Adventures in the Otherworld: Celtic Medicine Stories

Tatterhood

Katherine Parker PhD — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 10:36:40 GMT

This is one of my favorite tales. It calls to the wild part of me, the one that longs to sleep on the earth and find moss in my hair. The story follows the thread of the balance between the wild and the domesticated It warns us of the lack of fertility that seeps into life when we live too far from the earth. It strikes me that this is not a modern problem.

This story was first written down in Norway in the mid 1800s and shares many themes with Celtic tales. I’m curious what medicine it might carry for you.

To delve deeper into the images and archetypes that stand out for you in this story I invite you to subscribe to the free email course: Working with Archetypes here https://soul.kathoughton.com/working-with-archetypes

Merlin: Prophesy from the Forest

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 11:06:17 GMT

This one again. This story won’t leave me alone. This is a re-telling of Merlin’s story as it comes through me often. We have little on record of this battle, the battle of Arfderydd recorded in the year 573. It’s location is thought to have been in what is now an old field just north of the Scottish- English border. And it is recorded as one of the three futile battles of Britain.

It is also recorded that this is the battle in which merlin went mad and spend 3 days and 3 nights without food, drink or sleep in the wildwood.

In this telling the story of the battle and what happened after is my imagining - having spend time up there on that land and time fasting out in the woods. the prophesy at the end of this telling has been recorded in multiple ways in multiple texts.

I recommend you give yourself some space to listen to this one. It’s not good driving material. It might require you to dig into your own loss, and what we’ve lost collectively. And from that the seeds of knowing push through the dark soil bringing new life. I invite you to reflect on what it might mean to turn yourself into soil.

The Old Women Who Gather (16)

Katherine Parker PhD — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 11:06:22 GMT

This story captured my heart when I first heard it. It comes from the Irish Travelers tradition and is recorded in a beautiful book called “Why the Moon Travels” by Oein BeBhairduin. These tales stand out to me as distinct from most other Celtic tales that I have come across, they explain the origins of things in a way I am used to coming across in Native American stories but not Celtic ones.

This story carries a world wide theme of women who work to spin and weave in addition to plant lore and magical instruction. All in a short little folktale!

I offer this as an honoring to all those who work for benefit of others and the ancestors who got us here.

I highly recommend Oein’s book, there’s a link here to purchase a copy. Enjoy.

The Song of the Selkie

Katherine Parker PhD — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 10:46:10 GMT

Stories of the seal people are prevalent all along the west coast of Ireland and Scotland and up into the Faroe Islands. if you’ve spend any time wandering the shorelines of those places you’ll know why - the seals are very present, you can hear them breathing and see their big, brown eyes watching you as they hover on that threshold between sky and water. And if you’r lucky you might see them on that other threshold between water and land.

There’s a whole genre of folktales about the seal folk that were carried for countless generations by tellers in clans that claimed to be descended from them.

This is one take that has found it’s way around many storytelling circles and I read the bones of it in Sharon Blackie’s book, If Women Rose Rooted. It’s full of mythic themes of transformation and the power of experiencing loss, and what happens when we refuse to experience loss, which I won’t attempt to explain but instead let the story do it’s work with you.

The Fairy Midwife

Katherine Parker PhD — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 11:07:07 GMT

There are variations of the Fairy Midwife story from up and down the British Isles, it seems to be ubiquitous and wound deep into the fabric of Celtic lore. This is my own telling of this old story that highlights the complex role midwives have played in our cultures. These women who stand at the portal between the worlds assist in births, and deaths, and the opening to The Otherworld in more ways than we tend to recognize. The midwife reminds us that the Otherworld is always there, always available, if we just have the eyes to see and the ears to listen.

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13: Rhiannon and Pwyll

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 16:27:11 GMT

This is the second part of the first branch of the Mabinogi that we began in the last episode. These tales carried in the oral tradition of the ancient Britons contain teachings about how to be. Here our hero, Pwyll Prince of Dyfed, faces more trials as he learns about the importance of consent and generosity from a female tutor.

Rhiannon is a beguiling figure who appears from the Otherworld but moves into the human realm over the course of this and the next installment. She carries much wisdom. Her name is a mystery, some scholars suggest it may mean Great Queen. She is strongly associated with horses and the European Celtic goddess Epona, as will become clear in the following episode.

These stories were written down 900 years ago in Medieval Wales but were likely told for countless generations before that up and down the land where the ancient Celtic Britons roamed, before the Romans, Anglos, Saxons or Normans.

