An Gáe Bolg
In the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, the youthful warrior Cú Chulainn possesses a deadly weapon called the Gáe Bolg, gifted to him by his female mentor and trainer in the ways of warfare, Scáthach. It was said to be a spear that could only be used under certain conditions, but once used it was lethal. Ferdiad, the foster brother and best friend of Cú Chulainn found this out to his detriment in their epic duel in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. A scenario mirrored — as myth so often is — in the modern day tragedy of the Civil War, where families found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
Myth has the ability to transport us into the story in a way that contemporary recorded history doesn’t quite succeed in doing to the same degree. The anguish of Cú Chulainn’s lament after he delivers the fatal blow to Ferdiad with the Gáe Bolg in the Táin, is so raw and palpable with emotion and humanity, we are forced to feel it too. It’s arguably the most enduring tale of every Irish childhood and I remember being filled with sadness as a boy upon hearing it first. It has stayed with me all these years.
Modern history is highly subjective and more often than not, written by the victors. Heroes and villains are not as clear cut. The official version is set in stone by the authorities through the history books. All who oppose it, or offer a contrarian view are regularly dismissed as conspiracy theorists. Often for merely exploring facts that have been deliberately omitted or ignored in order to frame the narrative in a certain way. As the old saying goes ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”.
With myth it’s rarely ambiguous. These stories leave us in no doubt who is who, yet unlike recorded history there is a refreshing honesty to these epic stories, although the lines between good and evil at times can often be blurred. We do get to see the dark side of the hero archetype, which manifests in the often horrific deeds they must carry out along the way in their journey. We get to see the real them, faults and all. Their humanity stripped bare for all to see. But what shines through regardless, is the courage, pureness of heart, the spirit and the general sense of honour and duty of the protagonist.
That is most likely the reason why they have endured through all the ages. They are like a story board of sorts for the human experience. These themes keep on repeating themselves throughout history in slightly different ways, but the underlying motifs remain, as observed by the great American author and mythologist Joseph Campbell. Modern warfare — the type of which we now face — is quite different to that portrayed in myth and legend, but you will find more often than not the underlying themes remain freakishly similar.
The Hero’s Journey of course being the main thread running through it all. My friend Thomas Sheridan utilised this concept beautifully during the dark days of lockdowns, transporting us onto the ancient battlefields of myth by merely sitting in his car and speaking into a smartphone while the camera ran. The musings and metaphors he conveyed in that dark period provided so many people (myself included) with the psychological toolkit to push on despite the darkness. Myth was so often the inspiration in driving the message home.
In an effort to gain ground in — or even make sense of — the increasingly insane world we find ourselves inhabiting, we are sometimes forced to disguise our message to make non-linear incursions into enemy territory. For two reasons mainly, one, to bob and weave the ideologically captured with greater ease. Those who you appear as a hostile agent to by presenting logical arguments. Using satire and allegory confuses them but also has the added effect of diluting the mind virus slightly. Laughter is so important to raise the vibe in all of the gloom and we might as well have a bit of craic with all the madness. Humour and art are the two things that have the best chance of breaking through the programming.
The other reason there is merit in this approach is to slowly bring people over to our side, without beating them over the head and scaring them, and yes, programming them ourselves. Their consciousness needs to be raised gradually otherwise they will likely freak out, remember most of us have had years to process this, we need to be gentle, patient and compassionate with new people coming on board. There is absolutely no point in us merely programming malleable minds with our software and sending them out into battle. Some people are just natural warriors who will charge straight forward without a moment’s thought, but not everyone is built like that, many will need guidance. In the next few years I’m expecting an avalanche of people coming to the realisation that the world is far different to how it’s been presented to them. It’s already happening at a far greater rate than ever before. Genuine spiritual refugees looking for an anchor point.
We need to show them the path through positive actions. I really feel the next chapter we are entering into will be very much about trying to bring people together and identifying the mechanisms that can achieve such an ambitious goal. The newly aware will have to go through the whole process we did, much faster and will be of little use to us or themselves if they see despondency all around them. That’s why continuing to keep the morale high is essential. Dance, sing, laugh, enjoy your life. Don’t let them dictate your reality. Keep creating and growing and living life to its fullest. This mindset is how you will bring more people on board. Focusing on the negatives — of which there are many — will send them straight back to sleep again to the perceived safety of ignorance. That doesn’t mean pretend the darkness isn’t there, just don’t let it consume you.
