Customer Reviews

Irish Cures, Mystic Charms & Superstitions

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This book was written by Lady Wilde who was Oscar Wilde's mother, and what a wonderful book it is. Although the book is called Irish Cures, Mystic Charms & Superstitions, it also contains a section of proverbs, information about the fairy race, traditions and the uses of herbs. The writing is beautiful and I can almost hear Gaelic when reading how to cure dropsy or keep a changeling from being substituted for a mother's baby. That this advice was actually used is so mind-opening in this day and age of technology where the cure for everything is probably on cable TV.
Lady Wilde was extremely talented and she collected a multitude of Irish make-believe and folk advice into these priceless pages. It's also a cheerful read for night-time reading. You can pick it up anywhere and find something interesting and amusing.
As I turn off my cell phone and computer, I pick up Lady Wilde's book and put myself in another century and place.

Oscar Wilde's mother was a renowned Irish nationalist writer in her day, and sent her famous son forth as an effective blow against the empire, revealing its corruption perversion and hypocritical shallow cruelty through his own writing until he was finally imprisoned a de facto political prisoner and broken (read his Ballad of Reading Gaol and De Profundis)

Lady Wilde's Ancient Legends so highly praised by Mr. Yeats cannot now be found, nor her other winderful and witty writing, and it is a great loss to our culture and wisdom. We must console ourselves with this slim volume of "Superstitions"

Such is our anglo-owned commercial time . . .

A grand little book filled with traditonal folk charms, superstitions and other mysterious items. A quaint and well informed read.

This is a short little book (a little over 100 pages) but it contains a vast array of Irish folklore for its size. The book is also well organized, making it easy to find material when looking for it later.

The first section lists a number of "mystic cures" which are worth comparing to other literature, such as the Anglo-Saxon Lacnunga (see Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plant-Lore and Healing) or The Black Books of Elverum.

The sections on fairies and animals are worth comparing with folktale collections such as FOLK-TALES OF THE BRITISH ISLES or Celtic Fairy Tales.

This is a must-have in the library of anyone interested in Irish folklore.

I think this book was an awesome guide to irish traditions. I thought the book had many good charms, keeping you ready to start right away. Personally this book tought me a great deal about myself and i thought it was over-all great. 5 STARS!!!