Changes

I was specifically named after St. Stephen.

I've been thinking of changing it to the Irish Stiofáin for a long while for a few reasons: most people (IE, people unfamiliar with Irish) are unlikely to divine a gender from that name, it's a nice way to assert cultural identity, people changing their name to the Irish form is not unusual which will probably help if I decide to change it legally, and of course it would mean I could be called Fáin for short which is just cool

A new one is that part of St. Stephen's story is that he was replaced with a changeling for a while.

Changelings were largely a metaphor for the disabled and Neurodivergent. And the various words for Changeling have pretty consistently doubled as slurs for the disabled and Neurodivergent.

I'm not terribly happy about being directly named after a story about how terrible people like me are.

And considering that I have less in common with the Saint than I do the monster that replaced him I think I might be done sharing that name

The Bean Tíghe and the question of Authenticity

So, the other day I made a Tweet with a folklore hot-take. Surprisingly this went well, but there is a point I want to address. Morgan Daimler, an excellent and respected scholar made a point regarding the Bean Tíghe -a very contentious figure- and now I have opinions.

But to start with, let’s review the origin of the Bean Tíghe.

The idea begins with a story recorded by an American Anthropologist named Walter Evans Wentz in which a young boy steals the comb of a fairy woman who is the Bean Tíghe of the Earl of Desmond at Lough Gur.

The story itself fits the pattern of similar stories well enough and fits the folklore surrounding Lough Gur well enough that I’d say it’s probably genuine (or at least that Evans Wentz adapted a story he was told). And I have no doubt that Evans Wentz’s informant genuinely did refer to the woman as a Bean Tíghe or Bean an Tí. I believe that it’s with Evans Wentz’s interpretation of that title that we run into problems.

He seems to think that the Bean Tíghe is a unique class or type of fairy within Irish folklore. Whereas, in reality, the term Bean Tíghe is a fairly common term in Irish used to refer to the woman in charge of a house and that this particular Bean Tíghe happened to be a fairy.

This very much underscores why the National Folklore Commission here in Ireland did it’s best to hire collectors not only from within Ireland (with a few notable exceptions) but also ones who had ties to the communities being collected from.

Regardless of academic background very few Native Irish collectors would have made this small but important mistake that was so easy for a trained Academic who was not immersed in the culture.

And this is why folklore collection should always be left to people within the culture.

Now this does happen. There’s plenty of accepted folkloric beliefs and traditions that can be traced back to similar misunderstandings or mistranslations. I would say the stories about St. Patrick and the snakes would be a good example. There’s also plenty of examples of the literary tradition influencing the oral tradition. Both are still legitimate as folklore.

What makes the Bean Tíghe inauthentic as Irish Folklore is not it’s origin but the fact that it has not been widely adopted by the people of Ireland.

But it’s not quite that simple though. Just because I don’t regard it as authentic Irish Folklore does not mean it is not an authentic piece of someone’s folklore.

Chinese Author and YouTuber Xiran Jay Zhao recently made a video entitled Why American Chinese Food Deserves Respect that I very much recommend watching. In it she argues that American Chinese food is not a bastardisation of Chinese culture but instead is a legitimate part of the distinct, but related culture that was developed by the Chinese Diaspora.

This reminded me of how confused people in Ireland get when Irish Americans talk about Corned Beef and Cabbage being a traditionally Irish meal, when many people in Ireland have never tasted corned beef in their lives, but have certainly eaten plenty of bacon and cabbage.

And I think I see figures like the Bean Tighe in a similar light.

You couldn’t really call them a part of the Irish Folk Tradition because very few people in Ireland even know about them. But I am far more comfortable considering them to be a part of the related but distinct tradition developed by the Irish Diaspora.

Because it does seem to have been adopted by a significant portion of the Diaspora.

And there’s plenty of precedent for this. Many of the “Celtic” nations have different versions of the same myths and tales without (many) people claiming one to be more legitimate than the other. The differences between Irish and Scottish versions of Fenian and Ossianic folklore are a good example.

And I don’t really see much reason to see the (relatively) newly blossoming traditions of the Celtic Nations In Diaspora any differently.

This would, however, require the diaspora to embrace that what they are doing is not adding to the Irish (or Scottish or Welsh etc) Tradition, but building their own that has elements of the Irish Tradition.

In fact, to be entirely honest, the term Celtic Diaspora might apply better as much of the content of this tradition is drawn from cultures throughout the Celtic Nations often by people who descend from a variety of such.

