The clergymen in Docs 1 and 2 form a minor group based on their religious beliefs. The account of Brother Giovanni di Carlo of Florence in 1468 (Doc 1) shows the goodwill and the generally positive expression of festivals in the late fifteenth century (“portrayal was…so good”, “It was truly lovely”). The Dominican monk expresses a pious, reverent attitude toward his subjects. The sons and father display morality and family ties so coveted by the teachings of the church during that time. In contrast, during the Protestant Reformation, Protestant priests such as Rusow (Doc 2) criticize the very existence of rituals and festivals, reflecting the ideals of Lutheranism at the time (“What disorder…idolatry took place there!”). Generally, the festivals originated religiously and spiritually but were later rejected by other clergymen such as Rusow and Protestants overall.

Objective commenters on the practice of festivals and rituals in Europe compose of the authors of Docs 4, 5, and 6. They are less biased in their point of view on the customs and thus prove to be more reliable. In Doc 4, Taylor censures the festivals developing in the early seventeenth century as opposed to the positive view in Doc 1 by referencing violence and a “quarrel breaking a thousand windows.” However, unlike the Lutheran pastor in Doc 2, he regards the festival as a condemnation and “contempt of justice.” Also in support of Doc 3’s satirical portrayal of a “Battle,” during the late sixteenth century festivals were disorganized and even vicious. Docs 5 and 6, although also written objectively, manifest more optimistic viewpoints than Taylor does. Lassels (Doc 5) procures a neutral but approving stance on the custom, while Bourne (Doc 6) wholeheartedly embraces the festivals in the early eighteenth century, emphasizing “equal freedom,” showing that the festivals are not as disorderly then in comparison to the ones observed by Brueghel and Taylor (Docs 3, 4). “The servant and his master are alike” and “they sit at the same table…without difference or distinction” portray the outgoing, socially equivalent nature of celebrations during the time period. Ironically, only half a century from the date of Bourne’s comment in Doc 6 (1725), American colonies would revolt against Britain for the same stated reason. The writers in these documents hold a number of and even polarized views, and although Taylor and Bourne both originate from the English Isles, they hold opposite views on the value of festivals and customs.

A third grouping of critique of festivals involves small-scale social reformation and stabilization in the forms of “charivari” and public punishment. Doc 7 refers to a minor but lengthy social protest recorded by a police officer, occurring two decades after the Napoleonic Wars. The demonstrators extend the principle of “charivari” beyond the local sense, using the local custom as a basis with which to build upon. Doc 8 explains the custom of “riding stang” (“charivari”) to a friend whom Gaskell might be more overt with in expressing her personal opinions, while Doc 9 calls for and recommends action against abuse. This is clearly a popular theme in the early nineteenth century as the theme has been incorporated into a song. In Doc 10 a woman picks berries too early in the year and is thus subject to public embarrassment and ridicule, and although written by an official, Doc 10 is generally factual and unbiased. The final documents show that in the later years, during the nineteenth century, the purpose of “festivals” was almost to edify the people and served as public punishment.

The transformation from religious custom to general celebration to local practice exemplifies that the traditional rituals and customs in Europe played a wide variety of roles over the centuries. Three main groups with varying but comparable opinions on the festivals include the early clergymen, the writers, and the locals. The religious and social customs, beyond affecting only Europe, affect both American continents as well, as Europe would colonize most of it. These festivals affected commoners’ lives to varying degrees.

Could it be that one reason many of these people were accused of this was lack of understanding? People who suffered from epilepsy were belived by many to be possessed by the devil, simply because of how they appeared whilst fitting. And then branded witches due to their fits being seen as demon possession. This is so sad that people who were seen as different or had special needs were seen as evil and killed because of being different.

Really makes you think how awfull it must of been in those days, to be killed for being something that simply does not exsist! and people actually believed that these people cou

Our family were living near the seaside at the time and it was during a late evening stroll along the beach that I first encountered a group of people in their twenties, sat near a little camp fire on the edge of the beach, all in a circle around something.  Usually you might see kids sharing a bottle of cider or roasting some fish they had caught, but I wondered what these ones were up to as they seemed to be chanting or murmuring low.  I didn’t want to go over to them to see, but came a little nearer, straining my ear to hear what they were saying.  A girl was quietly saying something that sounded like “If there is anyone there make contact,” and I guessed that they were having some kind of seance or something, and since that sort of thing spooked me I just continued on my way.  I didn’t think any of them had noticed me pass until a few weeks later.

