Satan and Suns

Is there anyone else that due to upbringing / historical cultural belief etc that you do not really talk about certain folklores?

For me personally it is the otherworld folk.

My nan was Irish (raised in the Ring of Kerry), and she brought her stories with her when she moved to South East England.

I still leave the occasional offering out for the Good Neighbours, not for help etc but so they generally speaking leave us alone, cause us no harm etc. I tip the last of my drink ~ whatever it is I am drinking ~ on the floor outside if I am drinking in the garden so they may have the essence. My children now do the same. My husband remarked how many people in the UK do this subconsciously without realising the legends behind it.

As for sightings at liminal times. Yes. But we do not go on about it for fear of wrath of the fae. We acknowledge we have seen something, sometimes in plain sight and about the size of a small child. The children have been taught to smile and nod when this happens but then move on, do not engage, do not go on about it later etc

Traditionally in Irish lore the more you talk about your experiences in detail the more bad luck will follow you ~ Brownies are a great example of this. And you really do not want to say something stupid out loud in case a Pixie is around as they are very literal and will take your word as a bond or instruction. And you really want to avoid the Wild Hunt.

While not entirely in the same vein ( I was raised in a Christian household) so I didn’t really have that experience of folklore being passed down, I did read a lot of folklore as a child so I too am familiar with the idea of not talking about the fae lest you invoke their attention. I did learn through my own experiences pretty early on as a child that people didn’t interact with the world ( otherworlds and beings etc) as I did ( if they even knew of them) and even today. So I stick pretty strongly to the adage “to Will, to know, to keep silent.” Even with the demonic interactions I have as well. I found that the land wights and other beings I connect with in general don’t seem to fond of me sharing what I discover anyway, it’s more like if someone reaches out respectfully then they can find the lore and information but, the wights and beings would rather me not speak openly of it, as though the lessons are for me alone- which in its own way is true as well. I figure if any being wants me to speak of them then they will tell me so themselves, otherwise I respectfully keep quiet, unless asked and the beings agree. Still this is a great topic and I am interested in others expereinces as well,

My Grandma, Mom's mom, spoke to "spirits" but NEVER about them. Ever. She was classic "second generation" Irish here in America. Born and raised here, but her Grand was from "back home" Left Ireland as an adult, and brought all the lore with her, passed it on to Grandma, and, thank you very much Catholic Church, Grandma suppressed much of it. Except in her own doings with the "unseen world".

Ah, the things our ancestors tried to "protect" us from. I found out the hard way, but I had just enough Celtic sense to realize my transgression, after the wee folk had had their bit of fun with me, they accepted my apology, and believe me, it was sincere, and let me go on my way.

Heretique wrote: ↑

Sat May 16, 2020 5:46 pm

While not entirely in the same vein ( I was raised in a Christian household) so I didn’t really have that experience of folklore being passed down, I did read a lot of folklore as a child so I too am familiar with the idea of not talking about the fae lest you invoke their attention. I did learn through my own experiences pretty early on as a child that people didn’t interact with the world ( otherworlds and beings etc) as I did ( if they even knew of them) and even today. So I stick pretty strongly to the adage “to Will, to know, to keep silent.” Even with the demonic interactions I have as well. I found that the land wights and other beings I connect with in general don’t seem to fond of me sharing what I discover anyway, it’s more like if someone reaches out respectfully then they can find the lore and information but, the wights and beings would rather me not speak openly of it, as though the lessons are for me alone- which in its own way is true as well. I figure if any being wants me to speak of them then they will tell me so themselves, otherwise I respectfully keep quiet, unless asked and the beings agree. Still this is a great topic and I am interested in others experiences as well,

This is an interesting point. On the one hand, I very much agree about certain experiences remaining private. On the other, if we never talk about any of these experiences, why does this board exist? I have shared visions with the board that, until I joined the board, I never shared with anyone else, no matter how close they are to me. There was no "code of silence" I simply understood that the vision was meant for me, it was about the life I am currently living now and what is "going on" in other dimensions, working with entities that dwell there.

