The Morrigan: Celtic Goddess of battle, strife, and sovereignty

The Morrígan ("phantom queen") or Mórrígan ("great queen"), also written as Morrígu or in the plural as Morrígna, and spelt Morríghan or Mór-ríoghain in Modern Irish, is a figure from Irish mythology who appears to have been considered a goddess, although she is not explicitly referred to as such in the texts.

The Morrígan is a goddess of battle, strife, and sovereignty. She sometimes appears in the form of a crow, flying above the warriors, and in the Ulster cycle she also takes the forms of an eel, a wolf and a cow. She is generally considered a war deity comparable with the Germanic Valkyries, although her association with a cow may also suggest a role connected with wealth and the land.

She is often depicted as a trio of goddesses, all sisters, although membership of the triad varies; the most common combinations are Badb, Macha and Nemain, or Badb, Macha and Anand; Anand is also given as an alternate name for Morrigu. Other accounts name Fea, and others.

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Epona: Celtic Goddess of Fertility, Horses, Donkeys, and Mules

In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain and the presence of foals in some sculptures. She and her horses might also have been leaders of the soul in the after-life ride, with parallels in Rhiannon of the Mabinogion. Unusual for a Celtic deity, most of whom were associated with specific localities, the worship of Epona, "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself," was widespread in the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries AD.

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Freya: Norse Goddess of love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death

(art by: http://www.emilybalivet.com/)

In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse the "Lady") is a goddess associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, keeps the boar Hildisvíni by her side, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother Freyr (Old Norse the "Lord"), her father Njörðr, and her mother (Njörðr's sister, unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Stemming from Old Norse Freyja, modern forms of the name include Freya, Freija, Frejya, Freyia, Frøya, Frøjya, Freia, and Freja.

Freyja rules over her heavenly afterlife field Fólkvangr and there receives half of those that die in battle, whereas the other half go to the god Odin's hall, Valhalla. Within Fólkvangr is her hall, Sessrúmnir. Freyja assists other deities by allowing them to use her feathered cloak, is invoked in matters of fertility and love, and is frequently sought after by powerful jötnar who wish to make her their wife. Freyja's husband, the god Óðr, is frequently absent. She cries tears of red gold for him, and searches for him under assumed names. Freyja has numerous names, including Gefn, Hörn, Mardöll, Sýr, Valfreyja, and Vanadís.

Freyja is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century; in several Sagas of Icelanders; in the short story Sörla þáttr; in the poetry of skalds; and into the modern age in Scandinavian folklore, as well as the name for Friday in many Germanic languages.

Scholars have theorized about whether Freyja and the goddess Frigg ultimately stem from a single goddess common among the Germanic peoples; about her connection to the valkyries, female battlefield choosers of the slain; and her relation to other goddesses and figures in Germanic mythology, including the thrice-burnt and thrice-reborn Gullveig/Heiðr, the goddesses Gefjon, Skaði, Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr and Irpa, Menglöð, and the 1st century CE "Isis" of the Suebi. Freyja's name appears in numerous place names in Scandinavia, with a high concentration in southern Sweden. Various plants in Scandinavia once bore her name, but it was replaced with the name of the Virgin Mary during the process of Christianization. Rural Scandinavians continued to acknowledge Freyja as a supernatural figure into the 19th century, and Freyja has inspired various works of art.

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Dalia: Lithuanian Goddess of Fate

(art by: http://www.emilybalivet.com/)

Dalia is the goddess of fate in the Lithuanian mythology. She is the giver and taker of goods and property. Dalia is often confused with and hard to distinguish from Laima, another goddess of fate. Sometimes Dalia is thought of as a different manifestation of Laima. However, Laima is more involved in predicting the length of a person's life while Dalia is more concerned with material wealth a person would earn during the lifetime – allotting a proper share (Lithuanian: dalis) to everyone. According to myths, just as a father divides his estate among the children, so Dievas Senelis (manifestation of supreme god Dievas) allots each newborn with a proper share. Dalia is seen more as an enforcer of Dievas' will rather than a decision maker. She can appear as a woman, lamb, dog, swan, or duck.

