Today On Mother’s Day, We Celebrate The Pagan Mother Goddesses

Asasa Ya (Ashanti)

This earth mother goddess prepares to bring forth new life in the spring, and the Ashanti people honor her at the festival of Durbar, alongside Nyame, the sky god who brings rain to the fields.

Asase Ya (or Asase Yaa, Asaase Yaa, Asaase Afua; is the Earth goddess of fertility of the Ashanti people ethnic groupof Ashanti City-State of Ghana. She is also known as Mother Earth or Aberewaa.

Asase Yaa is the wife of Nyame the Sky deity, who created the universe. Asase Yaa gave birth to the two children, Bea and Tano. Bea is also named Bia.

Asase Yaa is also the mother of Anansi, the trickster, and divine stepmother of the sacred high chiefs.

Asase Yaa is very powerful, though no temples are dedicated to her, instead she is worshipped in the agricultural fields of Ashanti City-State.

Asase Yaa’s favoured Ashanti people are occupationally Ashanti workers in the agricultural fields and planet Jupiter is her symbol.

Asase Yaa Worship

The Ashanti people of Ashanti City-State regard Asase Ya as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility, the upholder of truth, and the creator Goddess who comes to fetch Ashanti people’s souls to the otherworld (Planet Jupiter) at the time of death. She is credited as being the nurturer of the earth and is considered to provide sustenance for all. When a member of the Ashanti people ethnic group wants to prove his (or her) credibility, he (or her) touches his (or her) lips to the soil of Ashanti City-State and recites the Asase Ya Prayer-Poem. Another tradition holds that because Thursday is reserved as Asase Ya’s day, the Ashanti people generally abstain from tilling the land of Ashanti City-State on that day.

Prayer Poem To Asase Ya
First stanza
Old Woman Earth …. She who Lent the Rights.. Of Cultivation to the Living …. My Prayer to You, of Thanksgiving.
Second stanza
“Earth, When I am about to Die, I Lean on you. Earth, While I am Alive, I Depend on You”.
Third stanza
Lilacs in your Hair .. Ever Present Mother In each Grain of Sand is thy Story.
Fourth stanza
Giver of Nkwagye the Salvation of Life And Nkwa to live Life without Strife To your Everlasting Glory.
Fifth stanza
That Man is Tame is thy Domain… Giver of Law and Ethics Scales of Justice.
Sixth stanza
With Each Field I till.. With Thee I am Still And when Death comes to Claim.. I become One with thy Fame Bringing Life to the Land with my Will.
Seventh stanza
The Fertile Fields and the Woman’s Yield All Have felt thy Hand Hail and Thanks Be Great Mother For your Back upon which we Stand.
Eight stanza
Upholder of Truth, our Lady Fair To kiss the dust of thy Breast… Is proof of the Tale.
Ninth stanza
Hail Great Mother Whose Love is in the Earth Thy gifts to your Children Are an Unending source of Mirth.
Tenth stanza
A Smile to the Lips with a Song in the Heart Praises we Sing, when the Plantings to Start.
Eleventh stanza
Hail bringer of Life, bringer of Law and Order Hail Old Mother Earth, your Children Have Crossed the Border Into the Lands of Sweetness and Heart.
Twelfth stanza
Asase Yaa, Aberewa, Asase Efua Names without End do we Call You Blessed Be, Asase Yaa To Be Cherished Forever, We Adore You.

The Abosom in the Americas (Jamaica)

Worship of the Asase Ya goddess was transported via the transatlantic slave trade and was documented to had been acknowledged by enslaved Akan or Coromantee living in Jamaica. Jamaican slave owners did not believe in Christianity for the Coromantee and left them to their own beliefs. Hence an Ashanti spiritual system was dominant on the plantation. According to Jamaican historian and slave owner Edward Long, creole descendants of the Ashanti coupled with other newly arrived Coromantee joined in observation and worship of the Ashanti goddess Asase Yaa (the English people recorded erroneously as ‘Assarci’). They showed their worship by pouring libations and offering up harvested foods. Other Ashanti Abosom were also reported to be worshipped. This was the only deity spiritual system on the island, as other deities identities in the 18th century was obliterated because of the large population of enslaved Coromantee in Jamaica, according to Edward Long and other historians who observed their slaves.

Source

Wikipedia

Hecate – The Distant One

Greek goddess of the three paths, guardian households, protector of everything newly born, and the goddess of witchcraft

Once a widely revered and influential goddess. Sadly the reputation of Hecate has been changed over the centuries. In current times, she is usually depicted as an ugly hag. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. Hecate is a beautiful and powerful goddess. Hecate was given the power of giving anything she wished (or withholding if it pleased her).

Classified as a “Moon Goddess”, she ruled 3 kingdoms . . . the earth, sea, and sky. She was also considered the protector of shepherds and sailors.

It is said that Hecate was a “virgin” because of her unwillingness to give up solitude and her independent nature for the sake of marriage.

Walking, traveling at night or visiting cemeteries during the dark phase of the moon, the Moon Goddess Hecate was described as shining or luminous. Some tales say she is invisible or simply a quick glimpse of light…maybe it’s because she always carried a torch to light her way.

Hecate and her sacred dogs were said to have three heads so that they could see in all directions. Usually pictured as a beautiful woman having three human heads, on occasion she was pictured with one snake head, one horse, and the third a boar’s head. Other opinions are that the three heads gave her the ability to see the past, present, and future. It is said that Hecate was often accompanied on her travels by an owl, a symbol of wisdom.

Hecate also played an ongoing important role in the life of Persephone (Hades wife), becoming her confidante when she was in the Underworld. Hades, because he was thankful for their friendship,had the effect of promoting her reputation as a spirit of black magic with the power to conjure up dreams, prophecies, and phantoms.

It not surprising that a woman who needed to make a trip alone at night would say a short prayer to Hecate for protection.

Known as a protector of women, especially during childbirth. Not only was Hecate called upon to ease the pains and progress of a woman’s labor, but especially to protect and restore the health and growth of a child.

Hecate played a role that, in contemporary times, we would describe as “hospice nurse”, helping the elderly make a smooth, painless transition into the next life even staying with them if need be. She also helped in the otherworld to prepare them for their return to the earth in their next life. Familiar with the process of death and dying as well as that of new birth and new life, the goddess Hecate was wise in all of earth’s mysteries.

The Greek Goddess Hecate reminds us of the importance of change, helping us to release the past, especially those things that are slowing our growth, to accept change and move comfortably into transitions. She sometimes asks us to let go of what is familiar, safe, and secure and to travel to the uncomfortable places of the soul. Changes of any kind no matter if they are spiritual or mundane, aren’t easy. But Hecate is there to support and show you the way.

She gives you the needed tools to see what’s been forgotten, lost or even hidden, and helps you set your feet upon your path. At times she “shines her torch” to guide you while you are dreaming or meditating.
Hecate teaches us to be just and to be tolerant of those who are different or less fortunate, yet she is hardly a “bleeding heart”, for Hecate dispenses justice “blindly” and equally.

Whether the Greek goddess Hecate visits us in waking hours or only while we sleep, she can lead us to see things differently (ourselves included) and help us find greater understanding of our selves and others.

Although her name may mean “The Distant One”, Hecate is always close at hand in times of need, helping us to release the old, familiar ways and find our way through new beginnings.

Invocation To The Queen Of The Witches

Goddess of the cross-roads,
Goddess of Manic-Depression,
Dweller in the deep places of the earth and mind,
Traveller in the land between worlds!
Torch-bearer! Protectress of the very old and the very young;
Protectress of those used and abused;
Healer of those who are torn apart;
She will be there for us when we call on her and at the end.
Grandmother to lost children and to the downtrodden.
Nurse to the suckling infant,
Comfort to the lone man or woman in the darkest night.
She who seeks vengeance for her children who are wronged!
Wanderer and prowler!
Sorceress who lives at the edge of the mind.
Drawer-up of the secret compost from the unused internal well.
She who has no relatives on the earth save for her children.
Without Mother or Sister.
Lady on the brink, both bi-polar and uni-polar!
They call her mad, and it is she who terrifies the disbeliever and the
unworthy!
Bringer of nightmares!
But she it is who sooths the sleepless and disheveled spirit.
Mother of night!
Dark Power of the moon!
Keeper of the shadow!
Walker of the endless highways!
She unites those who follow her as her children; the Hekite.
Bearer of the sacred poppy.
Shape-shifter, Transformer.
Keeper of the hounds of Hel and the three-headed dog Cerebus!
She walks abroad in the hour of the wolf and under the Dark Moon!
Hear my call O Lady and cover us with your starry cloak.
Let the unborn moon seed in my heart this night.
And let her growing light shine upon our intention;
That she be at our full deliverance,
So Mote it be!

Erhard Hans Josef Lang

Deity of the Day for Monday, March 4: Rhiannon, Welsh Goddess

Rhiannon

Welsh Goddess

Rhiannon is an old Welsh Goddess of the earth and fertility, of horses and birds, who has links to the Underworld and who is much featured in the Mabinogion. She finds antecedents in the British Goddess Rigatona (“Great Queen”) and the continental Celtic horse-goddess Epona, who is also linked with dogs and birds like Rhiannon.

In the later Christianized version of the tale, Rhiannon’s first husband was Pwyll, (“Never was there a man who made feebler use of his wits”, in Rhiannon’s own words) who had once done a stint as King of the Underworld.

Their son Pryderi vanished the night of his birth while the new mother and the women sent to guard them slept. In fear of the consequences for slacking off on their duty, the serving-women smeared Rhiannon with the blood of a puppy and accused Her of murdering Her own son. Their word won over Rhiannon’s own, and as punishment, She was made to sit outside the castle on a horse-block, and offer each visitor a ride on Her back for seven years. Pryderi was eventually restored to Her by his foster-father Teyrnon, who recognized the boy’s resemblance to Pwyll.

She later took Manawydan (the Welsh equivalant to Manannán, the Irish Sea God) as husband after Pwyll died.

Rhiannon is said to possess marvelous birds that can wake the dead, or lull the living to sleep. In the Mabinogion She is intelligent and wise, and doesn’t hesitate to speak Her mind.

Rhiannon is deeply associated with horses: Pwyll first sees Her riding a marvelous white horse that no one can catch; The vanished child was found by Teyrnon in place of a new-born foal; and Her punishment is to act as a horse.

This card in a reading indicates a time of trial or injustice, that, with patience and faith, will come right in the end. Misunderstandings and mis-communications may be in the air, but understanding the deep roots of the situation will help.

Alternate spellings: Riannon
Pronunciation: hree AN non

From: Thalia Took

Rhiannon

A Cymric and Brythonic Goddess, also known as Rigantona: Great QueenRhiannon (Rigantona) is a Cymric and Brythonic goddess known from the Mabinogi of Pwyll Pendefig Dyfed where she is Pwyll’s wife, who is mistakenly punished for infanticide and the Mabinogi of Manawyddan fab Llŷr. She is associated with horses and has otherworldly birds in her posession. She may represent the psychopomp aspect of the goddess Epona.

Rhiannon is also associated with otherworldly brids, the adar Rhiannon (birds of Rhiannon) which are explicitly named in the Mabinogion of Branwen ferch Llŷr. Mortally wounded after the battle in Ireland, Brân tells his companions to cut off his head and take it with them on their return journey …you will be on the road a long time. In Harlech you will be seven years in feasting, the birds of Rhiannon singing to you. The head will be as good company to you as it was at its best when it was ever on me. And you will be at Gwales in Penfro for eighty years. Until you open the door facing Aber Henfelen on the side facing Cornwall, you will be able to abide there, along with the head with you uncorrupted. But when you open that door, you will not be able to remain there…. They reach Harlech and as soon as they began their feast …there came three birds, which began to sing a kind of song to them; and when they heard that song, every other [tune] seemed unlovely beside it…. The brids of Rhiannon are next mentioned in the Mabinogion of Culhwch ac Olwen where Culhwch is set forty impossible tasks by Ysbaddaden Pencawr in the wooing of his daughter Olwen. The thirteenth task is the gaining of Rhiannon’s birds that they may sing at the wedding feast. These birds have a woderous song and are …to wake the dead, and send the living to sleep…. There may also be a hint of Rhiannon’s magical birds in the Mabinogion of Iarlles y Ffynawn. The Arthurian champion Cynon relates one of his adventures to Oweni and Cei: He comes to amagical glade where a spring emerges. Water from the spring must be poured on the slab and there will be a mighty peal of thunder and hailstones will fall from the sky. Then the weather becomes fair, but the tree is denuded of its leaves. At this point a flock of birds fly in and they will alight within the bare branches of the tree and sing. Their melody will be the sweetest sound ever heard by any mortal ear. Some time within the course of the song the black knight — guardian of the fountain — will appear to challenge the usurper. For the shower of hailstones will have stripped the black knight’s lands bare, denuding it of all life. Only by defeating the challenger can the balance be restored. Cynon is defeated by the knight but Owein then re-traces Cynon’s tracks and experiences the same things but he defeats the black knight. From their description it seems highly likely that the birds described here are the adar Rhiannon (the birds of Rhiannon).

Riannon’s association with horses is also unquestionable. We are told of the way Rhiannon rides past the gorsedd of Arberth on a great steed that no-one can catch. After the loss of her son, Rhiannon’s punishment is to be effectively turned into a horse. She has to stand by a horse-block and offer to carry any traveler upon her back and into Pwyll’s llys. Here she is beng symbolically transformed into that which she symbolizes. The link between Rhiannon and horses is further exemplified by her son Pwyll and the fact that he was born on the same night as a foal and that he and the foal grew up together and effectively ‘became one’. Symbolically therefore the ‘horse’ Rhiannon gives birth to a foal ‘Pryderi’. All of this leads to the inescapable conclusion that Rhiannon is strongly hippomorphic in aspect and probably represents at the very least an aspect (and may well represent a continuation of) the mythos of that great pan-Celtic hippomorphic goddess, Epona. A further indication of the link between Rhiannon and Epona may be the episode of the killing of a puppy to frame Rhiannon for her son’s disappearance for a dog is often seen as Epona’s companion.

Rhiannon’s name is derived from the Brythonic Rīgantona (Great Queen). Continuation of the name would indicate the existence of a Brythnoic goddes known as *Rīgantona, though no trace of her (save for the name of Rhiannon) has been left to us. Whether this *Rīgantona was an independent deity or represented an aspect of Epona (who is occasionally referred to in the plural and may be a triple-goddess) may not be known for certain though the surviving tales of Rhiannon would suggest the later interpretation. Thus there may once have been an insular Brythonic deity known as *Rīgantona Epona. If this is the case, and the Epona aspect of the goddess is fairly clear, what does the Rīgantona aspect represent. In the Mabinogi, Rhiannon is plainly ‘otherworldly’ in nature though this aspect of her nature is not explicitly drawn out. However, from how she and Pwyll met is is fairly obvious that Rhiannon does not originate in the World of Men. Moreover, she appears immediately after the episode of Pwyll and Arawn and originally Rhiannon may well have originated in one of the ‘Happy Otherworlds’ that are beloved of the Celtic storytellers. Epona herself was probably a psychopomp and the association of Rhiannon with horses and with her magical birds (both of which could transport/accompany the deay on their journey to the next world) would indicate that Rhiannon may once have performed a similar function. In the Mabinogi of Branwen ferch Llŷr Rhiannon’s birds are described as singing ‘across the waters’ which is the only direct evidence we have for Rhiannon’s otherworldly home; the ‘Happy Isles of the Blessed’. Thus Rhiannon may originally have been the ‘Great Queen’ of such a realm; a realm to which her steeds transported the spirits of the dead who were entertained on the way by the singing of the ‘Great Queen’s’ magical birds. The association between horses and birds also seems to be a recurring theme in Celtic mythos and the image above comes from a coin of the Unelli tribe of modern-day Normandy.

Rhiannon’s name is directly cognate with the Irish goddess Mórrígan (which also menans ‘Great Queen’). In terms of attributes, however, Rhiannon is most closely similar to an aspect of the triple-goddes, Mórrígan known as Macha; a goddess of war, horses and kingship.

From: CeltNet

Rhiannon

Welsh Horse Goddess

The Welsh horse goddess of the Underworld, Rhiannon (pronounced ree-ah-nin) is also known as Rigatona or “Great Queen” in Welsh lore. An equine goddess-turned-magical queen, she is unique in the sense that she is exclusively a horse deity — while other goddesses of antiquity typically have other identities and functions.

Accordingly, horse themes are very strong in Irish and Welsh mythology. As such, Rhiannon’s Irish sister Macha, a trans-functional goddess spanning all possible functions of society as priestess, warrior, and nurturer, has also been represented as a horse.

Nevertheless, Rhiannon is one of a kind with the exception of one Gaulish equine goddess counterpart known as Epona — a diety who has no other function than being the patroness of horses.

Even more anomalous however, is her legendary fairy tale: one that is fraught with ambivalences. Appearing in the first “branch” (or chapter) of the Mabinogi as a mysterious lady riding a horse, Rhiannon is depicted as a graceful and wild goddess — untamable and free to the point that no one can ever catch her or overtake her gallop.

Alas, she is finally tamed in the sense that Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, convinces her to stop and speak with him. As if fated, the two marry and Rhiannon bears him a child — one who mysteriously disappears at birth. Because the attendant maids (who should have been keeping vigilance) shirk their duties by falling asleep, the baby is effectively spirited away by an unknown creature. Trying to absolve themselves of any blame, the maids then resolve to kill some puppies, smearing the blood and gore on Rhiannon, claiming that she had killed her own child.

