Discover the MythCloud

This Baltic leather waistband adorned with brass decorations represents a sophisticated fusion of practical function and mythological expression. Archaeological findings of such items throughout the Baltic region reveal how everyday objects served as carriers of cultural identity and cosmic understanding in traditional societies.

The intricate brass fittings, featuring geometric patterns and solar symbols, transform a utilitarian item into a statement of both social status and spiritual alignment. The sun motif, recurring throughout Baltic decorative arts, connects the wearer to cycles of life, fertility, and temporal order—fundamental concepts in agricultural societies whose prosperity depended on cosmic regularity.

Beyond indicating social standing, such elaborately decorated belts likely served protective functions, with specific motifs believed to safeguard the wearer from various harms. This integration of practical, social, and apotropaic functions illustrates how pre-modern societies operated with more unified conceptual frameworks than modern compartmentalised thinking allows, seeing no contradiction between practical purpose and symbolic meaning.

The combination of leather and brass demonstrates not only technical skill but conceptual sophistication, bringing together animal-derived and earth-derived materials to create an object that mediates between different realms. This material hybridity mirrors the belt's function as a boundary marker on the human body, encircling the waist at the juncture of upper and lower body. Such items provide tangible evidence of how mythological thinking permeated everyday life in traditional Baltic societies, embedding cosmic understanding in the most practical aspects of material culture.

The concept of myth has long been recognised as a tool for addressing existential uncertainties and imbuing human actions with meaning. In traditional societies, myths were not perceived as false but rather as narratives that helped make sense of the world through symbolic frameworks. This understanding shifted significantly with the emergence of political myth, a deliberate construct created to consolidate power and influence.

In this analysis, Joanna Włodarczyk examines the role of political mythology within the context of the Round Table negotiations and the subsequent Fourth Republic of Poland, with particular focus on the political period of 2005-2007. The Round Table talks of 1989, which facilitated Poland's transition from communism to democracy, became the foundation for competing mythological narratives about the nation's rebirth.

Through careful study of political speeches and election campaigns from 2005 and 2007, Włodarczyk explores how myths, often irrational in nature, become intertwined with rational techniques employed to propagate them. This duality reveals how political narratives are crafted to shape public perception and serve strategic objectives, often by simplifying complex historical events into archetypal patterns that resonate emotionally with citizens.

The analysis demonstrates how the concept of the "Fourth Republic" became a powerful political myth during this period, promising moral renewal and justice after what some political actors portrayed as an imperfect or compromised transition to democracy. By mythologising the past, particularly the Round Table negotiations, political forces attempted to legitimise their vision for Poland's future while delegitimising their opponents.

This research illuminates how political mythology functions in contemporary democratic societies, showing that despite increased secularisation and rationalisation of public life, mythical thinking remains a potent force in political discourse, shaping collective memory and national identity in profound ways.

Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Salmon
For centuries, Irish communities have relied on the bounty of seas, rivers, and lakes for both physical sustenance and economic survival.

This episode of Blúiríní Béaloidis sees Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan explore one of Ireland's most celebrated aquatic creatures: the noble salmon. Revered in both practical and symbolic terms, the salmon—known as 'the silvery fellow', 'the king', and 'the plum of the sea'—has inspired a wealth of lore, customs, and beliefs.

Distinct from other aquatic creatures, the salmon's ability to traverse both freshwater rivers and saltwater seas places it in a unique position in Irish tradition. Dillon and Doohan examine tales of daring poachers, dangerous plants, superstitious fishermen, and naming taboos, uncovering fascinating 15th-century riddles that persisted into 20th-century oral tradition.

From the mythic Salmon of Life (Bradán na Beatha) to the renowned Salmon of Knowledge, the episode explores how these tales intersect with 10th-century Irish-Norse relations and broader Indo-European narrative traditions, revealing how mythological creatures often serve as vessels for cultural wisdom and knowledge transmission across generations.

This Baltic waistband adorned with spruce-inspired patterns exemplifies how traditional societies encoded sophisticated mythological concepts into everyday objects. The Tree of Life motif transforms a practical item into a vehicle for expressing cosmic understanding and cultural identity, connecting the wearer to both ancestral traditions and universal patterns.

The Tree of Life symbolism represents one of humanity's most widespread mythological concepts—a central axis connecting underground, terrestrial, and celestial realms. In Baltic traditions, this multilayered imagery provided a comprehensive model of cosmic structure while expressing cultural values of continuity and regeneration. Its prominence in textile arts demonstrates how abstract cosmological concepts were made tangible through integration into daily material culture.

The association with Laima, goddess of fate, adds another dimension to the waistband's significance. As a deity concerned with determining life trajectories, Laima's symbolic presence suggests the waistband functioned beyond mere decoration—potentially offering protection and influencing the wearer's destiny. This belief in the active power of symbolic objects illustrates how mythological thinking extended beyond abstract belief into practical engagement with supernatural forces through material objects.

