Most Recently

Something I have been planning to do for quite a while is an illustrated work.  Finally ironically that is nearing completion – its a good sign for the planned web-comic.  Little Druid is a children’s picturebook.  Zoe has been busy doing the illustration work. Little Druid is a beautiful book made for kids between the ages of 2 to 5.  It will be of particular interest to pagan households and parents to give a book to their kids that represents their view of the world.  Its something I am really proud of and is such a sweet tale.  Also this year I have been busy with some short stories, ready for publication and tying up various projects begun online.

Last Year

Lat year I wrote another novel.  Thanks greatly to NaNoWriMo for helping me push through not just an author’s general desire to procrastinate but also the older baggage I have held onto.  Pushing that aside I have finally finished a second revision of A Site Diary almost complete.  My NaNoWriMo account details the book and while there’s not much up on there at the moment there should be as the book finally starts to shape up.

I have been lucky enough to write a number of guest posts – for two blogs this year.  And my good friend Alaksir will be writing a few for this site.  Hopefully when the sites are tidied its something I can ask various people to do if they desire it.

I have already said just what’s been going on in Clan Raven Cub and our other websites but with my most recent episode of In The Brew the documentary style has really intrigued me.  My filmwork, audio and illustration work has moved my ideas from journalism and an interest for my online blogging to focusing more on an article / documentary style.  This is something I plan to keep an eye out on my blogging.

The past year following redundancies and job issues I decided to turn my efforts back to where my first passions and talents lie.  In that light I began a serial story – linked from here – A Redundant Life, which like a lot of my material is behind.  Its something I am really enjoying and had originally been in mind to compile into a story but I will see.  Instead I may just allow it to run and see where it goes.

The Blogging Years

The first year of Clan Raven Cub and the other sites was a real push for me and opened me up to more documentary and article style work.  At time of print I have four different blogs running as well as a podcast and a videocast.

Poetry Book

Verse and Variation was published in 2005.  My book of poems can be found online.  This was a self published work.  It was a fantastic effort on my part and such an incredible work and effort.  It really is a pride that I won’t forget.  I made the decision to put it up freely commonly to share and edit for people 2009.  I am a strong believer against copyright and wanted to back it up.

The book was compiled from lots of material from my childhood, youth years and the material I had been writing at the time as well as new material for the book.  Its compiled in four sections with the Biblical flood as the theme.  Ten poems in each section – with my favourite being the little pieces on the rear cover and the back page.

The book was typeset by myself and the sales and marketing was handled by myself.  It was such a wide learning experience.  One of my favourite memories in life is the launch I had organised in the Spiddal library.  Many thanks are deserved to certain people, my parents for helping at the launch and other times; the Spiddal library for stocking my book and for being so great and supportive throughout; Siopa an Phobail for stocking the book; Crumlin hospital who supported me and helped me raise funds for them with the book; Elaine for designing the cover; Paedar and Clódóirí Lurgan for publishing the book in the great quality that it was.

I hope that soon – if I publish another poetry book I will get a second run of Verse and Variation.

Early Awards

They may not be a big deal, so I’m not blowing my trumpet but it feels nice to be able to say.  I have won, when younger various competitions.  An essay competition for the Samaritans on bullying, in my school for a competition for the Gaeltacht, the Edmund Rice Memorial award and two Literature Awards within school also.

Novels Poems and Plays

From the age of 12 I finished my first novel.  Novella really as the word count is only around fifty five thousand.  Lonestar was first in a series and following this I finished another four with three more mainly written.  I have various stories, poems and plays written and many others begun from that period.  Many of the poems for Verse and Variation are taken from this time.  I do hope and plan to revisit this work but as it is all handwritten, in many different copies and many in storage it will have to wait.  Having said that I do have my hands on Hellblades and that is something that I will work on as soon as I do get the opportunity.

How should I bare thee my soul.
Should I tell it through poetry
or art, dark lines etched into white paper.
Leaving the frozen image behind.
How shall I show you myself,
Shall I take a picture of what I like best
Show you designs adorning my nest.
Or shall I simply present myself and say
I am here. What you see,
This is me.

 Zoe

While at first they live with and grow along,
Their hosted master oak,
In time the ivy overgrows and pulls down,
Even this most masterful of trees,

And so too in time do our roads,
Overtake even our cities,
These anthills and clusters of human abode,
When in time they are little more than wayposts,

When our living quarters of the great masses,
Are bypassed and circled,
When we judge communities by the time and distance between,
All there equating to loose change in your pocket.

I have swam and I have rafted down this white water rapids,
Where nights are black and streams thick with debris,
Pray may the waters of life take me upon their turtled back,

May the gods of the road meet me,
Pass me and doff their hats

Caoimhin

When little mirrors shine the brilliance,
Of the seasons subtlety all around,
Spring is not a warm time,
Spring is not a dry time,

She is that slight rosy cheeked maiden,
Embarrassed for wearing a too thin slip,
That keeps none of the cold in,
Promising all with her cheap modesty.

And yet her green nature is not meant to excite,
All she does is frolic and play,
The lambs learning and knowing,
That the small sunbeams reflected

In the rains eyes, show the first blossoms,
Of this years Rainbow crop.

