#FolkloreThursday #Celtic: `The Mound of Hostages on the Hill of #Tara is aligned with #Samhain. It was constructed over a burial chamber which dates to 3000BC. It stands 15m wide, and 3m high, and the passage extends to 4m long.
It is estimated that between 300-500 burials took place there, most of them cremated and their ashes and grave goods placed beneath the passage floor. Burials were also found within the structure of the mound itself, including the body of a teenage boy who was accompanied by some very high status items including a magnificent bead necklace, a bronze knife, and a bronze awl.
But the most interesting thing about the mound is that it is aligned so that its passage admits the rays of the rising sun at #Imbolc and #Samhain. What could the significance of this be? Perhaps, if Samhain was thought of as a liminal time, when the veil between the mortal world and the #Otherworld was at its thinnest, and the dead walked the Earth to visit their families, the rising sun on the morning of Samhain might awaken them and invite them out. `
Source: Ali Isaac | Substack
https://zurl.co/NRfOA