 Night
of Nicnevin (Gyre-Carling),
Daughter of Frenzy, Banshee
(Martinmas Eve), Scotland
Scots Pagan festival honours an aspect of the goddess
Diana.
She rides with her entourage in the night hours of
November 9-10. Nicnevin, who rode through the night with her followers
"at the hinder end of harvest, on old Hallowe'en", as an old Scots poet describes it, made herself visible to mortals on this night.
Nicnevin is possibly an anglicization
of Nic an Neamhain or Nigh Nemhain,
'Daughter of
Frenzy,' an aspect of the triple Morrigan
(Mórrígan). She rides the night skies on a broomstick at Samhain
(October 31). Due to calendar changes, this old tradition may be seen as applying to tonight.
Cognates: bean sidhe (Banshee);
Gyre-Carling;
Queen of Elphame; Daughter of the Bones.
Gyre-Carling
"The short tale of Gyre Carling (in three stanzas of the riming-alliterative type, with the bob) relates how this mother-witch, who dwelt in
'Betokis bour' and fed on Christian men's flesh, was loved by Blasour, her neighbour
'on tge west syd.' For luve of hir lawchane lippies, he walit and he
weipit; and he gathered a crowd of moles to warp down her tower. But the unresponsive lady cudgelled him well (as St. Peter served Kynd Kittok) until he bled
'a quart off milk pottage inwart.' She laughed, and, after the manner of Gog Magog's spouse in the Interlude of the Droichis Part, ejaculated North Berwick Law in her mirth. Then the king of Faery, with his elves and all the dogs from Dunbar to Dunblane and all the tykes of Tervey (which might well be Topsy Turvy land!), laid siege to the fair; but she transformed herself into a sow and went
"gruntling our the Greik Sie." There, in spite, she married Mahomet or Mahoun, and became queen of the Jews. She was sadly missed in Scotland; the cocks of Cramond ceased to crow, and the hens of Haddington would not lay.
"All this langour for lufe befoirtymes fell,
Lang or Betok wes born,
Scho bred of ane acorne;
The laif of the story to morne
To [char] ow I sall tell.
"This piece might well be by Dunbar."
Source
"In the Lowlands, the Elves or Good Neighbours have a king and a queen Nicnevin or the Gyre-Carling – and in later days were suspected of having a good deal of intercourse with witches and of paying a tribute to the Devil."
Source: Encyclopedia of the Celts
"Her water can convert water into rocks, and sea into solid land:
"'Lochermoss, which extends from Solway sea to Locherbrigg-hill, was once, according to tradition, an arm of the sea, and a goodly anchorage for shipping. A proud swell of the Hallowmass tide, which swept away many steeds from the Carline's assembly, so provoked her, that, baring her withered arm, she stretched over the sea her rod of power, and turned its high waves into a quagmire! There are still carved beaks, boats, keels, and other remains of shipping, dug up in the moss at peat casting
time.'
Cromek, Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song
"Women of Fife took care to spin off all the flax on their rocks (distaffs) on the last night of the year. Otherwise, it was said, the Gyre Carline would carry it off before morning."
Source
apparently no longer online Nov. 15, 2006
Who is Mórrígan?
The Mórrígan
('great queen') or Morrígan ('terror' or 'phantom queen') (aka Morrígu,
Mórríghan, Mór-Ríogain) is a figure from Irish
mythology widely considered to be a former goddess.
She is usually
seen as a terrifying figure, glossed
in medieval
Irish manuscripts as equivalent to Alecto of the Furies,
or the child-eating monster Lamia,
from Greek
Mythology (in fact, another text glosses Lamia as "a
monster in female form, i.e. a Morrígan"), or the Hebrew
demoness Lilith.
She is associated with war
and death on the battlefield, sometime appearing in the form of a
carrion crow,
premonitions of doom, and with cattle.
She is often considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic
Valkyries,
although her association with cattle also suggests a role connected
with fertility and the land.
She is often interpreted as a triple
goddess, although membership of the triad varies: the most
common combination is the Mórrígan, the Badb
and Macha,
but sometimes includes Nemain,
Fea, Anann
and others.
