My mam's side is Irish, my dad's side were farmers so when I was little I used to sit on the back of his horse n cart in the blistering heat selling his fruit and veg. He still comes out with lots of farming almanac weather sayings ,I love folklore. Ireland is supposed to be beautiful. I love the different Irish accents
I used the same almanac as my grandma when I planted a few years ago, bought the same seed varieties she did, and will add that I felt her presence keenly each time I was out tending it in my straw hat - still do. I think this mist be what is meant by communing with ancestors. The difference is she was feeding and canning for a family of 8, with a husband paralyzed by a stroke, and no social safety nets during the Great Depression. If her crops failed they would starve; I was doing it for clean, fresh veggies and to be outside. I love mythology, fairy tales, folklore, herbalism, and folk medicine. I knew someone that took warts off with a mumbled charm and a nickel (a Brogan and 7th of 7 sons); another that could stop bleeding with a Bible verse (had never met his father). I am from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia where many Irish, English, Scottish and Germans settled - the Great Wagon Road goes through Roanoke, Virginia where I live now. I LOVED England and Scotland - Ireland looks so gorgeously green and filled with magical stories!
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My mum's superstition which she has well and truly passed on to me is if you drop a glove you have to ask someone else to pick it up as it's unlucky to pick up your own dropped glove. This has been a bit embarrassing because I've had to ask complete strangers to pick up my glove when dropping it whilst out shopping etc. Sometimes I've used the excuse that my back's bad and I cannot bend down.
Hilarious!!! My mom wouldn’t let my daughter plant her little pine tree she grew from seed on her property because once they are tall enough to cast a longer shadow than you, you will die. And all the old cemeteries here have pine trees to mark them. We also were not allowed to put up an umbrella in the house or sing at the table.