Irish Folkore and Fay: The Pooka

 

 

 

 

The pooka (or púca) are  some of the most feared shapshifting  creatures in Irish mythology.  

 

They were believed to bring either good or bad luck to those who see them and were especially feared around times of harvest. As a good or bad harvest could mean the difference between life and death during a hard winter.

They often take the form of a wild dog, with red sulfurous eyes, but could also take the form of a goblin or human with animal features. According to Celtic mythology, they are often written as evil and devilish.

However, there are also tales of them warning humans of accidents or being called on for protection.

 

 A similar fairy entity appears in the mythology of Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Channel Islands.

Often thought of as an animal spirit, some accounts believe it gets its name from Poc, meaning he-goat in Irish. In fact, Pooka is a changeling and can take an animal or human form; like a horse, donkey, cat, dog, bull, young man, or even a voluptuous young woman. The animal Pooka is usually jet black with fiery golden or red eyes. Some associate it with the devil!

 

 

They live deep in the mountains and hillside. Depending on the part of Ireland your in, Pooka was  either helpful or harmful. It's been known to help farmers for example, but it can also wreak havoc in a farm.

Though in general an encounter with y a poika usually seen as a bad oman. 

Poika is know for it's intelligence and deceptive nature and it's ability to lie convincingly to it's target. It is also considered a fertility spirit in some regions since it has the power to create or destroy.  Another one of it's abilities is  human speech, it is a gifted prophesier.

 

 November is the month of Pooka. In Ireland essentially at Halloween,  children went out dressed as pooka and collected treats or played pranks(early truck or treating) but others stayed indoors, fearful of stories they had heard of what Pooka did to children. The Pooka is considered a  bogeyman  in some places throughout Ireland.

 

 This  fay  is also  documented in the classic literature of Ireland and Britain. Irish poet and playwright W. B. Yeats depicts Pooka as an eagle, while Irish novelist and playwright Brian O’Nolan, who wrote under the pseudonym Flann O’Brien, was also so inspired. O’Brien’s masterpiece, At Swim-Two-Birds, features a character called Pooka MacPhillemey, a “member of devil class”. In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck is a mischievous and quick-witted sprite responsible for setting many of the play’s events in motion through his magic.

Often appearing as a horse, Pooka sometimes gallops across the countryside knocking down fences and gates and destroying crops. In this form, he likes to take a rider, usually a drunkard, on a wild ride all night and shake him off in the early morning. This person, already heavily inebriated, is also under the spell  and has no recollection of what happened usually. This often accounts for why some people who, having gotten very drunk, report that they have no idea what happened the previous night.

 

 

 The only man to ever successfully ride a Pooka was High King of Ireland and founder of O’Brien dynasty, Brian Boruma Mac Cennetig (941-1014), or more commonly known as Brian Boru. Brian managed to control the magic of the creature by using a special bridle that used three hairs of Pooka’s tail. Brian’s physical prowess meant he was able to stay on its back until it was exhausted Pooka then surrendered to Brian.

 

 

 

The king forced it to agree to two promises. First, it no longer tormented Christian people and ruined their property, and second it would never again attack an Irishman, except those who were drunk or were abroad with evil intent. Although Pooka agreed, it appears to have forgotten its promises over the years. 

There have been hundreds of pooka sightings all over the country throughout the centuries but the most famous story is an animal spirit that gave its name to Poulaphuca (Hole of Pooka) at the boundary of River Liffey between counties Kildare and Wicklow.

 Now a site of a hydroelectric power station, where the river flows through a narrow gorge before plunging 150 feet (46 meters) in three stages. Under the second drop there is a pool, and this is called Hole of Pooka. Irish author Padraig O’Farrell (1932-2004) tells a story which was inspired by the written account of an anonymous Kildare man. The writer also has an interesting postscript at the end:

 

   In November 1813, Kildare Hunt known as Killing Kildares set out. Having indulged in traditional stirrup cup at Tipper crossroads, near Naas, hunt failed to raise a fox until it was approaching Tipperkevin, north of Ballymore Eustace, county Kildare. Here a large fox appeared and led a course towards Liffey. Simultaneously, an un-mounted black horse appeared, that did not belong to any of riders. It was Pooka!
.
"The terrain was difficult and fox ran fast, so that near Liffey, only one of members of hunt, a man named Grennan, and horse, who was really Pooka, remained with pack. The gorge was in full spate but hounds were gaining on their quarry and started to pick their way across rocks. Seeing danger, Grennan attempted to recall hounds, but Pooka ahead of them was tempting them onwards. The fox headed for ledge on narrow part of gorge then, seeing Pooka’s red eyes spitting fire, fox jumped. It missed ledge, falling into turbulent waters below. The Pooka easily leaped across gorge, disappearing into woodlands, but pack of hounds hard on scent of fox went headlong into pool.
.

 "Looking down, Grennan saw fox and hounds trying desperately to swim to safety through swirling swell; other hounds dashed against rocks were yelping in pain and dying. He wept as most of pack went under. Suddenly his sorrow give way to terror, he heard a diabolical neighing, like an animal laughing – from woods opposite. Grennan knew then it was Pooka."

The writer of the original story describes how in the 1930s, as he stood above the valleys of Liffey and King’s River, a sudden sadness came over him and he wept at the sight of so many humble homes that would soon be submerged forever by Blessington Lakes, created to supply water for a power station at Poulaphuca.

Between 1938 and 1940 seventy-six houses were demolished and bridges at Humphreystown, Baltyboys, and Burgage were blown up before the entire valley was flooded for the hydroelectric power station. A Protestant church, St. Mark’s, built in 1682 was also submerged. To this day there have been many claims of people hearing bells tolling beneath the waters of lakes.

 ...

