Thank you Dwina, I love your wealth of direct experience with such matters, now I know why I keep being prompted to get a St. Christopher as the one I was given as a child I have lost. On my Mother's side we were Boswells and more recently I discovered a few generations back we were also Wards from Leitrim, my partner Adrian also being of traveller stock as a Bibby.
The Irish were great travellers from the beginning, Jonathan. Brendan’s voyage to America! I knew Wards when I was at school. You will have a crest and possibly an Irish tartan. And the Bibbys will have known the Herons who wed into our family. Xx
Enjoy your work, creative, charming and intriguing! Love how you weave so much knowledge into your stories- you are a great researcher! And, wonder if there were any gypsies at the Kentucky Derby today?
aha! Certainly the best horses would have been sourced from Ireland! That made me smile. Glad you enjoy my work. I love to write the little stories of my childhood memories. My mother was a great story-teller although she never wrote them down. She could recite reams of poetry because that was the way in her day. x
I have been away … to a wake for an elderly lady who passed away recently… spent time with her family and also had no WiFi for a few days. Researching some interesting famous writers and facts about the County in which I was born in Ireland. Extraordinary tales. Xx
I love this post Dwina, these healers and animal whisperers are close to my heart and my interests as are protective charms. I used to work as a silversmith and have made special jewellery charms when people including women from the travelling community ask for them, and much of my work is involved with helping people to heal and rescuing animals that come my way. I’ve a strange wart story which is of a child whose hands were covered in warts and they kept multiplying in spite of burying potato’s and other folk remedies. Also his mother had one wart on her fore finger. The mother took the boy to a wart charmer and healer in Mousehole Cornwall and spent a pretty penny with the old man. Within a week the child had no warts and the mothers’ one had also gone. Soon after a little girl who was friends with the boy grew warts all over her hands and her mother one in the same place as the other mother on her fore finger - the man in Mousehole could not be found. After many difficult months a woman from another place came across the little girl and bought the warts - they were gone in a week, the mother still has hers.
They’re strange things! Also I love the poem, it is all about love ❤️
Dear Marika, I love the story of the warts and the woman buying them. Also, your work as a silversmith...my grandfather was a blacksmith and silver smith...he made watch cases and huge ornate iron gates ,as well as being a farrier for horses. So talented. What a lovely thing for you to do...making charms. I have one of a varda, a tiny travellers' caravan. Are you from Mousehole? Such an amazing place. Thank you for sharing your story. I have often healed birds and I can grow trees. Recently I realized my Irish wolfhounds who used to eat plums from a plum tree, had spat out the pips and now I have almost twelve young plum trees that have sprung up in a row. I guess they can also plant trees!
Thanks Dwina … yes donkeys … our Jenny reached about 30. She had many friends over the gate we did not know until after she was gone. Warts … I had a hand covered with warts when I was 7 that disappeared one summer holiday without my noticing . My mother put it down to the nurse in our newly formed NHS having looked carefully while holding my hands, with only a brief, ‘let’s see how he gets on’.
This Sunday being Orthodox Easter reminded me of my work in the Balkans a while back. This was the land of the cross and the minaret precariously at peace in the modern cross currents. There is a connection with healing. The church of St Panteleimon built on the side of the mountain in 1164 in the Byzantine Empire, was maintained through the later Ottoman centuries and survived the 20thC with its two World Wars and a severe earthquake. The locally venerated murals are internationally important and the Greek lettering is still legible. He is the patron saint of healing and was martyred for it in 305. I will post something at Martin Shaw’s, and a short verse I wrote at the time at my own substack.
I also enjoy Martin Shaw’s work. I am so glad you had a Jenny. Little donkeys are so lovely and I was appalled to discover the cruelty in different parts of the world. Loved hearing of the Byzantine Empire and the special Saint for Healing… I have been studying the lives of many of the Saints. Butlers Lives of the Saints is a set of books detailing them. I had interest because my late husband Robin carried a stone from St Cecilia’s tomb with him… the martyred Saint of Music. I will look for St. Panteleimon. Thank you. …
This was fascinating! I had a similar experience with a wart but not the whole thing as you describe it. Thanks for posting this - it was so amazing to me!
I just love these tales from Ireland. Thank you for the education from the motherland! I think grandmothers have not only wisdom but healing powers as well! Xoxo
My grandmother lived with my aunt in the summer up in the hills and with my mother in the winter down in the village. I shared the room with my grandmother during the winters and both she and my mother were great story tellers. They definitely had the gift of calming the spirit. Xx
I too shared a bedroom with my grandmother when I a young woman. Her room had a door that opened to the garden. Her bed always smelled of Roses. She told me many stories if her life in Sweden and coming to America alone at 18!