The waistband's versatility as both belt and headband demonstrates the adaptability of traditional Baltic textiles, while the persistence of these patterns in contemporary contexts shows how mythological symbols maintain cultural resonance even when detached from their original belief systems. These textile traditions thus serve as repositories of cultural memory, connecting present practices to ancestral worldviews through the continuity of visual language.

Norman Davies, the renowned historian and expert on Polish history, explores the deep-rooted national myths that have shaped Poland's identity through centuries of struggle and sovereignty. In his lecture Polish National Mythologies, Davies identifies four key myths that have resonated with the Polish people across various historical contexts, functioning as frameworks for understanding national experience and identity.

The Polak-Catholica myth positions Poland as a defender of Catholicism, casting the nation as a spiritual fortress for Europe, particularly during periods when religious identity became intertwined with resistance to foreign domination. Similarly, the Antemurale myth frames Poland as a bulwark against external threats, from medieval Mongol invaders to modern ideological enemies like communism. Both narratives emphasise Poland's role as a protector of European religious and cultural traditions against perceived existential threats.

The Piast myth connects Polish identity with agricultural roots, identifying the nation with the soil and peasantry as the foundation of authentic national character. This narrative emphasises continuity with medieval origins and the primacy of rural values in defining Polishness. Complementing this, the Wernyhora myth promotes a vision of harmonious coexistence among multiple nationalities within Central Europe, advocating for unity and shared destiny among the region's diverse peoples.

These four mythological frameworks have been strategically mobilised by various political groups throughout Polish history, adapted to address the challenges of different eras—whether resisting foreign invasion, asserting national independence, or fostering internal cohesion. Through these narratives, Poland has constructed a resilient collective identity deeply interwoven with historical experience, providing interpretive frameworks for understanding the nation's complex relationship with Europe and its own multicultural past.

This Lithuanian folk song, recorded by the prominent 19th-century scholar Jonas Basanavičius from villagers in Dziegcioriai, represents a crucial moment in the preservation of Baltic oral traditions. The documentation of such cultural expressions occurred during a period when traditional rural practices were increasingly threatened by modernisation and political suppression, making Basanavičius's work not merely academic documentation but a deliberate act of cultural preservation with nationalist implications.

Folk songs held particular significance in Lithuanian cultural identity due to their role in maintaining linguistic and cultural distinctiveness during periods of political domination by various empires. The persistence of Lithuanian-language songs like Oi, kad aš gertau dieną, naktelę through generations of oral transmission demonstrates how cultural practices functioned as forms of passive resistance to assimilation, preserving distinctive elements of collective identity even under political pressure.

The archival preservation of both audio recording and visual documentation in the Lithuanian Folklore Archive transforms what was originally a living, performed tradition into a documented cultural artifact. This transition from participatory community practice to institutional preservation represents a fundamental shift in how such cultural expressions function and are transmitted, while simultaneously ensuring their survival beyond the communities that originally created them.

The contemporary accessibility of these materials through institutional resources reflects evolving attitudes toward folkloric heritage, which has been revalued in post-Soviet contexts as crucial evidence of national cultural distinctiveness. The preservation of such materials thus serves not just scholarly purposes but contributes to ongoing processes of national identity formation, demonstrating how historical cultural practices continue to inform contemporary understanding of Lithuanian distinctiveness within broader Baltic and European contexts.

The Zupełnie Nowa Mitologia (Completely New Mythology) exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery "MS44" in Świnoujście, Poland, represents a significant artistic exploration of how mythological frameworks continue to shape contemporary understanding while adapting to address modern concerns. This exhibition brings together diverse artists who engage with the concept of mythology not as ancient history but as a living, evolving system of meaning-making.

The exhibition challenges conventional understandings of mythology by blending historical narratives with contemporary issues, creating dialogue between traditional symbolic systems and present-day social, political, and environmental concerns. Through this approach, it demonstrates how mythological thinking remains relevant in the 21st century, providing frameworks for interpreting complex realities and articulating collective experiences.

Participating artists employ diverse media and aesthetic strategies to question traditional views of mythology, offering fresh perspectives on how myths influence our understanding of the world and our place within it. Their works suggest that mythological thinking is not merely a relic of pre-scientific thought but a fundamental aspect of human cognition that continues to shape perception and meaning-making in the current socio-political landscape.

By challenging the conventional boundaries of mythological storytelling, the exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on the ways in which contemporary societies continue to construct collective narratives that function as myths—providing explanatory frameworks, establishing cultural values, and creating shared points of reference that bind communities together despite increasing fragmentation and individualisation.

This exhibition offers a compelling exploration of the intersection between art, myth, and society, urging viewers to reconsider how collective memories and identities are formed and communicated in an age of rapid technological and social change. It suggests that mythology is not a static artifact but a dynamic process of cultural production that continues to evolve in response to changing circumstances and needs.