In light of the goddess-queen’s presumed guilt, Pywll does not divorce her, since that had been an act reserved exclusively for barrenness. Instead, she is sentenced to sitting near a horse-block outside of the city gate and is correspondingly instructed to carry passersby inside the city walls, becoming a horse in all but physical appearance and wild freedom.

Incidentally, right after Rhiannon’s son disappears, a mare of a villager named Teyrnon Twrf Liant gives birth to rather attractive colt. At the moment of delivery, a great claw reaches through the window of the house as if to seize the newborn. In bewildered response, Teyrnon slices off the arm and rushes outside only to find a noble baby boy — Rhiannon’s child.

Raising the boy as his own for over four years, the man eventually hears about the unfortunate plight of the goddess-queen, sees the resemblance between the two, and brings the child to the castle. Happy and free from her position as a compulsory horse-substitute, Rhiannon embraces her long-lost son, naming him Pryderi. And then they all live happily ever after . . . until the story changes again.

In a twist of fate, in the third “branch” of the Mabinogi following her husband’s death, Rhiannon marries her son’s friend Manawydan. After a number of experiences and adventures, she and her son eventually disappear into the magic fortress of Llwyd, (son of Cil Coed) where she is made to pay a horse penance once again, wearing the collars of donkeys.

The beautiful Welsh underworld goddess traveled through earth on an impossibly speedy horse, accompanied always by magical birds that made the dead waken and the living fall into a blissful seven-year sleep. Originally named Rigatona (“Great Queen”), she shrank in later legend into Rhiannon, a fairylike figure who appeared to Prince Pwyll of Dyfed near the gate of the underworld. He pursued her on his fastest horses, but hers–cantering steadily and without tiring–exhausted any mount of Pwyll’s. Finally, the queen decided to stay with Pwyll; she bore him a son soon afterward.

What can one expect of a goddess of death? Her son disappeared, and the queen was found with blood on her mouth and cheeks. Accused of murder, she was sentenced to serve as Pwyll’s gatekeeper, bearing visitors to the door on her back; thus she was symbolically transformed into a horse. All ended happily when her son was found; Rhiannon had been falsely accused by maids who, terrified at finding the babe absent, had smeared puppy blood on the queen’s face.

Behind this legend is doubtless another, more primitive one in which the death queen actually was guilty of infanticide. This beautiful queen of the night would then, it seems, be identical to the Germanic Mora, the nightmare, the horse-shaped goddess of terror. But night brings good dreams as well as bad, so Rhiannon was said to be the beautiful goddess of joy and oblivion, a goddess of Elysium as well as the queen of hell.

The horse goddess. Rhiannon was the Welsh equivalent of the Epona (Gallic) and Macha (Irish). Rhiannon was also associated with a Romano-Celtic goddess Rigantona (“Great Goddess”).

Rhiannon was the daughter of Hereydd the Old. She married Pwyll, a chieftain of Dyfed.

Rhiannon was unfortunate figure in Welsh myth. Rhiannon had many suitors, among them were Pwyll, chieftain of Dyfed, and Gwawl, the son of Clud. Pwyll won her hand and married her. Gwawl and his father laid a curse upon Pwyll’s household. Rhiannon was barren for many years. Pwyll blamed his wife for their inability to have a child, mistreated Rhiannon.
Even though she managed to give birth to a son named Pryderi, she was accused of killing or devouring her infant.

Later, when Pwyll died, Rhiannon lived with her son, before she married Manawyddan, after the death of Manawyddan’s brother (Bran) from the war in Ireland. Upon her son arrival back, Rhiannon and Pryderi were beset by curse from Llywd, the son of Kil Coed, and friend of Gwawl, Rhiannon’s former suitor. Their subjects in Dyved had vanished. Llywd had transformed Rhiannon into an ass, while her son was transformed into a gate-hammer. They were released from the curses through Manawyddan’s cunning and resourcefulness.

See Manawyddan son of Llyr, in the Mabinogion.

From: Timeless Myths

Originally published on MysticWicks

Brighid

Pagan Study of the Gods & Goddesses – Brighid, the Hearth Goddess of Ireland

Brighid

The Hearth Goddess of Ireland

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.

Patron and Protector
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.

Lisa Lawrence writes in Pagan Imagery in the Early Lives of Brigit: A Transformation from Goddess to Saint?, part of the Harvard Celtic Studies Colloquium, that it is Brighid’s role as sacred to both Christianity and Paganism that makes her so hard to figure out. She cites fire as a common thread to both Brighid the saint and Brighid the goddess:

“When two religious systems interact, a shared symbol can provide a bridge from one religious idea to another. During a period of conversion, an archetypical symbol such as fire may acquire a new referent, while not being entirely emptied of a previous one. For example, the fire that clearly signifies the presence of the Holy Spirit in Saint Brigit may continue to signify pagan conceptions of religious power.”

Celebrating Brighid
There are a variety of ways to celebrate the many aspects of Brighid at Imbolc. If you’re part of a group practice or a coven, why not try honoring her with a group ceremoy? You can also incorporate prayers to Brighid into your rites and rituals for the season. Having trouble figuring out what direction you’re headed? Ask Brighid for assistance and guidance with a crossroads-themed divination rite.

Brighid’s Many Forms
In northern Britain, Brighid’s counterpart was Brigantia, a warlike figure of the Brigantes tribe near Yorkshire, England. She is similar to the Greek goddess Athena and the Roman Minerva. Later, as Christianity moved into the Celtic lands, St. Brigid was the daughter of a Pictish slave who was baptized by St. Patrick, and founded a community of nuns at Kildare.

In addition to her position as a goddess of magic, Brighid was known to watch over women in childbirth, and thus evolved into a goddess of hearth and home. Today, many Pagans honor her on February 2, which has become known as Imbolc or Candlemas.

Winter Cymres at the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, calls her a “complex and contradictory” sort of deity. Specifically,

“She possesses an unusual status as a Sun Goddess Who hangs Her Cloak upon the rays of the Sun and whose dwelling-place radiates light as if on fire. Brigid took over the Cult of the Ewes formerly held by the Goddess Lassar, who also is a Sun Goddess and who made the transition, in the Isles, from Goddess to saint. In this way Brigid’s connection to Imbolc is completed, as the worship of Lassar diminished, only to be revived later in Christian sainthood.”

Brighid’s Mantle
One commonly found symbol of Brighid is her green mantle, or cloak. In Gaelic, the mantle is known as the brat Bhride. The legend has it that Brighid was the daughter of a Pictish chieftain who went to Ireland to learn from St. Patrick. In one story, the girl who later became St. Brighid went to the King of Leinster, and petitioned him for land so she could build an abbey. The King, who still held to the old Pagan practices of Ireland, told her he’d be happy to give her as much land as she could cover with her cloak. Naturally, her cloak grew and grew until it covered as much property as Brighid needed, and she got her abbey. Thanks to her roles as both a Pagan goddess and a Christian saint, Brighid is often seen as being of both worlds; a bridge between the old ways and the new.

In Celtic Pagan stories, Brighid’s mantle carries with it blessings and powers of healing. Many people believe that if you place a piece of cloth out upon your hearth at Imbolc, Brighid will bless it in the night. Use the same cloth as your mantle each year, and it will gain strength and power each time Brighid passes by. The mantle can be used to comfort and heal a sick person, and to provide protection for women in labor. A newborn baby can be wrapped in the mantle to help them sleep through the night without fussing.

To make a Brighid’s mantle of your own, find a piece of green cloth long enough to comfortably wrap around your shoulders. Leave it on your doorstep on the night of Imbolc, and Brighid will bless it for you. In the morning, wrap yourself in her healing energy. You can also make a Brighid’s cross or a Bride’s Bed to celebrate her this time of year.

Brighid and Imbolc
Like many Pagan holidays, Imbolc has a Celtic connection, although it wasn’t celebrated in non-Gaelic Celtic societies. The early Celts celebrated a purification festival by honoring Brighid. In some parts of the Scottish Highlands, Brighid was viewed as a sister of Cailleach Bheur, a woman with mystical powers who was older than the land itself. In modern Wicca and Paganism, Brighid is sometimes viewed as the maiden aspect of the maiden/mother/crone cycle, although it might be more accurate for her to be the mother, given her connection with home and childbirth.

Celtic Goddess Brigid and the Story of the Enduring Deity

Over the centuries, the stories of two women named Brigid (or Brigit or Bride or Brighid) have become intertwined in an intricate Celtic knot of myth and miracle. The Celtic Goddess Brigid and the Catholic Saint Brigid of Kildare both personified similar spiritual practices of their times in Ireland. Many scholars believe that the two are the same mythological person. The saint was necessary to mollify the native Irish population while not falling within the realm of worship of Pagan gods and goddesses. The transition from goddess to saint allowed Brigid to survive throughout the Christianizing world. At this time, the worship of a pantheon of gods – and any religious or spiritual belief system that existed outside of Christianity – was no longer acceptable in Europe.

Celtic Goddess Brigid
The Celtic goddess Brigid is one of the most venerated deities in the Pagan Irish pantheon. The name Brigid means exalted one, while her most ancient Gaelic name, Breo-Saighead, means fiery power or fiery arrow. As a solar goddess, she embodies the element of fire and is commonly depicted with rays of light or fire emanating from her head. Irish mythology relates that she was born at sunrise of Dagda, the earth god, and Boann, the goddess of fertility. They belonged to an ancient tribe of gods, called Tuatha Dé Danann (people of the Goddess Danu), who practiced magic. After they lost their mysterious islands in the west, they traveled to Ireland in the misty clouds and settled there.

When Brigid was born she had flames shooting out from her head, and through them, she was united with the cosmos. As a baby, Brigid drank the milk of a sacred cow that came from the spirit world.

Fiery Aspects
Worshippers sometimes call Brigid the “Triple Goddess” for her fires of the hearth, inspiration, and the forge. She is a powerful being and through her fires, she is the patroness of healing arts, fertility, poetry, music, prophecy, agriculture, and smithcraft. Many people also call her the Goddess of the Well, as she also has ties to the element of water. The well is sacred because it stems from the womb of the earth, and Brigid is also Mother Earth or the Mother Goddess. Her association with the sacred cow reflects the Celtic reliance on the animal for sustenance; milk was an important theme throughout the year, especially during the cold winter months when hardship threatened.

Worship of the Celtic goddess Brigid was widespread among Celts of Ireland, the highlands and islands of Scotland, and also of Western Europe. Amongst the warring clans, Brigid was a unifying theme and common bond. However, in the 5th century, the goddess faced an immense wave of religious change and pressures that swept through her devotees. She had to evolve, otherwise, her followers would have to banish her from their lives.

Saint Brigid of Kildare
As Christianity spread throughout the Celtic lands, many properties of the older religions were Christianized rather than eliminated. Brigid was an integral part of the lives of Celts, and the solution was to create a version of her that would fit into the Catholic religion. Hence, a new story emerged.

St. Brigid of Kildare was “born” around 450 AD to a Pagan family. Her family converted to Christianity with the help of St. Patrick, an equally important saint in Ireland. The Lord inspired Brigid as a young girl and her generosity and compassion reflected her unusual virtue. She gave everything away to the poor. So overly charitable was the young girl that her own father, Dubhthach, a chieftain of Leinster, wanted to give or sell her away because she had gifted the impoverished with many of his valued possessions.

St. Brigid’s Church of the Oak Tree
The king recognized her holiness and gave her a plot of land where she built a church under an oak tree. It was called Kill-dara (cill dara) meaning church of the oak tree (the area is now called Kildare). Seven girls soon followed her to Kill-dara and they started a convent at the tree.

This is one of the ways Brigid sanctified the Pagan with the Christian: The oak was sacred to the druids, and in the inner sanctuary of the Church was a perpetual flame, another religious symbol of the druid faith, as well as the Christian. Gerald of Wales (13th century) noted that the fire was perpetually maintained by 20 nuns of her community. This continued until 1220 when it was extinguished. Gerald noted that the fire was surrounded by a circle of bushes, which no man was allowed to enter.

Female worshippers tended to Brigid’s sacred fire for many hundreds of years. Other sources indicate that 19 maidens rotated over 19 days to keep the fire lit, and then on the 20th day, Goddess Brigid tended the fire herself.

The Legends of St. Brigid
According to the same story, St. Brigid of Kildare had many mystical powers, performed many miracles and healed innumerous sick people. Thus, the colorful tales about the goddess-saint quickly spread to other lands. Her popularity grew in Celtic devotions to the point where she became closely associated with the Virgin Mary and Jesus. In fact, other names for her was “Mary of the Gaels” and “Foster Mother of Jesus,” and myths placed her centuries earlier than her “known” 5th-century life. Those myths described her as the midwife attending Mary or as the wife or daughter of the innkeeper who had no room for Mary and Joseph.

The story of Saint Brigid tells us that she passed away in the year 523.

The Celebration of the Goddess and Saint
The hardest evidence of a mixture of the goddess and the saint is the date of February 1st. This is the Celtic festival day of Imbolc, which was an important event that included much worship of the goddess Brigid. That same date is when the annual Saint Brigid Feast Day takes place. The Irish still celebrate this day. As part of the festivities, they make Saint Brigid’s crosses (St. Brigid) of rushes or reeds (Goddess Brigid) and put them in houses for protection and luck (both). The cross, one of Brigid’s most important symbols, looks very much like the swastika motif, which ancient proto-Germanic people used as a symbol of life, fortune, and blessings.

Resurgence of Paganism
Hundreds of years passed since the Celtic goddess Brigid converted to sainthood. And yet, her worshippers had maintained many of her goddess qualities. Because Ireland was separate from mainland Europe, they were able to keep some their own culture and practices intact. Therefore, even the nature of their worship still had Pagan aspects.

Wells of Resistance
Pagan roots still exist today at many Irish wells that Christians had dedicated to St. Brigid. Those wells were originally connected with the Celtic goddess Brigid. As noted, she is also the Goddess of the Well, which is historically very sacred as the womb of Mother Earth from which flows life-giving waters. The most significant wells are those that exist near a large tree, as there is deep reverence and old mythology about world trees and wells. Even today, the wells have pre-Christian significance.

For example, worshippers mostly visit between dusk and dawn. This is the time of day when the Celts believed the veil between the worlds of the living and of spirits is thinnest. The Irish annual pilgrimage to many of Brigid’s wells falls on the first Sunday in August. This day is a pre-Christian Gaelic holiday called Lughnasadh, after the god Lugh. Lughnasadh is one of the four seasonal holidays of the ancient Celts, and celebrations abound in honor of Lugh and the fall harvest.

The Burning Flames That Endure
Brigid started as the Great Goddess, exalted and inseparable from the everyday activities of the Celts. Although the Church rewrote her story, they were never able to completely supplant the tenacious goddess. Each Brigid reflected the essential spiritual values of her era, whether Pagan or Christian. She still endures so strongly that it is now impossible to tell where the goddess ends and the saint begins.

In 1993 a group of female followers re-lit Brigid’s fire, and her spirit still burns fervently in hearts and minds, as she continues to move through time as the enduring Celtic Goddess of the flame.

Reference:

Patti Wigington, ThoughtCo.com
“Celtic Goddess, Christian Saint”, Celtic Heritage, February/March 1997.
St. Brigid’s Well
Wicca Spirituality, “Brigid: Goddess of the Flame and of the Well”
Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries
Co-authored by Kim Lin
Historic Mysteries, Discovering the Secrets of Our World

About the Goddess of the Month – Freya

Freya

The Goddess of Love

Freya is the Goddess of love in Norse mythology, but she is also associated with sex, lust, beauty, sorcery, fertility, gold, war and death. The name Freya (in Old Norse “Freyja)” means “lady”, and can also be spelled (Freya, Freija, Frejya, Freyia, Fröja, Frøya, Frøjya, Freia, Freja, Frua, and Freiya). She does not originate from the Aesir but she is from the Vanir, she and two other Gods were sent to the Aesir by the Vanir as a token of truce, in return, the Aesir also sent two Gods to the Vanir. Freya became an honorable member of the Aesir after the war between the Aesir and Vanir ended.

Freya’s Family

Freya is the daughter of Njord and his sister Nerthus, and she has a twin brother named Freyr. Freya is married to the God Odr, but he somehow disappeared but it might be Odin, she has two children with Odr, their names are Hnoss and Gersimi. Some of the weekdays in Norse mythology originate from some of the Gods and Goddesses, and Freya might be associated with the day Friday, but there are conflicting sources so it could also be the Goddess Frigg.

Freya the beautiful

Freya is incredibly beautiful and she has many admirers, not just among the Gods and Goddesses but also among the dwarves and giants. She loves jewelry and other fine materials and she has quite often used her beauty to get the jewelry she desires. a big passion for poems and loves to sit and listen to songs for many hours. Freya has an unusual gift when she cries her tears turns into amber or gold.

Freya’s house

Freya is living in Asgard (the home of the Gods), the name of her house is Sessrumnir and it is located by the field Fólkvangr which means “field of the host”, “people field” or “army field” It is a place where half of the people who die in a battle go for the afterlife, while Odin will receive the other half. Freya is always given the first choice among the brave warriors after she had picked the ones she wanted, the rest were sent to Odin.