I have never sensed this as a matter of seeking permission to talk to others about my experiences. I am a Grown Up, the entities I work with are..WAY..Grown Up. It is up to me to decide whether or not to "share". There is no "penalty" for sharing, nor is there a "reward" for doing so.

Being In The World means that there is much about our existence that we cannot control, only react to. For that which we can control, it is our free choice to make those decisions. If entities we are working with expressly request that the work not be discussed with others, then honor that. If no such request is forthcoming, then whither or not to share is a decision for you alone to make.

If you assume that certain experiences are "no go" as far as sharing them publicly are concerned, but those entities involved are silent on that point, it might prove worthwhile to revisit your assumptions and take a close look at why you made the assumption in the first place.

"Free Choice" can be slipperier than a vat full of eels in K-Y jelly.

You bring up an interesting point as well Passchendaele. certainly in my case sometimes it is worth self examining for behavioral patterns i was taught that need shifting and it is a work in progress. That being said however I have tended to walk a solitary path, so in my understanding the lessons i learned and do learn are for me, based on my paradigm and approach to things. In most instances i do not see the point in sharing what is specifically for me as if someone else needed to learn that then they would, though in some cases i am getting better at opening up. What i share i feel is not mine alone to tell in a sense as it does involve other beings, so to my eyes it is courtesy that they get as say in how and if they are presented- if such things matter to them and in some cases it does.

I personally feel there is kind of a responsibility for the information shared in public spaces as well, especially for example in occult communities where there are newer members- in some cases such information is not so easily shared as it is more about the experience itself then what is gained from it. Also personally i find quite a lot of my paradigm and things i deal with regularly now are somewhat opposed to what is generally accepted by the public and human society, so i definitely do not share that. However i do also agree with you, that it certainly is helpful that some things are shared and spoken of and that it is also our choice what we share and do not. That being said also this is just my take on it.

I’m really fascinated by this topic and I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to think about this many years later. The folklore I was raised with regarded nature, the elements, the tricksters and the guardians that watch over them. Rather than bad luck about speaking on the subject it was more due to the subject matter being taboo for so many years in Russia. For a lot of the folklore I grew up with were often in the form of stories with “etiquette” and morals towards beings in order to avoid causing offense.

My entire family is from Russia and much of my childhood was spending summers there with my great grandmother surrounded by the forests and mountains. I was rarely explicitly given instructions on interacting with the forest, plants, those that existed there. I would learn through making observations of my great grandmother, which I would emulate and follow her lead. There was this unspoken reverence toward the nature and elements in our village and although there were varying degrees of beliefs much was conveyed by being passed down to the children or through stories. It is also probably due to being at the mercy and the incredible capacity of harshness from both that probably created such a strong bond between the land and the people, even if generally unspoken. Speaking with my mother on this topic a lot of why many of the old practices and beliefs are now far less regarded openly was due to the Soviet period, where superstition and religion were considered poison. Before the communist period due to the orthodox church a lot of “unofficial” shamans that were common in many villages were also in hiding to avoid jail thus limiting the wisdom being passed on regularly… although it still exists.

Many people have heard of Ded Moroz (Papa Frost), children grow up knowing him and in the present he’s considered to be something like Santa Claus, but I feel a bit differently regarding him. From the stories I grew up with and learned about him I knew him as an elemental deity that originated in stories from what my mom dubbed the old Russians that were paganistic and druidic in nature. There are also many stories of tricksters and gatekeepers living in the forest/mountains that will try to lure people. I don’t know if all is common folklore as stories of Baba Yaga and a few others are pretty known, but there are some local stories too. There were also areas known to avoid that were common knowledge to those that resided there.

I also found it interesting that when my mother was growing up in Russia they would sometimes leave offerings of milk and water on the fridge for the house spirit (which many believed each house had but people didn’t really speak about it). She also told me about banya/sauna spirits that people were careful not to offend back in the day and that no one was to bathe after 10 pm as it was their time. It was believed that they would make you sleep or faint if they got angry. A lot of the folklore was used for survival, many provided messages - lessons to be aware of.