Hi, I’m Shaun, the Wee Moss Witch
An Irish American folk witch and writer on a journey of ancestral reconnection, language reclamation, and the study of the Irish American diaspora.
I grew up in an Irish diasporic household that leaned gently into the folk ways of our people - both those who were forced to travel to American shores, and those that stayed sa bhaile, at home. It is my ambition to explore that here: through small writings on every day magics I observed, and continue to witness, throughout my life. Some of these pieces will be written from the perspective of my own lived experience and diasporic culture, and others will be informed by my academic research.
My folk magical practice centers on the through-line of our shared history and cultural approaches with the people of Éire, Ireland - how we mirror, echo and diverge from one another. Rooted in the work of the diaspora of the northern Appalachian mountains and coal country, I am seated directly in the world of emigrant lines and stories. I have a keen interest in their approach to daily living, the tools that grew around them, and their relationship with the land and with each other.
Photography by Olivia Graves, the wonderful Witch of Wonderlust
I offer you a seat at my window into this world of superstition, great tales, holy days, luck and wisdom - tools of a diaspora divorced of native land and language. A colonized people chased from their rooted soil, only to find hardship, hurtles and hearthfire the world over. The Irish American Folk Magic Blog will scratch this itch - probing the magical history and mythology of the folk, and investigating magical allies of the exiles, stories of home, language reconnection, day-to-day charms, the intersection of Irish Folk Catholicism and Paganism, agus i bhfad níos mó - and much more.
As an individual born and raised on Turtle Island in North America, I feel that this work speaks strongly to the importance of listening to native voices, and keeping immigrant and diasporic cultures alive. Recognizing and respecting the similarities and differences between ethnic communities on this soil is vital to how we reach across the table - how we understand each other. Understanding one community pushes us to think beyond cultural lines and look to share the beauty of our histories with each other, and support the original stewards of this land.
I hope you will join me here, and across other spaces: I share brief pieces exploring Irish and Irish American folk magic on Instagram, and travel vlogs on YouTube.
I am also the Co-Founder and Maker at Lunar Leos - creating witchcraft tools and spelled products inspired by the bounty of the natural world, and the folk traditions that live through us. Everything is made locally in Northern Appalachia, from my hands to yours.
I am a beginner Gaeilgeoir, Irish speaker, and I am also learning to play the bodhrán, the traditional Irish drum - two very important aspects of my continued study of Irish folk ways.
Céad Míle Fáilte - a hundred, thousand welcomes - I am grateful you are here.
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