Ulster Cycle
Her earliest apearances are in stories of
the Ulster
Cycle, in which she has an ambiguous relationship with the hero
Cúchulainn.
In Táin Bó Regamna (the Cattle Raid of Regamain), he
challenges her, not realising who she is, as she drives a heifer
from his territory, and earns her enmity. She makes a series of
threats, and foretells a coming battle in which he will be killed.
She tells him, enigmatically, "I guard your death".
In the
Táin
Bó Cuailnge, queen Medb
of Connacht
launches an invasion of Ulster
to steal the bull Donn
Cuailnge; the Mórrígan appears to the bull in the form of a
crow and warns him to flee. Cúchulainn defends Ulster by fighting a
series of single combats at fords against Medb's champions. In
between combats, the Mórrígan appears to him as a young girl and
offers him her love, but he spurns her. In response, she intervenes
in his next combat, first in the form of an eel
who trips him, then as a wolf
who stampedes cattle across the ford, and finally as a heifer
leading the stampede, just as she had threatened in their previous
encounter. However, Cúchulainn wounds her in each form and defeats
his opponent, despite her interference. Later, she appears to him as
an old woman bearing the same three wounds that her animal forms
sustained, milking a cow. She gives Cúchulainn three drinks of
milk. He blesses her with each drink, and her wounds are healed.
In one version of Cúchulainn's death-tale,
as the hero rides to meet his enemies, he encounters the Mórrígan
as an old woman washing his bloody armour in a ford, an omen
of his death. Later in the story, mortally wounded, Cúchulainn ties
himself to a standing stone so he can die upright, and it is only
when a crow lands on his shoulder that his enemies believe he is
dead.
Mythological Cycle
The Mórrígan also appears in texts of the
Mythological
Cycle. In the 12th-Century pseudohistorical compilation
Lebor
Gabála Érenn, she is listed among the
Tuatha
Dé Danann as one of the daughters of Ernmas,
granddaughter of Nuada.
The first three daughters of Ernmas are
given as Ériu,
Banba
and Fódla.
Their names are synonyms for Ireland,
and they were married to Mac
Cuill, Mac
Cecht and
Mac
Gréine, the last three Tuatha Dé Danann kings of Ireland.
Associated with the land and kingship, they probably represent a
triple goddess of sovereignty. Next come Ernmas's other three
daughters: the Badb,
Macha
and the Mórrígan. A quatrain describes the three as wealthy,
"springs of craftiness" and "sources of bitter
fighting". The Mórrígan's name is said to be Anann,
and she had three sons, Glon, Gaim and Coscar. According to Geoffrey
Keating's 17th
century History of Ireland, Ériu, Banba and Fódla
worshipped the Badb, Macha and the Mórrígan respectively,
suggesting that the two triads of goddesses may be seen as
equivalent.
The Mórrígan also appears in Cath
Maige Tuireadh (the Battle of Mag Tuired). She keeps a tryst
with the Dagda
before the battle against the Fomorians.
When he meets her she is washing herself, standing with one foot on
either side of a river. After they have sex, the Morrígan promises
to summon the magicians of Ireland to cast spells on behalf of the
Tuatha Dé, and to destroy Indech, the Fomorian king, taking from
him "the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his
valour". Later, we are told, she would bring two handfuls of
his blood and deposit them in the same river (however, we are also
told later in the text that Indech was killed by Ogma).
As battle is about to be joined, the Tuatha
Dé leader, Lug,
asks each what power they bring to the battle. The Mórrígan's
reply is difficult to interpret, but involves pursuing, destroying
and subduing. When she comes to the battlefield, she chants a poem,
and immediately the battle breaks and the Fomorians are driven into
the sea. After the battle, she chants another poem celebrating the
victory and prophesying the end of the world.
In another story she lures away the bull of
a woman called Odras, who follows her to the otherworld via the cave
of Cruachan.
When she falls asleep, the Mórrígan turns her into a pool of
water.
Nature and functions
The Mórrígan is often considered a triple
goddess, but her supposed triple nature is ambiguous and
inconsistent. Sometimes she appears as one of three sisters, the
daughters of Ernmas:
the Mórrígan, the Badb
and Macha.