When I finished my school day, I went home and changed my clothes and went out to deliver the Belfast Telegraph and magazine orders for a local newsagent.  It was when I was on my round that a guy called Trevor came out of his house to get into his car and when he saw me he just stood by the car, an old Austin Cambridge his father had given him when he was old enough to drive.  When I was about to walk past him he said “Hi.  Saw you on the beach the other Friday.”

We got chatting and he asked if I wanted to join their circle.  I told him that those things scared me and I wouldn’t really be interested, but he said that there was nothing to be scared of.  “It’s all just a bit of a laugh.  Think about it.  Come over and sit with us next time you see us down there.  We’re always at the back of the old grey house on the cliff.”  I nodded, more out of politeness and as a means to get away from him, back to my paper round and away out of that conversation before being coaxed into something I didn’t want to do.

However, my Dad didn’t nickname me “Nosey Rosie” for nothing, and I thought about what they were getting up to so often that I gave into temptation on a late summer evening in late September, just as the nights were drawing in and becoming cooler, and I went behind the old grey house on the cliff.  I didn’t go down there where their circle met.  Instead, I sneaked into the gardens of the old house through a small gap in the overgrown privet hedge which surrounded it, and down to a spot were I could lie on the grass and look down there on them.  I chose a place where there was long grass where the might not see me watching them.  I bought my Dad’s binoculars so that I could get a good close up look at what was happening.

The evening was a pleasant one and still light enough to see clearly enough though there was a glimpse of a few night stars in the sky.  The sea was calm.  There were seven of them.  Trevor sat between two blond girls and there was only one other guy there.  I knew him to see around the area but didn’t know his name.  Dark haired, fan of Elton John as he often blared his music when I passed his house delivering my papers.  On one occasion he made a rude comment to me, which I ignored.  Basically, in a lewd way he asked if I wanted to do something and being a shy virgin and not that kind of girl it had my face glowing red and I walked past with my head down, feeling uneasy.  No… I did not like that guy or people like him! 

The glow of their rock encircled camp fire made it easy for me to see what they were doing.  At first it didn’t look like much.  The skinny dark haired girl in a lime green caftan and jeans got something out of an Indian shoulder bag and placed it in the middle of the circle.  Raising the binoculars to my eyes I saw clearly that it was a Ouija board.  Now I have to admit I had been in kids houses where we had bits of paper which had letters of the alphabet written on them laid out on a table and an upturned glass in the middle and we all put our fingers on the glass and did that thing where some idiot is always spelling things out but you never know quite who.  That was just fooling around.  No harm in it.  Right?  Wrong!  It is just one step down from using a real Ouija board and opening yourself up to the occult.

In the light of the flickering campfire and in the still of the evening they began chanting in such a low voice that I could not hear what they were saying, but the noise was as ringing in my ears like Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Listen to it now while you read on.

Their tinny chanting made me feel uneasy yet I was totally absorbed in what they were doing.  Clouds started to darken and the dark haired girl began taking the lead in what they were doing, murmuring what sounded like instructions.  At that point they were all holding hands in the circle and not touching the Ouija board.  They all had their heads bowed as they sat cross legged around it. She continued the deep murmuring, then took something else from beside her.  In the light from the crackling salty driftwood fire I saw the flash of a blade as she pointed it skyward, then suddenly plunged it into the ground. 

The group all raised their arms outstretched and skyward and there went out an indescribable oddly joy-filled loud communal and strange kind of praise where none of the words were clearly heard and nothing was intelligible.  This made my gut feel like butterflies were fluttering and dying in it.  I felt so uncomfortable I was about to slither backwards from my hiding place when I felt a presence behind me which arrested all my movements.  “Oh my God!“  I feared the worst!  Seconds of tension felt like minutes.  Rustling grass behind me to the left.  “Oh Jesus!”  I smelt a warm waft of garlic, like hot breath on my neck.  “Oh God, oh God oh God!“  My bladder started to feel as if I would wet myself if I looked around.  The circle leader was now standing and had her arms skyward, looking up and saying something about “Bide within the the law you must, in perfect love and perfect trust.”  I couldn’t focus on the words as the presence now slithering by my side was scaring the hell out of me. 

“Shh!  It’s only me,” the garlic breath whispered. I jerked my head round.  It was Giovanni, my brother’s school friend.  I slapped him on the arm. 

“You scared the sh.. out of me!” 

He grinned and nodded for me to watch.