Marcin Napiórkowski's Mitologia współczesna (Contemporary Mythology) offers a sophisticated analysis of how mythological thinking persists in modern Polish society despite ostensible secularisation and rationalisation. By examining everyday phenomena—from the popularity of kebabs to the iconic status of ski jumper Adam Małysz—Napiórkowski demonstrates how seemingly mundane aspects of contemporary life function as repositories of collective meaning that structure social understanding in ways remarkably similar to traditional mythological systems.

Particularly significant is Napiórkowski's focus on charitable events and urban legends, which reveals how modern societies continue to create shared narratives that address fundamental human concerns about community, morality, and the unknown. These contemporary social practices and narratives serve functions remarkably similar to traditional mythology—providing frameworks for understanding complex aspects of experience, reinforcing social bonds, and navigating uncertainty—while adapting to modern contexts and concerns.

The structuralist approach that Napiórkowski employs reveals the underlying patterns that connect contemporary cultural phenomena to traditional mythological thinking. By identifying the persistent structures that shape how societies create meaning, this methodology demonstrates the remarkable continuity in human meaning-making processes despite significant changes in specific content and contexts. This approach challenges simplistic notions of modern rationality by revealing how mythological thinking persists beneath the surface of ostensibly rational modern discourses.

By inviting readers to critically engage with these pervasive myths and their role in shaping perceptions, Napiórkowski's work exemplifies how contemporary academic analysis can itself contribute to more reflective engagement with the mythological dimensions of modern life. Rather than simply debunking modern myths as irrational, this approach recognises their essential function in creating social meaning while encouraging more conscious and critical participation in these shared frameworks. This reflective stance represents an important evolution in how societies engage with their own mythological systems.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), one of Belgium's premier cultural institutions, houses The Fall of Pegasus, Inventory No. 3322/1, a painting by Bill Orix that depicts a dramatic moment from Greek mythology rarely featured in artistic representation.

In classical mythology, Pegasus, the winged horse born from the blood of Medusa after her beheading by Perseus, is most commonly portrayed in his heroic aspects—carrying the thunderbolts of Zeus, helping Bellerophon defeat the Chimera, or creating the Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon with a strike of his hoof. However, the mythology also includes accounts of Pegasus's downfall, which appears to be the subject of Orix's painting.

According to some versions of the myth, Bellerophon, having successfully tamed Pegasus and accomplished various heroic feats with his aid, became arrogant and attempted to fly to Mount Olympus on the winged horse's back. This hubristic act angered Zeus, who sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, causing the horse to buck and throw Bellerophon to his death. Pegasus himself continued to Olympus, where he served Zeus by carrying his thunderbolts.

Alternatively, some accounts describe Pegasus eventually falling from the sky due to the intervention of the gods, perhaps as a consequence of his association with Bellerophon's pride or as part of a separate mythological episode. This fall represents the classic mythological theme of punishment for hubris—the dangerous pride that leads mortals or their allies to transgress divine boundaries.

Orix's painting captures this dramatic moment of divine intervention and consequent fall, illustrating how mythological narratives often served as vehicles for exploring themes of human limitation, divine power, and the consequences of overreaching ambition.

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), one of Belgium's premier cultural institutions dating back to 1810, houses the bronze sculpture Orpheus, Inventory No. 3876, by the renowned modernist sculptor Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967).

This powerful work interprets the mythical Greek musician and poet Orpheus, whose legendary ability to charm all living things with his music made him one of the most enduring figures in Western mythological tradition. Orpheus's journey to the underworld in an attempt to rescue his beloved Eurydice represents one of mythology's most poignant explorations of love, loss, and the limits of human will against fate.

Zadkine, a Russian-born artist who spent most of his career in France, was known for combining cubist abstraction with more traditional figurative elements. His interpretation of Orpheus likely reflects this modernist approach, using dynamic, expressive forms to convey the emotional intensity of the mythological figure. The sculpture would have been created during a period when artists were reinterpreting classical themes through modern aesthetic sensibilities, finding new relevance in ancient narratives.

The choice of bronze as medium provides both permanence and expressive potential, allowing Zadkine to capture the lyrical and tragic nature of Orpheus's story through the plasticity of form. The sculpture exemplifies how mythological subjects continued to inspire artistic innovation throughout the 20th century, providing rich symbolic material for exploring universal human experiences.

This work stands as a testament to mythology's enduring presence in modern artistic expression, demonstrating how ancient narratives provide frameworks for exploring timeless themes of human existence.

Naginės are traditional Baltic leather shoes that represent more than mere footwear—they embody cultural identity, practical knowledge, and the relationship between Baltic peoples and their environment. These handcrafted shoes originated in the rural communities of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, serving as everyday wear for villagers across the region.