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Becoming Wisdom: Pwyll and Arawn

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 19:26:09 GMT

Nine hundred years ago in Medieval Wales, an unknown author wrote down tales that have been carried in the oral tradition for at least 2,000 years. Some think this collection of tales, known as The Mabinogion, is much older than that. This story, about Pwyll Prince of Dyfed is set before the Saxons, before the Romans, in a time when the native Brittons roamed freely across most of what is now Wales, England and Scotland.

The Mabinogion are thought to be a collection of teaching tales for young nobles. This first one is a story of male initiation. Pwyll’s mentor shows up as Arawn King of Annwfn, which is the Welsh Otherworld. Annwfn translates as the very deep, inner world. This is an encounter with the Magical Huntsman who appears frequently in Celtic lore, you may have come across him as Gwyn ap Nudd.

Whomever wrote down these stories put a Christian veneer on them, but the bulk of them remain decidedly pre-Christian. This is the first section of what is knows as the First Branch of the Mabinogi, there are two more sections in the branch and three more branches. I'll be recording re-tellings of the other parts over the next few months.

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The Lad of the Skins

Katherine Parker PhD — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 21:58:11 GMT

This story grabbed my attention and I'm still not sure why, it's deeper mysteries have yet to be revealed to me. I keep telling it as a way to honor the medicine it carries and let it sink further into me. I'm very curious to know what you make of it.

The Lad of the Skins is from the Fianna Cycle of Irish mythology. These tales of the Fianna, a roving band of warrior-poets, were told all across Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands. They still are. They are set in the third century CE and often feature Finn, whom we met in Episode 9 The Salmon of Wisdom. But in this tale Finn takes a back seat to this mysterious stranger who steps into their circle one evening.

I trust that stories that insist I tell them have something to say to me and whomever chooses to listen. So I offer you this one, that has been quite vocal about being told, knowing that whatever it opens up for you will been a gift on your path.

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Michael Scot and the White Serpent

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 11:07:43 GMT

This story is again from my home of the Scottish Borders. It continues the theme of the last two episodes, these extreme moments of total enlightenment after the accidental consumption of a magical liquid - just like Taliesin in Wales and Finn McCoull in Ireland. Michael Scott was a historical person in the early thirteenth century who became knows as the Border's Wizard.

He was a highly educated man who studied in some of the finest schools of the time in Europe and translated Arabic texts. He likely held much esoteric knowledge. Another legend tells that he created the Eildon Hill in the Borders by cutting a larger hill in three pieces. The Eildons, you might remember from Episode 1, are where Thomas the Rhymer was whisked away by the Queen of Elphame.

We may never know the reality of Michael Scott's knowledge and magical ability but this is one story that became attached to his name over the years and survived into our time as part of the lore of the Scottish Borders.

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Episode 9: Finn and the Salmon of Wisdom

Katherine Parker PhD — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:22:53 GMT

This story from Ireland is from one of the deep layers of Celtic mythology. If you listened to the previous episode with the Welsh story of the Birth of Taliesin you will see the similarities between these two tales that suggest an older, foundational myth.

It's an iconic Celtic tale of the crossing between the two worlds - ordinary reality and the place of all Wisdom - and here it happens in one defining moment of enlightenment.

This story forms the early beginnings of the large collection of myths and folktales known as the Fianna Cycle that comes from the third century CE. These tales were, and still are, told across Ireland and the West of Scotland. They call forth a long Celtic oral tradition of wonder and magic.

The salmon shows up across Celtic folklore and archeology as an important animal. Learn more:

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Episode 8: The Birth of Taliesin

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 11:07:59 GMT

The story I am sharing with you today is The Birth of Taliesin. The word means "radiant brow" in Welsh, and you'll see why at the end of the story. Taliesin is another one of these Celtic figures who crosses back and forth between history and myth.

There was indeed a famous Welsh Bard in the 6th century called Taliesin and there seem to be stories that pre-date that person and weave throughout the mythic landscape after him. Bards after the 6th century would often compose poetry in the voice of Taliesin or channel him as they created - however you want to see that process.

This is the story of Taliesin's birth. it's quintessential Celtic Myth - there's a cauldron - of course, shapeshifting, death, re-birth and initiation all set in the dramatic Welsh landscape. This story carries a vibrancy that I can't help feel as I tell it. It's fun and full of mystery. I hope you enjoy this version of the Birth of Taliesin.

Episode 7: The Dreaming of Elen and Macsen

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 10:47:19 GMT

This is a re-telling of an old Welsh tale captured in the 12th century text The Mabinogion. Its not usually told quiet like this. I see Elen as an expression of the Sovereignty Goddess who is so prevalent in Celtic myth. She is the abundance of the land and recognizes the need to be in partnership with humans for everything to flourish.