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Cerunnnos: Celtic God of the Forest

Cernunnos is a horned god found in Celtic mythology. He is connected with male animals, particularly the stag in rut, and this has led him to be associated with fertility and vegetation. Depictions of Cernunnos are found in many parts of the British Isles and western Europe. He is often portrayed with a beard and wild, shaggy hair -- he is, after all, the lord of the forest.

With his mighty antlers, Cernunnos is a protector of the forest and master of the hunt. He is a god of vegetation and trees in his aspect as the Green Man, and a god of lust and fertility when connected with Pan, the Greek satyr. In some traditions, he is seen as a god of death and dying, and takes time to comfort the dead by singing to them on their way to the spirit world.

Because of his horns (and the occasional depiction of a large, erect phallus) Cernunnos has often been misinterpreted by fundamentalists as a symbol of Satan. Certainly, at times, the Christian church has pointed to the Pagan following of Cernunnos as "devil worship." This is in part due to nineteenth century paintings of Satan which included large, ram-like horns much like those of Cernunnos.

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Brigid: Celtic Goddess of Poets, Bards, Healers, & Magicians

In Irish mythological cycles, Brighid (or Brighit), whose name is derived from the Celtic brig or "exalted one", is the daughter of the Dagda, and therefore one of the Tuatha de Dannan. Her two sisters were also called Brighid, and were associated with healing and crafts. The three Brighids were typically treated as three aspects of a single deity, making her a classic Celtic triple goddess.

Brighid was the patron of poets and bards, as well as healers and magicians. She was especially honored when it came to matters of prophecy and divination. She was honored with a sacred flame maintained by a group of priestesses, and her sanctuary at Kildare, Ireland, later became the home of the Christian variant of Brighid, St. Brigid of Kildare. Kildare is also the location of one of several sacred wells in the Celtic regions, many of which are connected to Brighid. Even today, it's not uncommon to see ribbons and other offerings tied to trees near a well as a petition to this healing goddess.

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The Legend of Herne

There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
Act 4 Scene 4
William Shakespeare

Cernunnos & Freya (Artist Unknown)

Cernunnos

Cernunnos - Celtic God of Nature

In Wicca and other forms of Neopaganism a Horned God is revered; this divinity syncretises a number of horned or antlered gods from various cultures, including Cernunnos. The Horned God reflects the seasons of the year in an annual cycle of life, death and rebirth.

In the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca, the Horned God is sometimes specifically referred to as Cernunnos, or sometimes also as Kernunno.

Cernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the "horned god" of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated cross-legged and often associated with animals and holding or wearing torcs, are known from other instances.

Nothing is known about the god from literary sources, and details about his name, his cult or his significance in Celtic religion are unknown. Speculative interpretations identify him as a god of nature or fertility

The god labelled Cernunnos on the Pillar of the Boatmen is depicted with stag's antlers in their early stage of annual growth. Both antlers have torcs hanging from them. The lower part of the relief is lost, but the dimensions suggest that the god was sitting cross-legged, providing a direct parallel to the antlered figure on the Gundestrup cauldron.

In spite of the name Cernunnos being attested nowhere else, it is commonly used in Celtological literature as describing all comparable depictions of horned/antlered deities.

This "Cernunnos" type in Celtic iconography is often portrayed with animals, in particular the stag, and also frequently associated with the ram-horned serpent, and less frequently bulls (at Rheims), dogs and rats. Because of his frequent association with creatures, scholars often describe Cernunnos as the "Lord of the Animals" or the "Lord of Wild Things", and Miranda Green describes him as a "peaceful god of nature and fruitfulness".

The Pilier des nautes links him with sailors and with commerce, suggesting that he was also associated with material wealth as does the coin pouch from the Cernunnos of Rheims (Marne, Champagne, France)—in antiquity, Durocortorum, the civitas capital of the Remi tribe—and the stag vomiting coins from Niedercorn-Turbelslach (Luxembourg) in the lands of the Treveri. The god may have symbolised the fecundity of the stag-inhabited forest.