Crafted from soft, locally sourced leather, these shoes exemplify the resourcefulness of Baltic rural communities and their ability to create functional items from available materials. Their design prioritises simplicity, durability, and comfort for walking long distances across varied terrain, reflecting the predominantly agricultural lifestyle of historical Baltic societies.

The cultural significance of Naginės extends beyond their practical function. They represent a tangible link to traditional ways of life that have been largely displaced by industrialisation and modernisation. The knowledge of their construction and use constitutes an important element of intangible cultural heritage, preserving techniques and cultural practices that might otherwise be lost.

In contemporary Baltic societies, Naginės have experienced a revival as part of a broader movement to reclaim traditional crafts and cultural practices. Artisans in the region continue to produce these shoes, often adapting traditional designs for modern wearers, demonstrating how cultural artifacts can evolve while maintaining connections to their historical origins.

This resurgence of interest in traditional footwear reflects a wider pattern in which globalised societies seek to preserve distinctive cultural elements as counterpoints to homogenisation, using material culture as a means of maintaining and expressing cultural identity.

"Spotkanie z Warszawą" ("Meeting with Warsaw") represents contemporary Polish musician Monika Brodka's reinterpretation of a 1964 song originally performed by Irena Santor, a leading figure in Polish popular music of the post-war era. This musical reimagining, featured on Brodka's 2021 album BRUT, demonstrates how cultural narratives evolve through artistic reinterpretation across generations.

Brodka's adaptation maintains a connection to the original composition's melodic structure while transforming it through contemporary alternative sensibilities. The accompanying black-and-white video, which Brodka directed herself, features the artist in the symbolic role of the Warsaw Mermaid (Syrenka Warszawska)—the emblematic figure that has represented Poland's capital since at least the 14th century and appears on the city's coat of arms.

Through this visual narrative, Brodka recounts Warsaw's tumultuous history, particularly focusing on the city's resilience and rebuilding after the devastation of World War II, when approximately 85% of the city was destroyed. This historical reference connects contemporary audiences with the collective memory of trauma and renewal that has shaped Warsaw's urban identity.

By embodying the mermaid figure, Brodka places herself within a lineage of cultural symbols that have helped define Warsaw's character through centuries of political upheaval. Her modern reinterpretation demonstrates how mythological figures can be reinvented to speak to contemporary concerns while maintaining their connection to historical narratives.

This project reflects the fluid nature of cultural mythology in contemporary artistic practice, showing how traditional symbols and narratives can be reimagined to create dialogue between past and present, continuity and innovation, in the ongoing construction of urban and national identities.

The Heritage Foundation, established in 1973 as a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., represents a significant force in shaping American political discourse through strategic narrative construction. Its influence extends beyond traditional policy analysis to include the deliberate crafting of compelling national narratives that resonate with specific segments of the American electorate.

Operating at the intersection of policy development and ideological promotion, the Foundation serves a dual function: providing detailed policy recommendations while simultaneously framing these proposals within broader narratives about American identity and values. Central to its mission is advocacy for limited government, free-market economics, and traditional social values, positioned as foundational principles essential for national prosperity and success.

One of the most significant examples of the Foundation's narrative-shaping capacity emerged during the Reagan administration with its influential Mandate for Leadership, a comprehensive policy agenda that profoundly influenced the government's approach to conservative governance in the 1980s. This initiative helped establish Heritage not merely as a policy research organisation but as a mythmaker, crafting visions of America as a land of opportunity and strength while framing progressive policies as existential threats to national vitality.

The Foundation's role in shaping modern conservative thought continues today through ambitious initiatives like Project 2025, which aims to advance a comprehensive conservative vision for governance, emphasising themes of national restoration in response to perceived social and political decline. By embedding policy proposals within narratives of American exceptionalism, self-reliance, and moral clarity, Heritage effectively engages with its audience's desire for purpose and direction in uncertain times.

This approach exemplifies how contemporary political organisations function as modern mythology creators, developing narrative frameworks that explain current circumstances, predict future outcomes, and prescribe solutions based on specific value systems and interpretations of national identity and purpose.

Eoin Cantwell's thesis on Hipster Republicanism and the Rebranding of Sinn Féin examines Ireland's changing relationship with republican identity and how traditional political mythologies adapt to contemporary cultural, aesthetic and digital contexts.

By analysing Sinn Féin's transformation from a political pariah associated with paramilitary violence to a mainstream political force, Cantwell illuminates how political movements respond to changing social and political circumstances by selectively reframing historical narratives while maintaining narrative continuity with established traditions.

Cantwell examines how a reemergence of young Irish republicanism offers a compelling case study in the evolution of political mythology through cultural and political adaptation. By blending modern sensibilities with romanticised notions of Irish republicanism, Sinn Féin has created visual and narrative frameworks that appeal to younger demographics while maintaining connection to historical political traditions. This strategic repositioning exemplifies how political movements navigate the tension between historical authenticity and contemporary relevance.

