Tag: Celt
MORGARTEN has been released!
“The forests can protect them no longer — It is time to make a stand.” MORGARTEN (Book 2 of The Forest Knights) should now be available at most online bookstores. The trade paperback version is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers. Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Canada Barnes & Noble iBooks KOBO Smashwords SONY As always, thanks very much for reading!...
read moreBecome the tree 1: Pfingstsprützlig
*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* Ah…the Pfingstsprützlig. I have never appreciated the copy and paste function so much. Well, if this isn’t an example of Celtic or pagan customs that are still practiced in Switzerland, I will say Pfingstsprützlig ten times after eating a box of crackers: Pfingstsprützlig, Sulz, Aargau On the afternoon of Whit Sunday – seven weeks after Easter – the young men of the Fricktal villages of Sulz and Gansingen take part in the Pfingstsprützlig, or Whitsun Water Sprite, ceremony. The sprite is dressed in leafy branches, crowned with the flags of Switzerland and Canton Aargau, and goes from trough to trough in the village, splashing water out of them. Since the branches are heavy and completely cover the sprite, in Sulz it is guided by two of its friends, who support it with a double ended paddle. When they reach a trough, the guides bend the sprite over it, and use this paddle to splash the water....
read moreDruid King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle
I think he’s got a point. And I’m not just saying that because my novel Altdorf has Druids in it! He also has a really cool suit. What do you think? About the point or the suit. King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle Speaking before the hearing, King Arthur Pendragon said: ”Let those we lay to rest, stay in rest” A druid who went to the High Court to try to stop researchers examining ancient human remains found at Stonehenge has failed in his legal bid. King Arthur Pendragon wanted the remains found in 2008 to be reburied immediately. He was fighting a Ministry of Justice decision allowing scientists at Sheffield University to analyse the samples for five more years. His bid was rejected at a High Court hearing in London. Mr Justice Wyn Williams refused to give Mr Pendragon permission to launch a judicial review action, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to show that the Ministry of Justice might have acted unreasonably. See the rest at BBC News – King Arthur Pendragon loses human remains legal battle. *Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I...
read moreEven Swiss demons are tidy
*Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts.* I don’t know about you, but I really want to rent one of those inflatable Sumo wrestler suits and have a go at these guys. Mind you, they do look a little scarier than I would in a fat-man suit. The straw men, or empaillés, appear on the Sunday before Mardi Gras in the village of Evolène in the Val d’Herens. They wear baggy suits of sacking, stuffed with up to 30 kg of straw. Their faces are hidden under a carved mask, and they carry a broom. ©...
read moreWhy is “CH” the international symbol for Switzerland?
Wild Maa (green man) and “Leu” (lion)… are two of three heraldic figures who take part in the Vogel Gryff festival in Kleinbasel, the part of Basel on the right bank of the Rhine. © swissworld.org Since my Forest Knights novels have a character, Seraina, who is one of the last druid priestesses, I thought it would be fun to describe some modern-day Swiss festivals with Celtic ties. So that’s what I’ll be doing in the next few posts. A bunch of Celtic Pagans “CH” stands for “Confoederatio Helvetica” which is Latin and the official name for Switzerland. How did this come about? Well, it turns out “Helvetica” is more than just a cool font. It refers to the “Helvetians”, the main tribe of Celts that populated the area now known as Switzerland. When one mentions Celts, people tend to think of Ireland. But there were many, many, many (that’s how I say “I don’t know how many”) tribes of Celts living throughout Europe before the Romans got their mitts on them. The Celts in the British Isles were simply the last ones to be exposed to Roman occupation, so historically we know more about them than the others...
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