Caoimhín

Thinking back on things, I am a little surprised at myself.  I never consciously meant it, but I think that online I may have shied away from expressing my religious self.  This I don’t do in life, yes I no longer go out of my way to profess the faith to all and sundry.   But as it is a major interest in my life – religion, mythology, philosophy and psychology – I engage in conversation about it when it comes up and with my varied and vast (reasonably) experiences, that for so many people are incredibly unusual, why should it not be brought up?

To be honest though I tend not to, nor never have, prosetlyze.  But the older I get, the less I feel of judging others for their beliefs, no matter how strange they are, including cheese moons.  So long as people leave their beliefs out of their dealings with me, or can compromise about it, it does not bother me.  The way I see it is I believe in some crazy things, not less so than thinking I am eating bread transformed into flesh every week just to add, so why should ANY other beliefs be rubbished?  That’s what others do to my beliefs, so why should I partake in the same ignorance.

So my beliefs?  To specify:  I am pagan, a Celtic pagan, of the Irish pantheon, a shaman.  All of which are labels I could happily agree with and conform to in one way or another.  To deal with the last three first.  I am a shaman who worships the old Irish gods and the Celtic wheel and system found with them.

What follows is a broad summary rather than a concisely accurate description.  A Pagan is a very vague term.  It first originated in Italy at the time of the Roman empire when they were still multi-theistic.  I use that to signify the difference between polytheism and omni-theism, multi-theistic believes in multiple deities as opposed to a lot of modern pagan views that Gods are all simply aspects of higher powers / power.  “Pagan” has the same origins as the word paean.  The word signified the “silly” superstitious folk of the country and was used derogatively by the city folk of the time.  Afterwards in a mono-theistic culture the word got taken to mean the belief in multiple spirits, as the old ways were often stronger in the countryside where traditions continued.  More recently the word which had been used to derogatively mark, since its inception, people who carried out folk tradition has been reclaimed by a vast diaspora.  The New Age movement, the “Pagans”, even the Christian / Judaic Kabalists used this name to signify a belief and practise of things that had been grouped as the occult until recently.

This shift began in the second half of the twentieth century and was mainly due to the resurrection of the druidic movement in its new forms.  Occult belief and practise has been widespread throughout history and Christianity has never comfortably stamped it out.  The label of Paganism has had a tendency to be used therefore as a banner call for all alternate beliefs, beliefs in a spirit-centred world or occult natured worship – which numerically and time-wise have been more prevalent then the more recent trend towards non-spiritual religions practised more commonly within monotheism.  When I say spiritual in this sense I mean belief in energies and spirits, animistic (see my earlier posted speech.)  Some Christians also identify themselves as pagans simply because its a way of them expressing their belief in spirits etc.

Within that group is really another group of pagan peoples that generally tend to see themselves as pagan by belief as well as culture; pagans, wiccans and heathens (or some variation of the Norse faith).  These are three distinct religious groups that follow a similar theosophical view on the gods, all are poly- or multi- theistic and nature centred religions.  Which brings me back full circle to the origins of the word, today the word has been reclaimed to refer and show a centre to our religious beliefs.

General paganism, as with Wicca, is a blend of differing cultures and religious practise (much like Christianity was hundred of years after Christ lived when it began in Italy.)  Totem animals, the wheel of the year, Mabon and Yule – so many differing ideas from earth-centred religions that have been gathered together to form a modern faith.  I tend towards a more traditional gathering of Irish cultured beliefs.  This is more so about what sounds right to me, and feels right.  A lot of this may have been down to my reading of the mythologies from a very early age.  In this the Celtic Pantheon and particularly the Irish Gods have my highest of reverence and worship.  Finally shamanism…  I have two resources online to help explain what this is.  One is our show A Shaman’s Dictionary, the other is a speech previously mentioned I have on animism, a concept central to shamanism.

A person who practises shamanism and a shaman are two different concepts.  A shaman is a cleric.  A mouthpiece of the gods, an ambassador of the spirits.  The central belief is that there are two worlds / realms / planes, the material and the spiritual.  A shaman can not only see between the two but acts and crosses between them.  It is his purpose to deal between both and effect change on both realms.  The purpose is not like a lot of paganic religions, to illuminate yourself.  For a person practising shamanism this goal of improving / enlightening / attuning oneself and purifying their soul is noble but for the Shaman, his (her) goal / purpose is to serve the spirits.  Not necessarily as a servant but similar to the way a politician serves his country and the electorate (and that does not mean screwing them over for those cynics out there.)

I find myself acting in this role, within a Celtic and Irish framework.  My pantheon of Gods, and therefore some of the highest spirits with which I interact with, are the old Irish Gods.  My totem animal is the wolf, but more so than this I am wolf-spirited.  My patron goddess, is the Morrigan.  Neither of these are necessary to my religion, I need not have a single patron and indeed when I say patron I mean main patron.

And that wraps up both an introduction to paganism and a brief account of my beliefs.

