#lugh — Public Fediverse posts

I have written about using a ferro rod to start fires in the past. But I never really explained a few things. As a prepper, sure I could buy a lifetime’s worth of Bics and always be able to light a fire. But years ago I learned how to use a ferro rod and steel to light a fire and here is why. About 10 years ago I made a pledge, as an offering to Lugh, to use only a ferro rod and steel (my bush knife) to start the bonfires for a whole year.

At first I was clumsy and it took a while to get that flame going. As time went on, I learned what the best tinder was (fine dry swamp grass and curls of fatwood kept in a pouch), the best technique (hold the rod to the surface and make a slow solid shower of sparks down onto the tinder) and got so that I could get that fire lit with one swipe on the rod (have the whole little fire pyramid ready with tiny kindling and a space to stuff the lit tinder under). It was the learning, conquering a challenge, and making a life saving thing without the disposable use of fossil fuel. From a practical point of view, it makes sense to always have alternatives as well.

Bic lighters are absolutely shitty when they get wet. It takes a lot of energy to dry them out and get them to light (running the wheel on your jeans for 5 or 10 minutes) which might be perilous if you were in a situation where getting that fire going was important. Bics can be lost, run out of fuel, etc. so having an extra method of making fire is common sense.

But that is the least of it. Learning how to do something that is outside your current skill set is the whole point. Doing the preparation ahead of time by creating a fire pouch with everything you need in it and keeping it with you and dry at all times. You are training your brain to think ahead, use methodical procedures and develop small motor skills.

After I started using the knife and ferro rod, I realized I wanted a sheath to keep them together so early in my learning to do leather work, I made this sheath that keeps them together. The cotton pouch can hang on my belt under my coat to keep tinder in as well, but I usually just keep it in the camp kit. The best way to prepare for future difficulty is to learn to use your gear now.

#bushcraft #prepping #GetPrepared #Offerings #Witchcraft #Lugh #LughSamildánac #TuathDéDanann

#Celtic #MythologyMonday: Among the talismans #Lugh demanded from Tuireann's three sons as punishment for the murder of his father #Cian were three apples (according to the tale, from the Hesperides Garden in the East of the World). `Only these apples will satisfy me, as they are the best and most beautiful in the world. This is what they are made of: Their colour is that of polished gold, and the head of a one-month-old child is no larger than any one of these apples. When you dine on them, they taste like honey, and bleeding wounds and the most malignant diseases disappear. The apples do not diminish when eaten, even if one eats from them for a long time and constantly. Whoever succeeds in taking one of these apples has accomplished his greatest feat, since he will never lose it again.`
Source: Guyonvarc'h/Le Roux `Die #Druiden`

Among the talismans #Lugh demanded from Tuireann's three sons as punishment for the murder of his father #Cian were three apples (according to the tale, from the Hesperides Garden in the East of the World).
Lugh said: „Only these apples will satisfy me, as they are the best and most beautiful in the world. This is what they are made of: Their color is that of polished gold, and the head of a one-month-old child is no larger than any one of these apples. When you dine on them, they taste like honey, and bleeding wounds and the most malignant diseases disappear. The apples do not diminish when eaten, even if one eats from them for a long time and constantly. Whoever succeeds in taking one of these apples has accomplished his greatest feat, since he will never lose it again.“
Source: Guyonvarc'h/Le Roux `Die #Druiden`
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RT @ElsaMc1878
#LegendaryWednesday
In Greek myth the Hesperides were 3 sisters who tended the goddess Hera’s garden. In the garden grew a magical tree that pro…
https://twitter.com/ElsaMc1878/status/1524281041556586496

#Cian had the task of tending the magic cow of the blacksmith Gaivnin Gow. She moved so fast and so far that it was no wonder that Cian eventually became inattentive and took a nap. When he awoke, the #GlasGhaibhleann had disappeared. Cian had to travel to the realm of #Balor of the Evil Eye. The monstrous #Fomorian king set him impossible tasks to get the cow back. There, however, #Cian seduced Balor's beautiful daughter #Eithne and begat #Lugh. Finally, Cian returned the #GlasGhaibhleann to the blacksmith.
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #People`.
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