Three animals and some feathers

Freya loves to travel and she would sometimes take a ride in her chariot pulled by two black or gray cats. But she was also able to fly, by using her cloak of falcon feathers, which she willingly loaned out to the other Gods and Goddesses in Asgard, when they needed to fly to one of the worlds in a hurry. Freya also has a boar named Hildisvini “battle swine” which she rides when she is not using her cat-drawn chariot. It is also said to be Freya’s human lover, Ottar in disguise, and that is the reason why Loki consistently accuses her of being immoral by riding her lover in public.

–Norse Mythology

Goddess Knowledge – Psyche

PSYCHE

The story of Psyche tells of a mortal woman taken to a mysterious castle to be married to a fierce dragon. Her husband comes to her in the middle of the night, and she falls in love with him. Told she must never look upon his face, she disobeys this injunction and finds that her husband is really Eros, the god of love; when he awakes, he flies away, leaving her forever.

Psyche roams far and wide trying to find Eros. She goes to his mother, Aphrodite, who gives her four tasks to complete, each seeming impossible. The final task requires her to descend into Hades and retrieve a box of beauty.

Through the process of meeting the challenges of her tasks and integrating her experiences Psyche grows from an innocent young girl into a mature goddess. Psyche is a rich reminder of our imperative to grow; she reminds us that the process of life takes us into dark places as well as light, just as the butterfly emerges from the dark chrysalis into the light.

For more information here is the link I did for a general search for her: Further Information

Toe see images of Psyche from a general search on bing,com please click this link: Images Pysche

Samhain Goddesses – Hel – Norse

Hel

In the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and Heimskringla, Hel is referred to as a daughter of Loki. In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Hel is described as having been appointed by the god Odin as ruler of the realm of Niflheim. In the same source, her appearance is described as half blue and half flesh-colored and further as having a gloomy, downcast appearance. The Prose Edda details that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm and plays a key role in the attempted resurrection of the god Baldr.

Scholarly theories have been proposed about Hel’s potential connections to figures appearing in the 11th-century Old English Gospel of Nicodemus and Old Norse Bartholomeus saga postola, that she may have been considered a goddess with potential Indo-European parallels in Bhavani, Kali, and Mahakali or that Hel may have become a being only as a late personification of the location of the same name.

Domain

The gods had abducted Hel and her brothers from Angrboda’s hall. They cast her in the underworld, into which she distributes those who are sent to her; the wicked and those who died of sickness or old age. Her hall in Helheim is called Eljudnir, Home of the Dead. Her manservant is Ganglati and her maidservant is Ganglot (which both can be translated as “tardy”). She has a knife called “Famine”, a plate called “Hunger”, a bed called “Disease”, and bed curtains called “Misfortune”.

Etymology

The Old Norse feminine proper noun Hel is identical to the name of the location over which she rules, Old Norse Hel. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, including Old English hell (and thus Modern English hell), Old Frisian helle, Old Saxon hellia, Old High German hella, and Gothic halja. All forms ultimately derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic feminine noun *xaljō or *haljō (‘concealed place, the underworld’). In turn, the Proto-Germanic form derives from the o-grade form of the Proto-Indo-European root *kel-, *kol-: ‘to cover, conceal, save’.

The term is etymologically related to Modern English hall and therefore also Valhalla, an afterlife ‘hall of the slain’ in Norse Mythology. Hall and its numerous Germanic cognates derive from Proto-Germanic *hallō ‘covered place, hall’, from Proto-Indo-European *kol-.

Related early Germanic terms and concepts include Proto-Germanic *xalja-rūnō(n), a feminine compound noun, and *xalja-wītjan, a neutral compound noun. This form is reconstructed from the Latinized Gothic plural noun *haliurunnae (attested by Jordanes; according to philologist Vladimir Orel, meaning ‘witches’), Old English helle-rúne (‘sorceress, necromancer’, according to Orel), and Old High German helli-rūna ‘magic’. The compound is composed of two elements: *xaljō (*haljō) and *rūnō, the Proto-Germanic precursor to Modern English rune. The second element in the Gothic haliurunnae may however instead be an agent noun from the verb rinnan (“to run, go”), which would make its literal meaning “one who travels to the netherworld”.)

Proto-Germanic *xalja-wītjan (or *halja-wītjan) is reconstructed from Old Norse hel-víti ‘hell’, Old English helle-wíte ‘hell-torment, hell’, Old Saxon helli-wīti ‘hell’, and the Middle High German feminine noun helle-wīze. The compound is a compound of *xaljō (discussed above) and *wītjan (reconstructed from forms such as Old English witt ‘right mind, wits’, Old Saxon gewit ‘understanding’, and Gothic un-witi ‘foolishness, understanding’).

Attestations

Poetic Edda

The Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, features various poems that mention Hel. In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, Hel’s realm is referred to as the “Halls of Hel.” In stanza 31 of Grímnismál, Hel is listed as living beneath one of three roots growing from the world tree Yggdrasil. In Fáfnismál, the hero Sigurd stands before the mortally wounded body of the dragon Fáfnir, and states that Fáfnir lies in pieces, where “Hel can take” him. In Atlamál, the phrases “Hel has half of us” and “sent off to Hel” are used in reference to death, though it could be a reference to the location and not the being, if not both. In stanza 4 of Baldrs draumar, Odin rides towards the “high hall of Hel.”

Hel may also be alluded to in Hamðismál. Death is periphrased as “joy of the troll-woman” (or “ogress”) and ostensibly it is Hel being referred to as the troll-woman or the ogre (flagð), although it may otherwise be some unspecified dís. The Poetic Edda also mentions that travelers to Hel must pass by her guardian hound Garmr.

Prose Edda

Hel is referred to in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In chapter 34 of the book Gylfaginning, Hel is listed by High as one of the three children of Loki and Angrboða; the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jörmungandr, and Hel. High continues that, once the gods found that these three children are being brought up in the land of Jötunheimr, and when the gods “traced prophecies that from these siblings great mischief and disaster would arise for them” then the gods expected a lot of trouble from the three children, partially due to the nature of the mother of the children, yet worse so due to the nature of their father.

High says that Odin sent the gods to gather the children and bring them to him. Upon their arrival, Odin threw Jörmungandr into “that deep sea that lies round all lands,” Odin threw Hel into Niflheim, and bestowed upon her authority over nine worlds, in that she must “administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age.” High details that in this realm Hel has “great Mansions” with extremely high walls and immense gates, a hall called Éljúðnir, a dish called “Hunger,” a knife called “Famine,” the servant Ganglati (Old Norse “lazy walker”), the serving-maid Ganglöt (also “lazy walker”), the entrance threshold “Stumbling-block,” the bed “Sick-bed,” and the curtains “Gleaming-bale.” High describes Hel as “half black and half flesh-coloured,” adding that this makes her easily recognizable, and furthermore that Hel is “rather downcast and fierce-looking.”

In chapter 49, High describes the events surrounding the death of the god Baldr. The goddess Frigg asks who among the Æsir will earn “all her love and favour” by riding to Hel, the location, to try to find Baldr, and offer Hel herself a ransom. The god Hermóðr volunteers and sets off upon the eight-legged horse Sleipnir to Hel. Hermóðr arrives in Hel’s hall, finds his brother Baldr there, and stays the night. The next morning, Hermóðr begs Hel to allow Baldr to ride home with him, and tells her about the great weeping the Æsir have done upon Baldr’s death. Hel says the love people have for Baldr that Hermóðr has claimed must be tested, stating:

“If all things in the world, alive or dead, weep for him, then he will be allowed to return to the Æsir. If anyone speaks against him or refuses to cry, then he will remain with Hel.”

Later in the chapter, after the female jötunn Þökk refuses to weep for the dead Baldr, she responds in verse, ending with “let Hel hold what she has.” In chapter 51, High describes the events of Ragnarök, and details that when Loki arrives at the field Vígríðr “all of Hel’s people” will arrive with him.

In chapter 5 of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, Hel is mentioned in a kenning for Baldr (“Hel’s companion”). In chapter 16, “Hel’s […] relative or father” is given as a kenning for Loki. In chapter 50, Hel is referenced (“to join the company of the quite monstrous wolf’s sister”) in the skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa.

Heimskringla

In the Heimskringla book Ynglinga saga, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Hel is referred to, though never by name. In chapter 17, the king Dyggvi dies of sickness. A poem from the 9th-century Ynglingatal that forms the basis of Ynglinga saga is then quoted that describes Hel’s taking of Dyggvi:

I doubt not

but Dyggvi’s corpse

Hel does hold

to whore with him;

for Ulf’s sib

a scion of kings

by right should

caress in death:

to love lured

Loki’s sister

Yngvi’s heir

o’er all Sweden.

In chapter 45, a section from Ynglingatal is given which refers to Hel as “howes’-warder” (meaning “guardian of the graves”) and as taking King Halfdan Hvitbeinn from life. In chapter 46, King Eystein Halfdansson dies by being knocked overboard by a sail yard. A section from Ynglingatal follows, describing that Eystein “fared to” Hel (referred to as “Býleistr’s-brother’s-daughter”). In chapter 47, the deceased Eystein’s son King Halfdan dies of an illness, and the excerpt provided in the chapter describes his fate thereafter, a portion of which references Hel:

Loki’s child

from life summoned

to her thing

the third liege-lord,

when Halfdan

of Holtar farm

left the life

allotted to him.

In a stanza from Ynglingatal recorded in chapter 72 of the Heimskringla book Saga of Harald Sigurdsson, “given to Hel” is again used as a phrase to referring to death.

Egils saga

The Icelanders’ saga Egils saga contains the poem Sonatorrek. The saga attributes the poem to 10th century skald Egill Skallagrímsson, and writes that it was composed by Egill after the death of his son Gunnar. The final stanza of the poem contains a mention of Hel, though not by name:

Now my course is tough:

Death, close sister

of Odin’s enemy

stands on the ness:

with resolution

and without remorse

I will gladly

await my own.

Gesta Danorum

In the account of Baldr’s death in Saxo Grammaticus’ early 13th century work Gesta Danorum, the dying Baldr has a dream visitation from Proserpina (here translated as “the goddess of death”):

The following night the goddess of death appeared to him in a dream standing at his side, and declared that in three days time she would clasp him in her arms. It was no idle vision, for after three days the acute pain of his injury brought his end.

Scholars have assumed that Saxo used Proserpina as a goddess equivalent to the Norse Hel.

Source

Mythology Wikia

Samhain Goddesses – The Morrigan – Celtic

The Morrígan

The Morrígan or Mórrígan, also known as Morrígu, is a figure from Irish mythology. The name is Mór-Ríoghain in Modern Irish. It has been translated as “great queen”, “phantom queen” or “queen of phantoms”.

The Morrígan is mainly associated with war and fate, especially with foretelling doom, death or victory in battle. In this role she often appears as a crow, the badb. She incites warriors to battle and can help bring about victory over their enemies. The Morrígan encourages warriors to do brave deeds, strikes fear into their enemies, and is portrayed washing the bloodstained clothes of those fated to die. She also has some connection with sovereignty, the land and livestock. In modern times she is often called a “war goddess” and has also been seen as a manifestation of the earth- and sovereignty-goddess, chiefly representing the goddess’s role as guardian of the territory and its people.

The Morrígan is often described as a trio of individuals, all sisters, called ‘the three Morrígna’. Membership of the triad varies; sometimes it is given as Badb, Macha and Nemain while elsewhere it is given as Badb, Macha and Anand (the latter is given as another name for the Morrígan). It is believed that these were all names for the same goddess. The three Morrígna are also named as sisters of the three land goddesses Ériu, Banba and Fódla. The Morrígan is said to be the wife of The Dagda, while Badb and Nemain are said to be the wives of Neit.

She is associated with the banshee of later folklore.

Etymology

There is some disagreement over the meaning of the Morrígan’s name. Mor may derive from an Indo-European root connoting terror or monstrousness, cognate with the Old English maere (which survives in the modern English word “nightmare”) and the Scandinavian mara and the Old East Slavic “mara” (“nightmare”); while rígan translates as ‘queen’. This can be reconstructed in the Proto-Celtic language as *Moro-rīganī-s. Accordingly, Morrígan is often translated as “Phantom Queen”. This is the derivation generally favoured in current scholarship.

In the Middle Irish period the name is often spelled Mórrígan with a lengthening diacritic over the o, seemingly intended to mean “Great Queen” (Old Irish mór, ‘great’; this would derive from a hypothetical Proto-Celtic *Māra Rīganī-s). Whitley Stokes believed this latter spelling was due to a false etymology popular at the time. There have also been attempts by modern writers to link the Morrígan with the Welsh literary figure Morgan le Fay from the Matter of Britain, in whose name mor may derive from Welsh word for “sea”, but the names are derived from different cultures and branches of the Celtic linguistic tree.

Sources

Glosses and glossaries

The earliest sources for the Morrígan are glosses in Latin manuscripts, and glossaries (collections of glosses). In a 9th century manuscript containing the Vulgate version of the Book of Isaiah, the word Lamia is used to translate the Hebrew Lilith. A gloss explains this as “a monster in female form, that is, a morrígan“. Cormac’s Glossary (also 9th century), and a gloss in the later manuscript H.3.18, both explain the plural word gudemain (“spectres”) with the plural form morrígna. The 8th century O’Mulconry’s Glossary says that Macha is one of the three morrígna.

Ulster Cycle

The Morrígan’s earliest narrative appearances, in which she is depicted as an individual, are in stories of the Ulster Cycle, where she has an ambiguous relationship with the hero Cú Chulainn. In Táin Bó Regamna (The Cattle Raid of Regamain), Cúchulainn encounters the Morrígan, but does not recognise her, as she drives a heifer from his territory. In response to this perceived challenge, and his ignorance of her role as a sovereignty figure, he insults her. But before he can attack her she becomes a black bird on a nearby branch. Cúchulainn now knows who she is, and tells her that had he known before, they would not have parted in enmity. She notes that whatever he had done would have brought him ill luck. To his response that she cannot harm him, she delivers a series of warnings, foretelling a coming battle in which he will be killed. She tells him, “it is at the guarding of thy death that I am; and I shall be.”

In the Táin Bó Cúailnge queen Medb of Connacht launches an invasion of Ulster to steal the bull Donn Cuailnge; the Morrígan, like Alecto of the Greek Furies, appears to the bull in the form of a crow and warns him to flee. Cúchulainn defends Ulster by fighting a series of single combats at fords against Medb’s champions. In between combats the Morrígan appears to him as a young woman and offers him her love, and her aid in the battle, but he rejects her offer. In response she intervenes in his next combat, first in the form of an eel who trips him, then as a wolf who stampedes cattle across the ford, and finally as a white, red-eared heifer leading the stampede, just as she had warned in their previous encounter. However Cúchulainn wounds her in each form and defeats his opponent despite her interference. Later she appears to him as an old woman bearing the same three wounds that her animal forms sustained, milking a cow. She gives Cúchulainn three drinks of milk. He blesses her with each drink, and her wounds are healed. He regrets blessing her for the three drinks of milk which is apparent in the exchange between the Morrígan and Cúchulainn, “She gave him milk from the third teat, and her leg was healed. ‘You told me once,’ she said,’that you would never heal me.’ ‘Had I known it was you,’ said Cúchulainn, ‘I never would have.'” As the armies gather for the final battle, she prophesies the bloodshed to come.

In one version of Cúchulainn’s death-tale, as Cúchulainn rides to meet his enemies, he encounters the Morrígan as a hag washing his bloody armour in a ford, an omen of his death. Later in the story, mortally wounded, Cúchulainn ties himself to a standing stone with his own entrails so he can die upright, and it is only when a crow lands on his shoulder that his enemies believe he is dead.

Mythological Cycle

The Morrígan also appears in texts of the Mythological Cycle. In the 12th century pseudohistorical compilation Lebor Gabála Érenn she is listed among the Tuatha Dé Danannas one of the daughters of Ernmas, granddaughter of Nuada.

The first three daughters of Ernmas are given as Ériu, Banba, and Fódla. Their names are synonyms for Ireland, and they were married to Mac Cuill, Mac Cécht, and Mac Gréine, the last three Tuatha Dé Danann kings of Ireland. Associated with the land and kingship, they probably represent a triple goddess of sovereignty. Next come Ernmas’s other three daughters: Badb, Macha, and the Morrígan. A quatrain describes the three as wealthy, “springs of craftiness” and “sources of bitter fighting”. The Morrígu’s name is also said to be Anand, and she had three sons, Glon, Gaim, and Coscar. According to Geoffrey Keating‘s 17th century History of Ireland, Ériu, Banba, and Fódla worshipped Badb, Macha, and the Morrígan respectively.

The Morrígan also appears in Cath Maige Tuired “Battle of Mag Tuired”. On Samhain, she keeps a tryst with the Dagda before the battle against the Fomorians. When he meets her she is washing herself, standing with one foot on either side of the river Unius. In some sources she is believed to have created the river. After they have sex, the Morrígan promises to summon the magicians of Ireland to cast spells on behalf of the Tuatha Dé, and to destroy Indech, the Fomorian king, taking from him “the blood of his heart and the kidneys of his valour”. Later, we are told, she would bring two handfuls of his blood and deposit them in the same river (however, we are also told later in the text that Indech was killed by Ogma).

As battle is about to be joined, the Tuatha Dé leader, Lug, asks each what power they bring to the battle. The Morrígan’s reply is difficult to interpret, but involves pursuing, destroying and subduing. When she comes to the battlefield she chants a poem, and immediately the battle breaks and the Fomorians are driven into the sea. After the battle she chants another poem celebrating the victory and prophesying the end of the world.

