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It's a sort of "chicken-or-egg" question whether the Celtic gods and goddesses were once singular and made triplicate, but they at least stood triple duty over life, death and warfare. Morrigan is often compared to the Egyptian Bast and the Hindu Kali, w
ho also had destructive and motherly aspects.
A serious reconsideration of the female figures in old British Celtic myths can be found in a book by literary scholar Rosalind Clark called The Great Queens, and in an e-book by anthropologist Benne
tt Blumenberg from Reality Software called The Celtic Goddess Text.
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
(1991) Linda Woolverton's script dusted off the old, international transformation tale and updated the heroine, but seems to have unknowingly borrowed from the myt
h of Irish kingship as well. As the lesser known story goes, the spirit of Ireland granted the country only to a young man willing to court an old hag regardless of her looks -- those who refused paid the price. Not only a rousing musical suited to Broa
dway review, not only the first animated feature nominated for a best picture Oscar, but a knowing parable of maturity, regeneration and human succor.
85 min., Color, Rated G, No longer Available, but you can still find it in stores.
Dust Devil
(1993) A bold yet botched spiritual horror tale that, considering the patched-up voiceover, must have fallen to the Blade Runner syndrome of studio interference. If the first reel of the director's debut feature Hardware still sticks in your memory, you will come away with the same feeling of promise from this experience. Robert Burke plays a wandering spirit of death, who touches earth and take human form as a hitchhiking cowboy. Zakes Mokae is the South African polic
eman who must learn his magical practices and fend him off with them.
105 min., Color, $39.99
The Secret Gardens of Ireland
The box cover may lead you to believe this is a typical electronic terrarium, but it delves into paleobiology before taking you through the history of 19th Century botany, and finally explains how th
e most endangered plant species from around the world have found surrogate homes in Killarney National Park, islands like Rossdohan in Kerry, and Illnacullin of Glengarriff, Cork.
50 min., color, $29.95
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