David Halpin

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 simple. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"51704","attributes":{"alt":"Tarot card – The Hanged Man, 15th century. (Public Domain)","class":"media-image","height":"632","style":"width: 315px; height: 632px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"315"}}]] Tarot card – The Hanged Man, 15th century. ( Public Domain) Get a card reading at timesunion.com Ancient Wisdom and Seeing the Future The Tarot deck consists of two parts: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana, and it is within the Major Arcana where a much more ancient symbolism may lie. For many, the occult tradition of the Major Arcana originates from the work of a Swiss Freemason, Antoine Court

“ 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 text, Lebor Gabála Érenn, or The Book of Invasions, and describes what has been referred to as the first keening cry heard in Ireland. Brigid, seeing her dead son, is overcome by grief and begins to wail and cry in what would become a keen. The term ‘keening’ originates from the Gaelic caoineadh which means ‘to cry’. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"97252","attributes":{"alt":"The Aran Fisherman's Drowned Child by Frederic William Burton, which appears to show paid keening women in the doorway (1851)(Public Domain)","class":"media-image","height":"699","style":"width: 500px; height: 571px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"612"}}]] The Aran Fisherman's

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 of the world’s most important archaeological sites consisting of what many believe to be an ancient observatory, a ruined stone circle, and structures which up until recently were called ‘tombs’ but are now much more likely to be ceremonial sites aligning the earth to the stars. There are also structures and huge rectangular pillar-type slabs protruding from the earth around the ruins, some containing carvings which cannot be seen properly because they are still buried. These unexamined stones stretch across and down through the fields and

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 place over 1500 years ago. Most sources state that it was Crimthann’s grandson, the unsubtly-named ‘Eochaid the Slayer’ who carried out the deed, but there is the possibility that there was another who had more reason to seek Crimthann’s death. This is an ancient Irish murder-mystery with familial and tribal intrigues — a dramatic yet often overlooked moment in Ireland’s past. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"40801","attributes":{"alt":"An illustration of two axe-wielding Irishmen from Royal MS 13 B VIII (Topographia Hibernica).","class":"media-image","height":"588","style":"width: 610px; height: 588px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"610"}}]] An illustration of two axe-wielding Irishmen

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, that used to be the case. Recent discoveries in DNA research have added to already verified archaeological finds to present a scenario that is now more difficult to dismiss. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"87164","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"407","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"610"}}]] Lia Fáil, also known as the Coronation Stone or Stone of Destiny, was an important ritual component in the coronation of ancient High Kings of Ireland. (JohnJDuncan / CC BY-SA 4.0) The Hill of Tara is one of Ireland’s most ancient sacred sites. It is surrounded by many other Neolithic earthworks and tombs and although commonly

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 is one which is often overlooked; that of the fairy wind. This wind seems to have a property whereby it can move between the human world and fairy world. It is, in some respects, able to part the dimensional curtains, so to speak, and not just a way to carry a body over the land and mountains. In some of the accounts the fairy wind can also effect time for the person caught in its pull, as if the wind contains within itself

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, Sky Shamans of Mongolia, Kevin Turner tells us that the three worlds or realms of the Mongolian Darkhad shaman don’t consist of a traditional upper, middle, and lower world but are instead overlapping dimensional realities, more in line with a holographic outlook. These places are populated by deities, spirits, and ancestors. In Irish lore it is the land of Tir na Nog where a race of supernatural beings is said to reside, although this otherworld adapts itself to incorporate the afterlife, the Summerland of Wicca, as well as

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 Hathor and her priestesses. These shamanic women, known as The Prophets of Hathor, practiced divination and magic. A Hathor priest could also be a man, although many of the duties such as childbirth, fertility, and specific types of magic were the responsibility of women only. Feminine Energy Abounds at the Temple of Tentyra This tradition later migrated into Egypt and the Temple of Tentyra at Dendera, where it is said the site was chosen because of its already existing feminine energy. Infamously, the temple was later vandalized