Tales of a Technogypsie

The Hill of Uisneach / Cnoc Uisnigh or Ushnagh, in the heart of County Westmeath, is a 182 meter high sacred hill that was once considered to be the absolute center of Ireland. Located along the northern side of R390, and 8 kilometers east of Ballymore, next to the village of Loughanavally – it is [...]

Viking Art/Rune Stone, Borre Viking Marked, Borre, Norway The Viking Art StoneBorrehaugene National Park, Borre, Norway In the Borrehaugene National Park lies a modern artistic replication of a Viking runic stone as one walks towards the grave mounds. The Park is home to the largest number of burial mounds from the Viking age – which [...]

Borre Viking MarkedViking Market / Festival, Borre, Borrekaupangen – the historical Borre Park, Norway: Sunday, 8th July 2012. http://www.borrevikinglag.com/?page_id=961 An amazing trek across the Irish and North Seas, through four countries, three days to reach, three days to embrace, and three days to return … I was taken captive by a Jorvik Viking from York [...]

Purchase one here Fairy Stone / Fairy Cross / Staurolite Localities: Fairy Stone State Park, Virginia, USA; North Georgia, USA; Little Falls, Minnesota, USA; Taos, New Mexico, USA; Switzerland; Russia; Australia; Brazil; France; Italy; Scotland. Description: Popular to its folklore and legends, this stone has a State Park in Virginia named after it as it [...]

Black Swan Pub * http://blackswanyork.co.uk/ * Peasholme Green * York, England * One of York’s haunted locales, this is also one of York’s more authentic pubs. In medieval style and decor, this timber framed house holding a pub and folk club retains classical 17th century interior decor. Within is a large stairway leading off to [...]

Ossian’s Grave * Cloghbrack * Cushendall * Northern Ireland * The fabled site of where the wandering poet, bard, and seer “Oisin” is believed to be buried. Atop a hill overlooking the valley and down into the Glen as well as over the Channel to be able to see Scotland on a clear day, the [...]

The Tiveragh Fairy Hill Cushendall, Northern Ireland Legend and lore has it that this very broad sided hill with steep sides overlooking the small village of Cushendall in Northern Ireland is the gateway to Tir na nOg. A place very well known locally to be haunted by faeries, leprechauns, elves, and pixies … this giant [...]

Stonehenge Festival, a set on Flickr. Via Flickr: The Summer Solstice Stonehenge Celebration at Stonehenge, Salisbury, England, UK. June 20-21, 2012. To learn more about Stonehenge, visit my page at: www.technogypsie.com/reviews/?p=126 In the near future, photos and articles relating to the 2012 festival will be posted here (estimated July 2012) www.technogypsie.com/reviews/?p=3365 Photos by Leaf McGowan [...]

Shakefest 2012May 26-27th, 2012 * Charleville Castle * Tullamore * Ireland * Shakefest.net * This year will be Shakefest’s “7th” Annual Dance and multi-cultural festival held at the historic epic Charleville Castle. The festival grounds is starting to bustle with activity as preparations are in the flow to welcome local and international community, visitors, friends, [...]

The Dracula Experience* 9 Marine Parade North Yorkshire, Whitby YO21 1EA, United Kingdom * 01947 601 923 * How could one come to Whitby? the home of Bram Stoker, without thinking about peeking one’s curious head into the “Dracula Experience”. Well, bother not. It’s a chain horror shop that can be found throughout the UK. [...]

Begijnhof and Chapel *Zandvoorterweg 78 * 2111 GZ Aerdenhout * Tel. 023-5246229 * Fax. 023-5440081 * info: info@stille-omgang.nl * website: www.stille-omgang.nl Amsterdam, Hollandhttp://www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl/It was here, at the Begijnhof that a few days before Palm Sunday on March 15, 1345 a sick man in the Kalverstraat took the Sacrament of the sick from the local priest. [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia a.k.a. “Platypus” or “Bewick’s Platypus” Taxonomy: Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Monotremata; Ornithorhynchidae; Ornithorhynchus; Ornithorhynchus anatinus Common Names: platypus, watermole, duckbill, and duckmole. Localities: Native to Eastern Australia including Tasmania, with ancestors from South America. They live on the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes where they can burrow. Description:When white [...]

http://www.dragonofshandon.com/ * Dragon of Shandon Samhain Parade in Cork, Ireland on Halloween * Monday, October 31, 2011. This year’s parade featured creations from hundreds of community group participants, Irelands largest articulated sellotape Dragon, scary characters, musicians and an illuminated river parade by Naomhóga Chorcaí and Meithal Mara up the River Lee.

Thor(PG-13: 2011)Director: Kenneth Branagh; Starring: Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, and many more. Based on the Ragnarok mythology, the 2011 American Superhero film “Thor” is based on the [...]