In order to fight back and resist effectively people will need an expanded awareness that will act like a suit of armour in the psychological skirmishes. We need to reach people slowly and give them the tools to think for themselves. Quality over quantity. Their minds and their souls have already taken a hammering these past few years, we don’t want to add to their misery. I am fully aware time is not our friend, but we must try to be patient. We need to crawl before we can walk.
To do this we must also master our own minds, however difficult that may be, because that is where our daily battle takes place. It is predominantly a war with our own psyche. If we cannot master that, how are we to guide and influence others. Despite the darkness we have already proved our resilience. We are still standing and that has taken phenomenal courage and mental strength.
Tá an cogadh is mó le throid againn san intinn
(The biggest war for us to fight is in the mind)
So with all this in mind, what potential weapons could we possibly possess in our arsenal to help us navigate this psychic/spiritual war? Is there a Gáe Bolg for us to draw upon? I firmly believe we already have a ready made weapon there in its entirety, we need only tap into it. It has been staring us in the face all along. We just need to get over the náire (shame) attached to it and change our outlook towards it. The weapon I’m referring to is of course, the Irish language.
Gaeilge as a weapon
I will attempt to convey in this essay how Gaeilge contains within it many of the psychological tools which can help us greatly going forward, a psychic shield of sorts against the relentless onslaught of Na Domhaindaithe (The Globalists). Ár dTeanga Dúchas (our native language) is not only a separate language but a separate state of being and a completely parallel consciousness, which is perhaps the reason it took the greatest empire the world has ever known to beat it out of us and why we always saw ourselves as a separate people. We can open up a whole new battlefront by presenting the people with a new (really old) lexicon to reclaim.
In the nineteenth century a Bata Scóir (Tally Stick) was used in schools. Every time a child spoke Irish a notch was carved into the stick, the amount of notches at the end of the day were tallied up and the number of notches would determine how many strikes the child would receive. Our language was literally beaten out of us and there is a deep trauma attached to it because of it. The existence of Hiberno-English is proof the language is still inside us. Deep within our souls screaming to get out, to be released into the wild. The language is still there in how we speak English. We are a very expressive, lyrical people and although we now predominantly speak English the seeds are already there inside us and the grass just needs to be watered.
Take the expression Tá brón orm as an example. This literally translates to sadness/sorrow is on/upon me. That in itself is a psychic shield. The way we wear our emotions in Irish means they are fleeting and transient. Sorrow is on me, it is not actually me like the as Béarla equivalent I am sad seems to imply. The feeling is not a part of my being, it’s temporarily weighing on me but will eventually pass. There is an inbuilt stoicism to that which is quite beautiful and something which we can harness to change our outlook and mindset on a mass scale.
The image above is one I generated as a playful act of chaos magic. At first I posted the meme as a joke. I had been using Duolingo for just over a fortnight and I was thinking to myself how ridiculous (and deliberate) it was that no government since the foundation of the state had been able to successfully revive Ár dTeanga Dúchas.
The joke aspect was to suggest that the people should create a grassroots Gaeltacht on the east coast and name it after Tara, away from the influence and woke toxicity of the institutions. I pasted the Ireland’s Ancient East graphic at the bottom just for an extra wind up for any of the usual establishment spies stalking my page (sad bastards that they are).
I thought no more of it at first but the reaction to the post was huge, so then I thought “Why the hell not?” I decided to set up a Facebook group to gauge the level of interest. In the first two days 600 people joined. I was absolutely blown away by the level of interest. It has plateaued slightly since but that is to be expected. I’m expecting another uptick when we start to organise events. We now have a few Gaeilgeoirí on board too, which is very exciting and pushes our chances of success from possible to likely. There is a lovely non-judgemental attitude within the group and people are just having the craic with their mistakes. The way it should be. The Irish were always able to laugh at ourselves and it’s great to see people throwing caution to the wind.