Parallels with broader cultural phenomena illustrate how political mythologies operate across multiple domains simultaneously. Two patterns emerge: first, a resurgence of traditional Irish culture embraced by younger generations as relevant and authentic; second, the mainstreaming of previously polarizing Republican bands like the Wolfe Tones. These cultural expressions reveal national narratives as contested sites rather than neutral historical accounts. Contemporary political identities thus form through ongoing reinterpretation of shared historical references, not rigid ideological positions. Meanwhile, newer folk acts like Lankum and The Mary Wallopers adopt more apolitical stances while still drawing on and reinventing more traditional forms.

Sinn Féin's sophisticated digital strategy—leveraging memes, merchandise, and social media—demonstrates how traditional political narratives adapt to new media environments. By creating simplified, commodified versions of complex historical narratives, these approaches make political mythologies accessible to audiences without detailed historical knowledge. This strategic simplification exemplifies how contemporary political movements navigate tensions between historical complexity and the need for accessible messaging, often prioritising emotional resonance over historical nuance. The broader cultural moment shaped by Brexit, changing demographics, and evolving national identities creates context in which these reimagined republican symbols acquire new significance while maintaining connections to established political traditions.

Seven Ages: The Story of the Irish Stateis a landmark documentary series produced in 2000 by Araby Productions for RTÉ and BBC Northern Ireland. Directed by Seán Ó Mórdha, this influential seven-part series chronicles Ireland's evolution since its founding in 1921 through key political, social, and cultural moments in history.

The series offers a comprehensive exploration of how Ireland, as a new nation-state, evolved a collective identity over its first seven decades. The shared national narrative, initially framed by founding leaders, evolved through a dynamic interplay of internal and external socio-economic-cultural forces. It reveals the complex process through which societies construct and sustain their sense of collective self

Episode 3 explores how Ireland's neutrality during World War II represents a fascinating case study in how nations craft narratives of exceptionalism during global crisis. The mythology of resilient independence that emerged during this period reveals the complex relationship between national storytelling and political decision-making, showing how countries often mythologise pragmatic choices to align them with grand historical narratives.

Seán Ó Mórdha's documentary series presents Ireland's wartime experience as a critical moment in its identity formation, illustrating how the decision to remain neutral—controversial internationally but broadly supported domestically—was incorporated into a larger narrative of Irish sovereignty and self-determination. This process reflects the universal tendency of societies to create cohesive stories that make sense of complex political realities.

Each episode examines pivotal moments in Ireland's development, revealing how national mythologies are not merely decorative but fundamentally constitutive of political reality. The series features perspectives from influential Irish figures including former Presidents and Taoisigh, offering unique insights into how national narratives are shaped by those who simultaneously create and are created by them.

By analysing the delicate balance between historical contingency and narrative construction, the series provides a sophisticated framework for understanding how societies integrate challenging periods into their collective identity. First broadcast in 2000, Seven Ages remains an invaluable resource for examining how national mythologies evolve to incorporate even the most difficult historical circumstances into a coherent story of national purpose and character.

Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Samhain (Halloween)
The festival of Samhain has long been regarded as a pivotal moment in the Irish ritual calendar, marking the transition from light to darkness and the threshold of winter. This ancient Celtic observance, occurring on the eve of 31st October, represents one of the most significant seasonal boundaries in the traditional Irish worldview.

Samhain is characterised by traditions of heightened supernatural activity, the return of ancestral spirits, and practices of divination and disguise. It embodies a liminal period when normal rules and behaviours are temporarily suspended, allowing mischief, mystery, and ritual to take centre stage in community life. This suspension of ordinary constraints reflects a broader pattern found in festival traditions worldwide, where established social orders are temporarily inverted or relaxed.

In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis, produced by Ireland's National Folklore Collection, Jonny Dillon is joined by special guest Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn, a folklorist, archaeologist, author, and lecturer known for his expertise on Irish ritual and tradition. Dr. Mag Fhloinn has contributed to international productions by the BBC, PBS, and National Geographic Channel, and his 2016 book, Blood Rite: The Feast of St. Martin in Ireland, explores another key festival in Irish folklore.

Together, they delve into the rich lore surrounding Samhain, discussing its enduring significance in Irish cultural memory and the ways it continues to resonate in both historical and contemporary contexts. The programme examines how this ancient festival, with its emphasis on the thinning of boundaries between worlds, provides insight into traditional Irish conceptions of time, space, and the relationship between the living and the dead.

Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Fairy Forts
Across the Irish countryside, scattered through fields, valleys, and forgotten corners, lie countless earthwork mounds, cairns, and tumuli—relics of early human habitation dating back to prehistoric times. These ancient sites have acquired profound supernatural significance over centuries, regarded in folk tradition as the dwellings of Na Daoine Maithe (The Good People), a euphemistic term for fairies in Irish folklore.

