Youtube Update – New Videos

Following on from the launch of Gaol Naofa’s dedicated Youtube channel back in March, we are pleased to announce the addition of five new videos.

These videos continue the focus on festivals that our first two videos on St Patrick’s Day began, and we are ultimately aiming to cover the whole of the festival calendar. In contrast with Gaol Naofa’s more substantial publications, our aim with these videos is to offer a brief introduction to the subjects we’ll be covering, in this case giving an overview of some of the lore and traditions associated with the festivals, and giving an idea of how Gaelic Polytheists might celebrate. On this occasion we have:

• Lá Fhéile Bríde – Detailing the lore and traditions associated with the festival that marks the first flourish of Spring
• Là na Caillich – The Day of the Cailleach in Scotland, which falls on March 25th and marks the beginning of the Cailleach’s rest period, until she reawakens in winter
• Bealtaine – Focusing on the traditions and customs of the festival of Summer
• Midsummer: Áine and Grian – Introducing the Midsummer traditions in Ireland, and the issue of solar deities in Gaelic tradition
• Midsummer: Manannán mac Lir – Taking a look at the Midsummer tradition of “paying the rent to Manannán mac Lir, which originates on the Isle of Man

The release of these videos coincides with the Isle of Man’s national holiday, Tynwald Day, which was once a part of the island’s Midsummer celebrations. On this day, we wish you all the blessings of Manannán Beg mac y Leir.

Slaynt vie!

July 7, 2014

New Stuff – Article and Youtube Channel

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!

Just in time for Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Gaol Naofa is pleased to announce the publication of a new article for our website, along with the launch of our new Youtube channel.

This time of year tends to stir a bit of controversy and debate over St Patrick, and one of our members, Sionnach Gorm, has weighed in on the subject with a fantastic article on Pagans, Polytheists and St Patrick’s Day, where he explores the history of conversion, Patrick, and what that means for Polytheists and Pagans alike.

Complementing this, we’ve uploaded two videos to our new Youtube channel, concentrating on Lá Fhéile Pádraig. The first of those takes a look at the harmful stereotypes surrounding the day, while the second concentrates on the various misconceptions that we have encountered over the years. These are part of a series of videos on the festival year in the Gaelic calendar, and we’ll be working on further videos for the other festivals, and more, in due course.

Also on our Youtube channel, we’ve created a number of Playlists of videos that might be of interest to Gaelic Polytheists, covering subjects such as music, language, folklore, festivals, and more! If you subscribe to our channel you can keep up to date with any new additions as they’re added.

March 12, 2014

Samhain at Tara 2007 – 2010

“Many of you also participated in the 2007 Samhain event where we re-established the old custom of lighting the signal fires on Tlachtga, Tara, and the surrounding hills. Want to do it again?”

July 24, 2010