People are just having a go. They are taking the sounds as they hear them in their heads and just letting go of the fear of being wrong. Spelling and grammar have taken a back seat and people are encouraged to just share and the result is an interactive fun way of us all learning together. The more líofa (fluent) speakers are helping out to correct people in a respectful manner which is fantastic because they are who will bring us along. We can all play our part to restore our language and create multiple imaginative initiatives all over the country. We just need to find a blueprint that works and is effective. Then chances of us creating a genuine grassroots Athbeochan (revival) will increase dramatically.
In a weird coincidence, the very same week, the state sanctioned Gaeilgeoir, Hector (I’m sure he’s a nice fella not having a pop but he is their man) was on both Newstalk and the Late Late Show. I haven’t seen him in years so I got a little chuckle thinking to myself that the establishment might have got spooked at all these grassroots Irish language initiatives popping up all over the country, that they may have felt the need to get ahead of it and claim the credit. Why now? It may be just coincidence but the ripples of consciousness that has moved me and others to take up Irish again has probably registered on their radar.
The fact that no government has managed to revive the Irish language to any great degree, with all their resources, presents us with a great opportunity to leave them red faced. Imagine how embarrassing a grassroots revival would be with no funding, just pure raw passion. I’d actually probably prefer if they took the credit and we actually forced them to pump money into it, it would be hilariously funny. It doesn’t matter to me how the Athbeochan takes place and comes to fruition, so long as it does. They would not allow us have that to ourselves without the institutions claiming some sort of credit, so let’s be double agents in this endeavour also and use them if and when we need to should they provide state funding. It’s our money after all.
I’m a big believer in the power of intent. Putting something out there and willing it into existence is a very real phenomenon. I have done it on more than one occasion myself and it’s an incredible feeling when it works. The image above works as a visual aid and a central point for people to focus their attention and energy on. A tulpa of sorts. This is a powerful tool used in marketing and advertising. Painting an image in the mind is something that lasts. It was weaponised against us expertly during the flu rebrand and the WEF and UN are doing it once more with their Sustainable Goals logo. It creates a sense of inevitability that this is happening regardless. What if I told you we can use this technique ourselves and many of us have done to great effect these past few years. Let’s create a sense of inevitability about our endeavour. We are not just hoping to revive it, we are going to, through our collective will and efforts.
Le cheile, is féidir linn a dhéanamh seo (together we can do this)
There are multiple ways we can achieve this. Hikes, walks to ancient sites, coffee mornings you name it, start small and build from there. Don’t be afraid to start a group in your own community, chances are you will find there is a growing interest and people are just waiting for someone to take the lead.
As síol beag a fhásann an crann is airde
as na tithe beaga a thagann na tithe móra
(great oaks from little acorns grow)
We need to bring it back into daily life. When you are doing little chores around the house, try to describe what you are doing as Gaeilge. I’ve found this a great little technique for practicing aloud and getting familiar with the pronunciations again. You’ll be amazed at how much you remember. Speak to your children in Irish, tá an dinnéar ag reidh, tá sé ar an mbord (the dinner is ready, it is on the table). Again start small, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but if you are serious you will need to try using it daily, even alongside English.
Is Fearr Gaeilge Bhriste Ná Béarla Cliste
(Broken Irish is Better Than Clever English).
When you get the confidence to speak it among people, that’s when we can start to really see results. This is when we can turn it into a deadly weapon. Arís, starting small; the self styled socialist Gaeilgeoirí on X would be a good place to begin your advance. We all know the type. They use the Irish version of their name and love to call the working class scumbags and lord it over them that they are more Irish — despite being the living embodiment of everything anti-Irish — because they possess a cúpla focail (that’s all most of them have in many cases so don’t be intimidated).
Surprise them by engaging them in Irish. This will serve two purposes, it will sicken them beyond words, but it will also force them to engage in order to save face, resulting in arguments in Irish online, raising the awareness of it hence fueling the revival. Win win. Get these eejits to do our work for us. It would be really impressive to see whole Twitter threads full of arguments in Irish, it would be hilarious too. They wouldn’t know what hit them.
