Nyx in the House of Night

of Night }

    P.C. Cast
    FIRST, LET me explain why I use the term “Cruithne” and not “Celtic” when I speak of Scottish and Irish Clansfolk.
    It may surprise readers to find out that the word most used to describe the culture and people of northwestern Europe, Celtic or Celt, is a modern word that only came into popular usage in the last century. The word comes from a Latin description of a small Spanish tribe that Roman scribes and historians used to create myths about a fictional race they called the Celts. These myths were so successful that, in today’s world, it’s now generally believed that the Celts were every bit as real as the Romans, when in truth a “Celtic race” only existed in fiction.
    The Scots and Irish Gaelic culture we associate with the term today, though, is very real. It just has no connection to those original Roman myths. After the Second World War, with the movement of peoples around Europe, the art and music of the Scots and Irish appealed to the souls of many nations, and they, most specifically of all northwestern Europeans, began to be called Celts.
    The Clansfolk of Scotland and Ireland today prefer to be called by their ancient name of Cruithne. Cruithne is a Gaelic word used by Gaels themselves that specifically refers to the indigenous peoples of Scotland, Ireland, and Northwest Wales. This Gaelic word, by definition, incorporates the music, history, myths, legends, gods, and goddesses of the Gaelic peoples (oddly mirroring what the fictional title Celt had been created to do). Why I choose to use Cruithne instead of the more easily recognized Celt is because as I listened to their stories I saw that, in their own language, Cruithne is who they were, are, and ever will be.
    WHEN ZOEY’S soul shattered at the end of Tempted and I began to research the perfect place to use as a conduit between the modern world and Nyx’s Otherworld, Scotland immediately came to mind. I’ve long felt a connection to Scotland. I’ve studied Cruithne history and mythology, and as a high school English teacher I led several groups of students to Scotland. I’ll always remember the first time I crossed the English/Scottish border in 1994. Our tour bus stopped at one of those huge dividing stones that say “ENGLAND” on one side and “SCOTLAND” on the other. It was raining (of course!), and as I traced my fingers over the damp letters, S C O T L A N D, I thought, Finally here . I’d enjoyed England, and still do, but Scotland has had my heart for a long time.
    So it felt right for me to look to Scotland for the magick and myth to solve Zoey’s Otherworldly dilemma. As I considered the setting, I was drawn to the Scottish Highlands, the Isle of Skye in particular. Some people will call it luck or accident; I like to think of it as listening to and then following my intuition, which was, perhaps, guided by a little nudge from the Goddess. But whatever it was, I found myself in Edinburgh meeting Seoras Wallace, Chieftain of Clan Wallace, who was the research assistant my fabulous UK publisher hired for me. That day in early August of 2009 changed my life, as well as the mythology of the House of Night.
    Seoras and I shared an instant connection, and on that sunny August day in the Highlands (yes! The sun does sometimes shine in the Highlands!), I stepped into another world as this Chieftain recognized and honored me as what he called a “shenachie,” or a traditional storyteller for the Clan, usually a revered, hereditary position. Seoras introduced me to Clan members who began answering my research questions by sharing with me the gift of their oral history. Because of the respect with which Seoras regarded me, I was accepted by and felt completely at home with his Clan—and not just the men and women in Scotland! Seoras knew I needed more of the ancient Cruithne, so he opened the door to mystical Ireland and one of his Irish Clan brothers. This allowed me to attain a richer, more three-dimensional picture of the Cruithne mythos. In my research for Burned I made four lengthy trips to Scotland, and I wove the beautiful Scottish and Irish story threads I discovered there into a new mythological tapestry for the House of Night.
    I’d like to share with you a little of the magick I found in Scotland and Ireland, and show you how I absorbed it into Zoey Redbird’s world.
    Ireland
    THE BULLS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS
    My zodiac sign is Taurus; I am truly a bull. So it’s not surprising that