Stories of the seal people are prevalent all along the west coast of Ireland and Scotland and up into the Faroe Islands. if you’ve spend any time wandering the shorelines of those places you’ll know why - the seals are very present, you can hear them breathing and see their big, brown eyes watching you as they hover on that threshold between sky and water. And if you’r lucky you might see them on that other threshold between water and land.

There’s a whole genre of folktales about the seal folk that were carried for countless generations by tellers in clans that claimed to be descended from them.

This is one take that has found it’s way around many storytelling circles and I read the bones of it in Sharon Blackie’s book, If Women Rose Rooted. It’s full of mythic themes of transformation and the power of experiencing loss, and what happens when we refuse to experience loss, which I won’t attempt to explain but instead let the story do it’s work with you.

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There are variations of the Fairy Midwife story from up and down the British Isles, it seems to be ubiquitous and wound deep into the fabric of Celtic lore. This is my own telling of this old story that highlights the complex role midwives have played in our cultures. These women who stand at the portal between the worlds assist in births, and deaths, and the opening to The Otherworld in more ways than we tend to recognize. The midwife reminds us that the Otherworld is always there, always available, if we just have the eyes to see and the ears to listen.

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This is the second part of the first branch of the Mabinogi that we began in the last episode. These tales carried in the oral tradition of the ancient Britons contain teachings about how to be. Here our hero, Pwyll Prince of Dyfed, faces more trials as he learns about the importance of consent and generosity from a female tutor.

Rhiannon is a beguiling figure who appears from the Otherworld but moves into the human realm over the course of this and the next installment. She carries much wisdom. Her name is a mystery, some scholars suggest it may mean Great Queen. She is strongly associated with horses and the European Celtic goddess Epona, as will become clear in the following episode.

These stories were written down 900 years ago in Medieval Wales but were likely told for countless generations before that up and down the land where the ancient Celtic Britons roamed, before the Romans, Anglos, Saxons or Normans.

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Nine hundred years ago in Medieval Wales, an unknown author wrote down tales that have been carried in the oral tradition for at least 2,000 years. Some think this collection of tales, known as The Mabinogion, is much older than that. This story, about Pwyll Prince of Dyfed is set before the Saxons, before the Romans, in a time when the native Brittons roamed freely across most of what is now Wales, England and Scotland.

The Mabinogion are thought to be a collection of teaching tales for young nobles. This first one is a story of male initiation. Pwyll’s mentor shows up as Arawn King of Annwfn, which is the Welsh Otherworld. Annwfn translates as the very deep, inner world. This is an encounter with the Magical Huntsman who appears frequently in Celtic lore, you may have come across him as Gwyn ap Nudd.

Whomever wrote down these stories put a Christian veneer on them, but the bulk of them remain decidedly pre-Christian. This is the first section of what is knows as the First Branch of the Mabinogi, there are two more sections in the branch and three more branches. I'll be recording re-tellings of the other parts over the next few months.

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This story grabbed my attention and I'm still not sure why, it's deeper mysteries have yet to be revealed to me. I keep telling it as a way to honor the medicine it carries and let it sink further into me. I'm very curious to know what you make of it.

The Lad of the Skins is from the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology. These tales of the Fianna, a roving band of warrior-poets, were told all across Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands. They still are. They are set in the third century CE and often feature Finn, whom we met in Episode 9 The Salmon of Wisdom. But in this tale Finn takes a back seat to this mysterious stranger who steps into their circle one evening.

I trust that stories that insist I tell them have something to say to me and whomever chooses to listen. So I offer you this one, that has been quite vocal about being told, knowing that whatever it opens up for you will been a gift on your path.

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This story is again from my home of the Scottish Borders. It continues the theme of the last two episodes, these extreme moments of total enlightenment after the accidental consumption of a magical liquid - just like Taliesin in Wales and Finn McCoull in Ireland. Michael Scott was a historical person in the early thirteenth century who became knows as the Border's Wizard.

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He was a highly educated man who studied in some of the finest schools of the time in Europe and translated Arabic texts. He likely held much esoteric knowledge. Another legend tells that he created the Eildon Hill in the Borders by cutting a larger hill in three pieces. The Eildons, you might remember from Episode 1, are where Thomas the Rhymer was whisked away by the Queen of Elphame.

We may never know the reality of Michael Scott's knowledge and magical ability but this is one story that became attached to his name over the years and survived into our time as part of the lore of the Scottish Borders.

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This story from Ireland is from one of the deep layers of Celtic mythology. If you listened to the previous episode with the Welsh story of the Birth of Taliesin you will see the similarities between these two tales that suggest an older, foundational myth.

It's an iconic Celtic tale of the crossing between the two worlds - ordinary reality and the place of all Wisdom - and here it happens in one defining moment of enlightenment.

This story forms the early beginnings of the large collection of myths and folktales known as the Fianna Cycle that comes from the third century CE. These tales were, and still are, told across Ireland and the West of Scotland. They call forth a long Celtic oral tradition of wonder and magic.

The salmon shows up across Celtic folklore and archeology as an important animal. Learn more:

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Thanks for listening to Celtic Medicine Stories, part of Adventures in the Otherworld. This post is public so feel free to share it.

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The story I am sharing with you today is The Birth of Taliesin. The word means "radiant brow" in Welsh, and you'll see why at the end of the story. Taliesin is another one of these Celtic figures who crosses back and forth between history and myth.

There was indeed a famous Welsh Bard in the 6th century called Taliesin and there seem to be stories that pre-date that person and weave throughout the mythic landscape after him. Bards after the 6th century would often compose poetry in the voice of Taliesin or channel him as they created - however you want to see that process.

This is the story of Taliesin's birth. it's quintessential Celtic Myth - there's a cauldron - of course, shapeshifting, death, re-birth and initiation all set in the dramatic Welsh landscape. This story carries a vibrancy that I can't help feel as I tell it. It's fun and full of mystery. I hope you enjoy this version of the Birth of Taliesin. 

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This is a re-telling of an old Welsh tale captured in the 12th century text The Mabinogion. Its not usually told quiet like this. I see Elen as an expression of the Sovereignty Goddess who is so prevalent in Celtic myth. She is the abundance of the land and recognizes the need to be in partnership with humans for everything to flourish.

To me this story speaks of the human-nature relationship but it also addresses the relationship between the masculine and feminine - both between two people and within all of us.

The story too touches on the theme of the dreaming of the land which skirts around the edges of The Dream Makers story I told in Episode 3. It's quite magical, I hope you enjoy listening as much I as enjoy telling it.

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This is the third and final part of this telling of Merlin's story. This is the part you may be more familiar with and has taken many different forms over the years as the story traveled around Britain between the North and what is now Wales.

This story speaks of Merlin as a great prophet implying that he has found some opening to the Otherworld through which knowledge, unbound by time and space, comes through him. You may recognize a parallel here with the Thomas the Rhymer story from Episode 1. The gift of prophesy is a common theme in the tradition of the Britons.

In both these stories, it is time out alone in the natural world that precipitates the coming of the prophetic ability. in other old Welsh poems Merlin is in conversation with an apple tree and a pig, suggesting his animistic worldview and respect for intelligence beyond the human.

I'd love to know what you hear in this part of Merlin's tale.

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