“For tread the circle thrice about to keep unwelcome spirits out,” she chanted, upon which they all got up, joined hands and slowly circled the Ouija board three times.  “To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme,” and they all sat cross legged again with hands held as she chanted the rhyme.  I couldn’t make out all she said, but remember something about “Four times the major sabbats mark in the light and in the dark,” and something about wheels, seasons and her saying “Heed the flower, bush and tree, by the Lady Blessed you’ll be.”

Giovanni took a look through the binoculars then passed them back to me whispering “Do you watch these freaks often?” 

I just shook my head and put my finger over my lips to indicate that he should keep quiet.  I didn’t want to miss a thing. 

“Mind the threefold laws,” she was droning, “you should three times bad and three times good.”  I can’t remember the rest but by then Trevor was pouring wine into a silver goblet which they passed around the circle counter-clockwise, each taking a sip and returning it to Trevor who passed the remains to their leader for her to drain it. 

Then they began murmuring over the Ouija board with their fingers on the planchette as it moved slowly here and there.  I used the binoculars to try to see what was being spelt out but they were not a good set and I couldn’t focus in that far clearly, or maybe I just wasn’t doing it right.  Giovanni nudged me in the ribs wanting a look so I passed them to him.  He didn’t look long either.

The camp fire crackled and threw out sparks as burning sea salty driftwood usually does, but some of the loud crackles made me jump as I was in a state of high expectation and concentrating, listening intently to try to make out what they were saying.   Some of it sounded like foreign languages, yet guttural and alarming.  The fire threw up a sudden explosion of sparks which made my stomach churn.

“Do you see that?”

I saw nothing, just the group below continuing what they were doing.

“Jeez!  Do you believe it?”

I looked at Giovanni to see where he was looking.

“Man!  I think I’m on LSD!”

He wasn’t looking at the people in the circle, he was looking beyond them, so I whipped my head around to see whatever he was looking at.  Straining my eyes in the growing darkness, there they were.  Shapes, transparent, blurry, dancing shapes, swirling and misty.  “What the heck are they?”

I looked at Giovanni again, his eyes transfixed, mouth lying slightly open in amazement. 

When I turned again the shapes had suddenly become less ethereal and more formed.  Still misty and transparent but giving me the impression that whatever they were, they were somehow trying to solidify.  I’d had enough.  This was getting too scary.  I looked at Giovanni and indicated to him that I was going.  He shook his head and grabbed my sleeve wanting me to stay, but I frowned and whispered “No,” and slithered out of there, taking to my heels!

Back home and safely tucked into my nice warm bed, I tried to rationalise it all, telling myself that I was just winding myself up.  It could all be explained simply.  There had to be some rational explanation.  Mists rolling in from the sea?  The fire light playing tricks on it?  “Aw! It was nothing!“ 

I slept well and went to school as normal the next day, convinced that they were all into some kind of witchcraft and that I really didn’t want to get involved with them.

At the end of School Assembly when they gave out the notices for the week, the headmaster said “I have some sad news to impart.  I had a phone call just moments ago.  Many of you know Giovanni Campbell, who sadly passed away last night.  The School on behalf of its pupils have sent our condolences to Derek and Maria Campbell on the loss of their son.” 

In class a number of girls were weeping quietly.  Even the teacher broke down.  I couldn’t believe this was really happening.

When my brother and I met at break time we were both shocked and puzzled by this.  We thought maybe someone had made a prank call since I had been with him last night and when I left him, he was very much alive and well.  Neither of us could take it in as real.

At home, Mum told us that Maria Campbell had phoned her to let us know that Giovanni was dead.  He had not came home at 10pm as he usually did on a school night so his Father went out with the dog looking for him.  Knowing that us kids sometimes hung out behind the old house he went there to see if the boys had been having a sneaky drink of cider or something.  It was the dog which started straining on the leash and acting in a disturbed manner which led to him finding Giovanni slumped over against a tree trunk, wrists and jeans covered in blood.  He had slit his wrists. 

Why?  What had he seen which had driven him to this?  To this day we will never know. 

What really annoyed me was that the last time I was in Victoria Cemetery laying a wreath on my Mother’s grave I noticed that someone had vandalised Giovanni’s grave.  His Mother, being Italian had wanted him to have a traditional Italian headstone with a photo of him on it.  Some heartless vandal had chipped the photo off of the headstone.  Whatever possesses them to do such senseless acts of vandalism?

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Witches in the mythology of the women who sold soul to the devil, and use supernatural powers to harm people. From 15 to 17century, thousands of women were burnt (the Inquisition), for inthem were thought to be witches. Witches are usually imaginedas a gnarled old woman who can ride a broom.