The next step would be the Gardaí. In particular the diversity hires. We have a right to speak our native language and be dealt with by the Gardaí in Irish. If they want to flood the force with foreigners to facilitate DEI quotas then we don’t have to make their lives easy. We can make it nearly impossible for them to do their jobs. Every approach or overture made by them could be met with “Tá mé ag tiomáint abhaile”. Cause chaos within their system. They want to go global, that’s fine. We will go Irish. Imagine protests with this applied too. Flags full of Irish slogans. It would take it to the next level. We would have a sophisticated resistance movement that would show the world the way once more. Footage of patriots on the ground refusing to speak English to the agents of the state. Game changing stuff.
Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam
(A country without a language, a country without a soul)
— Padraig Pearse
They’ve succeeded in Anglicising our country, now they want to use that Anglicisation to disenfranchise us and Globalise our country. So how do we combat it? By re-Gaelicising our country. It’s that simple. We need to become more Irish than we ever were before. If we want to rescue our country we must become the living embodiment of all that it is. In his pamphlet The Murder Machine, Pearse presents us with the notion of how the English educational system imposed upon Irish children was designed for the specific reason of impoverishing the Gaelic soul. The new Marxist/Globo-homo curriculum, one could argue is even worse due to the level of depravity now on the course.
Pearse postulates in the essay that the antidote to this starvation of the soul was to teach the children through the sagas in order to restore and instil a sense of pride and independence back into the Irish psyche. Our myths are intertwined with the Irish language. It is the language of the warriors and heroes within the tales. It is how they would have originally been orally passed down through the generations. Only an enemy would want to sever our bond and connection to this aspect of our culture. These stories are ours. As is our language. The sagas are part of who we are and we can draw inspiration from them to replicate the amazing feats carried out within them in our own lives and in our own way. They also provide the tools for us to reclaim the minds of our children and rescue them from the beast.
By creating a blueprint, infusing our language, myths, music, art and literature into one interchangeable, interconnected, cultural juggernaut. We can create a resistance movement so sophisticated and intellectually superior to what’s being fed to the masses, we can make it irrelevant. A new Gaelic Revival will occur osmotically, forcing the mass of the people to move with it and in turn forcing the political sphere to keep up for fear of appearing outdated. We can do this in a modern, unique and cool way that is imaginative, raw and edgy, which captivates and inspires the youth to be part of it, filling them with bród (pride {not the rainbow type}) instead of náire (shame).
The Magic of Myth
In the opening paragraph I mentioned an excerpt from an Irish myth featuring Cú Chulainn, but the energy I feel is rising in Ireland at present is more so that of his father Lugh. His presence is strong right now.
The Samildánach (pronounced Sav-ill-daw-nock) or Lugh Lámhfada (of the long arm) according to legend, was a skilled warrior, but also equally skilled in many arts. He is a compelling character and my personal favourite god from the Gaelic pantheon. The second Battle of Maigh Tuireadh in which Lugh overcomes enormous odds to slay the Fomorian giant cyclops Balor (who is also said to be his grandfather) on the field of battle is once more — as myth nearly always is — symbolic of our current battle.
Lugh could actually be the allegorical personification of Ireland versus the might of the globalists encapsulated in the embodiment of Balor, with his one eye reminiscent of the All seeing eye on the capstone atop the pyramid. Representative of the secret unknown force which really controls things. Those we must blind, just as Lugh did. The Irish people need to channel and embrace their inner Lugh, find out the skills and crafts they are good at and weaponise them at every turn. At the beginning of the story he is a minor enough player but his rise to prominence and coming of age could be viewed as a symbol for a people just stirring from their slumber.
The Tuatha energy is rising everywhere. The festival I attended last week was called the Tuatha Dé Danann. I’m seeing content creators and story tellers online making more and more videos telling the stories of these ancient divine beings. We are all receiving these downloads and messages from the ether. These incredible tales should be recanted and revived at the fireside, with storytelling evenings held throughout the country, also returning the Seanchaí back to the heart and hearth of Irish culture. Eventually to be told through Irish once more.
These sagas are so rich, colourful and powerful it’s a mystery why Irish homes are not adorned with images of these characters. Lugh should be on the wall of every house. He is that unknown quantity that springs from nowhere, that diamond in the rough, that flash of inspiration and genius. Perhaps his life force possessed some of our great heroes down through the ages by inspiring the deeds they went on to accomplish. Stories like these impact on the human spirit in a way few things in the modern world can. They are a direct link between us and our ancestors, who would have passed them on to their children down through the generations by the fireside. Another part of us they want to make illegal; the open turf fire.
