Ceallaigh's Blog
Hello, and welcome to the September 2022 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. After last month's somewhat theoretical discussion, I thought it might be interesting to undertake a straightforward exploration of a Japanese folktale and discuss the ways it employs structural symmetry in storytelling. Let's start by taking a look at that tale, titled "Luck from Heaven and Luck from the Earth."
Here are the folklore-related memes I published to social media in August 2022.
Hello, and welcome to the August 2022 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. This month, I'm utilizing an Israeli fable to discuss the ways folkloristic and literary analysis can help you adapt and subvert traditional narrative themes. Let's jump right in.
Here are the folklore-related memes I published to social media in July 2022.
Hello, and welcome to the July 2022 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. First, my thanks to PJ Lynch, whose illustration of Oisín as an old man graces my social media cards this month, for permitting me to utilize his work. You'll find him online at www.pjlynchgallery.com. After May's discussion of fairy magic, I thought it would be interesting to discuss fairy time, specifically the supernatural lapse of time found in folktales about human travel to the fairy otherworld. There is a powerful sense of the implacable in these tales; our heroes might visit the otherworld for any number of reasons, but time still passes in our world, and death often waits for them to return. With this in mind, it's also worth discussing how these heroes navigate the internal conflicts associated with time and death to see if there is any wisdom for storytellers who want to write characters like them. I'll begin with a tale of the Fianna titled "Usheen's Return to Ireland," recorded by Lady Gregory and collected by renowned folklore scholar Henry Glassie in a book titled Irish Folktales.
Hello, and welcome to the Folklore & Fiction dispatch. At the summer and winter solstices, I mimic the sun and pause to reflect on my own creative work. In this edition, I'm discussing religious belief in my short story "He Who Steals the Sun Shall Bear its Gravity," published in the E Is for Evil anthology, edited by Rhonda Parrish.
Here are the folklore-related memes I published to social media in May 2022.
Hello, and welcome to the May 2022 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. Please allow me to begin by thanking Wylie Beckert, the artist who painted the stunning Tam Lin work of art in this month's social media cards, for permitting me to use her painting. Isn't it gorgeous? You'll find her online at wyliebeckert.com and patreon.com/wyliebeckert.
Here are the folklore-related memes I published to social media in April 2022.
Hello, and welcome to the April 2022 Folklore & Fiction dispatch. Before I begin, one of my colleagues in Poland is volunteering much of her free time to help refugees arriving from Ukraine, so I asked what those of us who are far away from the war might do to help. She recommends donating to Lambda Warsaw, which is helping queer refugees find safety and support in Poland. She also recommends supporting the Kyiv Zoo, which is working to get animals out of the country and Kyiv Animal Rescue, which is helping animals in the country who have no one else. There are many ways to help Ukraine, but these are the ones that came to me through a reliable source. Slava Ukraini, and may all that is holy and good protect the people of Ukraine.
