhD. I love reading, video games, fencing, and drinking hot, strong tea. Thanks all.