Sometimes the trinity consists of the Badb, Macha and Nemain,
collectively known as the Mórrígan, or in the plural as the Mórrígna.
Occasionally Fea or Anu
also appear in various combinations. However the Mórrígan also
frequently appears alone, and her name is sometimes used
interchangeably with the Badb, with no third "aspect"
mentioned.
The Mórrígan is usually interpreted as a
"war goddess": W.M. Hennessey's "The Ancient Irish
Goddess of War," written in 1870, was influential in
establishing this interpretation. Her role often involves
premonitions of a particular warrior's violent death (suggesting a
link with the Banshee
of later folklore).
It has also been suggested (notably by
Angelique Gulermovich Epstein in her thesis War Goddess: The Morrígan
and Her Germano-Celtic Counterparts) that she was closely tied
to Irish männerbund groups (described by Máire West in her
article "Aspects of díberg in the tale Togail
Bruidne Da Derga", Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie
vol. 49-50, p. 950 as: "...bands of youthful warrior-hunters,
living on the borders of civilized society and indulging in lawless
activities for a time before inheriting property and taking their
places as members of settled, landed communities,") and that
these groups may have been in some way dedicated to her. If true,
her worship may have resembled that of Perchta
groups in Germanic areas.
However, Máire Herbert has argued that
"war per se is not a primary aspect of the role of the
goddess", and that her association with cattle suggests her
role was connected to the earth, fertility and sovereignty; she
suggests that her association with war is a result of a confusion
between her and the Badb. She can be interpreted as providing
political or military aid or protection to the King - acting as a
Goddess of Sovereignty, not necessarily a war goddess.
The Fulacht na Mór Ríoghna, the
hearth or cooking pit of the Mórrígan, in County
Tipperary suggests an association with the home or possibly with
hunting. The Dá Chich na Morrigna or two paps of the Mórrígan,
a pair of hills in County
Meath, suggest a role as an earth goddess, comparable to Danu/Anu,
who has her own paps in County
Kerry.
The bean sidhe, or
Banshee
From Wikipedia:
The banshee is a creature in Irish
mythology, the word being derived from the Old
Irish ben síde, modern
Irish bean sídhe or bean sí, "fairy
woman" (bean, woman, and sidhe,
being the tuiseal ginideach or possessive case of
"fairy"). They are remnants of the
Tuatha
Dé Danann.
Long ago, when a citizen of an Irish
village died, a woman would sing a traditional lament, or modern
Irish caoineadh (pronounced 'kweenah'), at his funeral.
These women singers are sometimes referred to as 'keeners'.
Traditionally, some great Irish
families had a fairy woman associated with them, who would make an
appearance after a death in the family to sing this lament. Tales
recount how, when the family member had died far away, then the
appearance, or, in some tales, the sound of the fairy keener, might
be the first intimation of the death.
When these stories were first translated
into English, a distinction between the 'banshee' and other fairy
folk was introduced which does not seem to exist in the original
stories in modern
Irish. Similarly, the funeral lament became a mournful cry or
wail by which the death is heralded. In these tales, hearing the
banshee's wail came to predict a death in the family and seeing
the banshee portends one's own death.
Banshees are frequently dressed in white
and often have long, fair hair which they brush with a silver
comb, a detail scholar Patricia Lysaght attributes to confusion
with local mermaid
myths. Other stories portray them as dressed in green or black
with a grey cloak.
Banshees were common in Irish and
Scottish folk stories such as those written down by Herminie
T Kavanagh. They enjoy the same mythical status in Ireland
as fairies
and leprechauns.
"The bean-sidhe (woman of the fairy) may be an ancestral spirit appointed to forewarn members of certain ancient Irish families of their time of death.
"According to tradition, the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. Intermarriage has since extended this select list. Whatever her origins, the banshee chiefly appears in one of three guises: a young woman, a stately matron or a raddled old hag. These represent the triple aspects of the Celtic goddess of war and death, namely Badhbh, Macha and Mor-Rioghain. She usually wears either a grey, hooded cloak or the winding sheet or grave robe of the unshriven dead. She may also appear as a washer-woman, and is seen apparently washing the blood stained clothes of those who are about to die. In this guise she is known as the bean-nighe (washing woman). Although not always seen, her mourning call is heard, usually at night when someone is about to die.
