Mythology Corner:The Hungry Man and The Hungry Grass

Hello lovelies! 

It has been a woefully long time since I did a mythology post and a recent conversation with a fellow blogger Chris reminded me of a story I once heard about a kind of famine spirit.

Before we begin I just want to put out a disclaimer that I write these posts for fun and because I have an interest in the subject! Nothing here can be said to be 100% accurate or anything. If you read anything on my blog and are interested in it I'd highly recommend doing some research of your own too as I am by no means an authority on this stuff. Having written a Masters Thesis I do know how to do proper research and such but these posts are tidbits of information gleaned from the interwebs and perhaps my own knowledge from stories growing up. 

Ok so onto the juicy details! Now there are different spins on both of these concepts so I will outline the ones I came across.

An Fear Gorta means Man of Hunger/Man of Famine. Fear is man and Gorta is famine. According to W.B. Yeats An Fear Gorta roamed the earth during famine times and would beg from passers by. Those who were generous would receive good luck but those too selfish to put their hands in their pockets would be interminably cursed with perpetual and insatiable hunger. He would supposedly disguise himself by dressing up as a tramp, roaming the streets and countryside seeking charity. 

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Another concept I have heard of is Féar Gortach which means Hungry Grass(which is such an Irish concept, it's hilarious to me!) Ok so here Féar means grass and Gortach means hungry. This is a patch of grass which causes those who walked on it to suffer from eternal unending hunger. According to some this grass was planted by fairies, and still others say that Hungry Grass grows wherever someone died a violent death or from hunger. Some others say that Hungry Grass grows on the grave of a Fear Gorta who cursed the grass above his final resting place. Sound lad eh? 

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Apparently Irish peasents used to sprinkle the grass with leftover crumbs to protect themselves from the Hungry Grass as it showed generosity, a means of appeasement. This kind of practice may still go on even today, I read one Irish blog in which the author spoke about leaving bread and water out as offerings when visiting famine villages.

Some of the older generation might even say 'The Fear Gortach is on me' as a way of saying they are very hungry although I've never heard that one said myself.

Pretty cool stuff, eh?

Here are links to all of the previous posts I have written:

The Banshee

An Dearg-Due (vampire story)
The Dullahan (headless horseman fairy type deal)
Explaining my blog title. It has changed from The Phantom Cat's Otherworld to the Phantom Cat Lifestyle but this post still has some fun info in it! 

Abhartach (vampire story)

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading.
Rebecca. 

Irish Mythology- The Banshee

I'm sure many of you have already heard of the concept of the banshee. She is an Irish spirit that is considered to be an omen of death. Mythology surrounding the figure tells us that she is heard wailing a horrible high pitched scream if someone is about to die. She is also sometimes seen washing the blood stained clothes of those about to die. 

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It is said that particular families have a banshee attached to them, namely those with the old names of the chieftains of the Gaels and she is said to follow descendants of these family lines abroad in their travels. Nobody really knows why the Banshee is attached to certain family lines. 

She is said to appear in one of three guises, a young woman, a matronly figure or an old hag. These three forms are meant to represent the triple aspect of the Celtic goddess of war and death- Badhbh. 

She wears all white, has long flowing pale silvery hair and her eyes are always red from centuries of crying. 

She goes by other names such as The White Lady of Sorrow, The Angel of Death and The Lady of Death. 

Have you guys ever heard of the banshee before? Maybe you know some interesting stories or facts that I left out?

I would love to hear!

Rebecca. 

Irish Mythology Post: An Dearg-Due

I have a very interesting little story for you guys this week. It's an old Irish legend about a young lady with a penchant for the blood of those unfortunate enough to have wronged her...

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The story goes that she was a young maiden (whenever I hear the word maiden I always assume they're clad in white and go around with their hand to their forehead in a damsel in distress kind of way...) who found love with a peasant from her local town. Her father was less than impressed and decided to marry her off to a wealthy man who treated her horribly. 

What's a girl to do?

Why commit suicide and come back one year later to suck the blood out of your greedy father and abusive husband, what else! It is reputed that she is buried in a small churchyard in Waterford and rises from her grave a few times a year to seduce men and drain their blood. Some versions of the story say that she drains life breath, kind of like Demontors in Harry Potter, and others say that she can turn into a bat. 

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The only way to defeat an Dearg- Due (means 'Red Blood Sucker) is to pile stones on her grave in order to trap her in the earth. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this story.

Rebecca :)