Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Caillech, by Rachel Patterson. Moon Books, 2016



                        
This small book focuses on the British goddess who started as a creation goddess but morphed into a blue faced hag of winter. She was the goddess of midwives and of evil, sharing a connection with Brigid. Patterson relates the many tales of her from all over the British Isles, and also shows connections to places further away- even to Spain and possibly to the Hindu goddess Kali. Many of the stories are similar; a lot of natural features in the British landscape are attributed to the Cailleach carrying stones in her apron and the apron strings breaking, dumping the rocks in the landscape. Those show how widespread the worship of the Cailleach was.

In the final chapter the author shares her experiences with the Cailleach, and a ritual to honor her. It’s a nice little book for both pagans and students of lore. 







The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something -anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received this book free from Net Galley in return for a fair review. 

neither of these things influenced my review.  

No comments:

Post a Comment