Oh Maureen thanks a million for your incredibly generous words and you know I thought of you when I made the decision to record it orally, your kindness has been much encouragement to me here, buíochas ó chroí a stór 💚
I’d be curious to know more about the murúch and the feathered cap. As well is the difference between the maighdean mara and murúch —are they overlapping identities? I wasn’t able to really conjure a mental image of murúch
You're spot on Maureen there is a fluidity between them. Both the maighdean mara and the murúch are mermaids or in the case of the murúch (merrow in English) can be mermen in the Irish tradition. I amplified both of them and the selkie to make a triple goddess of the sea in the tale. The stories all involve them possessing a magical part of themselves that allows them to move between this world and the Otherworld be that a sealskin, a fishtail, a fishscale cloak, a red cloak, or a red-feathered hood or cap. The 'brat', the mantle or cloak in Old Irish is a magical feature in the wider mythology like Manannán MacLir, the god of the sea can induce invisibility with the swish of his cloak. The cohuleen druith or in Gaeilge, cochaillín draíochta, the 'magical hood' is the word for the hood or cap of the murúch which in the folklore is often seen as being red with feathers. I hope this helps 🧜♀️
I think my brain just got stuck on being a little too literal in the mythic image space. I really wanted to “see” the capped created. And I get how the sealskin or fish tail or tail cloak help one travel between the worlds but couldn’t picture the feathered cap, wondering if it bird like and how they helped being underwater. It’s simply magic 😉
It really is and the beauty of it Maureen is that you can create that image in whatever form feels true for your soul, maybe it is birdlike... and something symbolic here I never thought of is how cranes/herons and swans were the birds of the poet-seers and the druids of ancient Ireland. One potential hypothesis as to why they were considered magical is because they can move between worlds in the sense that they are able to navigate water, land and sky. So perhaps the murúch captures some of this bird energy. There's a lot of bird shapeshifting in the myths... thanks a million for sparking this connection, I love these chats! ✨
Gorgeous. As a deep apprentice to the Selkie, I am so grateful to hear another telling, with new and nuanced aspects, to bring the mythos even deeper into my soul. With much gratitude for your generous shares, Amanda
Wow! I love everything you do but your storytelling like this is just so potent and evocative. I always listen many times. Thank you!
Oh Maureen thanks a million for your incredibly generous words and you know I thought of you when I made the decision to record it orally, your kindness has been much encouragement to me here, buíochas ó chroí a stór 💚
♥️💙💜
I’d be curious to know more about the murúch and the feathered cap. As well is the difference between the maighdean mara and murúch —are they overlapping identities? I wasn’t able to really conjure a mental image of murúch
You're spot on Maureen there is a fluidity between them. Both the maighdean mara and the murúch are mermaids or in the case of the murúch (merrow in English) can be mermen in the Irish tradition. I amplified both of them and the selkie to make a triple goddess of the sea in the tale. The stories all involve them possessing a magical part of themselves that allows them to move between this world and the Otherworld be that a sealskin, a fishtail, a fishscale cloak, a red cloak, or a red-feathered hood or cap. The 'brat', the mantle or cloak in Old Irish is a magical feature in the wider mythology like Manannán MacLir, the god of the sea can induce invisibility with the swish of his cloak. The cohuleen druith or in Gaeilge, cochaillín draíochta, the 'magical hood' is the word for the hood or cap of the murúch which in the folklore is often seen as being red with feathers. I hope this helps 🧜♀️
I think my brain just got stuck on being a little too literal in the mythic image space. I really wanted to “see” the capped created. And I get how the sealskin or fish tail or tail cloak help one travel between the worlds but couldn’t picture the feathered cap, wondering if it bird like and how they helped being underwater. It’s simply magic 😉
It really is and the beauty of it Maureen is that you can create that image in whatever form feels true for your soul, maybe it is birdlike... and something symbolic here I never thought of is how cranes/herons and swans were the birds of the poet-seers and the druids of ancient Ireland. One potential hypothesis as to why they were considered magical is because they can move between worlds in the sense that they are able to navigate water, land and sky. So perhaps the murúch captures some of this bird energy. There's a lot of bird shapeshifting in the myths... thanks a million for sparking this connection, I love these chats! ✨
Gorgeous. As a deep apprentice to the Selkie, I am so grateful to hear another telling, with new and nuanced aspects, to bring the mythos even deeper into my soul. With much gratitude for your generous shares, Amanda
Thanks a million Amanda what an absolute gift of a message to receive! 🦭💗