One hundred years ago today, the fledgling Irish Free State established the Tailteann Games for the first time in at least eight hundred years. You may not know it from the frequent intermingling of the holiday with the Anglo-Saxon holiday of Lammas and the Elizabethan legend of John Barleycorn, but the Tailteann Games were, for many centuries, one of the cornerstones of Lughnasadh.
Tailtiu and the founding of Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh is based on the Celtic deity Lugh, who, according to legend was an ancient king of Ireland and a member of the Tuatha Dé Dannan. He started a great festival as a tribute to his foster mother the goddess Tailtiu. Irish myth says that she died after clearing the forests of Ireland so that people may grow crops so that the people of Ireland may be fed. One version of Irish myth said that from her deathbed, she guided Lugh and others to start this festival in her honor.
Her funeral was part of the first festival, and in subsequent festivals, burial of and honoring of the dead were an integral part fo the festival. But one thing that Tailtiu reportedly requested was an Olympic-like festival in which there would be athletic competitions as well as competition in arts and crafts. Other aspects of the festival included marriages, the implementation of new laws, and arrangements for winter work. It was arguably a major part of ancient Gaelic culture and went on for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years with estimates of its vintage going back to 632 BCE or even the 1800s BCE.
Why we don’t get more accurate Pagan history
That most Pagans don’t about this is unfortunately not surprising. I have gone into detail here about efforts to wipe out Celtic culture. I talk in greater detail here about how Lughnasadh and its depths have become distorted and overlooked in the eagerness to promote an à la carte Paganism.
In addition to marking 100 years since the first modern revival of the Tailteann Games, this Lughnasadh also marks the second anniversary of what now has become known as The Eco-Pagan blog. I had not been planning on having this blog become such a vocal outlet for cultural preservation of Pagan traditions. But a cursory Internet search on deities associated with Bealtaine shocked me when the sites at the top of the list were promoting ideas such as the Aztec goddess Xochitquetzal being one of “twelve fertility deities of Bealtaine.” It was then that I’d realized that Paganism on the Internet had gone off the deep end. The Eco-Pagan has always been about preserving our Earth, but preserving the integrity of ancient traditions (while leaving room for new ones) has also become important.
I haven’t posted as much in recent months due to personal transitions going on in my life but those transitions are largely complete at this point. Watch this space for new insights into Eco-Paganism. And have a most joyous Lughnasadh!