That was a big thing to do, travelling to America alone at any age. My grandmother was very religious and she had me recite prayers before sleeping. One was: Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. I thought it was to do with Mrs, Bennet, a neighbour, and looked at her in a different light, on why I should not forget her! She stuck her fingers straight into the saucepan to eat the stewed prunes my mother cooked and wore blue bloomers to her knees we could see when she rode her bicycle and sang Amen after everyone else in the ladies choir! It was quite a wonder! Xxx
She sounds like a wonderful granny! Weren't we so lucky? Mine was a chef and cooked for the very rich and famous as a young woman. I remember setting large tables for dinner parties with her. She wasted nothing. All leftovers were made into glorious dishes. We made grape Jam together. She would catch eel on the beach between the jetty rocks (Eel stew) and we would go clamming at low tide. She could swim long distances. Often would put a towel around her and undress/dress at the beach. (Remember she was Swedish ) She was very skilled at that. She was joyous. We used to sneak down into her kitchen and grab a chocolate bar that was always in her refrigerator. Wonderful to think of her and relive all the fun.
Love the pictures!!! Saved to my desktop. Guess what ? One ear's been clogged for days! Tried peroxide, nada. Doc tomorrow.
On another note, I am feeling like everything's different lately. Stuck in a time warp. I don't know my friend says it is very symbolic!
Any chance you know of any home remedies for ear clogs? Trying to avoid a trip to the doctor if possible. In Venezuela, we have a thing for unwanted visitors. We turn a glass of water upside down on a plate, or put a broom behind the door. The broom totally works!
Astrid when we get lost in Ireland we call them faery warps and we get out of them by turning our jackets inside out or one article of clothing. If you feel you are trapped in one, just wear two different socks for the day or turn your top inside out and wear it for the day. It is very interesting how it breaks the cycle!
There is a heath food store and I need to go. I am going for the garlic too In Venezuela if you have earache they recommend breast milk too. What I have is a clogged ear like I have water 💦 in there. Thank you for those tips 🩷❤️🩷
Astrid, a Macrobiotic healer told me that if you peel a small garlic clove and slip it onto your ear for even half an hour, it cools the inflammation and has an antibiotic natural substance in it that helps with a painful ear. I have used this and it works. The herb mullein is also good if you can get it in an oil. Xx
This was a rabbit hole I enjoyed spiralling into. I'm currently reading The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and was given similar vibes by all these little stories. I felt as though spring had shined through these stories and I was the one in Europe experiencing them. Thank you so much for sharing and brightening up my day.
I am happy you enjoyed it. Living the life is so interesting and magical and the characters who are all playing their parts in the drama are inspiring. The Hobbit is great... i loved it. Growing up in Ireland was like being in a faery story, even with all the troubles going on in Northern Ireland. The rabbit holes of literature and poetry and songs were distractions. I know eactly what you mean! x
Love the article. Animals are so sweet and pure why would anyone want to hurt them? So interesting never knew there was donkey whispers. learning so much from you.
Teresa, I wished to write about the charms and the many different healers in Ireland. So glad you liked it...and the animals are so lovely... the little donkeys, especially the babies, are so sweet and gentle. I have no idea how anyone can hurt them! x
Really interesting post, thanks Dwina. As a child in rural Lincolnshire, it was believed that blacksmiths and horse whisperers had a special charm which was a bone of a frog or toad, possibly the skulls , that they always carried. Also
Gypsies, who, it was believed, used the charm to steal horses, although they seemed to have plenty of their own!
Yes, there was a bit of a scandal in Ireland where the the sperm of Irish Race Horses was being stolen and sent to Kentucky breeders!! The Gypsies did get the blame, I'm afraid.
My Irish Grandfather was a blacksmith and silversmith and I am sure he had special charms. He was a very magical man by all accounts. Thank you for your response. I would love to hear more. I love Lincolnshire and find it very mysterious. One of my Irish wolfhounds came from there.
Thank you Dwina, I love your wealth of direct experience with such matters, now I know why I keep being prompted to get a St. Christopher as the one I was given as a child I have lost. On my Mother's side we were Boswells and more recently I discovered a few generations back we were also Wards from Leitrim, my partner Adrian also being of traveller stock as a Bibby.