Other examples of "Cernunnos" images include a petroglyph in Val Camonica in Cisalpine Gaul. The antlered human figure has been dated as early as the 7th century BCE or as late as the 4th. An antlered child appears on a relief from Vendeuvres, flanked by serpents and holding a purse and a torc. The best known image appears on the Gundestrup cauldron found on Jutland, dating to the 1st century BC, thought to depict Celtic subject matter though usually regarded as of Thracian workmanship.

Among the Celtiberians, horned or antlered figures of the Cernunnos type include a "Janus-like" god from Candelario (Salamanca) with two faces and two small horns; a horned god from the hills of Ríotinto (Huelva); and a possible representation of the deity Vestius Aloniecus near his altars in Lourizán (Pontevedra). The horns are taken to represent "aggressive power, genetic vigor and fecundity."

Divine representations of the Cernunnos type are exceptions to the often-expressed view that the Celts only began to picture their gods in human form after the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Celtic "horned god", while well attested in iconography, cannot be identified in description of Celtic religion in Roman ethnography and does not appear to have been given any interpretatio romana, perhaps due to being too distinctive to be translatable into the Roman pantheon.

Aine - Goddess of Love

 

Aine is the Irish Goddess of Love, Summer, Wealth and Sovereignty, although she used to be known as the Goddess of Love and Light. Aine was also held dear as the Queen of the Elves, especially in the Middle Ages. She is represented by the Sun and Midsummer, and is sometimes symbolized as a red mare.

Aine is also symbolized by brightness, glow, joy, radiance, splendor, glory, magic, popularity and even fame. She is sometimes mistakenly equaled to Danu, because her name is somewhat similar to Anu. However, these are not the same Goddess.

Ayania, the most powerful fairy in Ulster, may actually be a variant of this Goddess. As well, in Limerick County, there is a hill named for Grian, located about seven miles from the hill named for Aine. This is believed to be either Aine's sister or, quite possibly, another variant referring to this Goddess.

Some of Aine's aliases include the Lady of the Lake, the Goddess of the Earth and Nature and the Goddess of Luck and Magick. She has been viewed as both a Sun Goddess and a Moon Goddess. When she's in her role of the Sun Goddess, Aine can shapeshift into “Lair Derg,” the “Red Mare,” the horse that can never be outrun.

As Moon Goddess, Aine guards her followers' livestock and crops. Farmers today still practice rites in her honor, hoping for her protection throughout the Wheel of the Year. In this aspect of herself, she is also known as a Goddess of Agriculture and Patroness of Crops and Cattle. This Goddess is thought to have given the people of Ireland the gift of grain.

Aine is an extremely popular Goddess. Many people worship her in the hope that she will gift them with prosperity, fertility, sexuality and abundance. She takes her role as a Love Goddess very seriously as encourager of human sexuality and teacher of love. Aine is a deeply passionate deity.

She is the daughter of Egobail, the sister of Aillen and/or Fennen. Her name is found in the family trees of multiple Irish clans. She is closely associated with the County of Limerick and the hill of Knockainy, Cnoc Aine, which was named for Aine. In Limerick County, she is known as the Queen of the Fairies. At Cnoc Aine, rites were held in her honor, involving fire and the blessing of the land. These rites are recorded as recently as 1879. The feast of Midsummer Night is currently held in her honor.

In earlier tales, Aine was “ravished” by the semi-mythological King of Munster, Ailill Aulom. Their affair apparently ended in Aine biting off Ailill's ear, which is where the name “Aulom” comes from at the end of his name. “Aulom” means “one-eared.” By biting off his ear, Aine deemed Ailill unfit to be king, thus taking away his power of sovereignty. It's interesting to notice that the Eoganachta claim Aine as an ancestor. The Eoganachta are the descendants of Aulom.

In some Irish tales, Aine is the wife of Gearoid Iarla. Apparently, this was not a consented marriage, rather Gearoid raped Aine. To retaliate, the Goddess either turns him into a goose, kills him and/or both. Through this tale, the Geraldines also claim a close association with Aine. This tale represents the most extreme degree of Gaelicization. The Fitzgeralds are known to be “more Irish than the Irish themselves.”

Still another tale depicts Aine as being either the wife or daughter of Manannan mac Lir, an Irish mythology sea deity, who also appears in Scottish and Manx legends.