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IN THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Irish songcarrier Sionnáin offers an ode to the Cailleach called “The Wise One.”

This is the second installment in our Myth Workers & Culture Makers series and includes a deep, powerful conversation about ancient tradition and living lore.

OUR GUEST

Sionnáin is a singer, songwriter & musician from the West of Ireland. Her path has guided her into gathering both traditional and channeled songs from the landscape of Éire.

She lives and breathes the sounds of the land, offering them up as prayers, woven with raw edges, soundscapes and the great depths of the ancient places that shape her journey.

Find her on IG at shannonsoulsounds. There, you'll find another gorgeous version of "The Wise One," including beautiful visusals.

Learn about Sionnáin’s upcoming program: The Descent:Dreaming with the Cailleach & Rising with Brigid

Contact her at shannonsoulsounds@gmail.com 

OUR CONVERSATION

• The song, “The Wise One,” was born beside the fire at the Paps of Anu in County Kerry. 
• The Cailleach is the wise old woman, the sacred hag, grandmother essence, and according to some traditions in Éire and Alba (Scotland), the goddess who created the land itself. Cailleach is rooted in contrast - she is strong and fierce, but also soft and nurturing.
• Caoineadh - the ancient Irish lament tradition (Anglicized as “keen”). The mná chaointe, keening women who would perform the ritual of grief at the wake. For more: visit Mary McLaughlin, a scholar and keeper of the wisdom of the tradition.
• The legacy of grief related to An tOcras Mór or An Gorta Mor, the famine or the Great Hunger.
• The conscious choice to open and receive the ancestors, the songs, the magic
• Tuam: the Galway town and site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home from 1925-1961, where the remains of 796 babies were found in a disused septic tank. 
• Ireland’s Samhain community traditions that were about sharing and visiting, rather than the commercialized version we have today.

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

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