SPIRIT STORIES

The stories of the Origins are mythological accounts of the successive invasions of Ireland by races of spirits or divinities, such as the Tuatha de Danann (people of the goddess Danu).

According to legend, the last of these beings was driven underground with the Underworld or "Sidhe," which could be accessed via prehistoric buriel mounds.

Many later folk stories represent these Underworld spirits as "Faery Folk," living in the supernatural Tir na n'Og, or land of eternal youth. The Faeries were enchanted beings who were skilled in magic, and they sometimes appeared from doorways in the sides of buriel mounds. Faeries also represented the sleeping ancestors, waiting to be called upon to impart their knowledge and life.force to the land and to succeeding generations. Associated later stories tell of human voyages to the Otherworld, or "Immrama," such as The Voyage of Maelduin. These stories served as sources of teaching about death and dying and the transitions involved, as well as lessons about life.


Click to read some..Celtic Myths in Brief
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