How do witches described in the literature and the media?
“Real witches would certainly always wear gloves when you meet. Even in summer, because there are no nails. Instead of the nail has a thin curved claws, and wears gloves to conceal them.It’s a witch still bald as an egg. On her head is not growing noonly one coat. 

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Carry a first-class wig to hide hair loss, and it is almost impossible to distinguish from ordinary first-class wighair. witches have a little more nose than ordinary people.nostrils are they pink and lumpy. carefully watch your eyes as if it’s a witch, the pupil will continually change color. Witches never have toes. they have only a square foot without toes. So when they wear pointed shoes have big problems. saliva was blue.even serve them in writing. If we look at the teeth, you can noticea slight bluish glow. ”

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People sacrifice their children for wealth and some are step mothers who bewitch there step children because they don’t want their husbands to love their children more than they love them. Some bewitch  their fellow students because they want to be better than them.

Like this woman who wanted to be above his husband by not respecting him and at the same time the husband to love him more and forever. So one day they got a visitor and for our culture when you get a visitor give them gifts so they gave their visitor a hen and he decided to eat it with them so he stayed for lunch.

The wife went to the market to buy grocery and when he reached there he found a witch doctor who had all the herbs like for keeping a man by your side, controlling a man like making him do every thing you want and when she heard, she went to the witch doctor and bought some herbs. The witch doctor told her to mix it with the sauce and promised that if her husband eats he will love her forever and she will be able to control him.

This woman reached home prepared lunch and followed every thing the witch doctor told him to do while her husband was trying to catch up with the visitor because they had not seen each other in a while as they waited for lunch.

Lunch was ready and she served them so they had to remove the banana leaves first and when they unwrapped the sauce they saw a very big snake and their was no chicken they were shocked and called the woman quickly to explain where the chicken went and she had no idea. she then told them the whole story of how it was and her husband lost it grabbed her and took her back to the market and asked her where she found the man.

The visitor left immediately when things went bad. That day the man kicked out the woman and never let her come back home from that day. There is also a man who was told that if he sacrificed his twins he would become very rich.This man waited one day when when his wife left for work he kidnapped the twins and took them to the witch doctor and when the women left they were no where to be found so she called her husband to ask him whether he was with them but he denied it and the kids were sacrificed but what helped them find out who was behind this was a neighbour who saw him taking them.

so you should all stop child sacrifice cause today you might be doing it to someone’s child but the next time it will be your child will you be able to handle it.

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Section: 403

Definition: Everyone who fradulently personates any person living or dead [a] with intent to gain advantage for themselves [b] with the intent to obtain property or [c] with intend to cause disadvantage to the person whom he personates

Punishment: Hybrid 10 years

Example: Borrowing someones ID to get into a bar

Pretending to Practice Witchcraft

Section: 365

Definition: Everyone who fradueltly [a] pretends to practice any kind of witchcraft or sorcery [b] undertakes for a consideration to tell fortunes [c] pretends from his skills or knowledge of an occult or crafty science ( black magic) to determine where or in what manner anything that is suppose to have been stolen or lost may be found.

Punishment: summary conviction

The goal of magick is to alter the self and environment according to will. It involves the use of mental training,

concentration, and a symbol system to program the mind.

ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception. It is the receiving of information through paranormal means.

Examples of ESP are:

Clairvoyance

Astral Projection

Psychometry

Telepathic Receiver

A Medium

Experience with a Ouija board, (Personally, I think Ouija boards are stupid, nevertheless I have used one before as a game.) Experience with a pendulum, automatic writing,

Precognition- or ability to see the future.

PK is Psychokinesis, the active or sending side of psychic phenomena. It is psychic force sent out from the individual.

Examples of Psychokinesis are:

Telepathic sender

 Psychokinesis (or telekinesis)

 Somewhat along the same lines are poltergeist

(noisy ghost) phenomena in which objects move of their own

accord or noises are heard. There is always a human agent

involved — frequently a teenage girl — who appears to be

the source of psychic energy.

Psychic healing 

Teleportation, apportation, and levitation.

The Subconscious is the idea that part of the mind normally operates below or outside of ordinary consciousness and awareness. Dreams and hypnosis are examples of this. Also subconscious are the automatic functions of the body such as respiration and digestion.

These notes have been either paraphrased by me or taken directly from the book

The Basics of Magick

By K. Amber

·         You also have an explosion of movies that deal with exorcism, demons, games with graphic images of violence, sex, and books that tend to be extremely descriptive.

