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David Halpin

David Halpin is a writer from Carlow, Ireland. He compiles local folklore and documents alignments between ancient monuments near his home in Ireland, and is a regular contributor to Ancient Origins and various Fortean and occult websites. Join him for virtual and physical guided tours of ancient Irish sites at @CircleStoriesDavidHalpin

David can be contacted on Twitter: Occult Book Review  @OccultReview

History

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8 years 10 months
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Posts

The hidden mysteries and ancient understandings of Tarot and the Bembine tablet.

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

How old is the Tarot? This is a question that seems easy to answer today. As playing cards, we can confidently map the Tarot to the early 15th century. Mystery solved? Well, it’s not quite that...
The Village Funeral by Daniel MacDonald (Public Domain)

Howling The Horror Of Loss: Keening And Death Lament Of The Irish

“ Bríg came and keened for her son. At first she shrieked, in the end she wept. Then for the first time weeping and lamentation were heard in Ireland .” The quotation comes from the ancient Irish...
Baltinglass Stones – connected to Turkey’s Gobkeli Tepe?

Baltinglass Hill: Ireland’s Forgotten Gobekli Tepi?

Resting high upon the hills of Wicklow lies buried one of the most remarkable Neolithic sites in all of Europe. Strangely, even today many people are unaware of its existence. Baltinglass Hill is one...
Mysterious man on a creepy night. Who really killed the King?

Who Killed the King? An Ancient Irish Murder Mystery

It might almost be a shocking moment from a Shakespeare play or even a plot-line from Game of Thrones, but the murder of an ancient Irish king, Crimthann mac Énnai, is an event which actually took...
Deriv; Ancient Celtic dolmen from Poulnabrone, Ireland and carved Egyptian deity Thoth

Thoth’s Storm: New Evidence for Ancient Egyptians in Ireland?

When ancient Egypt and Ireland are spoken about in the same breath it usually results in the rolling of eyes, polite exits and the sound of murmurs citing pseudo-history and new age babble. At least...
The Wind by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1746) Pallazo Labia (Public Domain)

Beware the Fate of the Fairy Winds

In many folk tales from around the world there are accounts of a midwife who is taken by fairies to help with a birth. Apart from the overall otherworldly nature of these tales, the mode of transport...
A man alone in a faerie realm.

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...
Gothic queen in red dress doing magic

Ancient Women Shamans of Ireland: Healers, Priestesses and Diviners

All around the world many of the oldest ceremonial megalithic sites are associated with women shamans and oracular tradition and prophecy. A good example of this is Napta Playa which was linked to...
 Half-man, half-supernatural being living in nature

The Darker Side of Irish Fairy Lore: When Encounters Turn Dangerous

When we think of fairies many of the more popular tales tend to have an almost playful nature but it would be wrong to assume that this is means that fairies are always benign. Many accounts within...
 Women shaman of Ireland in trance - magic rotates the leaves.

Ancient Women Shaman of Ireland: Goddesses of Prophecy and Omens

The Celtic scholar Nora Chadwick notes that in Irish mythology the prophetess Fedelm tells Queen Medb that she has been in the land of Alba learning the art of the Filidect. Medb asks if she has...
Petronilla de Meath was Ireland’s first recorded witch burning.

Pity for Petronilla de Meath: Ireland’s First Witch Burning

There is a famous Jonathan Swift quote about how the law impacts upon the rich and poor in unequal measure which reads, “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets...
The Miracle of the Sun, 1917: Ancient Angels at Fatima? The Possible Common Origins of Star Gods

The Miracle of the Sun, 1917: Ancient Angels at Fatima? The Possible Common Origins of Star Gods

If the apparitions which are said to have been witnessed at Fatima in 1917 had taken place centuries earlier they might have been described as Fairy encounters or visions of spirits and demons. Today...
Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Even today, giving birth can be one of the most dangerous moments in a woman's life. In ancient times it would have been even more so. Matriarchal societies would have tried to ensure the safest...
The wolf howls against the moon.

Howling Against the Moon: The Last Wolves of Ireland

The man followed the tracks through the snow. His hound sniffed eagerly, almost pulling the leash from the man’s grasp. The wolf was not far ahead of them. Through a break in the clouds a full moon...