Episode 9: The Irish Hare

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 This episode explores the Irish hare’s deep roots in Irish cultural and sovereignty tradition, from its place in the inaugural feast of the kings of Tara to its connection with the cailleach in the sovereignty kingship tales documented by Shane Lehane in Charms, Charmers and Charming in Ireland (2019). The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) is Ireland’s oldest surviving land mammal, here before the postglacial forests and before human settlement, and the tradition’s treatment of it as the oldest wild thing on the island is borne out by the geological record.

 This Episode’s Practice: The Threshold Survey

Each morning, before you step fully into your day, stand at your threshold, at an open door if possible, or a window if not. Rise up to your full height and look out toward the furthest point you can see. Hold your gaze there for one slow, deliberate breath.

Name where you’re standing, out loud: the county you’re in, the nearest water or landmark you know, and the season as you’re feeling it this particular morning.

Then say:

Giorria (pronounced: GIRR-ya) — the hare, the short deer, the oldest wild thing on this island.

Fiadh (pronounced: FEE-ah) — the wild itself, the root the hare’s name comes from.

Beir Bua (pronounced: BARE BOO-ah) — take victory.

Step across your threshold into your day.

This is an acknowledgment practice, not a petition. You’re naming what was here before you and placing yourself in right relationship to it before you move.

 Irish Terms in This Episode

Giorria (GIRR-ya) — hare; compound of gearr (short) and fhiadh (wild animal/deer)

Fiadh (FEE-ah) — the wild; the root word connecting the hare to the sovereignty deer tradition

Fiannaíocht (FEEN-ee-ukht) — the cycle of stories about Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna

Cailleach (KAL-yukh) — sovereignty figure of the land in Irish tradition, associated particularly with the harvest season

Beir Bua (BARE BOO-ah) — take victory; the closing phrase of this practice

 Sources

Shane Lehane, ‘The Cailleach and the Cosmic Hare’, in Charms, Charmers and Charming in Ireland (2019), pp. 181–215

A. Breatnach, ‘The Lady and the King: A Theme of Irish Literature’, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 42/167 (1953), 321–36 (via Lehane)

Lady Jane Wilde, Irish Cures, Mystic Charms and Superstitions (1888)

National Folklore Collection, Schools’ Collection (via Lehane)

 Living Irish Witchcraft is hosted by Rev. Lora O’Brien, MA. Find more at irishpaganschool.ie