"In 1437, King James I of Scotland was approached by an Irish seeress or banshee who foretold his murder at the instigation of the Earl of Atholl. This is an example of the banshee in human form.There are records of several human banshees or prophetesses attending the great houses of Ireland and the courts of local Irish kings. In some parts of Leinster, she is referred to as the bean chaointe (keening woman) whose wail can be so piercing that it shatters glass."
Source
Source:
Wikipedia
War
Goddess: the Morrígan and her Germano-Celtic Counterparts (WinZip)
See also Sheela-na-gig
in the Book of Days Deities
of many cultures in the Book of Days
What
is the Goddess Calendar?
More
More
 From 1752 until recent years, Lord Mayor's Day,
London, UK
"Originally the Lord Mayor of London was elected on the feast of St Simon and St Jude
(28 October), and although the election day was altered, admittance to office continued to take place on that day until 1751. From 1752, owing to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, Lord Mayor's Day became 9 November. In recent years the Lord Mayor has been sworn in at Guildhall on the second Friday
[now Saturday]
in November, being presented to the Lord Chief Justice on the
following day ..."
Ivor H
Evans, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988
What we would today call parades, but in former days were known as moving pageants, passed down London's streets on this day. The spectacle included floats, such as fishing boats, dolphins, and representations of the
'King of the
Moors', attended by six tributary kings on horseback. One float regularly contained a bower adorned with the names and arms of all members of the
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. There were mermen and mermaids; angels; kings; leopards; giants (on stilts), and characters from classical mythology.
Puritanism put a temporary end to the pageantry, as did the onset of war.
In
1655, the
Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Dethick, attempted a restoration of the old shows, by introducing an armed Virgin
Mary on horseback. With the
Restoration of monarchy, the pomp returned, with King
Charles II
himself attending, but unfortunately the Plague and the Great Fire interrupted, and the last great show was in
1702.
In the 19th Century some attempts were made at restoring the pageant. In
1837, two colossal giants (the Guildhall Giants,
Gog and
Magog, pictured at head of page) were taken in procession; in fact, these giants
were part of the pageant since the days of King Henry V (1387 - 1422).
Gog and Magog are the respective names of a
mysterious Biblical land, and its
people, who feature in apocalyptic prophecy.
They appear in the Book of Ezekiel
and the Book of
Revelation. One will also find them mentioned in the Qur'an
as Yecuc-Mecuc (Yajooj-Majooj). They are also giants who appear in English
folklore.
From Wikipedia:
"The Lord Mayor's account of Gog and Magog says that the Roman Emperor
Diocletian had
thirty-three wicked daughters. He found thirty three husbands for
them to curb their wicked ways; they chafed at this, and under the
leadership of the eldest sister, Alba, they murdered them. For
this crime, they were set adrift at sea; they were washed ashore
on a windswept island, which after Alba was called Albion.
Here they coupled with demons, and gave
birth to a race of giants, among whose descendants were Gog and
Magog.
"According to Geoffrey
of Monmouth, Gogmagog was a giant who was slain
by the eponymous Cornish
hero Corin
or Corineus. The
tale figures in the body of unlikely lore that has Britain
settled by "Brutus"
and other fleeing heroes from the Trojan
War. Corineus is supposed to have slain the giant by throwing
him into the sea near Plymouth."
By folklorist Chambers's day
(late-19th Century), it was still a small procession, but the banquet following was the main event, with all the cabinet ministers invited. The after-dinner speeches were generally the occasion for party political policy statements.
The Lord Mayor's procession still takes place in London, led by the giants
Gog and Magog
as in earlier days.
Robert
Chambers,
(Ed.), The
Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection
with the calendar, etc,
W
& R Chambers, London, 1881 (1879
Edition is online and 1869
edition here
with CD-ROM available; See also The
English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers' Book of
Days)
Of Gog
and Magog, Who Are Imprisoned in the North
Feast day of St Agrippinus
Feast day of St Alexander
Feast day of St Benignus
(Binen), bishop
Feast day of the Dedication of
the Basilica
di San Giovanni in Laterano
(Memorial feast day of the Roman
Catholic Church; Glaucus aletris, Veltheimia
glauca, is
today's
plant, dedicated to St John Lateran's.)