To me this story speaks of the human-nature relationship but it also addresses the relationship between the masculine and feminine - both between two people and within all of us.

The story too touches on the theme of the dreaming of the land which skirts around the edges of The Dream Makers story I told in Episode 3. It's quite magical, I hope you enjoy listening as much I as enjoy telling it.

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Episode 6: Myrddin of the Wildwood- Part 3

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 13:52:48 GMT

This is the third and final part of this telling of Merlin's story. This is the part you may be more familiar with and has taken many different forms over the years as the story traveled around Britain between the North and what is now Wales.

This story speaks of Merlin as a great prophet implying that he has found some opening to the Otherworld through which knowledge, unbound by time and space, comes through him. You may recognize a parallel here with the Thomas the Rhymer story from Episode 1. The gift of prophesy is a common theme in the tradition of the Britons.

In both these stories, it is time out alone in the natural world that precipitates the coming of the prophetic ability. in other old Welsh poems Merlin is in conversation with an apple tree and a pig, suggesting his animistic worldview and respect for intelligence beyond the human.

I'd love to know what you hear in this part of Merlin's tale.

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Episode 5: Myrddin of the Wildwood Part 2

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 19:04:01 GMT

This is the second part of Merlin's story, please listen to Part 1 first as it will give you some context for the battle that is about to happen and Merlin's grief

The battle happened in a field, by a river, in a place that now lies on the Western section of the English-Scottish Border. In the old texts the battle is recorded happening in the year 573 and is labeled one of the Three Futile Battles of Britain. We don't know why it was fought and some suggest it was futile because it pitted Briton against Briton when their fighting power would have been better directed at the invading Angles.

The short written record also states that this was the battle in which "Merlin became mad".

His madness became to focus of my telling of this story. Having experienced the madness of traumatic grief and spent multiple stretches of three days and nights fasting out in wilderness I drew on these experiences to imagine his initiation.

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I consider the experience of grief to be an initiatory experience. This post explains how I arrived at the understanding the grief carried medicine to help us unfold in to a more expanded version of ourself.

Episode 4: Myrddin of the WildWood, Part 1

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 18:38:23 GMT

Merlin has become a legend. Many fantastical tales have been woven about him, and he continues to show up, in various guises in our popular culture. He has captured our imaginations as the archetypal Druid or Wizard.

When we trace the history of his story we find at the beginning the fragments of an historical figure. A man who existed on the edges.

He lived in the middle of the sixth century, a time after the Romans had withdrawn from Britain and the still powerful kingdoms of the North were fighting for power while trying to fend off increasing waves of invasions from the Angles.

It was also a time when the old nature-based spirituality of Britain was teetering on the edge of submission to the new faith moving up from the desert lands and Southern Europe.

Merlin's story is based in South West Scotland. It was only later, as layers of legend began to wrap around him, he was translocated to other parts of Britain.

This telling is based on the bones of a few historical scraps we have left and doesn't include many of the later additions you are likely more familiar with.

It's a long story so I've broken it up into four parts. This first part is an insight into how life might have been when the Brythonic tribes native to southern Scotland still had the freedom to follow their old ways.

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This episode features a Celtic Dream Temple. You can learn more about the history behind this imagining here:

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Episode 3: The Dream Makers

Katherine Parker PhD — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 14:28:04 GMT

The Dream Makers story comes from the Isle of Skye in the West of Scotland, a beautiful island full of mountains and mystery. It's one of those stories that comes across as a simple folktale but carries some deep medicine from the realm of dreams.

It speaks to me of how The Otherworld erupts into this world through our dreaming and the importance of our attending to its messages.

Like so many other Celtic tales it reminds us that The Otherworld is ever present and we can stumble across its threshold both awake and asleep.

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Episode 2: Tam Lin

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 11:11:58 GMT

What happens when we go into the forbidden places in the woods? There are times in life we are determined to find out.

This story comes from close to Selkirk in Southern Scotland, just a little west of the Eildon Hills we spoke about in Episode 1 - Thomas the Rhymer.

The Queen of Feary appears again, this time in a darker guise but still as an initiator of men. Our protagonist is a fearless young women willing to hold on, to keep going, no matter what.

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Episode 1: Thomas the Rhymer

Katherine Parker PhD — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 14:44:51 GMT

This is an old story from the Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders, just down the road from where I grew up. It is the tale of an historical person known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas who is said to have the gift of prophesy. Sir Walter Scott reported in the late 1800s that local families still had books of Thomas’s prophecies that they consulted in uncertain times. This story tell of how he received his gift.

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