Far removed from the whimsical fairies of Victorian imagination or contemporary popular culture, these beings were conceptualised as an ancient, otherworldly community that coexisted with humans within the natural landscape. Both feared and revered, they were believed to wield considerable influence over human lives, capable of bestowing both blessings and curses. Their ambiguous nature—neither entirely benevolent nor wholly malicious—reflects the complex relationship between Irish rural communities and the unpredictable forces of nature.

In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis from Ireland's National Folklore Collection, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon explore the rich history and intricate role of fairies in Irish tradition. Their discussion challenges popular misconceptions, uncovering the origins, habitats, and rituals associated with these enigmatic beings. By examining connections to fallen angels, pre-Christian deities, and nature spirits, the episode traces how various cultural and religious influences shaped beliefs about the fairy world.

The enduring belief in fairy forts and reluctance to disturb them—even well into the 20th century and occasionally persisting today—demonstrates how mythological narratives can influence practical behaviour and land use over remarkable time spans. These sites became focal points where abstract beliefs manifested in concrete interactions with the landscape, creating spatially defined areas where ordinary rules were suspended.

This exploration reveals how mythological beliefs function not merely as entertaining stories but as frameworks for interpreting the environment, explaining misfortune, and maintaining connections to ancestral landscapes.

Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Séala
This episode of Blúiríní Béaloidis explores how seals have inspired a rich tradition of Irish coastal folklore that blurs boundaries between natural and supernatural realms. Tracing diverse beliefs about these creatures—variously seen as enchanted beings, fallen angels, or reincarnated fishermen—host Jonny Dillon and guest Ailbe van der Heide reveal how these traditions functioned as sophisticated frameworks for understanding the relationship between human communities and their natural environment.

The association of specific Irish families (Coneelys, O'Kanes, Dowds, O'Sheas, Gallaghers) with seal ancestry through mythological marriages between mortals and seal-people demonstrates how folklore connected human lineages to the natural world. These narratives of interspecies relationships reflect a worldview that understood humans as participants in, rather than separate from, natural systems. The recurring motif of mortal men discovering and marrying seal-women, only to lose them when they reclaim their magical cloaks, reflects universal patterns of temporary transcendence and inevitable separation found in folklore worldwide.

Seals' liminal characteristics—their ability to inhabit both land and sea, their seemingly human-like expressions, their haunting vocalisations—made them ideal vehicles for exploring the boundaries between known and unknown realms. As creatures existing at the interface between worlds, they provided coastal communities with frameworks for conceptualising their own relationship to the mysterious and sometimes dangerous marine environment upon which their livelihoods depended.

The podcast's journey around Ireland's coasts and islands to explore these stories demonstrates how geographical features themselves became repositories of cultural memory through associated narratives. By examining traditions that "blur the boundaries between nature and culture, appearance and reality," this episode illuminates how folkloric traditions provided coastal communities with sophisticated ecological knowledge embedded within mythological frameworks. These traditions represent not primitive misunderstandings but complex cultural adaptations that helped human communities navigate their relationship with a challenging and mysterious natural environment.

<p>Praamžius  occupies a fundamental position in Lithuanian mythology, particularly within  creation myths and the structure of the ancient pantheon. The name itself,  translating to <em>"Eternal"</em> or  <em>"Primordial,"</em> underscores this deity's  foundational status in Baltic cosmology as an originating creative force that  precedes and underlies existence itself.</p><p>Unlike the  anthropomorphic depictions common to many mythological traditions, Praamžius  is primarily conceptual, representing universal principles rather than  appearing in a defined physical form. This abstract quality reflects a  sophisticated theological understanding that transcends simple  personification of natural forces.</p><p>In mythological  narratives, Praamžius is portrayed as the originator of all life, determining  fundamental destinies while allowing beings to shape their external  attributes through their will—a nuanced concept that balances predestination  with free will. The mythology depicts Praamžius contending with opposing  forces like devils (<em>Velnias</em>), nymphs  (<em>Laumės</em>), witches, and selfish beings, reflecting his  role as a guardian of cosmic order against chaotic or destructive  elements.</p><p>The mythology positions him at the head of a  divine hierarchy, influencing narratives about celestial bodies (the Sun,  Moon), his son Perkūnas (the thunder god), winds, giants, and other  mythological figures. These interconnected stories extend into various folk  traditions including legends, fairy tales, and songs, revealing Praamžius as  the central axis around which Lithuanian mythological cycles  revolve.</p><p>While original narratives about Praamžius often  incorporate Christian influences, demonstrating the syncretism between  indigenous beliefs and later religious traditions, he remains a profound  symbol of cosmic order and creative power in Lithuanian cultural  memory.</p>

Ana Torfs' Echolalia exhibition, hosted at WIELS, Brussels in 2014, offers a sophisticated exploration of language as both a communicative tool and a perpetual source of misunderstanding. Through six visual installations created over a five-year period, Torfs examines how meaning shifts as words move across contexts, languages, and media—a process that parallels the transmission and transformation of mythological narratives throughout human history.