 

 

 

Fairy Lore, the will o the wisp.

 

Happy October 1st 🎃

The Will o the wisp .ignes fatui or ignis fatuus.

For centuries people have seen odd lights from the swamps or marsh. Though the name may very the most well known term is will o the wisp. Other names, for this phenomena including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, and hinkypunk it is one of the more well know legends throughout Europe. Other names include the Paulding Light in Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Hessdalen light in Norway or the Spooklight in Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern Oklahoma, the Naga fireballs on the Mekong in Thailand, and St. Louis Light in Saskatchewa.

The  Bridgewater Triangle, a swampy area of Massachusetts has local folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well.

The fifollet (or feu-follet) of Louisiana derives from the French settler's according to legends the fifollet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts, the fifollet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism.

In Mexico they are believed to be witches that transformed into  lights. Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children. This version is called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights).

....

The light of a will o the wisp is said to mislead travellers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern.

In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically refers to a hope or goal that leads one on, but is impossible to reach, or something one finds strange or sinister.

For the most part the Wills-o'-the-wisp is a strange erie light usually seen around a forest, swamp, marsh or even  grave yards often witnessed by travelers.

The most common belief is that these lights are a type  of fairies, ghosts or elemental spirits. Modern explorations for  the light is that it's a natural phenomena most likely some kind of  bioluminescent swamp gas or possibly ball lightning.

Irish Folklore: The Far Darrig

                  The Far Daring or Fear Dearg.

A far darrig or fear dearg is a faerie. The name far darrig means Red Man, because he  wears a red coat and cap.

 

They are also sometimes known as Rat Boys because of their slightly  fat bodies, dark, long snouts and skinny tails.

The far darrig is usually  a solitary fairy along with the leprechaun and the clurichaun, all of whom are, mischievous  and enjoy pranking humans .

 

The far darrig is most often described as a mischievous prankster as he enjoys  playing  practical joking on people, thought he has a dark sense of humor and  enjoys cruel "jokes".

 

 One of his favorite "jokes" is switching  human babies with changelings.

 

They're also believed to have some connection to nightmares and invading peoples dreams.

Because of  his red coat and cap, along with his darker sense of humor, it's possible that the Far Darrig has relation to the English Redcap........Though the Redcaps are Far more sinister..

 

 

                                                                     ..Redcap..

 

Napoleon Believed in a Little Red Man of Destiny

 

Napoleon seemed to have interactions or at least a belief in  A Little Red Man(Most lily a different spirite, not a Far Darring.

Napoleon interpreted his dreams and he liked to tell ghost stories. He firmly believed in a Little Red Man of Destiny who foretold his future, and let this belief influence his decisions. A thoughtful historical look at Napoleon should include his superstitions and folklore beliefs, and an assessment of how much they influenced his actions.

The Little Red Man of Destiny was a legendary ghost who had appeared at the Tuileries Palace.

(Red Man post coming soon.)

Captain Luke Foxe and the Norther Elves..

 

 

 Elves Dwarves Skraeling faý little people fairy's gnomes and the list goes on it seems every culture has at least one legend or myth evolving small human like beings sometimes only a few inchs tall others 3-4 feet in height

During an arctic expedition in the 16  hundreds one captain and his crew may have discovered an "eleven" burial sight.

elf by tess eisinger
 https://www.deviantart.com/tess-eisinger/art/Elf-859514719

🎄🎄🎄🎆🎇✨🎄🎄🎄

Captain Luke Foxe and the Norther Elf's

 

Captain Luke Foxe, was  a 17th Century English explorer and adventurer who followed in the footsteps of Martin Frobisher and Henry Hudson, and set sail on the icy waters of Northern Canada in search of the Northwest Passage. 

Captain Foxe's first and only Arctic expedition was during  the spring of 1631. 

Beginning in  Kirkwall, Orkney, he and his crew sailed west across the Atlantic to Frobisher Bay, situated near the northern lip of Hudson’s Bay. 

 

He sailed through the Hudson Strait and, after visiting the crew of Welsh Captain Thomas James, who was also searching for the Northwest Passage, headed west

 

 On July 27, 1631, Foxe and his crew disembarked at Southampton Island, a large island located at the northern end of Hudson’s Bay. There, they discovered a strange above-ground cemetery the final resting place of a number of small coffins made from wood and stone. 

 

Inside these coffins were “tiny" human skeletons only four feet in length, surrounded by bows, arrows, and bone lances. They were all adults, and there is some implication that not all of them were skeletons, but might have been whole frozen bodies.”

 

 

 

The first part of Foxe’s report, which he included in his personal journal, went as follows:

“The newes from land was that this Island was a Sepulchre, for the Savages had laid their dead (I cannot say interred), for it is all stone, as they cannot dig therein, but lay the Corpses on the stones, and wall them about with the same, coffining them also by laying the sides of old sleddes about which have been artificially made. The boards are some 9 or 10 foot long, 4 inches thicke. In what manner the tree they have bin made out of what cloven or sawen, it was so smooth that we could not discerne, the burials had been so old.

“And, as in other places in those countries, they bury all their Vtensils, as bows, arrows, strings, darts, lances, and other implements carved in bone. The longest Corpses was not above 4 foot long, 2 with their heads laid to the West. It may be that they travell, as the Tartars and the Samoides; for, if they had remained here, there would have been some newer burials. There was one place walled 4 square, and seated within the earth; each side was 4 or 5 yards in length’ in the middle was 3 stones, laid one above another, man’s height. We tooke this to be some place of Ceremony at the buriall of the dead.”

In a footnote, Foxe added, “They seem to be people of small stature. God send me better for my adventures than these.”.....

 

Another  winter/Christmas post next week🎄🎇🎆✨🎄