Celtic “Suttee”? The practice of suttee or “Sati” in Sanskirt is the term used for the Hindu ritual where a wife would either sacrifice herself on the pyre of her dead husband, or kill herself in some other fashion soon after his death. Although it was never as widely practiced as some claim, it was […]
Category: Blast from the Past
Celtic Hist Newsletter Blast from the Past: Brooches & Kilts
Originally published June 2014 Brooches & Kilts I was just talking to our partners in crime at the Celtic Croft about something I haven’t thought about for a while. Back in my early days of being in a Scottish reenactment group I used to make a little beer money selling simple brass penannular brooches that […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Our Daily Bread
Originally published February 2014 Our Daily Bread A friend recently posted a link on his Facebook page to an interesting article on a historical reenactors’ page about Roman military bread and the portable hand mills the army traveled with to grind grain into flour. Each legionary would carry a ration of wheat grain rather than […]
Celtic History Newsletter Blast from the Past: Trees & Kings
Originally Published January 2014 Trees & Kings Sacred trees, or groves of trees, seem to have been an important part of Norse and Gaelic pagan customs. Yggdrasill, of course, is the “World Tree” or tree of life in Norse mythology whose branches extend over the nine worlds of that cosmology. Sacred trees or groves also seem […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Of Swords & Stones
Originally published December 2013 Of Swords & Stones I recently ran across a paper with an interesting theory. There are a number of stone monuments in Ireland which have grooves cut into them that have often been passed off as things like vandalism damage from farming implements like plows. Occasionally they are referred to as […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Pangur Bán
Pangur Bán Pangur Bán is said to be the most famous poem in Old Irish. Written around the nineth century AD, the author compares the activities of his cat “Pangur Bán” to his own scholarly activities. Pangur hunts for mice, while he hunts for words and knowledge. It was also the name and inspiration for […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: John Norton
First, an interesting article about the Gundestrup Cauldron. The Gundestrup Cauldron: Its Tale From the Balkans to Denmark Originally published October 2013 John Norton John Norton was born in Scotland in 1765 to a Cherokee father and a Scottish mother. He joined the British army and was shipped with his regiment to North America in […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Irish Mermaids
Originally published August 2013 Irish Mermaids Mermaids have been in the news a little as a result of a couple recent programs on the Discovery Channel which have been blasted by scientists as misleading. (The NOAA actually felt the need to issue a statement that “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found” after […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Boyerstown Ring Brooch
First some current news… New archeological dig uncovering Glencoe’s dark secrets. Originally published July 2013 The Boyerstown Ring Brooch Just a little look at an artifact and the possible symbolism. The Boyerstown Ring Brooch was found during an excavation of a 12th to 14th century site that was discovered […]
Celtic Hist. Newsletter Blast from the Past: Scottish Blue Bonnets
14-Year-Old Boy Finds ‘Lost’ Medieval Gravestones in Scotland “In the 19th century, 46 ornate medieval gravestones were discovered at a churchyard in the Scottish district of Govan, which is now part of Glasgow. Thirty-one of the “Govan Stones” were moved into the church for safekeeping, and the rest were displayed against a churchyard wall. But […]