The exhibition's title itself invokes both linguistic development and pathology—the repetitive speech of a learning child or a compulsive condition—suggesting that repetition serves simultaneously as a means of mastering language and as evidence of its limitations. This duality mirrors the way cultural myths function: through repetition they become embedded in collective consciousness, yet each retelling subtly alters their form and meaning.

Torfs' work reveals how language, like mythology, exists at the intersection of precision and ambiguity. Her installations demonstrate that translation—between languages, between word and image, between past and present—inevitably transforms meaning while attempting to preserve it. This paradox lies at the heart of mythological transmission across generations and cultures, where essential narratives persist while details evolve to remain relevant to changing contexts.

By creating an alternative narrative of Western cultural history through these installations, Torfs engages in a form of mythmaking herself—selecting, rearranging, and recontextualising cultural elements to create new meaning. Her work thus serves as both an analysis of how cultural narratives function and a demonstration of the process itself, inviting viewers to recognise their own participation in the continuous reinterpretation of shared stories that shapes our understanding of reality.

This educational resource pack, developed by the National Library of Ireland, introduces secondary school students to the rich relationship between W.B. Yeats (1865-1939)—one of Ireland's most significant literary figures—and the traditional folklore that profoundly influenced his poetic imagination. Drawing on the Library's extensive Yeats collection, it provides students with a structured approach to exploring how mythological narratives shaped literary expression in the Irish Revival period.

The lesson materials guide pupils through an examination of primary and secondary sources from the National Library's holdings, encouraging critical engagement with Yeats's creative process and his adaptation of folk motifs. By investigating how traditional fairytales and folklore informed Yeats's poetry, students gain insight into the dynamic relationship between oral tradition and literary innovation during a formative period in Ireland's cultural development.

W.B. Yeats's engagement with Irish folklore was not merely aesthetic but deeply political, emerging during a period of cultural nationalism when the recovery and celebration of indigenous traditions became integral to the assertion of Irish identity. Alongside figures like Lady Gregory and Douglas Hyde, Yeats participated in collecting and reinterpreting folk narratives, believing they contained spiritual and psychological truths essential to understanding the Irish character.

The featured illustration by Victor Brown, depicting an extract from Yeats's "The Song of Wandering Aengus," visually represents this synthesis of literary craft and mythological source material. This poem, with its references to the supernatural and its evocation of Ireland's mystical landscape, exemplifies how Yeats transformed traditional motifs into modern literary expression.

This educational resource demonstrates the continuing significance of examining how cultural memory is preserved, transmitted, and transformed through artistic expression, encouraging students to consider how traditional narratives maintain relevance through creative reinterpretation.

Bluiríní Béaloidis is a podcast from the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin. It explores the rich landscape of Irish and European folk traditions. Each episode journeys through diverse cultural narratives, revealing how understanding our traditional heritage can illuminate our present and guide our future. By uncovering the stories, beliefs, and practices embedded in folklore, the podcast invites listeners to discover the depth and complexity of our shared cultural inheritance.

Peig Sayers
"Long as the day is, night comes, and alas, the night is coming for me too... Someone else will have pastime out of my work when I'm gone on the way of truth. A person here and a person there will say, maybe, 'Who was that Peig Sayers?' but poor Peig will be the length of their shout from them."

This poignant quote from Peig Sayers (1873-1958) captures both her awareness of mortality and her understanding of how storytellers live on through their narratives. For this episode of Blúiríní Béaloidis, hosts from Ireland's National Folklore Collection dedicate their exploration to a single remarkable individual whose life exemplifies the power and significance of the oral tradition.

Mairéad 'Peig' Sayers stands as one of Ireland's most significant tradition bearers, known for her masterful storytelling that expressed "the wisdom of the many in the wit of the few." Born on the mainland but married into the isolated Blasket Islands community off Ireland's southwest coast, Peig preserved hundreds of folk tales, songs, prayers, and poems that might otherwise have been lost.

Ironically, as noted by scholar Irene Lucchitti, Peig's printed autobiographies later "experienced a decline in reputation, suffering critical disdain and schoolyard ridicule" when they became required reading in Irish schools. This mixed reception reflects the complex relationship between oral tradition and literary representation, and between lived experience and cultural symbolism.

Nearly sixty-five years after her death, this programme aims to reintroduce Peig to new audiences who might find in her storytelling a source of insight and inspiration. By examining her life and work, we gain understanding of how individual tradition bearers serve as crucial links in the chain of cultural transmission, adapting ancient narratives to speak to contemporary concerns while preserving their essential power.

These Baltic brass scarf pins, known as fibulae, exemplify how functional objects in traditional societies simultaneously served practical, social, and symbolic purposes. Inspired by archaeological findings throughout the Baltic region, such pins reveal sophisticated understanding of how material culture could express cultural identity and cosmic alignment.

