#LegendaryWednesday: `One of the inner mysteries of #Druidry is the #Druid’s egg. Life-giving, it is the egg protected by the hare, which is the symbol of Alban Eilir – still celebrated by the giving of Easter eggs by the Easter bunny.`
Source: https://druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-festivals/spring-equinox-alban-eilir

The sacrifice of a boar at Yule was only the beginning: Frey was god of growth and farming, like Freyja, and the two had a hand in the many spring festivals of Germanic and Nordic regions. The Blessing of the Plow and Ostara are continuations of their rites. #LegendaryWednesday

#LegendaryWednesday: The ancient game of #Fidchell, which means “wisdom of the wood”, was, according to traditio, invented by none other than L#ugh of the Tuatha De Dannan, and predates chess by many centuries. Source: https://emeraldisle.ie/fidchell

Mary the Prophetess lived in 1st-century Alexandria; she was the first true alchemist of the Western World. She invented several kinds of chemical apparatus, and believed that metals have souls and genders. Mary claimed that by joining the two genders, a new entity could be made.
Michael Maier

#LegendaryWednesday: `Ogma invented Ogham writing to warn #Lugh that his wife Buí was in danger, carving three beith marks to indicate that, unless this woman was protected by the birch, she would be carried away to the síd beneath the mound seven times.` #Celtic
Source: https://emeraldisle.ie/the-death-of-lugh

#Wyrdnesday #LegendaryWednesday: Eri, daughter of Delbaith, told #Bres that his father was a king of the Fomor, Elathan, son of Dalbaech, and that he came to her one time over a level sea in some great vessel that seemed to be of silver, but she could not see its shape.` #Celtic
Source: Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Gregory - Project Gutenberg eBook

Compasses are ancient, a Chinese invention used first in divination before navigation, as it always seemed to point in certain directions, and directions are sacred to the divinations of the I Ching: thus, all compasses are themselves iron magic. #LegendaryWednesday

Hardly faithful to Hephaestus, Aphrodite crawled into bed with her lover Ares and the trap was sprung: god of invention, Hephaestus had created a trap to ensnare the lovers so they would be on full display for all to see, humiliating them as they had him. #LegendaryWednesday

One of the most beautiful women in Welsh folklore was Princess Olwen, daughter of Ysbaddaden, king of the giants. Her hair was yellower than the broom plant, and gorgeous white flowers sprung up in her footprints. King Arthur helped Prince Culhwch woo Olwen.
Alan Lee

#LegendaryWednesday: Niam of the Golden Hair spoke of the Land Oversea to which she had summoned her lover Oisín:
"Delightful is the land beyond all dreams,
Fairer than aught thine eyes have ever seen.
There all the year the fruit is on the tree,
And all the year the bloom is on the flower…“ #Celtic
Source: High Deeds of Finn, and other bardic romances of ancient Ireland, Gutenberg eBook

White lilies mark innocence and chastity in medieval Christian lore, with Gabriel giving one to Mary while informing her of Jesus' conception. The fleur-de-lis of France comes directly from this symbology. #LegendaryWednesday

In some parts of China, if you hang an iris above your door in late spring, it will not let evil enter that place. A symbol of spring and thus renewal and life, evil spirits are repelled. Eating the iris will help to prolong life, goes ancient flower lore. #LegendaryWednesday

#WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday: King Conor made a fool of himself because he was jealous of the boys that seven-year-old Deirdre, whom he wanted to make his queen, played with. The old man saw how `like a flower Deirdre grew, half like the opening daisy, pink and white, half like the slender hairbell on its stem, graceful and delicate.` #Celtic

#WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday: `Levarcam once again took Deirdre abroad, and oft they sat upon the open hill and watched the sun go down, or brought their work and passed the long spring mornings on the heather, happy because the sunshine was so warm, the air so sweet, and all the world so fresh with herbs and flowers.` #Celtic
Source: Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster, by Eleanor Hull

#LegendaryWednesday: Because she was locked in, Deirdre`s cheek grew pale, and her young joy seemed gone. So Caffa gave this advise to Levarcam: „Let her go out, but keep her well in sight; to climb the hill-top and to roam the heather moor as spring comes on, will bring fresh colour into her pale cheeks, and fit her for the wooing of the king.” #Celtic
Source: Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster, by Eleanor Hull

#WyrdWednesday #LegendaryWednesday: `For all the cold and discouragement and bad weather Tadg and his men had gone through, they felt no wish at all for food or for fire, but the sweet smell of the crimson branches in the place they were come to on one of Manannan`s Island satisfied them.` #Celtic
Source: Gods and Fighting Men by Lady Gregory - Project Gutenberg eBook

Spring is seen as a time of renewal in some myth, with the Greeks celebrating Persephone's return from the Underworld, while in Mesopotamia, spring was the last months of gentility before Dumuzid went into the Underworld and summer became harsh. #LegendaryWednesday

Rabbits are often associated with spring, even in the Americas: the Centzon Tōtōchtin, the Four-Hundred Rabbits of Mexica myth, are rabbits who, during the revival of spring, meet and have debauch drunken parties with fermented fruit drinks. #LegendaryWednesday

If you are putting off your spring cleaning this year, you may be more motivated after reading about keukegen. These #yokai are found in dirty gardens & homes, often hiding under floorboards or in mouldy corners. They appear as a mass of long, filthy hair... #LegendaryWednesday #JapaneseFolklore 1/4

#LegendaryWednesday: `The four-leafed clover was said to be magical or lucky because it alone could break through the glamour that #fairies used to disguise the reality of their surroundings. Holding up such a clover would permit one to see things as they really were: a cave where a cottage appeared, a toothless old man where a handsome one had stood seconds before. The oil of the four-leafed clover may have been the main ingredient in fairy ointment.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`