Taghairm was a historical

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

mode of

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

. Several kinds of taghairm are described; each seemed to involve summoning spirits through

animal sacrifice Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spread of Chris ...

and entering

altered states of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...

. In ''A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703 and 1716), Scottish writer Màrtainn MacGille Mhàrtainn describes the ways of consulting spirits in the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

during the 17th century. All involved a man being wrapped in a bull hide and asked a question about the future. One way was to leave the man in the bullhide in a wild lonely spot overnight. Another was to swing the man in the bullhide against a riverbank. He wrote that they sometimes roasted a cat alive as part of the ceremony, believing this would summon another large cat who would confirm the man's answer. An 1825 text described the taghairm: There is a similar description of the taghairm being carried out in

Trotternish Trotternish () is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, spanning in length from Portree to Rubha Hunish. The Trotternish escarpment runs almost the full length of the peninsula, some ,Ordnance Survey ''Landranger'' 1:50000 ...

in a 1772 account, and a number of closely matching accounts with hides and waterfalls can also be found, with some additionally including the diviner being beaten for a while with a pole or a staff after being covered by the animal skin. According to the London ''

Literary Gazette ''The Literary Gazette'' was a British literary magazine, established in London in 1817 with its full title being ''The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences''. Sometimes it appeared with the caption title, "London Lit ...

'' of March 1824, one form of the taghairm involved a group of people spending four days roasting cats alive, one cat after another, without eating. This was meant to summon a legion of demons in the shape of screeching

black cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

s, with their master at their head, who would grant them two wishes. The last ceremony of this kind was said to have been performed on the

Isle of Mull The Isle of Mull or simply Mull ( ) is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides (after Skye) and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the Council areas of Scotland, council area of Argyll and Bute. Covering , Mull is the fourth-lar ...

at the beginning of the 17th century.Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. Pantheon Books. pp. 23 ("Big Ears"), 388-9 ("Taghairm"). . The ritual is described in Gustav Meyrink’s book on

John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, ...

, ''The Angel of the West Window.''Meyrink links the ritual to perhaps a fictional goddess, “the Black Mother, Isaïs.” Meyrink, p. 70. Scottish historical novelist Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

scornfully described a third method in a footnote to his influential poem ''

Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (, , , , ) is a title used by multiple characters in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. As either actually fairy or fairy-like yet human enchantres ...

''. He further adds that it could involve another situation "where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror." However, Scott could not speak

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

and his concepts of Gaelic culture were sometimes distorted.

Other regions

The animal skin and waterfall method of divination was also known in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

References

{{Wiktionary Cruelty to animals Divination Scottish folklore

Other regions

See also

References