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Post by Dennis on Nov 1, 2017 7:11:51 GMT -1
Hello, everyone. I found this board today after a rather long, circuitous internet trek. Thanks to lorna for the link on her blog to here, . . . and for the essay linked in a recent post - Gwyn, Gwythyr and Creiddylad: A Story from the Old North, which I enjoyed a lot. I recently heard an on-line interview with a psychologist and teacher who focuses on honoring ancestors, and had a sense that I "got it" -- as something worth exploring that fits within an animistic world view -- in a way that I hadn't before. And today I found out that my assumptions about my ancestral heritage might have been misleading me. I simply didn't know that southern Scotland and northern England were home to Brythonic populations. My father's family emigrated from the town of Dumfries, Scotland to Canada in the mid 1800's, and a history of the family name suggests it was probably of British, not Anglo-Saxon, origin (though there's apparently hardly any history known before the Norman invasion.) It's not that I feel blood ties are all that important in the long run. But discovering this possible ancestral connection to Brythonic culture is, at the least, really interesting / intriguing. Happy Halloween! Dennis
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Post by potia on Nov 1, 2017 11:03:37 GMT -1
Welcome Dennis. I live in Glasgow which was very much part of the Brythonic lands at one stage in history. I don't have much ancestry linking me to these lands but it's very much home anyway
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Post by Dennis on Nov 1, 2017 17:44:08 GMT -1
Welcome Dennis. I live in Glasgow which was very much part of the Brythonic lands at one stage in history. I don't have much ancestry linking me to these lands but it's very much home anyway Thank you, potia. I haven't paid much attention to my personal ancestry in the past. But it appears, from my reading yesterday, that the paternal family connection to Dumfrieshire can be traced back much further than I would have thought before a bit of research. I enjoy history anyway, so it's a 'hook' of sorts, beyond just knowing my ancestors came from Scotland, Ireland, and England.
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Post by lorna on Nov 2, 2017 10:58:24 GMT -1
Hello Dennis and welcome to Brython I'm glad my article was of use in leading you to discover the Brythonic heritage of southern Scotland. Not many people are aware that northern England and southern Scotland were once part of the Brythonic culture of the Old North. That age has really sunk into the darkness and, I think, needs to be remembered. I hope the forum is of help. We also have a blog - dunbrython.wordpress.com/ and website - www.dunbrython.org/ If you've got any questions please feel free to ask.
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Post by Dennis on Nov 2, 2017 17:05:40 GMT -1
Hello Dennis and welcome to Brython Thanks, Lorna. I enjoy your writing and photographs. Currently reading "Brythonic Polytheism in the Lancashire Landscape" from the Brython blog. "Brythonic culture of the Old North" has rather a romantic-nostalgic ring to me, to begin with. And I believe reading your account of 'The story of Gwyn, Gwythyr and Creiddylad' was the first time I had become aware of the tale in any detail. Of course, the story has strong archetypal threads, being similar, to my mind, to the abduction of Persephone by Hades, which is a very old myth, and central to ancient Greek Eleusinian mysteries. I've begun reading the Mabinogion, and I will read your article again at some point. Perhaps I will skip to the story above first. It would seem "appropriate" to do so, as I read the article on Halloween, and we are still pretty much in the time of transition (by the calendar dates, at least).
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Post by bobmullo on Nov 3, 2017 11:56:32 GMT -1
Hi, Dennis. I'm new as well and also from North America. Like you, I'm beginning with the core literary sources. Good luck!
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Post by Dennis on Nov 3, 2017 15:53:43 GMT -1
Hi, Dennis. I'm new as well and also from North America. Like you, I'm beginning with the core literary sources. Good luck! Hi bobmullo. (Or would you rather go by "Bob"?) Well met.
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Post by lorna on Nov 5, 2017 7:52:52 GMT -1
Brythonic culture of the Old North" has rather a romantic-nostalgic ring to me, to begin with. And I believe reading your account of 'The story of Gwyn, Gwythyr and Creiddylad' was the first time I had become aware of the tale in any detail. Of course, the story has strong archetypal threads, being similar, to my mind, to the abduction of Persephone by Hades, which is a very old myth, and central to ancient Greek Eleusinian mysteries. Yes there are most definitely parallels. A while back I read an excellent essay by Ann Suter in a book called Queen of the Sacred Way arguing that prior to the development of that story within the more male centred Olympian framework Persephone was a goddess of seasonal sovereignty with her own agency who chose to be queen of the underworld with Hades for six months and a fertility goddess here for six months. I feel Creiddylad had a similar role.
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Post by Heron on Nov 5, 2017 15:21:21 GMT -1
Hello Dennis - welcome to the Forum
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Post by Dennis on Nov 5, 2017 16:43:02 GMT -1
Hello Dennis - welcome to the Forum Hi, Heron. Thanks.
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Greetings
Nov 6, 2017 20:20:47 GMT -1
via mobile
Post by gruffudd on Nov 6, 2017 20:20:47 GMT -1
Hi Dennis, welcome.
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