Níl aon tintean mar do thintean féin
This naturally leads us to the question, why are we not taught these tales in greater depth in school? Why are our children now instead being taught filth and depravity? Why are they being recruited to be Marxist foot soldiers by ideological nit wits, to champion state sanctioned causes? Given false idols like Greta Thurnberg to see as positive role models, when she’s nothing but a spoiled, whining actress. Encouraged to adopt hard left causes as their own and become perennial victims and activists for everything contrary to their own interests. Unwitting activists for the machine. Why are they also being encouraged to keep secrets from their parents?
Life is hard, so instead of being taught to surrender to it, would striving to overcome it not be a better focus? Stoicism, confidence and strength rather than the acceptance of weakness. It’s high time we smashed this paradigm and created parallel learning resources for the Irish child to rediscover who they are, the amazing lineage they come from and the centuries of struggle it took to bring them into this world at this time. It’s imperative we do this.
Broad philosophical concepts with spiritual depth are what’s needed, not atheistic scientism which is failing us as a species by the hour now. Corporate Ireland threatens to swallow whole cultural Ireland, if we don’t restore cultural Ireland and inject some pride back into Muintir na hÉireann they will succeed. That must be fostered through our beautiful children. Fighting back on its own will not be enough without re-building. If we’ve lost all sense of who we are, we will be once more easy prey for the next shiny suited, silver tongued, snake oil salesman who comes along. We will not be equipped to resist.
Mediocrity has always been the default portrayal of Irish society, despite the abundance of excellence. It’s the whole Marxist notion of equity at play again. Hold back the brilliant so the average can catch up. I’m not saying cast the kids with problems or learning difficulties to one side by any means. They of course should get all the help they need and in a sane society they would do — and this would be handled efficiently and effectively. What we have instead is the celebration of victimhood at the expense of greatness.
That is not conducive to the future success of any society. We are the people who got the British administration out of Dublin Castle at the height of their position as the world’s most prominent superpower. That’s who we are. A people possessed with a spirit of rebellion and defiance. Now we have Simon Harris in the role of Taoiseach! Does he look like a chieftain? If our country was not currently controlled by outside forces, would Simon Harris be the type of man you’d want in charge to prevent that from happening?
Why is the image of ourselves presented to us by our ruling class always one of shame and negativity? I believe it is because the greedy gombeens who have run this country over the past few decades fear the potential and the genius of the Irish people really taking hold, because it would spell the end of their monopoly. The mediocrity of the Late Late Toy Show would become a ridiculous distant memory.
The rising tide raises all ships. We are more dynamic, stronger, more imaginative and creative than those who rule us in every way. I’ve no doubt we can create a breakaway parallel subculture that can eviscerate RTÉ and all the rest of the rubbish they are feeding the masses. As it decays more and more let’s be the shining light of Lugh to help guide the people along a new path, to reject all the misery they are offering and live as defiantly as we possibly can. Let’s use our artistic genius to forge a new identity in the minds of our people, while the old paradigm collapses. If we don’t create something of our own we will be subsumed into the digital Borg, which is precisely where we don’t want to be.
If we want an alternative, we must be that alternative. I’m going to be involved in a number of exciting upcoming projects. Proclamation, the brainchild of John Waters will be a particularly interesting undertaking. I was honoured John asked me to help him make this musical concept a reality and it promises much. There is a lot to look forward to now despite the incessant overreach.
The Gaelic League inspired the fathers of our nation to dream the impossible into existence. An Ireland Gaelic and free. This created the chain reaction which led to the blood sacrifice of 1916. This in turn inspired our countrymen on to greater deeds in the War of independence. Creating a cascade effect. Our founding fathers knew the value of the Irish language and how it was central to our existence as a free independent people. Most were avid speakers who were members of the various branches of the Gaelic League. We must now take up that torch and walk in their footsteps and bring it back with a vengeance. If we do that we will open up the door to an entirely new reality.
We were once Gaels, we are still Gaels now and forever and this is not the end of our story. It is only the beginning.
I could hear the Glenroe theme tune as I read this. On a serious note, this article is a great starting point for those who want to engage with Irish.
This is just epic and everything I believe in. Perfectly expressed Stephen.