READINGS | carlamartinwood

A reading from

The Witch on Yellowhammer Hill

In which I am An Cailleach Bhéara*

Lilith

Crone's Counsel

The Visitor

Just for fun:

Below is the song of a Hermit Thrush, one of which lives near my home. Enjoy!

Poems and readings by Carla Martin-Wood are Copyright 2016, Carla Martin-Wood. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form, published, recorded, performed, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without explicit written permission of Carla Martin-Wood. All such actions are strictly prohibited under law and will be prosecuted.

*An Cailleach Bhéara is Goddess of Creation in Irish myth. She is most ancient of beings. Some stories say that when she grows very old, if she can make it to the river to renew before she hears a dog bark, she will be made young again. It is a winter/spring or death/resurrection myth. There is a story of a priest – some say St. Patrick – who found her and demanded to know her age. She told him to go to the attic and count the bones he found there, remnants of things she’d eaten over millennia. When he returned from the attic, he found her changed, a young woman in her place. Her sister Goddess is Brighid, the Healer. As I grow older, I find there is in all elder women a young woman, still. My reflection always surprises me. And in that sense, I think we all become An Cailleach Bhéara.