The Irish were great travellers from the beginning, Jonathan. Brendan’s voyage to America! I knew Wards when I was at school. You will have a crest and possibly an Irish tartan. And the Bibbys will have known the Herons who wed into our family. Xx
Oh wow, how interesting xx
Enjoy your work, creative, charming and intriguing! Love how you weave so much knowledge into your stories- you are a great researcher! And, wonder if there were any gypsies at the Kentucky Derby today?
aha! Certainly the best horses would have been sourced from Ireland! That made me smile. Glad you enjoy my work. I love to write the little stories of my childhood memories. My mother was a great story-teller although she never wrote them down. She could recite reams of poetry because that was the way in her day. x
Dwina hasn't written lately. I wonder if she has seen a ghost...
I have been away … to a wake for an elderly lady who passed away recently… spent time with her family and also had no WiFi for a few days. Researching some interesting famous writers and facts about the County in which I was born in Ireland. Extraordinary tales. Xx
I love this post Dwina, these healers and animal whisperers are close to my heart and my interests as are protective charms. I used to work as a silversmith and have made special jewellery charms when people including women from the travelling community ask for them, and much of my work is involved with helping people to heal and rescuing animals that come my way. I’ve a strange wart story which is of a child whose hands were covered in warts and they kept multiplying in spite of burying potato’s and other folk remedies. Also his mother had one wart on her fore finger. The mother took the boy to a wart charmer and healer in Mousehole Cornwall and spent a pretty penny with the old man. Within a week the child had no warts and the mothers’ one had also gone. Soon after a little girl who was friends with the boy grew warts all over her hands and her mother one in the same place as the other mother on her fore finger - the man in Mousehole could not be found. After many difficult months a woman from another place came across the little girl and bought the warts - they were gone in a week, the mother still has hers.
They’re strange things! Also I love the poem, it is all about love ❤️
Dear Marika, I love the story of the warts and the woman buying them. Also, your work as a silversmith...my grandfather was a blacksmith and silver smith...he made watch cases and huge ornate iron gates ,as well as being a farrier for horses. So talented. What a lovely thing for you to do...making charms. I have one of a varda, a tiny travellers' caravan. Are you from Mousehole? Such an amazing place. Thank you for sharing your story. I have often healed birds and I can grow trees. Recently I realized my Irish wolfhounds who used to eat plums from a plum tree, had spat out the pips and now I have almost twelve young plum trees that have sprung up in a row. I guess they can also plant trees!
Another wonderful and informative piece. So many nuggets. I used to look after a donkey occasionally... It's call always made me laugh so much.
Your writing itself is healing as you always bring humour within the fascinating information.
Thank you for that sentiment, Niccola! But there is always something funny happening elsewhere. I try not to lean too much on the horrors. xx
Thanks Dwina … yes donkeys … our Jenny reached about 30. She had many friends over the gate we did not know until after she was gone. Warts … I had a hand covered with warts when I was 7 that disappeared one summer holiday without my noticing . My mother put it down to the nurse in our newly formed NHS having looked carefully while holding my hands, with only a brief, ‘let’s see how he gets on’.
This Sunday being Orthodox Easter reminded me of my work in the Balkans a while back. This was the land of the cross and the minaret precariously at peace in the modern cross currents. There is a connection with healing. The church of St Panteleimon built on the side of the mountain in 1164 in the Byzantine Empire, was maintained through the later Ottoman centuries and survived the 20thC with its two World Wars and a severe earthquake. The locally venerated murals are internationally important and the Greek lettering is still legible. He is the patron saint of healing and was martyred for it in 305. I will post something at Martin Shaw’s, and a short verse I wrote at the time at my own substack.
I also enjoy Martin Shaw’s work. I am so glad you had a Jenny. Little donkeys are so lovely and I was appalled to discover the cruelty in different parts of the world. Loved hearing of the Byzantine Empire and the special Saint for Healing… I have been studying the lives of many of the Saints. Butlers Lives of the Saints is a set of books detailing them. I had interest because my late husband Robin carried a stone from St Cecilia’s tomb with him… the martyred Saint of Music. I will look for St. Panteleimon. Thank you. …
This was fascinating! I had a similar experience with a wart but not the whole thing as you describe it. Thanks for posting this - it was so amazing to me!
Glad you liked it Nancy. I enjoyed reliving it while I was writing it.
