Mother’s Night

My latest folk horror from Brigids Gate Press is Mother’s Night, Rise of the Hare Witch. I was initially going to call it Modranicht (which is Mother’s Night in Anglo-Saxon terms, amongst various spellings) but figured it made more sense to go with the modern translation as the world of the Five Turns revolves around worship of the Mother (Mother Nature). But there is also another reason.

As I’ve written the books set in this universe, I’ve taken the reader, and the Folk in the pages, further back. I’ve been exploring their deities and how they came to be and I specifically wanted to take them right back to the earlier times of our island heritage, whether that be via Anglo-Saxon history or our Norse influences. That period of history, its mythology and its poetry is a real favourite of mine and if I can bring any aspect of it into my writing, I will. And it has crept into Mother’s Night as you will discover.

Within the book, I have Mother’s Night as marking the winter solstice and the first night of Yule. Bede referred to it as being the 24th December. The little he wrote of it has been disputed by Ronald Hutton in The Stations of the Sun, who points to the lack of information about it and that it has possibly been confused with the Nativity (the Mother being the Virgin Mary) but the latter does not disparage the event entirely, supporting the idea of twelve days of celebration following midwinter.

Bede’s reference is included in Winters of the World by Eleanor Parker:

‘That night, which we now hold so holy, they used then to call by the pagan word Modraniht, that is, ‘mothers’ night’, because, we suspect, of the rituals they performed through that night.’

Well, I didn’t need any more encouragement than that and so carved out Five Turns rituals which would sit well in the world that once was.

There is also the question of who is the Mother? Yes, I’ve referenced the Mother as Mother Nature , but who was her mother. The exploration of their pagan religion brings in the concept of the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone and also goddesses of Norse myth.

What value is put on age and wisdom? Does she who has that hold any power? The Rise of the Hare Witch is in reality the rise of the Crone. Age holds its place in the Five Turns universe in a way we don’t see around us where lines – and the people who bear them – are erased from view. Age is feared as a time of frailty and of weakness in both mind and body. I think this book will disprove that.

Mother’s Night: Rise of the Hare Witch is slated for release this autumn via Brigids Gate Press.

Cover is by Ruth Anna Evans.

When storms and unrest sweep the country, Cara Harewick accepts Jessie Wheelborn’s invitation to stay with her in a remote village of Northumbria. But when she arrives, her cousin is not there. Despite this, the village provides her a haven with its quaint stories and customs, until events take a darker turn. Villagers go missing and it is her mysterious neighbour, Fen, who recounts the history of the place, of her family’s part in it and their link to the disappearances. As Mother’s Night approaches, Cara learns what it means to carry the blood of the Wheelborn. What will she sacrifice to the Hare Witch?

This is Yule as only the Folk know how to celebrate. This is a return to the world of the Mother and her sons. Come join the Dance once more. The Folk are waiting.