As essential fasteners for garments, fibulae fulfilled crucial practical functions in daily life. However, their elaborate designs and careful execution demonstrate that Baltic peoples saw no contradiction between utility and symbolic expression. Instead, necessary objects provided opportunities to embed cultural values and cosmological understanding in the material environment, creating constant visual reminders of collective narratives and beliefs.

The intricate patterns adorning these pins would have communicated multiple layers of information to knowledgeable observers—potentially including social status, regional affiliation, and spiritual alignment. This multi-dimensional functionality illustrates how pre-modern societies integrated practical, social, and metaphysical concerns within unified symbolic systems rather than separating them into distinct domains.

Archaeological findings of such items provide valuable insights into the aesthetics and values of Baltic cultures, preserving visible evidence of otherwise intangible aspects of historical worldviews. The contemporary production of pins inspired by these ancient designs demonstrates how material symbols maintain cultural significance even when detached from their original belief contexts, serving as tangible connections to ancestral traditions and collective memory. These seemingly modest objects thus function as repositories of cultural continuity, linking past and present through persistent symbolic forms.

James Ensor's abstract painting Various Monsters exemplifies how modern artists continued to explore mythological themes through new aesthetic approaches that responded to changing intellectual and social contexts. This work, part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp's collection, demonstrates Ensor's distinctive ability to blend humour with macabre elements, creating visual experiences that address profound human concerns through seemingly fantastical imagery.

Ensor's exploration of monstrous figures connects his work to a rich tradition of hybrid and liminal beings in mythology across cultures. However, his abstract treatment of these forms represents a distinctly modern approach—creating visual experiences that function symbolically rather than narratively, evoking psychological states rather than illustrating specific stories. This evolution from narrative to symbolic representation demonstrates how mythological thinking adapted to modern artistic frameworks that emphasised subjective experience over shared narrative.

The vibrant colours and imaginative forms in this work exemplify Ensor's unique position within European modernism—drawing on traditional symbolic motifs while developing highly personal visual language that influenced subsequent artistic movements. His fascination with grotesque imagery provided a means of exploring human anxiety and social hypocrisy through displaced symbolic forms that maintained connection to folkloric and mythological traditions while addressing distinctly modern psychological and social concerns.

This painting's preservation in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp reflects ongoing cultural interest in understanding how traditional mythological concerns evolved through modern artistic innovation. Rather than representing complete rupture with earlier symbolic traditions, Ensor's monsters demonstrate how modern art maintained connections to mythological thinking while developing new visual languages appropriate to changed social and intellectual circumstances. The work thus exemplifies how mythological elements persisted in modern artistic imagination, adapted to address contemporary psychological and social realities through innovative formal approaches.

Talking History offers a distinctive exploration of pivotal political, social and cultural events that have shaped our world, examining the complex figures central to these historical moments. Hosted by Dr Patrick Geoghegan of Trinity College Dublin, this programme interrogates the multifaceted, often contested dimensions of our collective past, illuminating what these historical narratives reveal about contemporary society.

WB Yeats & The Occult
A century after W.B. Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, this episode of RTÉ's Talking History hosted by Dr. Patrick Geoghegan brings together distinguished scholars to examine the complex interplay between Yeats's literary achievements, his political engagements, and his lifelong fascination with the occult. This multifaceted exploration illuminates how these seemingly disparate elements combined to produce one of the 20th century's most significant literary voices.

The panel features remarkable scholarly expertise, including Dr. Adrian Paterson from the University of Galway, Dr. Lucy Collins from University College Dublin, and Professor Roy Foster from the University of Oxford, who authored the definitive two-volume biography of Yeats. They are joined by Professor Margaret Harper, Glucksman Professor in Contemporary Writing at the University of Limerick and former Director of the Yeats International Summer School, and Susan O'Keeffe, Director of the Yeats Society Sligo.

Their discussion reveals how Yeats's involvement with esoteric traditions—from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to spiritualism and automatic writing—was not peripheral to his literary work but central to his understanding of symbolism, imagination, and cultural renewal. The Tattwa Cards mentioned in the caption, which Yeats created during his membership in the Golden Dawn, represent physical evidence of how seriously he engaged with occult practices as tools for accessing deeper realities beyond ordinary perception.

This occult dimension of Yeats's work was intimately connected to his vision of Irish cultural nationalism. The mythological and supernatural elements he incorporated into his poetry and plays were part of a conscious effort to construct a distinctively Irish literary tradition that could stand apart from English influences while connecting to broader European cultural movements.

The centenary of Yeats's Nobel Prize provides an opportunity to reconsider how his integration of occult symbolism, mythological narratives, and political engagement produced a body of work that continues to resonate globally while remaining deeply rooted in Irish cultural experience.