·         Life, its anxiety and what will happen tomorrow, also makes people want to find out more. They go to astrologers, palm readers, clairvoyants and psychics for guidance. Despite the fact that we’re living in such economic times this is one profession that’s recession-proof.

·         Many people get sick and because they feel medical doctors can’t help them they go to traditional healers who use occult methods; a lot of them blame their illness on a curse or spell and they want it removed therefore they go to an occult practitioner who later demands a large payment.

·         Everyone wants to have some kind of protection and good luck and this is another very strong reason why they’re attracted. In some parts of Africa, villagers usually hire a “prophet” from a charismatic church to exorcise bad spirits from the community. They hold rituals, drink potions and the famous “holy water.” They even consult spirit mediums for good luck on a house or grave site.

·         Mothers also fear for the life of their children thinking evil spirits might harm the child, therefore they avoid going out at night and many tie strings of beads and shells to the wrists and ankles of their child to protect them from harm.

·         Another very strong reason why they consult with spirit mediums is to speak with their dead loved ones or know if they’re okay. British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lost his son, brother, brother-in-law, and nephew in World War I, he attended a séance along with his wife with the hopes he would speak to his son. This act of desperation is a result of what many traditional religions and Christian churches teach, the death of a loved one is the result of angry spirits and because of this belief man has performed many rituals to ward off more deaths from happening.

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·         I’m sure all of us have heard of the term “fear of the unknown.” Since many people don’t know the state the dead are in they’re also in fear. People nowadays have altars for dead relatives and even bring them food to the cemetery making it a special occasion, “Day of The Dead.” It’s sad to think in many lands rituals are held and people go to the extreme of injuring themselves to prove their love for the dead. There are also many cultures who wear black clothing for months and even an entire year, isolating themselves and avoiding dishes the deceased person liked. This often leads to depression, malnutrition and even death.

The occult is a powerful lure for many people but a person should be aware that Satan and the demons are behind this. When a psychic tries to tell them about their future, Satan is behind that, when they believe what their horoscope says, Satan is behind that, when they go to a palm reader, Satan is behind that; anything that has to do with spirtism, divination, astrology, numerology, palmistry, sorcery, communicating with the dead and even casting spells, Satan is behind that. You shouldn’t be surprised if the medium tells you something similar to your loved one or even yourself but you should be on guard and flee from such practices.

“And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps transforming himself into an angel of light. It is therefore nothing great if his ministers also keep transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness. But their end shall be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11: 14-15

People need to be assured they can no longer communicate with a loved one once they die. They need not fear they will be harmed or be a slave to mediums or anything that deals with the occult.

“For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they any more have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten.” Ecclesiastes 9:5

Shame, however, in this respect can not even other countries of the old continent. France and Germany are doing just as Great Britain. By far the biggest boom, however, are experiencing the United States. “There is a recorded half a million people earning the magic. Their numbers began to increase after the public learned that almost every step by U.S. President Ronald Reagan reportedly drove astrologer, “says Ian Lowely.

Magic has a gold bottom

Insight into the higher realms, helping others improve their lives … – a sorceress state as the main reason why they gave to their profession. Negligible, however, is neither the financial side of things. “In Washington, the best ones come up to one hundred thousand dollars a month. Famous German Sekleth sorceress holds weekend courses as you call true love from hundreds of euros upwards and her colleagues Morgiana teaches candidates how to make a place to park for fifty euros, “said Ian Lowely examples. Do you find it to be a decent wage? Wizards would probably just shrugged and replied that it is perfectly adequate so what “penalties” could affect them if their work did not pay well: bad deeds they had allegedly returned three times!

Due to the magic nearly died

The veracity of this claim could speak one of the most powerful magicians in London Alex Sanders. Craft led him to his grandmother and mother when he was seven. It was a very gifted clairvoyant and with growing success and his desire for wealth and power. One moonlit night because witches supposedly drew a circle and said a strong incantations. At that moment, however, the room erupted stove, and he nearly lost his life. Soon after his wife died of cancer, the second left him after a few years with the children. The turning point came only after his seriously ill sister. Alex Sanders wanted to save, gave away his property and submitted a cleansing ceremony. “After I returned to magic, but only to the white. The witchcraft is given more and more people, but in inexperienced hands false or usually has disastrous consequences, “warns the magician, who passed the test of life.

