Description

This powerful analysis of the 'wise women healer' from the oral traditions of Ireland's rural communities, is unique in its depth and perspective. Stories, told and retold, embedded in the texture of culture and community, collected and studied for many decades, are here translated and made available to the general reader for the first time. The figure of the 'wise woman', the 'hag', the Cailleach, or the 'Red Woman' are part of an oral tradition which has its roots in pre-Christian Ireland. In the hands of Gearoid O Crualaich, these figures are subtly explored to reveal how they offered a complex understanding of the world, of human psychology and its predicaments. The thematic structure of the book brings to the fore universal themes such as death, marriage, childbirth and healing, and invites the reader to see the contemporary relevance of the stories for themselves.

The Book of the Cailleach: Stories of the Wise Woman Healer

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£26.18

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Paperback / softback by Gearoid Crualaoich

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This powerful analysis of the 'wise women healer' from the oral traditions of Ireland's rural communities, is unique in its... Read more

    Publisher: Cork University Press
    Publication Date: 01/09/2006
    ISBN13: 9781859184127, 978-1859184127
    ISBN10: 185918412X

    Number of Pages: 320

    Non Fiction

    Description

    This powerful analysis of the 'wise women healer' from the oral traditions of Ireland's rural communities, is unique in its depth and perspective. Stories, told and retold, embedded in the texture of culture and community, collected and studied for many decades, are here translated and made available to the general reader for the first time. The figure of the 'wise woman', the 'hag', the Cailleach, or the 'Red Woman' are part of an oral tradition which has its roots in pre-Christian Ireland. In the hands of Gearoid O Crualaich, these figures are subtly explored to reveal how they offered a complex understanding of the world, of human psychology and its predicaments. The thematic structure of the book brings to the fore universal themes such as death, marriage, childbirth and healing, and invites the reader to see the contemporary relevance of the stories for themselves.

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