National Museum of Australia * Lawson Crescent * Acton Peninsula, Canberra ACT 2601 * (02) 6208 5000 * One of Australia’s most brilliant and diverse museums is the National Museum of Australia in Canberra within the heart of the Australian Capital Territory. It was established in 1980 by the National Museum of Australia Act to [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia Ochre A common denominator amongst indigenous cultures around the globe is the use of ochre in ritual magic, painting, and funerary customs. You can find this intriguing use amongst the Australian Aborigines, the Native Americans, the Celts, the Egyptians, and even prehistoric Cro Magnon cave dwellers. In many of [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia The Dreaming and “Dreamtime” As I take a career and life journey’s “Walkabout” around Australia and Europe during the Summer of 2011, during my visit to the Australian National Museum I really for the very first time embrace the concept of the Australian Aborigine “Dreaming” and “Dreamtime” that I [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia The Milky Way and Crocodile Story Upon wandering around the Australian National Museum in Canberra of the Australian Capital Territory, I discovered this fine bark painting. This unique Aboriginal folklore masterpiece consists of a application of ochres and polymer on bark with wooden restrainers attached to its rear. It [...]

Pukamani Poles The Australian Aborigine “Tiwi” people of the Bathurst and Melville Islands of the Northern Territories have symbollic material cultural artifacts littering their landscape similar to the use of headstones or grave markings in Western culture. These are called “Pukamani Poles” and represent individual people who have passed away incorporating a mourning process into [...]

Australian National Museum, Canberra, ACT, Australia Australian Aborigines The Aborigine are the Indigenous Australians or Original Inhabitants of the Great South Land. The term “Aboriginal” in English means “first or earliest known indigenous peoples”. The term “Aboriginal” is seen by some of the communities as insensitive and offensive while accepted by others. The politically correct [...]

Kungkarangkalpa: Seven Sisters Tjukurpa Dreaming “A Man pursues the seven sisters across many parts of Australia, trying to trick them into marriage with him. They create landforms as they travel and eventually flee into the sky to become the constellation known as the Plaeides or “the Seven Sisters””. Pitis have been made as women’s carrying [...]

Holy Wells and Sacred Springs, a set on Flickr. Via Flickr: Photos from visits in 2011 to Holy Wells and Sacred Springs. 8 July 2011: Giants Well at St. Michael’s Mount; Madron Well. 31 October 2011: Chalice Well and White Spring, Glastonbury, England. Well of Tara.

Kangaroo Taxonomy: Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Marsupialia; Diprotodontia; Macropodidae; Macropus; Macropus and Osphranter Common Names: Kangaroo, gangurru, boomers, jacks, old men, bucks, does, flyers, jills, joeys, roos Localities: Native to Australia. Some relatives in New Guinea. Description: One of the unique critters of Australia, A marsupial that is native to the Down Under and an infamous [...]

Eucalyptus Tree, Pine River Island, Canberra, ACT, Australia Eucalyptus Myrtaceae Common Names: “Eucalypts”, “Gum Trees”, “mallees”, “mallet”, “marlock”, “Apple Box”, Taphonomy/Taxonomy: Over 700 Species. Localities: Native to Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia. Might be native to the Archipelagos of the Philippines as well as Taiwan. With over 700 Species, 691 are found in Australia, and [...]

Walkabout A “Walkabout” comes from the Australian Aborigine “rite of passage” that young males undergo as a journey during adolescence to live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months. It is through this journey that the young male would trace the paths or “songlines” of their ancestors, imitate them and cherishing [...]

Happy/Sad Foot of Sunset Blvd* Sunset Blvd. * Los Angeles, California * There’s a whirling sign of a foot on crutches that locals claim has supernatural and mythical properties: The moment you glance at it … if it is a Happy Foot, good luck will come your way. If it is Unhappy, Bad luck comes [...]

The Concept of “Soul Mates”    “Methinks I have a plan which will humble their pride and improve their manners; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be diminished in strength and increased in numbers; this will have the advantage of making them more profitable to [...]

Pirate Relief’s: Project Gypsy * Piraterelief.com * Pirate Relief is a Non-Profit Arts Project and celebrating the “Living Myth” by bringing the Arts, Sciences, and Legends to Life … uplifting spirits, hope, and dreams while sharing what gifts, aid, relief, and support we have to offer to those struggling from a coastal natural disaster or [...]

The Tree Leaves’ Oracle and Folk Fellowship * www.treeleavesoracle.org * 1991 – Present * Livejournal Community * Facebook Group * Founded in 1991 as an underground Neo-Pagan newsletter, evolving into an arts and crafts wandering business, “Tree Leaves” eventually mutated into a cooperative / collective of folk enthusiasts, folklorists, artists, musicians, religionists, and culturalists who [...]

Haitian Zombification A treatise in 1989 on “Haitian Zombies”. Exploring Wade Davis’ work in Haiti with the compound made from tetrodotoxin utilized by witch doctors in creating real-life zombies as slaves. Baurley, Thomas: 1989 Haitian Horror: Zombification as Myth or Reality?. Florida State University: 1989.