hag; noun, plural noun: hags
a witch.
an ugly old woman.
Similar: crone, old woman, witch, gorgon, cow, old cow, old bag, old bat.
In the old stories of Ireland, a woman past her childbearing years is often referred to as ‘hag’, or ‘crone’. Yet she also possessed great power; she could, for instance, confer kingship rights to a man either by sleeping with him, or offering him refreshment; who knows what magic swirled within the vessel she embodied, or the cup she offered.
In the flux of physical female change, there is a maelstrom of energy, the journey of self-discovery, and the reinvention of identity. A transfer of power takes place from reproduction into self-knowledge, and it is liberating, confusing and exciting. In the midst of my own re-empowerment, I am reclaiming the word ‘hag’ for all women who have reached a certain age, but not passed their ‘best-by’ date. Female power accumulates with age. We are more than the sum of our reproductive parts.
H A G invites you on an exploration into this anomaly of female being. Through the intersection of ancient and indigenous wisdoms, a growing awareness of the world about us, an acceptance of the interconnectedness of Other life entities, the study of world mythologies (but particularly the myths of Ireland), laced with observations from the literary canon and engagement with literary criticism, H A G will seek to draw new meaning from what it is to be female and aging in the context of global patriarchal capitalist normativity that is on the verge of implosion.
In this new incarnation, H A G will continue the work of aliisaacstoryteller; through word and image, H A G will endeavour to unearth the female story from Ireland's landscape and tumbled stones, the women history has abandoned, and legend only half remembers.
H A G is not just another publication about mythology; nor of history, the arts, or feminism.
It is all of the above.
About Ali
Author - Mother - Historian - Guide
In 2019, I graduated from Maynooth University with a Bachelor of Arts First Class Honours degree in English and History with a Special Interest in Irish Cultural Heritage. In 2022, I obtained a First Class Honours Masters in Literatures of Engagement.
My writing has been published in The Stinging Fly, Sonder, Catatonic Daughters, and Paper Lanterns literary magazines. I am represented by Niamh O’Grady at Soho Agency, and my first book is currently out on submission.
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