In another story she lures away the bull of a woman named Odras. Odras then follows the Morrígan to the Otherworld, via the cave of Cruachan. When Odras falls asleep, the Morrígan turns her into a pool of water that fed into the Shannon River.

Nature and role

The Morrígan is often considered a triple goddess, but this triple nature is ambiguous and inconsistent. These triple appearances are partially due to the Celtic significance of threeness.^[1] Sometimes she appears as one of three sisters, the daughters of Ernmas: Morrígan, Badb and Macha. Sometimes the trinity consists of Badb, Macha and Anand, collectively known as the Morrígna. Occasionally Nemain or Fea appear in the various combinations. However, the Morrígan can also appear alone, and her name is sometimes used interchangeably with Badb.

The Morrígan is mainly associated with war and fate, and is often interpreted as a “war goddess”. W. M. Hennessy’s “The Ancient Irish Goddess of War”, written in 1870, was influential in establishing this interpretation. Her role often involves premonitions of a particular warrior’s violent death, suggesting a link with the banshee of later folklore. This connection is further noted by Patricia Lysaght: “In certain areas of Ireland this supernatural being is, in addition to the name banshee, also called the badhb“. Her role was to not only be a symbol of imminent death, but to also influence the outcome of war. Most often she did this by appearing as a crow flying overhead and would either inspire fear or courage in the hearts of the warriors. In some cases, she is written to have appeared in visions to those who are destined to die in battle by washing their bloody armor. In this specific role, she is also given the role of foretelling imminent death with a particular emphasis on the individual. There are also a few rare accounts where she would join in the battle itself as a warrior and show her favouritism in a more direct manner.

The Morrígan is also associated with the land and animals, particularly livestock. Máire Herbert argues that “war per se is not a primary aspect of the role of the goddess”. Herbert suggests that “her activities have a tutelary character. She oversees the land, its stock and its society. Her shape-shifting is an expression of her affinity with the whole living universe”. Patricia Lysaght notes that Cath Maige Tuired depicts the Morrígan as “a protectress of her people’s interests” and it associates her with both war and fertility. According to Prionsias Mac Cana, the goddess in Ireland is “primarily concerned with the prosperity of the land: its fertility, its animal life, and (when it is conceived as a political unit) its security against external forces”.^[10] Likewise, Maria Tymoczko writes “The welfare and fertility of a people depend on their security against external aggression” and notes that “Warlike action can thus have a protective aspect”.^[5] It is therefore suggested that the Morrígan is a manifestation of the earth- and sovereignty-goddess, chiefly representing the goddess’s role as guardian of the territory and its people. She can be interpreted as providing political or military aid, or protection to the king—acting as a goddess of sovereignty, not necessarily of war.

It has also been suggested that she was closely linked to the fianna and that these groups may have been in some way dedicated to her. These were “bands of youthful warrior-hunters, living on the borders of civilized society and indulging in lawless activities for a time before inheriting property and taking their places as members of settled, landed communities”. If true, her worship may have resembled that of Perchta groups in Germanic areas.

There is a burnt mound site in County Tipperary known as Fulacht na Mór Ríoghna (‘cooking pit of the Mórrígan’). The fulachtaí sites are found in wild areas, and usually associated with outsiders such as the fianna, as well as with the hunting of deer. There may be a link with the three mythical hags who cook the meal of dogflesh that brings the hero Cúchulainn to his doom. The Dá Chich na Morrigna (‘two breasts of the Mórrígan’), a pair of hills in County Meath, suggest to some a role as a tutelary goddess, comparable to Anu, who has her own hills, Dá Chích Anann (‘the breasts of Anu’) in County Kerry. Other goddesses known to have similar hills are Áine and Grian of County Limerick who, in addition to a tutelary function, also have solar attributes.

Arthurian legend

There have been attempts by some modern authors of fiction to link Morgan le Fay with the Morrígan. Morgan first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth‘s Vita Merlini “The Life of Merlin” in the 12th century. In these Arthurian legends, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Morgan is portrayed as an evil hag whose actions set into motion a bloody trail of events that lead the hero into numerous instances of danger. Morgan is also depicted as a seductress, much like the older legends of the goddess and has numerous sexual encounters with Merlin. The character is frequently depicted of wielding power over others to achieve her own purposes, allowing those actions to play out over time, to either the benefit or detriment of other characters.

However, while the creators of the literary character of Morgan may have been somewhat inspired by the much older tales of the goddess, the relationship ends there. Scholars such as Rosalind Clark hold that the names are unrelated, the Welsh “Morgan” (Wales being the source of the Matter of Britain) being derived from root words associated with the sea, while the Irish “Morrígan” has its roots either in a word for “terror” or a word for “greatness”.

Source

Wikipedia

Pagan Studies of the Gods & Goddesses: Freya, Norse Goddess of love, beauty, magic (seidhr), fertility, war and death.

Freya

Norse Goddess of love, beauty, magic (seidhr), fertility, war and death.

Freya (Old Norse Freyja, “Lady”) is one of the preeminent goddesses in Norse mythology. She’s a member of the Vanir tribe of deities, but became an honorary member of the Aesir gods after the Aesir-Vanir War. Her father is Njord. Her mother is unknown, but could be Nerthus. Freyr is her brother. Her husband, named Odr in late Old Norse literature, is certainly none other than Odin, and, accordingly, Freya is ultimately identical with Odin’s wife Frigg (see below for a discussion of this).

Freya is famous for her fondness of love, fertility, beauty, and fine material possessions – and, because of these predilections, she’s considered to be something of the “party girl” of the Aesir. In one of the Eddic poems, for example, Loki accuses Freya (probably accurately) of having slept with all of the gods and elves, including her brother.[1] She’s certainly a passionate seeker after pleasures and thrills, but she’s a lot more than only that. Freya is the archetype of the völva, a professional or semiprofessional practitioner of seidr, the most organized form of Norse magic. It was she who first brought this art to the gods,[2] and, by extension, to humans as well. Given her expertise in controlling and manipulating the desires, health, and prosperity of others, she’s a being whose knowledge and power are almost without equal.

Freya presides over the afterlife realm Folkvang. According to one Old Norse poem, she chooses half of the warriors slain in battle to dwell there. (See Death and the Afterlife.)

Freya the Völva

Seidr is a form of pre-Christian Norse magic and shamanism that involved discerning the course of fate and working within its structure to bring about change, often by symbolically weaving new events into being.[3] This power could potentially be put to any use imaginable, and examples that cover virtually the entire range of the human condition can be found in Old Norse literature.

In the Viking Age, the völva was an itinerant seeress and sorceress who traveled from town to town performing commissioned acts of seidr in exchange for lodging, food, and often other forms of compensation as well. Like other northern Eurasian shamans, her social status was highly ambiguous – she was by turns exalted, feared, longed for, propitiated, celebrated, and scorned.[4]

Freya’s occupying this role amongst the gods is stated directly in the Ynglinga Saga, and indirect hints are dropped elsewhere in the Eddas and sagas. For example, in one tale, we’re informed that Freya possesses falcon plumes that allow their bearer to shift his or her shape into that of a falcon.[6]

During the so-called Völkerwanderung or “Migration Period” – roughly 400-800 CE, and thus the period that immediately preceded the Viking Age – the figure who would later become the völva held a much more institutionally necessary and universally acclaimed role among the Germanic tribes. One of the core societal institutions of the period was the warband, a tightly organized military society presided over by a chieftain and his wife. The wife of the warband’s leader, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, held the title of veleda, and her role in the warband was to foretell the outcome of a suggested plan of action by means of divination and to influence that outcome by means of more active magic, as well as to serve a special cup of liquor that was a powerful symbol of both temporal and spiritual power in the warband’s periodic ritual feasts.[7][8]

One literary portrait of such a woman comes to us from the medieval Old English epic poem Beowulf, which recounts the deeds of King Hroðgar and his warband in the land that we today know as Denmark. The name of Hroðgar’s queen, Wealhþeow, is almost certainly the Old English equivalent of the Proto-Germanic title that Tacitus latinised as “veleda.”[9] Wealhþeow’s “domestic” actions in the poem – which are, properly understood, enactments of the liquor ritual described above – are indispensable for the upkeep of the unity of the warband and its power structures. The poem, despite its Christian veneer, “hint[s] at the queen’s oracular powers… The Hrothgar/Wealhtheow association as presented in the poem is an echo of an earlier more robust and vigorous politico-theological conception.”[10]

This “politico-theological conception” was based on the mythological model provided by the divine pair Frija and Woðanaz, deities who later evolved into, respectively, Freya/Frigg and Odin. Woðanaz is the warband’s chieftain, and Frija is its veleda. In addition to the structural congruencies outlined above, Wealhþeow and Freya even own a piece of jewelry with the same name: Old English Brosinga mene and Old Norse Brísingamen (both meaning something like “fiery/glowing necklace”). That both figures refer to the same ancient archetype, whether on the human or the divine plane, is certain.

Freya and Frigg

While the late Old Norse literary sources that form the basis of our current knowledge of pre-Christian Germanic religion present Freya and Frigg as being at least nominally distinct goddesses, the similarities between them run deep. Their differences, however, are superficial and can be satisfactorily explained by consulting the history and evolution of the common Germanic goddess whom the Norse were in the process of splitting into Freya and Frigg sometime shortly before the conversion of Scandinavia and Iceland to Christianity (around the year 1000 CE).

As we’ve noted above, the Migration Period goddess who later became Freya was the wife of the god who later became Odin. While somewhat veiled, this is ultimately still the case in Old Norse literature. Freya’s husband is named Óðr, a name which is virtually identical to that of Óðinn (the Old Norse form of “Odin”). Óðr means “ecstasy, inspiration, furor.” Óðinn is simply the word óðr with the masculine definite article (-inn) added onto the end. The two names come from the same word and have the same meaning. Óðr is an obscure and seldom-mentioned character in Old Norse literature. The one passage that tells us anything about his personality or deeds – anything beyond merely listing his name in connection with Freya – comes from the Prose Edda, which states that Óðr is often away on long journeys, and that Freya can often be found weeping tears of red gold over his absence.[11] Many of the surviving tales involving Odin have him traveling far and wide throughout the Nine Worlds, to the point that he’s probably more often away from Asgard than within it. Many of Odin’s numerous bynames allude to his wanderings or are names he assumed to disguise his identity while abroad. Thus, it’s hard to see Freya’s husband as anything but an only nominally distinct extension of Odin.

Freyja and Frigg are similarly accused of infidelity to their (apparently common) husband. Alongside the several mentions of Freya’s loose sexual practices can be placed the words of the medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, who relates that Frigg slept with a slave on at least one occasion.[12] In Lokasenna and the Ynglinga Saga, Odin was once exiled from Asgard, leaving his brothers Vili and Ve in command. In addition to presiding over the realm, they also regularly slept with Frigg until Odin’s return.[13][14] Many scholars have tried to differentiate between Freya and Frigg by asserting that the former is more promiscuous and less steadfast than the latter,[15] but these tales suggest otherwise.

Frigg is depicted as a völva herself. Once again in Lokasenna, after Loki slanders Frigg for her infidelity, Freya warns him that Frigg knows the fate of all beings, an intimation of her ability to perform seidr.[16] Frigg’s weaving activities are likely an allusion to this role as well. And, as it turns out, Freya is not the only goddess to own a set of bird-of-prey feathers for shapeshifting – Frigg is also in possession of one.[17]

The word for “Friday” in Germanic languages (including English) is named after Frija,[18] the Proto-Germanic goddess who is the foremother of Freya and Frigg. None of the other Germanic peoples seem to have spoken of Frija as if she were two goddesses; this approach is unique to the Norse sources. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that in the Norse sources we find a confusion as to which goddess this day should have as its namesake. Both Freyjudagr (from Freyja) and Frjádagr (from Frigg) are used.

The names of the two goddesses are also particularly interesting in this regard. Freyja, “Lady,” is a title rather than a true name. It’s a cognate of the modern German word Frau, which is used in much the same way as the English title “Mrs.” In the Viking Age, Scandinavian and Icelandic aristocratic women were sometimes called freyjur, the plural of freyja.[19] “Frigg,” meanwhile, comes from an ancient root that means “beloved.”[20] Frigg’s name therefore links her to love and desire, precisely the areas of life over which Freya presides. Here again we can discern the ultimate reducibility of both goddesses to one another: one’s name is identical to the other’s attributes, and the other name is a generic title rather than a unique name.

Clearly, then, the two are ultimately the same goddess. Why, then, are they presented as nominally distinct in the late Old Norse sources? Unfortunately, no one really knows.

Looking for more great information on Norse mythology and religion? While this site provides the ultimate online introduction to the topic, my book The Viking Spirit provides the ultimate introduction to Norse mythology and religion period. I’ve also written a popular list of The 10 Best Norse Mythology Books, which you’ll probably find helpful in your pursuit.

Originally Published on Norse Mythology for Smart People

References:

[1] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, stanzas 30, 32.

[2] Snorri Sturluson. Ynglinga Saga 4. In Heimskringla: eða Sögur Noregs Konunga.

[3] Heide, Eldar. 2006. Spinning Seiðr. In Old Norse Religion in Long-Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes and Interactions. Edited by Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere. p. 166.

[4] Price, Neil S. 2002. The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia. p. 279-328.

[5] Snorri Sturluson. Ynglinga Saga 4. In Heimskringla: eða Sögur Noregs Konunga.

[6] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 117.

[7] Tacitus, Cornelius. Germania 8.

[8] Enright, Michael J. 1996. Lady with a Mead Cup: Ritual, Prophecy and Lordship in the European Warband from La Tène to the Viking Age.

[9] Ibid. p. 192.

[10] Ibid. p. 66.

[11] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Gylfaginning 35.

[12] Saxo Grammaticus. The History of the Danes.

[13] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, verse 26.

[14] Snorri Sturluson. Ynglinga Saga 3. In Heimskringla: eða Sögur Noregs Konunga.

[15] See, for example: Grimm, Jacob. 1882. Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1. Translated by James Steven Stallybrass. p. 302.

[16] The Poetic Edda. Lokasenna, verse 29.

[17] Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda. Skáldskaparmál 18-19.

[18] Ellis-Davidson, Hilda Roderick. 1964. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. p. 111.

[19] Grimm, Jacob. 1882. Teutonic Mythology, Volume 1. Translated by James Steven Stallybrass. p. 300.

[20] Orel, Vladimir. 2003. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. p. 114.

Freyja

Definition
by Emma Groeneveld

Freyja (Old Norse for ‘Lady’, ‘Woman’, or ‘Mistress’) is the best-known and most important goddess in Norse mythology. Beautiful and many-functioned, she features heavily as a fertility goddess stemming from her place in the Vanir family of the gods (the other and main one is the Æsir family) along with her twin brother Freyr and father Njord, and stars in many myths recorded in Old Norse literature as lover or object of lust. She lives in Fólkvangr (‘Field of the People’), rides a carriage drawn by cats, and is connected not just with love and lust but also with wealth, magic, as well as hand-picking half of all fallen warriors on battlefields to go into Odin’s hall of Valhalla – the other half being selected by Odin himself. She likely played an important role in old Scandinavian religion.

FAMILY
Freyja is part of the Vanir family of the gods who handle all things fertility-related, including harvests (her brother Freyr); wind, sea, and wealth (her father Njord); and her own expertise regarding love, lust, and wealth, too. Her mother appears to have been giant-daughter and wife of Njord, Skadi, and while originally Freyja may have been paired in a brother-sister married couple with Freyr, Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241 CE) – our most comprehensive source when it comes to Norse mythology – has her down as wife of Ódr, who she has two daughters with; Hnoss and Gersimi (Gylfaginning, 35). These names both mean something along the lines of ‘preciousness’ or ‘treasure’ and were possibly used in later poetry as manifestations of Freyja herself.

Ódr is said to have gone traipsing around on long journeys, inexplicably leaving Freyja behind, who would then search for him while weeping golden tears; this tale dates back to at least as early as the 10th century CE. He and Odin are commonly thought to have originally been one and the same person, with Ódr functioning as a shortened form of Odin.

ATTRIBUTES
One of Freyja’s attributes has already been mentioned: her cat-drawn carriage with which she zooms around the Norse mythological cosmos. Another is a garment – a coat, cloak or dress-like thing – made out of falcon feathers. Possibly, the boar Hildisvíni should also be counted among Freyja’s attributes; the Hyndluljóð poem has her riding said boar, and a boar connection, in general, is made more plausible by the fact that her brother Freyr is also associated with a boar, in his case named Gullinborsti. Sýr, another name of Freyja’s, is sometimes translated as ‘sow’, too, but it also might mean ‘to protect’, ‘to shield,’ in which case it would negate this third boar link. Germanic mythological powerhouse H. R. Ellis Davidson adds another animal: “Horses were certainly associated with the fertility pair Freyr and Freyja, and said to be kept in their holy places” (104). Her last – but not least – attribute is the necklace Brísingamen.

FREYJA’S MANY ROLES
The baseline of Freyja’s various functions comes from her role as fertility goddess as per her Vanir descent. Specifically, her other name Horn (Hǫrn, or Härn) probably comes from Old Norse horr, which means flax or linen. This was an important product which began being cultivated early on in Scandinavia and was thought to ward off evil and give fertility to humankind. Flax manufacture was a female affair, and as bridal dresses were made of linen, Freyja became a sort of defender of love and weddings, too. Another one of her names, Gefn, is Old Norse for ‘giver’, bringing to mind a role as a goddess of plenty.

