Folklore of berries

The Northeast Native American tribes revered blueberries, and much folklore developed around them.

The blossom end of each berry, the calyx, forms the shape of a perfect five-pointed star; the elders of the tribe would tell of how the Great Spirit sent ‘star berries’ to relieve the children’s hunger during a famine.

Blueberry juice was used for ‘old coughs’ and tea made from Wild Blueberry leaves was believed to be a good tonic to help purify the blood.

Bilberry

Bilberry also called the whortleberry or mulberry, was significant calendar marker in Ireland up to the present.

Festivals celebrating the Celtic summer feast of Lughnasa included climbing hills to gather bilberries who were eaten on the spot or saved to make pies and wine; after Lughnasa, the berries were said to lose their flavor.

Blackberries, which were scared to the goddess Bridgit, ripen in late summer and early fall and blackberry wines were made and dedicated to her.

In Ireland there was and still is, a folk taboo against eating blackberries after the autumnal equinox, but all berries made into wines for the goddess were permissible to use.
Folklore of berries

Celtic martial arts

About 1000 BC, an Indo-European culture began developing in Central Europe. It origin were near the headwaters of the Rhine, Rhone and Danube rivers, and it soon began expanding outward in all directions.

The Celts in these times had a great mastery of close quarter fighting and weaponry.  The Celts were notable in wrestling system. Roman writings describe Celtic life, including armed and unarmed combat, and note that Celtic festivals included wrestling.

At least two variants of these forms of wrestling still exist: Cornish wrestling and Breton wrestling.

In Scotland, surviving martial practices include single-stick, backhold wrestling, piping and dancing.

Piping and dancing may seem a strange type of martial activity, but the classical music of the Highland pipe consists of praise music for the ancient clan chiefs. The tunes instructed warriors to come to the chief, inspired the clans before and during battle and served as laments.

Archaeology has uncovered, on the scabbards of Celtic swords and other precious items, engraving that date back to the 4th century BC. These engravings depict subjects involved in close combat, including Greeks practicing their combat method of Pankration.
Celtic martial arts