I also think that if this Diaspora Identity were embraced it would also lead to less animosity between Celtic Nations and the Celtic Diaspora. If they identified not as Us but instead as Our Cousins the differences in our cultures, stories and traditions would become not a matter of contention but instead one of interest.

It’s one thing for an Irish person to hear “Irish people tell stories about a kind of fairy called the Bean Tíghe” and an entirely different thing to hear “The Irish Diaspora tells stories about a fairy called the Bean Tighe”

One is infuriating, the other is fascinating.

It would give us space to bond over our differences as well as our similarities.

Who wouldn’t be interested in seeing how these cultures have diverged over the past two hundred or so years of geographical separation? Especially seeing as the invention of the internet has happened in that time considering that the internet can be a massive accelerant for the development of folk traditions.

But anyway, just as the folklore of Ireland should be collected and curated by the people of Ireland the folklore of the diaspora should be collected and curated by the people of the diaspora.

They know more about it than me, they are more immersed in that culture.

This is just my opinion.

The First Question

If people are complaining about something being harmful to a marginalised group that you're not part of and you don't get the problem then the first question you need to ask is "who are the people complaining?"

If none of the people complaining appear to be part of the Marginalised Group in question then maybe take that discourse with a pinch of salt. (especially if you see pushback against that discourse from people within that marginalised group)

But if the people complaining are from the Marginalised group that’s supposed to be being hurt then the reason you don’t see the problem is that you don't understand the issues that group faces well enough.

In that case your job is to shut up, listen and do some reading.

Take in what Marginalised people have to say about it. Google the things they refer too. Learn. And thank the people who helped you do it. Thank them at least, if you can throw them some cash, even just a little.

Do not dig in your heels and argue or try to dismiss it.

Learn first.

Every time.

S.J. Tucker and the art of Micro World-Building

S.J. Tucker is not an author, showrunner, game designer or any profession we would ordinarily associate with world building but a singer-songwriter of indeterminable genre. I've been listening to her work for a few years now. I can't remember when or how I first heard her songs, which seems appropriate, as if her music had been secreted into my life like a changeling. And she is a magnificient storyteller.

Reviving the Gaelic Revival

Ive always been uncomfortable with the phrase “Irish Nationalism”.

I, obviously, love the idea of preserving and renewing Irish Culture and using that to heal the scars of colonisation but I don’t like the implications of Nationalism.

To me the idea of Nationalism is anothet thing that was imposed upon us by our colonisers. It’s a distinctly Coloniser mentality; it’s Nationalism that made the British think they were superior to us and had the right to opress us. It creates an Us and Them mentality that always puts “Us” at conflict with “Them”.

We’re still in the process of rebuilding Irish Culture and I worry that doing that under the name of “Nationalism” will only lead to a culture built with the same mentality as those who oppressed us and build an extremely un-Irish Ireland.

Ireland should not hate immigrants or refugees. The people of Ireland should not hate or look down on people of other nations snd I feel the only way to avoid this is to steer clear of the term Nationalism.

At the same time we should embrace our culture. Some people have suggested the term Decolonisation to me and while I think its a more or less perfect term I feel trepidation at commandeering a term specifically coined by communities that are still actively suffering colonialism.

In the the.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s various societies and organisations wete established with the intention of restoring various aspects of Irish Culture.

Historically this period is referred to as The Gaelic Revival and I think that might be the perfect term to replace Irish Nationalism.

Not only because it avoids the term Nationalism but also because it avoids the principles of Nationalism in that it includes our Gaelic cousin cultures throughout much of the UK and Europe.

Though we.must be wary not to exclude people either. Anyone living in Ireland should be welcome and encouraged to participate in Irish culture, but at the same time it.must not be expectef of them or forced on them. And we must remember that people peacefully bringing their own cultural practices to this country is not the same as violent invaders forcing their culture upon us.

The slow, gradual change of culture that comes from building friendships across cultures is a good and natural thing that we should treasure alongside our heritage, language and folklore.

It begins

Let's be honest.
That wasn't an original title. But what do you want from me? I've got work to do.

February was a crazy as hell month. 
I launched the Practitioner's Guide, The Switchboard and this website, completely remodelled my living/work space, booked myself into a convention, did a massive clear out of bullshit I don't need and spent a couple of nights where I couldn't sleep making art.

On top of all that I made the monumentally bad decision of vlogging the whole thing.
That will come out soon, by the way, I'll cut it together once episode 2 of The Switchboard is done. 

The Good news is I'm pretty sure I just fixed the iTunes problem (as in literally ten minutes ago) so The Switchboard should be up there soon.

Anyways, piglets I hope February was kind to you and that March kicks in the teeth of your enemies.

-Hog