Myths are a special subset of oral history. We have the usual understanding of oral history: that which is expressed by word of mouth. Myths takes this understanding to a new level. They incorporate the cosmology of the belief system in place when the myth was established. They incorporate the social mores and values from when the myth was established. And, they reflect the influence of the subsequent individuals who pass them on. As such, the oldest myths have many, many layers of meaning in addition to what the original meaning was.

Celtic myth is a fairly fragmented structure when compared to Greek or Egyptian. A few myth cycles stand out as relatively complete (such as the Ulster cycle or the Arthurian cycle) but there are others that have only a few myths that remain. The role of myth cycles is relatively simple. The collection of myths serve to communicate a larger message within the structure of the story that ties the myths in question together. Various cultures have myth cycles that communicate lessons about how man relates to the world at large and the Gods of that culture.

This is among the most common themes to be found in myth cycles. Second most common is the role of man within society. This theme illustrated what traits are upheld as virtuous and what traits are considered villainous in the culture that the myths hail from. Looking at the Celtic myth cycles we have to examine, it is difficult to choose which myth to examine because they are all so wonderfully multifaceted. For the sake of simplicity, let us look at the themes within the most popular myth of the Ulster cycle, the myth of Deirdre.

The myth of Deirdre has four main parts. The first describes the birth and childhood of Deirdre, including the prophecy of Cathbad the Druid. The second describes the elopement of Deirdre and Naoise and their life on the run from King Conchobar Mac Nessa (who planned to marry Deirdre when she was of age). The third part describes the capture of Deirdre and the deaths of Naoise and his brothers (who had gone into exile with them). The final part of the myth is the death of Deirdre.

In the first section of the myth, there are three things that stand out as immediately apparent. First, the position of the Druid within Celtic society as described in this myth is equal to or possibly above that of a King. Cathbad’s prophecy and the reaction to it also indicates that the words of the Druids were regarded with great care. Secondly, the rights of a guest in a house are such that they are protected from maltreatment. In this respect, the Celts were much like the Vikings in their high regard of the importance hospitality. And the third point that stands out as impressive is the implicit warning that is found in the Greek myth of Oedipus: do not attempt to out wit fate.

The second portion of the myth has two main items that virtually leap from the page. The first is that a person must act in accordance with the geis (taboos) placed upon them. It is by invoking the geis upon Naoise (one of the three sons of Usnech, with whom Deirdre has fallen in love with) that Deirdre moves him to defy King Conchobar. The importance of geis within ancient Celtic society is reiterated in the third portion of the myth, even as it leads to the downfall of the tragic heros and heroine of this story. The second point of interest to become apparent is how the traits that make Deirdre and Naoise desirable are more then physical beauty. Deirdre is an educated, bold woman of many talents. Naoise, while also of notable physical appearance, is also an accomplished hunter, heroic warrior, and honorable.

The third section of the myth portrays the results of breaking one’s geis and the effect of breaking oaths. As geis are broken, previously undefeated heros experience defeat and weakness in the face of combat with the enemy. It is possible to argue that breaking the geis carry’s its own curse. In this portion of the myth, the fearsome sorcery of the Druids is portrayed as well as the relationship between King and Druid is clarified. It is only with the threat of death that King Conchobar is able to get Cathbad to do as he wishes. Following the completion of his spells, Cathbad leaves Conchobar’s company. In subsequent portions of the Ulster Cycle that take place following the events of this myth, Cathbad does not reappear. It is quite likely that Cathbad never returned to King Conochobar’s court. This withdrawal of the Druid’s favor could be pointed at as part of the reason why Conochobar is unsuccessful in his efforts to resist the attacks of Queen Medb’s army in a latter portion of the myth cycle.

The final part of the myth gives not only the death of Deirdre but also a glimpse of how prisoners of war were treated and ancient burial practices. The Lament of Deirdre eulogizes Naoise and his brothers, bringing to mind their peaceful life in Scotland. This lament follows a fairly standard formula for Celtic laments from this period of history. King Conchobar’s forcible marriage to Deirdre and his proposal to share her with Éogan mac Durthacht shows that contrary to the usual autonomy of Celtic women (epitomized by Queen Medb and other heroines), Deirdre is treated as chattel. It stands to reason that other women thus taken as spoils of battle were treated as chattel because no indication is given that this was a unique circumstance.

As one looks at this myth in its entirety, three things stand out quite clearly. First is that one can not cheat fate. Second is the importance of keeping one’s geis. Thirdly is the ruin that comes from dividing loyalties between king and oneself. These three things are what ultimately bring the sons of Usnech to their ruin and lay the groundwork for the eventual destruction of King Conochobar.