On this Scottish wildlife tour you will also learn about Scottish folklore
HOW THE WORLD WAS MADE
There is several ways in which the world was made in Celtic beliefs and this is one way.
There was just bare land and sea, the only thing on the land was a giant Oak tree, all the original plants and trees on the planet came from this giant Oak tree.
There was only 1 goddess called Eiocha she fed on the seeds that fell from the tree and this made her pregnant, she gave birth to Cernunnos who was the god of Fertility, life, animals, wealth and the under world.
The birth was so painful for her, she tore a massive piece of bark of the tree and threw it into the sea, the bark turned into giants of the deep.
Cernunnos got lonely and made Eiocha pregnant again and she gave birth to 4 more gods
Maponus the god of the sky
Taranis the god of thunder
Teutates the god of tribal protector
Epona the goddess of horses and ponies
Eiocha grew tired of the land and went into the sea becoming Tethra the goddess of the sea.
Cernunnos used the bark from the oak tree and made all the animals apart from horses and ponies, he also made the first man and woman.
The giants of the deep became jealous of the gods and planned to attack, Tethra over heard their plan and rushed back to warn the other gods.
When the giants attacked the land, Eiocha/Tethra fought alongside Cernunnos
Maponus fought with the sun
Taranis fought with thunder strikes
And Teutates fought with a bow and arrow
The gods defeated the giants of the deep but could not destroy them so giants became known as the formers and are still waiting to take their revenge on the land (this is the Scottish Ragnarok)
After the fight the gods could not see Epona, she had rid a horse into the forest taking the first male and female to safety.
The gods mentioned are just the original ones, they are countless gods in Celtic belief like some other religions such as Shinto in Japan
Kelpie - Normally represented by a horse which exclusively targets men, men will climb onto the horse and get stuck on it, the Kelpie will then run into the sea and drown the man before feeding on him.
Selpie - Are seals who can remove their seal skin and become beautiful woman, most stories are of men taking the seal skin and forcing the Selpie to marry them, the Selpie will wait for her moment to take back her seal skin and return back to the sea.
Bean Nighe - Appear as old hags and are seen as an omen of death washing clothes of people about to die in burns (stream). You will see her washing blood off clothes and once you get nearer you see she is washing the clothes you are wearing. If you can sneak up to her without her noticing she must answer 3 questions honestly so you can figure out how you died and how to stop it from happening.
Wulver - Are friendly werewolves that leave food such as fish outside the homes of poor and hungry people.
Cu Seith - Are large black dogs with red eyes, in Scottish folklore the Cu Seith takes the role of the grim reaper. When it comes for you it will howl 3 times and you must get to safety by the 3 howl or it will take your soul.
Mermaids - In folklore mermaids are normally seen as evil creatures and are bad omens, seeing one means a disaster will occur. They inhabit rivers, lochs and the sea
They also lure men to the water so they can drown and devour them.
If you are able to catch a mermaid it will grant you 3 wishes in order to get its freedom back.
Thanks for reading.