Clan Raven Cub was originally a term / concept Zoe and I had for ourselves as a couple.  We are both shamanic-practitioning-pagans.  When we originally planned our ceremonial wedding, which is still in the offing, we thought about an icon, a motto etc for us and for our future family.  The idea of Clan Raven Cub was therefore born.  We were both, now that we had been legally wed, Coileáin – the Irish form of Collins – by surname, the first of each branch in our family tree to take this name officially.

While I was working on my graphics secondment for Cam Arc, Oxford Archaeology bought us out and I was offered and encouraged to blog.  This comprised of the first six or so articles of  Libre Source and was published on their platform, since which it has been moved to the Blogger platform.  Shortly afterwards I decided it would be nice for Zoe and I to start on creating our own website and showcase.  Thus was born this blog Clan Raven Cub.  Our early posts were quite unfocused and we originally decided to put up just a small portfolio, interspersed with some messy posts on where we were planning to go.

Later on with the burgeoning of a few new sites, Puppy Journeys and In The Brew, new design to the site was underway.  As I got used to different platforms, podcasting and the like, the site really grew, meandered (like this post) and changed.  At this point the site was used mainly for news on what we were at online.  The articles section was added and since we have posted quite a lot of articles that have gained a lot of favourable review.  Since then we have started to post up the occasional creative work again to keep the site fresh.

We now have enough material on here, and online in general, to be able to run the blog as a nice ordered website with plenty of material, easily browsible.  So a year on and we have scattered and grown online, with a number of guest posts and various projects of different media and a much improved site.  We thank everyone who looks in on us regularly and hope you will stay with us in this next year!

Caoimhín

Caoimhín’s fantasy dinner party guests:

1. Oscar Wilde
2. Marquis de Sade
3. Cormac Mac Airt
4. Zarathustra
5. Aleister Crowley
6. John Donne
7. George Orwell
8. Haile Sae Lase
9. Julian, the Apostate
10. Phil Lynott

Zoe’s fantasy dinner party guests:

1. Oscar Wilde
2. Aristophanes
3. Julius Caesar
4. Anne Boleyn
5. George Orwell
6. Paul Merton
7. Caligula
8. C.S. Lewis
9. Andrew Lloyd Webber
10. Herodotus

Caoimhín

That is the view I have.  The New Menin Gate.  A sea of names and pomp, to quote the poet Sasoon.  I have a small video that I will post up soon on YouTube maybe.  We don’t have long left here, to get home for the evening.  Our job here in Fromelles and the CWGC project draws to a close and so I visited Yprés, as I must.  A troop of British squaddies have just walked by.  Below is a video on Vimeo of the experience.

And still I have not spoken of the Gate.  I am upset, in ways, but more… Shocked is not quite the word.  Still absorbing, I have come to terms more with what I read in the books of the past since coming over to France, and at first to see so many graves, of so many young men, of so many countries, was a great shock.  Now less a shock more an acceptance of yes that is history.  Sour as it may taste that is reality.

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Walking closer, gave me the perspective of Sasoon and the understanding of how he felt.  Walking through it, flooded with names one thing stood out.  “Lest we Forget,” and I wonder what it is we are not to forget.  I wonder whether it is something we have ever remembered.  This colossal loss of life.  This savagery that overcame us as a species.  That still today continues.  That today being here can make us proud, that can fill us with thoughts of individuals, that we only think of the whole.  All such thoughts are blown to the scattered winds like the embers that were blown over the fields of Flandres, while Yprés was shelled for so many years.

I have no answer and I have no ways of how one should think.  Indeed I have no way to consider how I should think.  All I can say for sure is of how the awe of the place, of the event has struck me.  No more shall World War One be merely a prelude to World War Two.  For me I have became history.

Caoimhín

Video is a particular media and it will make a difference to video, so the format of A Shaman’s Dictionary will be short and encompass a simple discussion of one single concept.  There are many differing pagan shows online but I feel I can contribute and enrich the sphere.  Indeed it is something I feel I have not done right by for far too long.  As a practising Shaman with a very good working knowledge of many different religions, myths, philosophies, spiritual paths and magical traditions my thought had been to highlight, in every show, a concept and to outline its meanings and bring forth a solid cohesive concept for people to take away.  This can help people deepen their basic and fundamental knowledge.

For many pagans philosophical / mental concepts can be at the cornerstone of their faith upon which their rituals and tools are based; for shamanism these concepts are the tools we use to transform and conduct our lives.

To visit the show click here.

To sum up for those of you who want, join us both on YouTube for our regular shows for a deeper view on life.

Caoimhín

To complete this side of the Hun,
But ne’er more this bank of the river,
Would those airmen and goldmen,
Show until new ages quieter,

Their Humu’re’s bright and shined,
Whereto lie our boys bright and proud,
Lost before the outbreak, pandemic,
From ahigh, the cold prideful spite,

That only empires cling to,
A pain founded by ground nation’s
Bones, while all those poor folk,
Lie Lunate to Hamate,

And only cold stone and Gate,
Can warn their eternal horror;
Yet for less then a score more,
Like a storm it broke on the shores,

While all the pheasants, they fled

Caoimhίn