I just love these tales from Ireland. Thank you for the education from the motherland! I think grandmothers have not only wisdom but healing powers as well! Xoxo
My grandmother lived with my aunt in the summer up in the hills and with my mother in the winter down in the village. I shared the room with my grandmother during the winters and both she and my mother were great story tellers. They definitely had the gift of calming the spirit. Xx
I too shared a bedroom with my grandmother when I a young woman. Her room had a door that opened to the garden. Her bed always smelled of Roses. She told me many stories if her life in Sweden and coming to America alone at 18!
That was a big thing to do, travelling to America alone at any age. My grandmother was very religious and she had me recite prayers before sleeping. One was: Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits. I thought it was to do with Mrs, Bennet, a neighbour, and looked at her in a different light, on why I should not forget her! She stuck her fingers straight into the saucepan to eat the stewed prunes my mother cooked and wore blue bloomers to her knees we could see when she rode her bicycle and sang Amen after everyone else in the ladies choir! It was quite a wonder! Xxx
She sounds like a wonderful granny! Weren't we so lucky? Mine was a chef and cooked for the very rich and famous as a young woman. I remember setting large tables for dinner parties with her. She wasted nothing. All leftovers were made into glorious dishes. We made grape Jam together. She would catch eel on the beach between the jetty rocks (Eel stew) and we would go clamming at low tide. She could swim long distances. Often would put a towel around her and undress/dress at the beach. (Remember she was Swedish ) She was very skilled at that. She was joyous. We used to sneak down into her kitchen and grab a chocolate bar that was always in her refrigerator. Wonderful to think of her and relive all the fun.
For sure, Joanne, I did not realise the wealth of all the experiences until I travelled elsewhere and now I am trying to document them all. Xx
Always looking forward to your stories, Dwina! I love them! Thank you 🙏
Love the pictures!!! Saved to my desktop. Guess what ? One ear's been clogged for days! Tried peroxide, nada. Doc tomorrow.
On another note, I am feeling like everything's different lately. Stuck in a time warp. I don't know my friend says it is very symbolic!
Any chance you know of any home remedies for ear clogs? Trying to avoid a trip to the doctor if possible. In Venezuela, we have a thing for unwanted visitors. We turn a glass of water upside down on a plate, or put a broom behind the door. The broom totally works!
Astrid when we get lost in Ireland we call them faery warps and we get out of them by turning our jackets inside out or one article of clothing. If you feel you are trapped in one, just wear two different socks for the day or turn your top inside out and wear it for the day. It is very interesting how it breaks the cycle!
There is a heath food store and I need to go. I am going for the garlic too In Venezuela if you have earache they recommend breast milk too. What I have is a clogged ear like I have water 💦 in there. Thank you for those tips 🩷❤️🩷
Thank you Dwina...I am trying this!
Astrid, a Macrobiotic healer told me that if you peel a small garlic clove and slip it onto your ear for even half an hour, it cools the inflammation and has an antibiotic natural substance in it that helps with a painful ear. I have used this and it works. The herb mullein is also good if you can get it in an oil. Xx
This was a rabbit hole I enjoyed spiralling into. I'm currently reading The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien and was given similar vibes by all these little stories. I felt as though spring had shined through these stories and I was the one in Europe experiencing them. Thank you so much for sharing and brightening up my day.
I am happy you enjoyed it. Living the life is so interesting and magical and the characters who are all playing their parts in the drama are inspiring. The Hobbit is great... i loved it. Growing up in Ireland was like being in a faery story, even with all the troubles going on in Northern Ireland. The rabbit holes of literature and poetry and songs were distractions. I know eactly what you mean! x
Love the article. Animals are so sweet and pure why would anyone want to hurt them? So interesting never knew there was donkey whispers. learning so much from you.
Teresa, I wished to write about the charms and the many different healers in Ireland. So glad you liked it...and the animals are so lovely... the little donkeys, especially the babies, are so sweet and gentle. I have no idea how anyone can hurt them! x
Really interesting post, thanks Dwina. As a child in rural Lincolnshire, it was believed that blacksmiths and horse whisperers had a special charm which was a bone of a frog or toad, possibly the skulls , that they always carried. Also
Gypsies, who, it was believed, used the charm to steal horses, although they seemed to have plenty of their own!
Yes, there was a bit of a scandal in Ireland where the the sperm of Irish Race Horses was being stolen and sent to Kentucky breeders!! The Gypsies did get the blame, I'm afraid.
My Irish Grandfather was a blacksmith and silversmith and I am sure he had special charms. He was a very magical man by all accounts. Thank you for your response. I would love to hear more. I love Lincolnshire and find it very mysterious. One of my Irish wolfhounds came from there.