Visions of the Cailleach
- Book ID:
- 8191
- Title:
- Visions of the Cailleach
- Subtitle:
- Exploring the Myths, Folklore and Legends of the pre-eminent Celtic Hag Goddess
- Author:
- 'D'Este, Sorita', 'Rankine, David'
- ISBN number:
- 9781905297245
- Publisher name:
- Avalonia
- Place of publication:
- London, England
- Edition number:
- 1st
- Book type:
- paperback
- First edition date:
- 2009
- Pages:
- 144
- Dewey decimal number:
- 398.0941 VAR
- Dust jacket:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Photographs:
- No
- Illustrations:
- Yes
- Bibliography:
- Yes
- Height (cm):
- 21.5
- Width (cm):
- 14
- Notes:
The Cailleach was not part of the pantheon of Celtic gods, acting alone, shaping the land through the forces of nature.
The book traces the first references to her. in the works of Heroditus (5thC BCE) from the Celtic Kallakoi tribe in Iberia, on through thousands of years her role in folklore as 'earth shaper' in the British Isles, Brittany, and Norway.
Demonised in the Middle Ages by the Christian church and from her possibly the derivation of the parallel between women and witches, witches and hags.
Figures such as Black Annis, Gyre Carling, Mia Lia, Nicneven and the Old Woman of the Mountain are possibly derived from her.
The Cailleach confronts the seeker in the hills and rocks, lakes and wells, burial chambers and stormy skies