The handed-down mythology emphasises Freyja’s role in all things related to sexuality (apart from childbirth, with which she seems unconcerned). For one, she often features as an irresistible object of lust, mainly in the eyes of the giants. The giant Thrym, for example, is only cool with returning the hammer he has stolen from Thor if he gets Freyja for his own. Besides her being the ‘price’ of many things – which the other gods try to avoid paying, as such – other myths reinforce Freyja’s supposed free and considerable sexuality. Although Loki in the Lokasenna poem badmouths everyone around him and accuses all the goddesses of various sexual acts, Freyja is reprimanded by Loki as follows:

Be silent, Freyja! | for fully I know thee,

Sinless thou art not thyself;

Of the gods and elves | who are gathered here,

Each one as thy lover has lain. (30)

She also consents to sleep with four dwarves in turn in order for them to hand over the Brísingamen to her and is accused in the Hyndluljóð poem of being the hero Óttar’s lover. Presumably, then, early Scandinavians looked to Freyja in matters of love and lust.

To make things even better, Freyja is also a goddess of wealth, as attested to by the many poetic references that link her to treasure. Her tears are said to be made of gold, even being synonymous with the material:

Gold is called Freyja’s Tears (…). So sang Skúli Thorsteinsson:

Many a fearless swordsman

Received the Tears of Freyja.

(Skáldskaparmál, 37)

The fact that Freyja’s daughters’ names Hnoss and Gersimi mean ‘preciousness’ or ‘treasure’ could arguably be seen as the “product of poetic convention in which Freyja was recognized as the source of treasure: perhaps as the weeper of golden tears, perhaps as a goddess ruling over wealth” (Billington & Green, 61).

Her connection with magic is also well-known, and Snorri Sturluson relays how it was Freyja who first taught the shamanistic magic called seiðr to the Æsir. Finally, the way Freyja chooses slain warriors to be on her as opposed to Odin’s team carries her into more ferocious spheres, functioning as a goddess of death and perhaps even battle itself. Which god selects you seems to boil down to social or personal status, or perhaps comes from the fact that both the Vanir and the Æsir needed someone to fulfil this role on the battlefield. This link between Freyja and Odin, as well as Odin’s own strong proficiency with magic, helps illustrate how Odin and Ódr, Freyja’s husband, could plausibly have originally been the same person.

MYTHS INVOLVING FREYJA
As evidenced above, there are plenty of myths recorded in the Old Norse sources that are keen to dive into the subject of Freyja. The Hyndluljóð poem emphasises she was more than just a pretty face; in it, Freyja visits wise-woman Hyndla asking her to unravel the hero Óttar’s ancestry, soaking up this knowledge. However, in the Þrymskviða (the ‘Lay of Thrym’, a poem possibly composed in the 12th or 13th century CE and found in the Poetic Edda), her desirability is once again a core theme. The story tells of Thor’s hammer being stolen by the giant Thrym, who will not return the hammer unless he gets his hands on Freyja. Freyja refuses to tag along, however, giving up the Brísingamen to help Thor disguise himself as her. After almost giving things away because Thor gorged himself to such an extent at the wedding banquet so as to raise suspicion – his burning eyes not helping either – Loki luckily smooth-talks his way out of it and ensures they get the hammer back. For good measure, Thor kills Thrym and a bunch of other giants on his way out.

As for other giant-related myths, the giant Hrungnir boasts he would bodily move Valhalla into Jotunheimen (the realm of the giants), sink Asgard (the realm of the gods), and kill all the gods except for Freyja and Sif, who he will take home with him (Skáldskaparmál, 17). In the tale of the Giant Master Builder, a giant offers to build walls around Asgard as long as he gets Freyja, the sun and the moon. Regarding her necklace Brísingamen, which is assigned to Freyja by Late Old Norse sources (13th and 14th centuries CE), the most famous myth concerns its theft (most commonly by Loki) but is preserved in such a fragmentary and tricky way that it is now rather hard to come up with one comprehensive story. The most detailed version is also the youngest and thus not the pinnacle of reliability: the Sǫrla Þáttr, which survives in the 14th century CE Flateyjarbók, describes how Freyja sleeps with four dwarves to get the Brísingamen, and how Odin then forces Loki to steal the necklace from her. Loki enters her bedroom as a fly, stings her so she moves her hand off of the necklace, and grabs it. By contrast, Snorri Sturluson has Loki and Heimdall fighting each other over the necklace (Skáldskaparmál, 8).

CULT OF FREYJA
As a fertility goddess, Freyja would have taken up a central role in old Scandinavian religion, playing a part in the circle of life. J. P. Schjødt explains her special position:

Freyja is one of the few individual goddesses who has had a major role in the more official religious cult (whereas many female deities seen as collectives played a part in both myth and ritual). She incorporates many traits that can be found in fertility goddesses all over the world, among whom is a clear connection also to death. (Brink & Price, 221)

The Old Norse sources do not specifically detail the existence of a cult of Freyja per se, but the large number of place-names in Sweden and Norway related to her name, such as Frøihov (from Freyjuhof, ‘Freyja’s temple’) and Frǫvi (from Freyjuvé, ‘Freyja’s shrine’), show clear worship, perhaps even pointing to a public cult as opposed to the domestic cult one would expect of a goddess of love. It is clear that the people of Iceland on the cusp of conversion to Christianity around the year 1000 CE still had Freyja clearly on their mind. The Íslendingabók states that Hjalti Skeggjason, a supporter of Christianity, was outlawed for blasphemy after calling Freyja a bitch (in this case a female dog, but taken to mean he wanted to call her a whore) at the Althing parliament. She was obviously still important enough for people to not successfully get away with these sorts of things.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emma Groeneveld
Emma has studied History & Ancient History. During her Master’s she focused on Herodotus as well as the juicy politics of ancient courts, but more recently she has been immersing herself in everything prehistoric. She both writes and edits for AHE.

Originally published on Ancient History Encyclopedia

Freya

On Thursday, August 30,We Celebrate the Goddess Ishtar

The origin of this babylonian-assyrian main goddess was a semitian vegetation- and moon goddess with lower influence, but when these tribes arrived at the land of the sumerian kingdom, her cult reached the sumerian capital Uruk. The sumerian people identified Ishtar easily with their own goddess Inanna. After some time Ishtar became in the second millenium the highest and widest worshipped goddess of the Babylonians. The myths of Inanna became the myths of Ishtar:

Ishtars reign was not depending on a male consort, she reigned absolute on her own and united in her all the aspects of femininity. Her position in the Babylonian pantheon was the highest, but her family relations are a bit confusing: Ishtar was daughter of the moon goddess Ningal and her consort Nanna (akk. Sin), who were the Citygods of Uruk. In other traditions she appears to be the daughter of the sky god Anu, later she also became his wife.

She was also the sister of the sun god Utu/Marduk and the underworld goddess Ereschkigal (“Mistress of the great under”). She appeared in person wearing a zodiac belt together with hunting dogs like Diana or riding on a lion, her holy animal.

She was the Queen of heaven (Scharrat Schame) and the mother, who had born the world and still remained a virgin.

Her consort or husband was Tammuz ( sum.: Dumuzi), river god of Euphrates and Tigris, who was meanwhile also her son and her brother. When the world began, Tammuz (faithful son) came together with Ishtar in the world. She bore him, she made love with him and she remained a virgin. When Tammuz died in the summer and all vegetation died with him, Ishtar was looking for him all over the world. She finally found him in the underworld and brought him back to life (see Celtic believe). Tammuz was reborn and the vegetation could flourish again. Then the ritual-festival of the “Holy Marriage” was celebrated at the time of the autumn equinox, when in the Near-East the first rain fell again.

For the assyrian people she was mainly a war goddess (Lioness of the battle), but also the love and the sexual life belonged to her realm of influence. Moreover she was the Goddess of justice and healing.

This Akkadian/Babylonian Great Goddess represents a later and more complex development of the Sumerian Inanna, and her son/lover Tammuz plays the role of the vegetation-god. She is not only an embodiment of sexuality and fertility, a “Lady of Battle” and a goddess of healing, but it is also she who bestowed the ancient kings with the right to rule over her/their people. Her fame reached into the Hittite and Hurrian lands of Anatolia, to Sumeria, Egypt and to the Assyrians. Here especially – in Assyria and Egypt – she was revered as a goddess of Battle and is depicted with bow, quiver and sword; her prowess is symbolised by her lioness-steed.

In other sacred texts Ishtar is described as having “sweet lips” and a “beautiful figure” and it is clear that she takes much pleasure in love. Significantly, when she descends to the Netherworld all sexual activity ceases everywhere on earth. In this aspect her familiar and symbolic animal is the dove. Ishtar was also thought to rule the menstrual/ovarian cycle.

In the Old Testament her worship is regarded as an abomination, and it is Ishtar’s worshipers and her ishtarishtu (sacred prostitutes) who were to be found even at the doors of the Hebrew god’s great temple, much to the consternation of his priests and prophets.

As well as being renowned for her powers of creation, divine rulership, prophesy and desire, Ishtar was also regarded as a healer and we know that her effigy once was transported all the way to Egypt in order to heal the then sick Amenhotep III.
Resource
Shrine for the forgotten Goddesses

Goddesses for every occasion

——————————————————————————–

Sunday Sunne, Frau Sonne, Aditi, Amaterasu, Arinna, Izanami, Ochumare

Monday Luna, Selene, Diana, Re, Gealach, Ida, Artemis, Yemaya, Erzulie

Tuesday Pingalla, Anna, Aine, Danu, Yngona, Bellona, Aida Wedo, Sun Woman

Wednesday Isis, Demeter, Ceres, Spider Woman, Bona Dea, Oya, Devi-Kali, Hella, Rhiannon, Coatlique

Thursday Juno, Hera, Kwan Yin, Mary, Cybele, Tara, Mawu, Waresa, Ishtar

Friday Freya, Astarte, Aphrodite, Erzulie, Eve, Venus, Isis, Diana, Chalchiuhtlique

Saturday Ops, Rhea, Tellus mater, Gaia, Eartha, Ge, Ashera, the Shekinah, Mary, Demeter, Herodias

——————————————————————————–

Goddesses of the Zodiac

Aries = Athena, The Morrigan, Minerva
Taurus = Hathor, Isis, Io, Venus, Selene
Gemini = Kali, Parvati, Tefnut, Leda
Cancer = Ix Chel, Ida, Selene, Luna
Leo = Arinna, Cybele, Neshto, Juno
Virgo = Kwan Yin, Bel, Inanna, Diana, Ishtar
Libra = Ishtar, Aphrodite, Dike, Themis
Scorpio = Pele, Tiamat, Ishara, Selket
Sagittarius = Artemis, Diana, Pingala
Capricorn = Awehai, Ida, Amalthea, Vesta
Aquarius = Mawu, Cybele, Sophia, Iris, Juno
Pisces = Nammu, Anuit, Aphrodite, Dione

——————————————————————————–

Goddesses of the Month

January = Juno, Hera, Hestia, Brigid
February = Brigid, White Buffalo Woman, Juno Februa
March = Ra-Nuit, Artemis, Minerva
April = Aphrodite, Ishtar, Artemis, Astarte, Eostre
Venus, Terra , Erzulie
May = Maia, Flora, Tanith, Bel, Mary, Hera
June = Ishtar, Athena, Demeter, Juno, Persephone,
Luna, Hera, Mawu
July = Ishtar, Apet, Athena, Demeter, Persephone,
Spider Woman.
August = Ishtar, Ceres, Lakshmi, Hesperus
September= Hathor, Ishtar, Yemaya, Menkhet, Pomona
October = Hathor, Demeter, Ceres, the Horae
November = Sekhmet, Demeter, Diana, Kali, Astrae
December = Vesta, Hestia, Befana, Sekhmet, Oya

Hestia 26 December – 22 January
Bridhe 23 January – 19 February
Moura 20 February – 19 March
Columbina 20 March – 17 April
Maia 18 April – 15 May
Hera 16 May – 12 June
Rosea 13 June – 10 July
Kerea 11 July – 8 August
Hesperis 9 August – 5 September
Mala 6 September – 2 October
Hathor 3 October – 30 October
Cailleach/
Samhain 31 October – 27 November
Astraea 28 November – 25 December

——————————————————————————–

Goddesses for the days of the Moon/month

1 (new moon) Hathor, Isis, Anahit, Selene, Juno, Lucina, Luna, Re,
Blodeuwedd.

2 Selene, Luna, the Mothers, Gos, Arstat, Saoka

3 Athena, the Witch of Gaeta, Rata

4 Hathor, Isis, Selene, Luna

5 Maat, the Erinyes, Eric, Terra, the Eumenides

6 Artemis, Erzulie, the Mothers

7 the Sabbatu, Leto, Luna, Arstat

8 Selene, Luna, Ata Bey

9 Rhea, Selene, Spider Woman

10 Anahit, Anaitis, White Buffalo Calf Woman

11 Kista, Athena, Minerva, Sophia, Changing Woman

12 Demeter, Oddudua, Dikaiosune

13 The Muses, Diana, Oya, the Corn Mothers

14 Ishtar, Selene, Gos, Aida Wedo, the Lady, the Great Mother

15 Ishtar, Luna, Mene, Anna Perenna, Mary, Hina, Arianrhod, Aradia, Diana, Cybele, Mah

16 Levanah, Selene, Luna, Kwan Yin, Chalchiuhtlique

17 Ashi Vanguhi, Arstat, Kista, Demeter, Luna, Aida Wedo

18 Ochumare, Mawu, Copper Woman

19 The Manes, Ashi Vanguhi, Minerva

20 Selene, Tonantzin, Coatlique, Mary

21 Drvaspa, Hera, Athene, Medusa

22 Re, Gealach, Rhiannon, Selene, Mayauel

23 Venus, Aphrodite, Oshun, Erzulie, Freya, Xochiquetzl

24 Daena, Kista, Ochumare, Maat, Sophia, Chang-O

25 Ashi Vanguhi, Ard, Kista, Athena

26 Arstat, Cerridwen, Copper Woman, Mother Holle

27 Diana, Hecate, Maman Brigette, Oya

28 Zamyad, Tellus Mater, Hemera, Eos

29 Hecate, Tonantzin, Nyx, Rhiannon, Eurydice

30 Hecate, Mene, Hecate Prosmna, the moon Goddess, the Dark Maiden, the Crone.

Ishtar

Unto the queen of the gods,
into whose hands are committed the behest of the great gods,
unto the lady of Nineveh,the queen of the gods,
the exhalted one, unto the daughter of the moon-god,
the twin sister of the sun god, unto her who ruleth all kingdoms,
unto the goddess of the world who determineth decrees,
unto the Lady of heaven and earth who receiveth supplication,
unto the merciful goddess who hearkeneth unto entreaty,
who receiveth prayer, who loveth righteousness,

I make my prayer unto Ishtar
to whom all confusion is a cause of grief.
The sorrows which I see I lament before thee.
Incline thine ear unto my words of lamentation
and let thine heart be opened unto my sorrowful speech.

Turn thy face unto me,
O Lady, so that by reason thereof
the heart of thy servant may be made strong!

I, Ashur-nasir-pal, the sorrowful one, am thy humble servant;
I, who am beloved of thee, make offerings unto thee and adore thy divinity.
I was born in the mountains which no man knoweth;
I was without understanding and I prayed not of thy majesty.
Moreover the people of Assyria did not recognise and did not accept thy divinity.

But thou, O Ishtar, thou mighty Queen of the gods,
by the lifting up of thine eyes did teach me,
for thou didst desire my rule.
Thou didst take me from the mountains,
and didst make me the Door of my peoples,
and thou, O Ishtar, didst make great my name!
As concerning that for which thou are wrath with me,
grant me forgiveness.
Let thine anger be appeased,
and let thine heart be mercifully inclined towards me.

Assyria. W.H.Boulton, p. 154

Venus, The Goddess of Fridays & Love

Venus

Venus is the Roman goddess of love, beauty, prosperity, fertility, and victory. She was so important to Romans that they claimed her as their ancestress. According to mythology, her son Aeneas fled from Troy to Italy. He became the ancestor of Remus and Romulus, who founded Rome.

So, in a way, it’s accurate to say that Venus was the mother of Rome. However, Venus had strong ties to GREEK MYTHOLOGY, too. The Romans thought she was the same goddess as APHRODITE, the GREEK GODDESS of love. They adopted many of Aphrodite’s symbols, such as roses and myrtle, to represent Venus. Myrtle was so important to this goddess that, during her festival, worshipers and even statues of her wore myrtle wreaths.

Venus’s festival took place on April 1. It was called the Veneralia. Aside from draping Venus in flowers, followers also carefully washed her statue, and promised to fulfill the moral obligations of good Roman wives and husbands. Many men and women also asked her advice on matters of the heart.

Other symbols of Venus included the scallop shell, doves, dolphins, pomegranates, pearls, mirrors, and girdles. Many of these were also adopted from Aphrodite. So was her origin story; she was said to be born of seafoam.

One of the most famous works of Western art depicts this event: Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. It portrays her as standing on a large shell, her hair covering her, surrounded by other mythical figures. This artwork from hundreds of years after the Romans worshiped Venus shows how important her mythology continued to be even after the fall of Rome.

Plenty of other artworks also depict Venus, her birth, and her other myths. In fact, painting Venus was so popular that, after the classical era, any unclothed female figure came to be called a ‘Venus’.