St John Lateran (Italian San
Giovanni in Laterano) is the oldest, and ranks first among the
great patriarchal basilicas of Rome. Many
are unaware that it, not St Peter's
Basilica, is the cathedral of Rome
and the seat of the Pope as bishop of Rome:
its official name is the Archbasilica of the Holy Saviour.
Feast day of St George
Napper
Feast day of St Helen of
Hungary
Feast day of St Mathurin, priest
and confessor
Feast day of St Orestes
Feast day of St Pabo
Feast day of St Theodore
Stratelates (Theodore
the General; Theodore Tyro; Theodore the Recruit; Theodore Tiro),
martyr
Feast day of St Ursinus
Feast day of St Vitonus
(Vanne), Bishop of Verdun, confessor
Shop Saints
Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days
Wuwuchim (Hopi) Fire Ceremony (Nov 5 - 21)
Kitano Odori, Kyoto, Japan (Nov 1 - 15)
Loy Krathong, Thailand
"Feast of Lights to
appease the water spirits, dedicated to Mae Kongkha, Goddess of
Rivers."
Source: The Phoenix and
Arabeth 1992 Calendar
Snakes and Ladders, Mirano,
Italy
"The town of Mirano holds its annual human-scale Snakes and Ladders
game on the main square, except that the snakes in Italy and France
are in fact geese... The whole province shows up to watch the six
teams representing the six neighbourhoods of the town fight it out
in traditional costumes, climbing up ladders, jumping over geese,
through the 63 squares and over multiple obstacles.
"The
Gioco dell'Oca appeared for the first time in Italy during the
Medici period (around 1580), but the oldest board game found dates
back to 1640 and was made in Venice."
Source
Independence Day,
Cambodia
(1953)
November 9 is often called Germany's
Schicksalstag
(day of fate) due to the events of 1848,
1918, 1923,
1938
and 1989.The British
neo-Nazi
"November
9th Society" takes its name from the Munich
Beer
Hall Putsch on this day.
On which day of the week were you born? Find out here
1414
Albert
III, Margrave of Brandenburg (d. 1486)
1522
Martin Chemnitz
(d. 1586), theologian
1731 Benjamin Banneker, American scientist
More
 1801 Robert Dale
Owen, Scottish-born American social reformer and politician. Son
of the English reformer Robert Owen,
he was steeped in his father's utopian socialist philosophy while
growing up at the radical industrial community of New Lanark in Scotland.
Owen taught at the school at the Indiana,
USA, New
Harmony community founded by his father, and published the journal, New
Harmony Gazette and worked closely with the feminist, Fanny
Wright. Together they advocated socialism,
the abolition
of slavery, universal
suffrage, free secular education, birth control, and changes in
the marriage and divorce laws.
"In 1853 Owen was
appointed as charge d'affaires at Naples and two years later
became the minister to Italy. On his return to the United States
in 1858 he became an outspoken opponent of slavery.
During the American
Civil War Owen urged Abraham
Lincoln to force the South to emancipate the slaves. He wrote
two books on the subject, The Policy of Emancipation (1863)
and The Wrong of Slavery (1864)." Source
1802 Elijah P Lovejoy (murdered November 7, 1837), American abolitionist
1818 Ivan Turgenev (Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev;
d. 1883),
Russian writer (Fathers and
Sons; A Month in the
Country)
1825 AP
Hill (d. 1865), American Confederate
general
1831 Henry Labouchere
(d. January 15,
1912),
prominent British politician
and writer/pub | reetings from Australia.
How it works
strip Li'l Abner.
Sadie Hawkins Day (named for 'the homeliest gal in the
hills'), in the hillbilly town of Dogpatch, always featured a race
for spinsters, and any bachelor must marry them if caught. Sadie Hawkins
Day, which made its debut in the strip of November 15,
1937, is officially November 9, but by association with the Scottish
tradition, February
29 is often given that name.
Sadie
Hawkins Day