Venus had many titles, representing her importance. These included:

Venus Cloacina – the Purifier
Venus Felix – the Lucky, suggesting she could be prayed to for good luck
Venus Genetrix – Mother, representing her role as mother of rome
Venus Murcia – Myrtle, representing the importance of this plant to her
Venus Verticordia – the Changer of Hearts, representing her role in love
Venus Victrix – Victorious, showing that she was a godess of victory

Later on in the Roman empire, Venus became even more important to Rome. She got new festivals on August 12 and October 9, and a shrine on a famous hill in Rome. Why? Well, Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Many other famous Roman politicians began to vie for her favor, and eventually, as Caeser became the head of a dynasty, she became associated with his legacy.

Venus was married to Vulcan, the god of fire and the forge. Vulcan was notoriously ugly – one of the ugliest of the gods. But he loved her so much that he created a golden carriage to pull her around. The carriage was drawn by doves to match Venus’s own beauty.

Venus was also the mother of CUPID, the god of love. Next time you see a picture of Cupid – maybe on Valentine’s day – you can think of his mother, Venus.

Despite her identification with Aphrodite, Venus was a native Roman goddess who was not adopted from anywhere. Her name is exactly the same as a Roman word for a particular kind of love. That name can be traced all the way back to the language before Latin, to a word meaning “to desire or love”. It’s clear that Venus was with the Romans for a long time.

Because she was the goddess of love, Venus was very important to new brides. They made offerings to her before they got married. Some people also say that they gave their childhood toys to her when they left home to get married.

Venus had many temples in Rome, since she was so important. The earliest known one was founded in 295 BC. Later, in 217 BC, Rome decided to give Venus a newer and even better temple after they lost an important battle. They thought that Venus was on the side of their enemies, and wanted to sway her. From this story, it’s easy to see how important Venus was to victory for the Romans.

You might be wondering why we have a planet named Venus. The planet is, indeed, name after the goddess. It was visible in the ancient night sky at certain times of the year, and looked like a very bright star. Because it was so bright and beautiful, it was named Venus. Ironically, the planet Venus is covered with acid clouds, so the name is not very suitable for a goddess of love and fertility. Nevertheless, the name shows us how much of an impact the Romans had on science.

Although Venus is no longer worshiped by large numbers of people, we still remember her in art and science thanks to her widespread influence.

Source

Venus: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net – Greek Gods & Goddesses, February 22, 2017

The World of Goddesses

THE WORLD OF GODDESSES

APHRODITE – Greek; Goddess of passion, sexual love. Aphrodite will assist you in pulling loving energy toward yourself.

ARADIA – Italian; Queen of the Witches, daughter of Diana. Aradia is an extremely powerful entity and a protectress of Witches in general.

ARIANRHOD: Welsh; Goddess of the stars and reincarnation. Call on Arianrhod to help with past life memories and difficulties as well as for contacting the Star People.

ARTEMIS: Greek; Goddess of the Moon.

ASTARTE: Greek; Fertility Goddess. Whether you wish to bear children or have a magnificent garden, Astarte will assist in your desire.

ATHENA: Greek; Warrior Goddess and Protectress. Someone giving you a rough time at work? Call on Athena to help you.

BAST: Egyptian; Goddess of Protection and Cats. Bast is great for vehicle travel as well as walking down a dark alley. Call on her essence in the form of a giant panther to see you through to your destination.

BRIGID: Celtic; Warrior Goddess and Protectress. Brigid is also a “Triple Goddess”. She is strong and wise. Call on her to help protect your children in a tough situation.

CERES: Roman; Goddess of the Harvest.

CERRIDWEN: Welsh; Moon and Harvest Goddess. Also associated with the Dark Mother aspect of the Crone.

DEMETER: Greek; Earth Mother archetype. Excellent Goddess where birthing or small children are involved.

DIANA: Roman; Moon Goddess and Goddess of the Hunt. Diana is many faceted. She is a seductress (as she enchanted her brother Lucifer to beget Aradia in the form of a cat) as well as a mother figure for Witches.

DRYADS: Greek; feminine spirits of the trees.

FLORA: Roman; Goddess of Spring and Birth. For beautiful flowers, babies and all bounties of Mother Earth.

FORTUNA: Roman; Goddess of Fate.

FREYA: Scandinavian; Moon Goddess and wife/lover of Odin. Also cammander of the
Valkryies.

HATHOR: Egyptian; Protectress of women in business. A Hathor’s Mirror is very important for the Witch. Hathor was cunning as well as beautiful.

HECATE: Greek; Moon Goddess as in Crone or Dark Mother.

HERA: Greek; Goddess of Marriage. If handfasting or some type of commitment is the issure, Hera is the Goddess to seek. Just remember that she has a vindictive side.

HESTIA: Greek; Goddess of Home and Hearth. Building a house, remodeling, or apartment hunting. Safety in the home and family unit.

INANNA: Sumarian; Goddess representation of the Mother.

ISIS: Egyptian; represents the complete Goddess or the Triple Goddess connotation in one being.

KALI: Hindu; Creative/Destructive Goddess. Protectress of abused women. Kali Ma should be called if a woman is in fear of physical danger. Her power is truly awesome.

LILITH: Hebrew; Adam’s first wife and said to be turned into a demoness, however, if you have ever read any of Zacharia Sitchin’s work, you may change your mind. In my opinion, Lilith was a Star woman bred with Adam. This would make her a Goddess of Higher Intelligence or a representation of the Star People.

MAAT: Egyptian; Goddess of Justice and Diving Order. Maat is the true balance of any situation. She plays no favorites and will dispense justice to all parties involved. Be sure your own slate is clean in the situation before you call her.

MORGAN: Celtic; Goddess of Water and Magick. Morgan was said to be married to Merlin. It was from him she learned her magick. She was also doubled with The Lady Of The Lake.

MUSES: Greek; Goddesses of Inspiration who vary in number depending upon the pantheon used.

NEPHTYS: Egyptian; Goddess of Surprises, Sisters and Midwives.

NORAS: Celtic; the three sisters of the Wyrd. Responsible for weaving fate – past, present and future.

NUIT: Egyptian; Sky Mother. Often seen depicted in circular fashion cradling the stars.

PERSEPHONE: Greek; Goddess of the Underworld as well as Harvest. Daughter of Demeter.

SELENE: Greek; Goddess of the Moon and Solutions. Appeal to Selene to bring a logical answer to any problem.

VALKYRIES: Scandinavian; women warriors who carried the souls of the men slain in a battle to heaven.

VENUS: Roman; Goddess of Love and Romance.

VESTA: Roman; Goddess of Fire.

Norse Goddesses

NORSE GODDESSES

Amma
A great mother in the Norse creation story, Amma (“grandmother”) gave birth to the race of Churls, who conducted business and learned trades.

Atla
Atla is a water goddess and daughter of Ran.

Edda
Edda means great grandmother, and the term eddas (“tales of great grandmother”) is the word used to describe the great stories in Scandinavian mythology. The dwarfish Edda was the first to create offspring with her husband Ai. She gave birth to the Thralls, the ones “enthralled” to service as food producers.

Eir
A companion of Frigg, Eir is the goddess of healing. She taught her art and the secret powers of herbs only to women, the only physicians in ancient Scandinavia.

Frigg
As one of the foremost goddesses in Norse mythology, Frigg is the patroness of marriage and motherhood. She assists women in labor and is associated with the naming of children. Frigg has the reputation of knowing everyone’s destiny, but never reveals it. Being the wife of the god Odin, she was known as the Queen of the Heavens. She is the central deity in Asgard where her hall, Fensalir (“water halls”) is located.

Freyja
Freyja is the goddess of beauty, love and fertility, and the main deity of the Vanir. She loves music, spring and flowers, and spends much time with the fey. She is seen wearing a cloak of bird feathers, which allows the wearer to change into a falcon and a beautiful necklace of the Brisings given to her by dwarves, which the Norse still refer to as the Milky Way. Freyja is also a mediator between peace and violence, and the bride of fallen heroes. Riding her chariot pulled by cats through battlefields, she picks up half of the dead corpses, leaves the other half for Odin, and takes their souls to her hall, Sessrumnir,
in Asgard.

Fulla
Fulla is Frigg’s handmaiden and messenger. Prayers are addressed to her forintercession with Frigg, and guidance in service.

Gefion
All women that die unmarried go to Gefion the goddess of virgins. She is also the bringer of good luck and prosperity. It is traditionally claimed that she is the creator of the Island of Zealand.

Gerd
A Scandinavian goddess of light, Gerd lives in a house ringed by fire and shoots flames from her hands. She is the most beautiful of creatures and the daughter of a female giant and a mortal man. The fertility god Frey became infatuated with Gerd and unsuccessfully courted her until he won her over with a spell in runes.

Hel
Hel is the goddess of death and resides in her hall, Elvidnir (misery) in the underworld of Niflheim. She is described as being half white and half black. She is responsible for plagues, sickness and catastrophes.

Hnossa
The youthful goddess of infatuation, Hnossa is the daughter of Freya. Her name means “jewel.”

Idun
Idun is the goddess of eternal youth and the keeper of the golden apples the Norse gods eat to remain young.

Imd
Imd is a Scandinavian water goddess and the daughter of Ran.

Lufn
The goddess of forbidden love, Lofn encourages illicit unions.

Modgud
The servant of Hel, Modgud is the maiden that stands guard on a gold-paved bridge on a path leading to the underworld.

Mothir
A mother in the Norse creation myth, Mothir gave birth to the Jarls or leaders, the ones who hunted, fought, and attended school.

Norns
The goddesses of the destinies of both gods and men are the three sisters called Urd (fate), Verdandi (necessity) and Skuld (being).

Nott
The goddess of night, Nott, is the mother of the earth, Jord, and of the day as well. She rides forth each evening on her horse Frostymane, from whose foaming mouth the dew falls.

Ran
Ran is goddess of the sea and storms, and wife to the sea god Aegir. She collects the drowned in her net and takes them to her hall located at the bottom of the ocean.

Saga
Saga, the all-knowing goddess, is an aspect of Frigg in some mythology. She lives at Sinking Beach, a waterfall of cool waves where she offers her guests drinks in golden cups. Her name, which means “omniscience,” is applied to the epic heroic tales.

Sif
Sif is the golden haired wife of Thor and the goddess of crops and fertility.

Sjofn
Sjofn is the goddess to inspire human passions.

Sjojungru
Sjojungru is a Scandinavian sea goddess.

Snotra
Snotra is the Scandinavian goddess of wisdom.

Valkyries
Valkyries are beautiful maidens that help Odin choose which brave warriors will be slain on the battlefield so they may then serve Odin. They are also Odins messengers, and when they ride forth on their winged horses, their armor shines and flickers causing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).

Dictionary of the Gods

Egyptian:

AAH: The Moon God. I notice that the moon is male here just as it is in
Sumer and Babylon. Aah is egyptian for Moon.

AMON-RE: This is Re as the “Invisible God”. He seems to be all of the
Egptian Gods combined into one unified god-head, and was not outwardly
worshipped. It simply shows that the Egyptians knew that All was part of one
underlying Unity.

AMMUT: The Eater of the Dead. This is the monster that sits within the
judgment chamber and devoures those who do not pass the trial. He has the head
of a crocodile, the forebody of a leapord, and the hindquarters of a
hippopotamus.

ANUBIS: This jackle-headed god is the one who comes to you at death and
guides you through the darkness to the judgment chamber. Messenger of the gods.
Son of Osiris and Nephthys. Guardian of the tombs.

ANUKIS: Wife of Khnum.

APIS BULL, THE: God of lust and desire for life.

APOPHIS (ZET): This myth is not really a creation myth, but the energies it
involves are the same. It resembles the stories of Lotan, Zu, Asag, and
Leviathan. Actually, it is the idea of the day (Re) defeating the night
(Typhon). It is also the new year defeating the old. In either case, it is an
“Order from Chaos” type story. Typhon is a serpent god who is an enemy of Re.
Re sends the gods to slay him. They are, of course, successful. In one version
of the myth, Seth himsself is the one to kill Apophis each day (which is strange
as Seth and Apophis seem to be the same basic god-form: see Seth).

AROUERIS (Horus the Elder): See Horus the Elder.

ATEN (Amon-Re-Harakhti): This God was worshipped by Akhenaten as the “One
True God”. He had only a brief worship; Akhenaten was not liked for his
break from the Atum-Re (see below) cult. However, it would seem that Moses was
affected by Akhenaten’s ideas as he (Moses) studied the Egyptian mysteries. It
seems Aten is the forerunner of Yahweh. Aten is Egyptian for Sun.

ATUM-RE: This is Re as he emerged out of the Nun (Primordial Sea), appointed
the Ogdoad (see below) to their proper places in the Heavens, and
single-handedly created all in existance. Also, Re is told to have seperated
the lovers Geb and Nuit from their lovemaking, setting Nuit as the Sky and Geb
as the Earth.

AURAMOOUTH: Daughter of Nuit. Sky-goddess of Water.

BAST: A cat Goddess, and a cat-headed deity. Goddess of occultism and
magick.

GEB: This is the Earth God, with Nuit as the Sky Goddess. Thier union
brought forth Isis and Osiris, Seth and Nephthys, and Horus the Elder.

HAPI: God of the Nile, and a protection deity of the North, and the small
viscerae of the deceased. Son of Horus (see Mestha, Tuamautef, and Qubhsennuf).

HATHOR: This Goddess is a Love/War (Passion) Goddess. She is the Eye of Re
(i.e the Sun itself) whome, when angry, even the Gods fear. She can take the
form of a Cow or Cat. She also comes to new-born children, in the form of Seven
Women, to tell them their destinies.

HORUS THE ELDER (Aroueris): Son of Geb and Nuit, He is a Cosmic Being who’s
right eye is the Sun and who’s left eye is the Moon. If Seth was origonally the
New Moon (see Seth), then the story of Seth removing Horus’ eye may well be a
story of a solar eclipse.

HORUS THE YOUNGER (Heru): The hawk-headed god is the son of Isis and the
newly resurected Osiris. He removed Seth from the Throne of Egypt and ruled as
successor to his father. He is also the one who leads the soul before Osiris
upon passing the Weighing of the Heart. In the battle against Seth, Horus lost
an eye and later regained it. This gives us the symbol of the Eye of Horus (see
Horus the Elder).

HU: He and his partner Sia are two aspects of the Creative Power of the Gods.

ISIS (Au-Seth): Wife/sister of Osiris. Goddess of Magick and Healing. She
is also much like Ishtar/Innana. (See Osiris). The Egyptian Goddess-force.

KHNUM: Lord of barley and wheat, fruit and flowers, birds, fish, and all
animals. Created Man on a potters wheel. He lives on the first mound of Earth
that rose from the Nun, where the Source of the Nile lies, in a Temple called
“Joy of Life”. It is He who opens the flood-gates each year.

KHONSU: Son of Amon and Mut.

MAAT: Goddess of Truth and Justice. Wife of Thoth. She existed before the
birth of the gods. (See Hokhmah of the Hebrews). Her symbol is the feather
that can be seen on the Judgment Scale.

MESTHA: A god of Protection of the South, and the stomach and large
intestines of the deceased. Son of Horus (see Hapi, Tuamautef, and Qebhsennuf).

MIN: A fertility God.

MUT: Amon’s wife. Keep in mind that Amon was fused with Re, and was not the
same Deity to begin with.

NEITH: Sky goddess of War and Fire.

NEKHBET: Symbolised as a Vulture. Guardian of Upper Egypt (See Ua-Zit).

NEPHTHYS: Goddess of women. Wife of Seth, and the Dark Twin of Isis. Sister
of Osiris. She is also the mother of Anubis.

NUIT: Goddes of Sky and sister/wife of Geb. (See Geb).

NUN: Nun is listed with the Ogdoad. However, I wish to single him out here
as it is from him the name of the Primordial Waters was taken. He is the
oldest of the Gods.

OGDOAD, THE: This myth is from the mythos where Atum-Re is the Creator God.
There were eight Ogdoad, four frogs and four snakes, who were the Primordial
Waters- the Nun. Atum-Re arose from the Nun, and appointed the Ogdoad to their
proper places in the Heavens (thus, brought order from chaos). Their names are:
Nun and his consort Naunet, Kuk and Kuaket, Huh and Huahet, and Amon and
Amaunet.

OSIRIS (Au-Saur): Osiris was eventually merged with Re and seems to be nearly
the same deity in many aspects (forming a kind of Divine Loop). He is a God
Force with Isis as his Goddess Force. Osiris was probably origonally a
fertility god (like Tammuz), but was elevated when associated with Re.
Mythologically, he was origonally a Pharoah who brough civilzation to the
people. He is the Egyptian God-force. As the lord of the Underworld, he is
Khent-Amenti. (His real name is Au Sar: “exceeding king”).

PTAH: This god is a parallel myth to the Atum-Re mythos (see above). Ptah is
equated with the Nun (the Egyptian Primordial Waters). In this mythos, Ptah
creates Atum-Re and all the other gods, as well as all in existance. Also,
patron god of Architechs.

QEBHSENNUF: A god of Protection of the West, and the liver and gall-bladder
of the deceased. Son of Horus (see Mestha, Hapi, and Tuamautef).

RE: This is the falcon-headed sun god who is born each morning, grows old by
the end of the day, and enters the land of the dead each night. He is
Khephira in the morning, Re at midday, and Atum at night.

SATIS: Daughter of Khnum.

SHU: The god of Air and the husband/brother of Tephnuit. Atum-Re fertilized
himself and brought this god, and his wife into existance. Shu and Tephnuit’s
union brought forth Geb and Nuit, the Earth and Sky. Shu was placed, by Re,
between Geb and Nuit and he acts as a support to Nuit herself.

SIA: His name means “mind” or “thought”. He is most often paired with Hu,
and together they are two aspects of the Creative Power of the Gods.

SELKIS: Scorpion Goddess.

SETH: This is the brother of Osiris who destroyed him and dismembered his
body in order to take his throne. He is the Dark Serpent aspect of the God.
God of drought and storm, Lord of the Red Land (the desert). In Sanscrit the
word “sat” means to destroy by hewing into pieces. In the myth of Osiris…it
was Seth who killed Osiris and cut his body into fourteen pieces. But it may be
significant that the word “set” is also defined as “queen” or “princess” in
Egyptian. Au Set, known as Isis by the Greeks, is defined as “exceeding queen”.
In the myth of the combat Seth tries to mate sexually with Horus; this is
usually interpreted as being an insult. But the most primitive identity of the
figure Seth, who is also closely related to the serpent of darkness known as
Zet, and often refered to by classical Greek writers as Typhon, the serpent of
the goddess Gaia, may once have been female, or in some way symbolic of the
Goddess religion, perhaps related to the Goddess Ua Zit, “Great Serpent”, the
cobra Goddess of Neolithic times. Lastly, there is a theory that is pure
speculation on Seth’s battle with Horus. First, we look at Horus as a Solar
Deity. Then, we look at Isis as being the Full Moon (as she is the Goddess of
Magick). Next, if we consider that Seth was origonally female, then it is easy
(or just convenient) to assign him/her to the new moon. Put these together, and
the story of Seth attempting to mate with Horus, and then taking his eye, may
very well be a story of a solar eclipse (see Horus the Elder).

SOTHIS: Goddess of the dog-star, and of initiation. Isis.

TEPHNUIT: The Goddess of Moisture, wife/sister of Shu. (See Shu).

THOTH: This ibis-headed god is the Scribe of the Gods and the God of Wisdom.
He is the Logos, the Word of Re. He was Self-Created before the Creation.
Husband of Maat.

TUAMAUTEF: A god of Protection of the East, and the heart and lungs of the
deceased. Son of Horus (see Mestha, Hapi, and Qebhsennuf).

TUM: It is also a name of Re, usually seen as Atum.

UA ZIT: “Great Serpent” Cobra Goddess, guardian of Lower Egypt (see
Nekhbet). (Also see Seth for an interesting note).

ZET: See Apophis.

*************************************************

Canaanite:

ANATH: This was a Love and War Goddess, the Venus star. She is also known
for slaying the enimies of her brother Baal much in the same way Hathor
slaughtered much of mankind (Anath is heavily related to Hathor). After the
Defeat of Mavet and Yam, a feast was thrown for Baal. Anath locked everyone
inside, and proceeded to slay everyone (as they had all been fickle toward Baal
with both Mavet and Yam, as well as Ashtar). Baal stopped her and conveinced
her that a reign of peace is what was needed. She also has confronted Mavet and
was responsible for Baal’s liberation from the underworld. She is the twin
sister of Marah. Daughter of Asherah. She is also known as Astarte. Astarte
is the Canaanite Name of Ishtar; just as Ishtar is the Babylonian Name of
Inanna. In all cases the Name means, simply, “Goddess”. Astarte itself
translates literally as “She of the Womb”.

ARSAY: Daughter of Baal. An underworld Goddess.

ASHERAH: The Mother of the Gods, Qodesh (just like El), Queen of Heaven. She
is a goddess of Love and, as Astarte, a War Goddess. She is also an Earth
Goddess. Wife of El. (see El). When the gods decided to entreat Yam to ease
his reign of tyranny, it was Asherah who went to him and even offered herself.
The gods agreed to let her do this, except for Baal who was enraged at the idea.
(See Baal). Asherah is said to have given birth to seventy gods.

ASHTAR: Possibly a male version of Ishtar (Astarte in Canaan), the Venus
Star. When Baal was killed by Mavet, Asherah had Ashtar, her son, placed on the
throne. However, Ashtar was not big enough to fill the position, and resigned.
I believe one of his titles is Malik (the King) and other names for him are
Abimilki and Milkilu.

ASTARTE: A Name of Anath which means “Goddess”, or literally “She of the
Womb”. Astarte is simply the Canaanite version of the Name Ishtar.

BAAL: He is the Canaanite Ruler God (like Marduk). Baal and Yam-Nahar
origonally competed for kingship of the gods. The matter was brought before El,
who decided in favour of Yam. Yam then proceeded with a reign of tyranny over
the gods, and none of them felt they had the power to defeat Yam. So, they sent
Asherah to entreat him to lossen his grip. Asherah even offered herself to Yam.
Upon hearing this, Baal was enraged, and decided to defeat Yam. Yam got wind of
Baal’s plan and sent messengers to El with the demand that Baal be delivered to
him. El, afraid, agreed. Baal then taunted the gods for their cowardice and
went to face Yam. He had two weapons made, Yagrush (chaser) and Aymur (driver).
He struck Yam on the chest with Yagrush to no avail. Then he struck him on the
forehead with Aymur and fell Yam to the earth. After Yam’s defeat, Baal had a
palace built for himself; closely resembeling the story of Marduk. It also
resembles Marduk’s story in that the Primeval Waters threatened the gods, and
the High God and others were afraid to face them, with the exception of the
soon-to-be Ruler God. The Baal epic then continues to describe his fight
against Mavet. Baal is also a Storm God like Marduk, and a fertility god like
Tammuz. Dagon is his father. Baal is the Canaanite God-force (the goddess
force seems to be split between Anath and Asherah). Baal’s proper name is
Hadad, relating to his storm-god aspect. Baal is really a title, meaning
“Lord”.

DAGON: A vegitation God (especially corn). Father of Baal.

EL: The Father of the Gods, the Creator of Created Things, The Kindly, Kodesh.
Asherah is his wife. He wears bull horns on his helmet.

GAPEN: A messenger of Baal. His name either means Vine or Field. Probably
the former.

HADAD: See Baal.

HIRIBI: God of Summer.

HAURON: A God that is related to Ninurta of Mesopotamia and Horus of Egypt.

KOSHAROTH, THE: The Wise Goddesses. These may be somewhat along the lines of
the Greek Graces, or the Seven Hathors of Egypt. As we see them, they are
called to set up a Wedding. They are also sometimes symbolized as sparrows,
which indicated fertility. They were Goddesses of childbirth.

KOSHAR U KHASIS: Craftsman of the Gods. Built the palaces of both Yam-Nahir
and Baal. He also fashioned the two clubs that Baal used to defeat Yam.

KOSHARTU: Wife of Koshar.

LEVIATHAN: Another Name for Lotan or Tannin. See Lotan.

LOTAN: This may be another story like Apophis, Zu, Asag, and Leviathan where
it is not an actual creation story, but still involves the same energies. On
the other hand, it may be some kind of alternate Creation story where Lotan
replaces Yam-Nahar. Lotan is a seven headed serpent defeated by Baal with the
help of Mavet. Anath also claims a role in the defeat of the Serpent. Also
known as Tannin or Leviathan.

MARAH: Merciful Goddess of the Waters. Twin sister of Anath. Daughter of
Asherah.

MAVET: God of Death and Sterility. His name means Death. A son of El.
After Baal defeated Yam, he then sent a message to Mavet demanding that he keep
his domain in the underworld where he belonged. Mavet was enraged by this and
sent a threatening message to Baal, who was afraid and attempted to flatter his
way out of it. This, however, was to no avail and Baal was forced to face
Mavet. Mavet defeated him and held him in the underworld until Anath tracked
him (Mavet) down and defeated him herself. Mavet did not actually die, as he
and Baal had to face off once more seven years later. Neither defeated the
other, but Mavet did give in (at the command of Shapash) and proclaimed Baal the
King of the Gods.

NIKKAL: Consort of Yarikh. (S = Ningal). Goddess of the fruits of the Earth.
Daughter of Hiribi.

PIDRAY: Girl of Light. A daughter or consort of Baal.

QADISH-U-AMRAR: The two messengers of Asherah fused into one God.

RAHMAYA: A goddess impregnated, along with Asherah, by El. The Goddesses
then gave birth to the twin gods Shahar and Shalem, though I don’t know who gave
birth to whom.

RESHEPH: Probably a War God. Lord of the Arrow. Has gazel horns on his
helmet. He destroys men in mass by war and plague. He is the porter of the sun
Goddess Shepesh (this seems to resemble Khamael of the Hebrews). He is also
called Mekal (Annialator). Related to Nergal of Mesopotamia.

SHAHAR: God of dawn. Either a son of Asherah, or of Rohmaya.

SHALEM: God of Dusk. The Contemplation of Day. Either a son of Asherah, or
of Rohmaya.

SHAPASH: Sun Goddess. The Torch of the Gods.

SIN: Moon God.

TALLAY: Girl of Rain. A daughter or consort of Baal.

TANNIN: Another Name for Leviathan or Lotan. See Lotan.

UGAR: A messenger of Baal. His name either means Vine or Field, probably the
latter.

YAHWEH: Yahweh is added here because there was a short time in which He was
simply part of the Canaanite pantheon. When the Khabiru moved into Isra-El,
their young Volcano God, known as Yahweh (or “Everflowing”), was accepted as a
Son of El. Later, Yahweh was equated with El, and Asherah became His wife. H.

YAM-NAHAR: Yam-Nahar is the Primordial Waters that were defeated by Baal (see
Baal and Asherah). His name means Sea-River. He was originally given kingship
by El, and ruled as a tyrant over the Gods. Baal finally rose up against him.

YARIKH: Moon God.

*****************************************************

Babylonian: “S” indicates a parallel in Sumer.

ADAD: A storm, or weather, god. (See Hadad of Canaan).

ADAR: See Ninib

ANSHAR: “Whole Heaven” He and his wife, Kishar, are the children of Lamu and
Lahamu. They are said to be the circular Horizons of the sky and earth. Their
union brought forth Ea and Anu. (See Kishar)

ANU: This was the Sky God. S=An

ANUNNAKI, THE: The 50 great gods who deside the destiny of man. S.

ANZU: Deamon who stole the Tablets of Destiny. See Ninurta.

APSU: Tiamat’s first husband, symbolising the Sweet Waters (rivers).
Origonally, he and Tiamat (The Salt Waters of the Sea) were intermingled as one,
until he was killed by Ea for plotting against the younger gods.

ASUSHUNAMIR: Sexless creature created by Ea to descend into the Underworld
and charm Ereshkigal into reviving Ishtar with the Waters of Life. He is
Successful. S= Kurgarru, and Kalaturru.

EA (Ia): The Babylonian god of Wisdom and Magick, as well as Earth and Water.
Also called Nudimmud. Also called Enki. Father of Marduk. Atfter he killed
Apsu, he built his palace in the Sweet Waters, and called it Apsu. S=Enki (only
he was a ruler god and Water God. Ki was the Earth Goddess). In Babylon, Ea
replaces the works of Enlil. H= Yah.

ENLIL: Lord Wind or Lord Air, a storm God. God of Air. S.

ENKI: See Ea.

ERESHKIGAL: Queen of the Underworld. S.

ERRA: Also called Nergal. A god of pestilence and war. Husband of
Ereshkigal and King of the Underworld. See Nergal.

GAD: A god of luck and fortune related to the sign of Aries. (There most
definately must be link between this god and the Hebrew tribe of Gad, also
related to Aries).

GIBIL: A fire god invoked, with two others, against black magick. (See Gira
and Nusku)

GIRA: A fire god invoked, with two others, against black magick. (See Gibil
and Nusku)

ISHTAR: Wife of Tammuz, Queen of Heavaen. (see Tammuz). She is a Goddess of
Love and War. The Venus Star. The Babylonian Goddess-force. S= Inanna.

KI: Earth Goddess, sister/wife of An. Later, mother/wife of Enlil. S.

KISHAR: “Whole Earth” Wife/sister of Anshar. (See Anshar)

LAMU: He and his wife Lahamu are said to be the silt created by the junction
of the primeval Waters, the rivers and sea. They are the Children of Apsu and
Tiamat. (see Lahamu).

LAHAMU: Wife/sister of Lamu. (See Lamu).

LAMASHTU: Demoness who steals babies from their mothers. A probable source
for much of the Hebrew Lilith.

MARDUK: Also known as Bel (The Lord). The son of Ea who defeated Tiamat
(because the other gods were afraid to face her), thus destroying Chaos and
reigning in Order. He was appointed High God because of this, and he took the
Tablets of Destiny from Qingu. He is the Hero of the Gods, and also a storm
deity. The story of Marduk is very similar to Baal. Marduk had no real place
among the gods until he agreed to defeat Tiamat. Baal, likewise, had no place
among the gods until he defeated Yam, and then he had a palace built for
himself. S=Nunurta (not a direct relation, but this is probably where Marduk
came from). Marduk and his son, Nabu, are, in part, solar deities much like
Osiris and Seth. For an explanation, see Nabu. Marduk is related to Jupiter,
therefore making him a Wandering God.

MUMMU: This is Apsu’s vizier, who was captured by Ea. He symbolised mist and
fog. This also happens to be a Name of Marduk.

NABU: Son of Marduk. God of Scribal Art and Wisdom. Marduk is the Lord of
the Waxing Year, and his son is the Lord of the Waning Year. I don’t know of
any mythology dealing with a defeat of Marduk, especially by Nabu. However,
there is a ritual involving both of them that embodies the Solar Cycle. At
Midsummer (Litha), two minor Goddesses (otherwise known as th hairdressers of
Marduk’s wife, Sarpanitum[?] ) would go in solomn procession from the Temple of
Marduk (The Dayhouse) to the Temple of Nabu (The Nighthouse). At Midwinter
(Yule), the two Goddesses would return to the Dayhouse. He is associated with
Mercury and is said to be the god of Science, and the guardian of the gods. He
supposedly appears as an old man, long of beard, with a crown of one hundred
horns, and a long robe. He is one of the Wandering Gods.

******************************************************

Sumerian:

ABU: King of plants (see the Eight children of Ki).

AN: An was the Sky or Heaven God. He and his wife Ki are the children of
Nammu. An is the creator of the Anunnaki.

ANUNNAKI, THE: These are the gods created by An, and appointed their
positions by Enki. Possibly they are children of An and Ki. There are also the
Seven Anunnaki who are the dreaded judges of the underworld. I believe there
are supposed to be 50 of them in all. The Anunnaki, and some others who may or
may not be Anunnaki, are marked with an “A”. A question mark, or course,
indicates questionable choices.

ASAG (KUR): Dragon of the Abyss (or Abzu). Daemon of Disease. Asag was not
seperated like Tiamat. Instead, he lived within the Abyss *after* creation and
held back the Primordial Waters from consuming the Earth. At one point, he
kidnapped Ereshkigal, and Enlil went to rescue her. The outcome of the battle
is not known. However, we do know that Enlil is the Lord of the Waters, and
that he built his home on the Sea. On the other hand, Ereshkigal herself, to
this day, is the Queen of the Underworld, as if she remained there. In any
case, Asag was not killed for, later, another god decided to destroy him for
reasons unknown. This was Ninurta (possibly a model for Marduk). (See
Ninurta). The story of Ninurta and Asag seem to parallel the myths of Typhon,
Lotan, Zu, and Leviathan. Note: Asag can be thought of as the Abyss itself.
Kur is the name of the Underworld, as well as a name for this Serpent. Perhaps
he is also an Anunnaki, but I doubt it.

ASHNAN: The grain goddess. She was created (along with Lahar) by Enlil and
Enki so that the Anunnunki would have food to eat and cloths to wear. However,
the two gods became drunk and could not perform their duties: it was to remedy
this that Man was created. (See Lahar).

BAU: Wife of NInurta (or Ningirsu).

DAZIMUA: Married Ningishzida (see the Eight children of Ki).

DUMUZI: The Sumerian God-force. A sheperd god and fertility god. Husband of
Inanna. (see Inanna). It seems he is an Anunnaki.

EIGHT CHILDREN OF KI, THE: (See Abu, Nintul, Ninsutu, Ninkasi, Nazi, Dazimua,
Ninti, Enshagag.) The Goddess Uttu, in the paradise of Dilmun, had born 8
plants from her union with Enki. He then proceeded to eat them all. Ki cursed
him for this and he became ill. He convinced her to remove her curse, and she
created these eight gods of healing, one for each pain he was having, to cure
him. There is a punning relation between the names of the gods and the names of
the body parts they healed.

EMESH: Summer. He and his brother Enten were created by Enlil. (See Enten).

ENBILULU: God in charge of the Tigris and Euphrates.

ENKI: This was the Water God, and also a lesser ruler under Enlil. It seems
Enlil created the world, and Enki was left to run it. Enlil simply resided in
his palace and issued blessings. Enki, with Ki, created Man. He is also a God
of Wisdom. Also, Enki is just a title. His name is Ea. It is not sure whoes
son he is. Also, there was one point when he became jealous of Enlil’s
superiority over him ,so he took it out on man through the “confusion of
tounges”.

ENKIMDU: God in charge of farm tools. He was origonally favoured by Inanna
for a husband. However, Dumuzi threatened him, and he gave Inanna up.

ENLIL: This was the Air God, and the supreme ruler and creator, son of An and
Ki. See Enki. Enlil also took Ki as his wife. God of wisdom and magick.
His name means Lord of the Winds, so he is also a Storm God.

ENSHAGAG: Lord of the Paradise City of Dilmun (see the eight children of Ki).

ENTEN: Winter. He and his brother Emesh were created by Enlil so that the
Earth could produce food, animals, etc… (See Emesh).

ERESHKIGAL: Queen of the underworld (Kur), of death, and enemy of Inanna.
All underwold deities are called Chthonic Deities. She is said to be the sister
of Inanna, making her the daughter of Nanna. She is defineitly not one of the
Seven Chthonic Anunnaki, yet she is still an Anunnaki. Most likely she is the
Destructive Forces of Saturn as Inanna is Venus.

GALAS, THE: The demons of the underworld.

GESHTINANNA: Dumuzi’s sister. Divine poetress, singer, and interpreter of
dreams.

GILGAMESH: A human hero who was later deified. As a psudo-god, he resides in
the underworld and organizes it, sending souls to their proper places. He was
origonally a Priest-King.

GUGALANNA: This god is mentioned in the myth of the Descent of Inanna. When
Neti asks why she has come, Inanna says something about Lord Gugalnna, the
husband of Ereshkigal. The text reads: “My older sister, Ereshkigal, Because
her husband, the Lord Gugalanna, had been killed to witness the funeral rites
… so be it!”

HAIA: Nidaba’s or Nanshe’s husband.

IGIGI, THE: It seems that these were very early deities who guide and control
every aspect of nature. Either they were not given much promenance later, or
they simply were never given much attention. Chances are that these are Angels
were the gods are Archangels.

INANNA: The Summerian Goddess-force. Inanna is the daughter of the moon,
sister of the sun, and the planet Venus. She was a War Goddess and a Love
Goddess. (see Dumuzi). Note on the myth of her descent: the myth of Enlil and
Ninlil’s descent into the underwold may combined to Inanna’s descent. If it is,
then we have a full story of the cycle of the god and goddess’ descent.

ISHKUR: God in charge of rain and winds

ISIMUD: Messenger of Enki. Has two faces.

KALATURRU: Sexless created created by Enki and given the Food and Water of
Life to revive Inanna in the underworld. He was created with another like it:
Kurgarru. (see Kurgarru).

KI: She is the Earth Goddess. Also known as Ninhursag, Nintu, or Ninma.
First, she was the wife/sister of An. After she was seperated from him by their
son Enlil…”An carried off Heaven, and Enlil carried off Earth. In this she
became the mother/wife of Enlil.

KULLA: God in charge of building tools and bricks.

KUR: The Underworld. (See Asag).

KURGARRU: Sexless creature created by Enki and given the Food and Water of
Life to revive Innana in the underworld. He was created with another like it:
Kalaturru. (see Kalaturru).

LAHAR: The Cattle God. He and Ashnan were created (by Enlil and Enki) so the
Anunnaki would have food to eat and clothes to wear. (See Ashnan).

LILITH: A succubis. She is known from a story where she made her home in the
trunk of Inanna’s Sacred Tree. Anzu made his home in the branches, and a
serpent had made it’s home in the roots. This infestation had caused the Tree
to cease growing. Inanna called upon Gilgamesh to rid the Tree of it’s
occupants. For this, Inanna gave him his famous Bow.

MARTU: God of the Semites, or Amurru (Amorites), who were still nomadic,
“barbaric” people at the time of Sumer. They later moved into the land of Sumer
and conquered it….thus arose Babylonia.

MESLAMTAEA: One of the three underwold gods. These are not part of the Seven
Dreaded Anunnaki, as they are children of Enlil and Ninlil. (See Ninazu and
????2).

MUSHDAMMA: In charge of active building. The Builder of Enlil.

NAMMU: The goddess who was the Primordial Waters.

NANNA: The Moon god. Father of Utu and Inanna, as well as all the other
planets and stars. Son of Enlil and Ninlil. Enlil had raped Enlil and was
sentenced to the Underworld for His crime. Ninlil, however, loved Him and
followed Him downward. She gave birth to a number of Underworld Gods, but Enlil
was able to remove Her from the underworld before she gave birth to Nanna.
Nanna enters the land of the dead once a month (the New Moon) and judges the
dead with his son Utu. Nanna travels the sky in a boat. He is long of beard
and carries a wand of lapis lazuli in his palm.

NANSHE: Goddess in charge of Sea. Goddess of Justice. Judges Mankind on
NewYears, with Nidaba at her side. Also interprets dreams for the gods.

NAZI: Married Nindar (see the eight children of Ki).

NEDU: See Neti.

NERGAL: King of the Underwold, the Ambusher. A god of pestilence. See
Babylonia. He is a god of War and Mars, and therefore a Wandering God.

NETI: The gatekeeper of the first of seven gates to the underworld. I wonder
if this is not one of the seven Chthonic Anunnaki… Also called Nedu

NIDABA: This goddess was a serpent who was in charge of Temple record
keeping. She is also the Goddess of Writing.

NINAZU: One of the three underworld deities. Child of Enlil and Ninlil (from
the begetting of Nanna). (See Meslamtaea, and ????2)

NINGAL: Wife of Nanna.

NINHURSAG: See Ki.

NINISINNA: Goddess in charge of Healing and the art of Medicine.

NINKASI: The Goddess who sates the heart; meaning the goddess of intoxicating
drink. (see the Eight Children of Ki).

NINKUR: Daughter of Enki and Ninsar. (from the myth of the 8 plants).

NINLIL: Enlil’s wife. This Goddess followed Enlil to the underworld after he
had been banished there by the Anunnaki for raping her. At this point she was
pregnant with Nanna (from the rape). In the underworld she gave birth to the
Three Underworld Deities and gave birth to Nanna after she made it back out.

NINSAR: Daughter of Enki and Ki. (from the myth of the 8 plants).

NINSHUBUR: Inanna’s messenger. Possibly an Anunnaki?

NINSIKI: Enki’s wife.

NINSUTU: Wife of Ninazu (see the Eight children of Ki).

NINTI: Queen of the Month (see the Eight children of Ki). Note: The part of
Enki’s body that was healed by this goddess was his rib. The Sumerian word for
rib is “Ti”. Therefore Nin-ti means “lady of the rib”. On the other hand, the
word “Ti” can also be translated as “to make live”. Therefore, Ninti can also
mean “lady who brings life”. Later, as we all know, Eve was made from Adam’s
rib. The word Eve (heb.- Havah) also means “to make live”. Perhaps, and most
likely, the Hebrew myth of Adam’s rib comes directly from this myth. However,
something was lost in the translation, as Havah has no relation to the Hebrew
word for rib.

NINTU: See Ki.

NINTUL: Lord of the city Magon (see the Eight children of Ki).

NINURTA: Hero of the Gods. God of the Stormy South Winds. Possible
pre-cursur to Marduk. This god owned a weapon that was alive. This weapon,
Sharur, for some reason, convenced Nunurta to destroy Asag. This he did.
However, once Asag was gone, the Waters rose up and engulfed the Earth. Nothing
could grow. So, Nunurta built a stone wall over Asag’s body that stopped and
held back the Waters. Then he took the Waters that had already engulfed the
land and dumped them into the Euphrates. This caused the overflow of the
Euphrates, and the land became abundant. Obviously, this is a myth relating to
the yearly flooding of the river. Ninurta is the son of Enlil and Ki. Also, as
Ningirsu, brother of Nanshe. See Ninurta in Babylon.

NIMUG: Goddess given task by Enki at the time he organized the world, but we
don’t know what.

NUNGAL: Ereshkigal’s daughter. Judge and protector of the Black Heads.

NUSKU: Messenger of Enlil.

SUMUGAN: Enki set him as lord of the steppe lands. He may be one of the
Anunnaki, but there is at least one indication that he was created later.

UTU: The Sun God. As he travels through the underworld at night (making it
daytime there), he judges the dead. Nanna, as he visits the underworld once
each month (at the New Moon), also judges with his son. He travels the sky in a
chariot drawn by four mythological beasts. He was set by Enki in charge of
cities and bounderies, or (possibly) the entire universe. This would fit as he
is the ruling deity just under Enki. Son of Nanna.

UTTU: Daughter of Enki and Ninkur. Goddess of plants and weaving. (from the
myth of the 8 plants).

????: “Who loves fish” in charge of marshlands.

????2: One of the three underworld deities.. Child of Enlil and Ninlil (from
the begetting of Nanna). (See Ninazu and Meslamtaea).

********************************************************

Hebraic: list does not include most Archangels and Angels. H = a Human.

H AARON: Aaron is another of the Seven Sheperds. He balances Moses (Netzach)
as the other Sphere of Prophesy (Hod). Aaron is the brother of Moses.

H ABRAHAM: Abraham is one of the Seven Sheperds, and one of the Four Legs of
the Throne in the Chariot. He is the Mild, Watery (Chesed) aspect of the Four
Legs. Abundant Love. Historically, it is said that Abraham may have been an
Amorite who had settled in Sumer before Babylon (also Amorites) conquered it.
He was the first to make a covenatnt with Yahweh (or possibly El of Canaan).

H ADAM: This is Adam after Eve was seperated from him. He is the Father of
Mankind. (See Eve).

H ADAM KADMON: Adam Kadmon is not Primordial as it relates to “before
creation”. However, his creation marked the Primordial Man. He was both Male
and Female in one being, not yet seperated into Adam and Eve.

ADONAI: This means “Lord”. However, the word itself is feminine in nature,
thus making it similar in nature to Elohim: both male and female. Once again,
this name could be thought of as the combined force of Yahweh and Asherah.
This, too, is a very primordial name.

ASHERAH: Asherah is listed here and with the Canaanites. She is the same
Goddess, but seems to have been adopted by the Hebrews as the wife of Yahweh and
the Manifest Shekinah. The Hebraic Goddess-force.

ASMODEUS: This is the King of the Deamons. There are two types of deamon,
the malevolent kind, and those who have accepted the Torah and live in
indifference (at best) to man. Asmodeus is the king of these latter deamons, as
the malevolent kind have no leader. Samael will often rally the malevolent
deamons himself. Asmodeus is also the husband of the Younger Lilith.

AURIEL: The Divine Avenger. In some instances, Auriel is seen as an Angel of
Severity and Vengence. Otherwise, she is the Archangel of Earth. Supposedly
one of the Seven, yet with her included there are eight.

AZAZEL: An Archangel who descended to earth with Shemhazai. (See Shemhazai).
He taught mortal woen the art of seduction and make-up. When he was told of the
coming flood, he refused to repent. For this, he was cast into a pit and
covered with darkness, to remain there until the final days.

BEHEMOTH: This beast was set as the King of Beasts. At the “end” of
Creation, he will be sent against Leviathan, and both Creatures will die in the
battle. Behemoth will be fed to the pious along with Leviathan.

H DAVID: David is one of the Seven Sheperds, and one of the Four Legs of the
Throne in the Chariot. He represents Divinity Manifested in that he is the
Founder of the Kingship of Israel. (Malkuth).

EHEIEH: This means “I am”. It was the Name given to Moses at the scene of
the burning bush. Basically, this name relates more to YHVH, a concept, than it
does to Yahweh, a god.

EL: This is another name for Yahweh, usually translated to mean “God”.
Undoubtedly this comes from the Canaanite High God El. This name is used in
conjunction with the title Shaddai (heb.- Almighty), as well as Chai (heb.-
Living). Example: Shaddai El Chai = Almighty Living God.

ELOHIM: This means “Gods” and basically relates to a female force enfolded in
a male force. Or, a Male God with the ability to Create like a female. This is
because the root word here is “Goddess” (Eloah), and the pluaral “im” is
masculine. Mythologically, this could be thought of as the combined force of
the Seven Archangels as They Created the World in seven days. Elohim is the
pronunciation of YHVH for Binah. It should be thought of as leaning more toward
the feminine, and is actually a very primordial name. (See Yah).

H ESAU: Twin brother of Jacob who sold his brithright for a bowl of soup.
Mythologically, he is the founder of Canaan before the Israelites arrived. He
later became an Angel: the Guardian Angel of Edom.

H EVE: This is the second wife of Adam. She is the female half of Adam Kadmon
after he was seperated and became Adam. Her name means “Life” and she is the
Mother of Mankind. As a point of interest, see Ninti of Sumeria.

GABRIEL: The Strength of Divinity. Gabrael is a Divine messenger and
teacher. He (sometimes a she) is the benign Angel of Death, as well as the
ArchAngel of Water. He is lord of the Ashim. One of the Seven.

HANAEL: Divine Grace. The Archangel of Love and Passion. He is Lord of the
Elohim. One of the Seven.

HOKHMAH (TORAH): This Goddess’ name means “Wisdom”. It is said that she was
created before all else. In fact, she took part in the dividing of the
Primordial Waters (Prov. 8:23, 28). She is equated with the Torah, wich is said
to have been created first, and is the embodiment of Wisdom to the Jewish
people. (See Maat of the Egyptians).

H ISAAC: Isaac is one of the Seven Sheperds, and also one of the Four Legs of
the Throne in the Chariot. He is the Fire to his father’s Water. Strict
Justice (Geburah). The myth of his near-sacrifice at the hand of Abraham was
the injection of Divine Severity into Abraham’s Mercy (see above). He is
Abraham’s son.

H JACOB: Jacob was the third Patriarch, and thus is the balancer of his
predecessor Abraham (Chesed) and Isaac (Geburah). Mercy (Tiphareth). He is
also one of the Seven Sheperds, and one of the Four Legs of the Throne in the
Chariot. He is the son of Isaac, and twin brother of Esau.

H JOSEPH: Joseph is one of the Seven Sheperds. He displays the ability to
resist the sexual temptation of Yesode. This is displayed in the myth of the
Egyptian woman’s attempted seduction of him. He is the Keeper of the Covenant
to the pure Yahwists. He is the son of Jacob who first went to Egypt and was
responsible for the Hebrew presence there.

KHAMAEL: This Archangel is the Archangel of Divine Severity, just as Samael.
In fact, the two angels are one and the same. Classical Qabalah lists Samael as
the leader of the Seraphim, but modern Qabalah has replaced the name with
Khamael. Further, the Archangel Shemhazai, who hung himself between heaven and
earth, is also Samael. This puts him in the perfect postion to fullfill his
duties as the Porter of Heaven: Khamael, who resides at the very fringes of
Heaven with hundreds of thousands of angels of destruction at his command. His
purpose there is to keep intruders from entering the Heavens. He once attempted
to stop Moses from entering, but was defeated by the Prophet. One of the Seven.

LAILAH: This Goddess’ name is Hebrew for “Night”. It was the Darkness
mentioned in Gen 1:2, and she was named by Yahweh in Gen 1:5.

LEVANAH: The Moon (goddess).

LEVIATHAN: This could very possibly be related to the ideas of Typhon, Lotan,
Zu, and Asag; where it resembles the creation myth, yet is seperate there-from.
In this myth, there are two Leviathan, a male and a female. Once these two
beasts are created, to rule the seas, Yahweh decides against letting the female
live. Yahweh fears that the offspring of these two great beasts would destroy
the world. The female is thusly killed. At the “end” of Creation, the male
Leviathan is going to be killed in a battle with Behemoth (the Angels having
failed at the task), and his skin will be set as a canopy over the heads of the
pious, while his meat is fed to them. Certainly, the relation to this myth and
Tiamat’s destruction, and the setting of half of her body as the Sky, can be
easily seen. Interestingly, Leviathan is thought to be another name for the
Canaanite Lotan (See Lotan).

H LILITH: The Hebrew form of Lilith is the first wife of Adam. She refused to
bow down to him and left the Garden. She mated with daemons and became the
patron Goddess of the Night and all it’s creatures. She represnets the
subconscious mind, that part of us that is most primal and sexual and defiant.
She is the other half of the submissive Eve. There are two forms of Lilith, the
Younger and the Elder. As the younger, she is the wife of Asmodeus (this being
when she was in her cave mating with deamons). As the older, she is the wife of
Samael (this being when she joined with him in bringing down Adam and Eve from
the Garden.

METETRON: The Prince of the Face. This was once the human Enoch, who was
permited to ascend to Heaven without dieing. He was transformed into the
ArchAngel with 360 eyes and 36 pairs of wings. His palace was set on high and
his word was to be followed as if it were the voice of Yahweh HImself.
Personally, I feel that Metetron and Yahweh are synonimous. Metetron is even
known as the “Lesser YHVH”, and one of his many names is Yahoel, which is Y, H,
and V (transliterated as O) with “el” added to the end. Metetron is the lord of
the Chaioth haQodesh.

MICHAEL: The Protector of the Divine. He is the High Priest of Heaven and
it’s main guardian. Seen to be the Guardian Angel of Israel and all of
humanity. He is the ArchAngel of Fire, and sometimes a benign Angel of Death.
He is lord of the Malachim. One of the Seven.

H MOSES: Moses is one of the Seven Sheperds, relateing to Netzach. In the
case of the Seven Sheperds, Netzach and Hod are Spheres of Prophesy. He is the
prophet that lead the Exodus.

RAHAB: This serpent is also much like Tiamat, more so than Tehom. He is
described as an Archangel in Hebrew mythos.

RAPHAEL: The Divine Physician. Self explanitory. Raphael is also the
ArchAngel of Air. He is lord of the Beney Elohim. One of the Seven.

RAZIEL: The Divine Scribe. There is a veil in Heaven that seperates the
Divine Throne from the angelic hosts. Ratziel stands behind this veil and
records all the goings on at the Merkabah into a book. This book, the Book of
the Angel Raziel, a book containing all the knowledge of heaven and earth, was
given to Adam by Raziel. The other angels, jealous, took the book and cast it
into the sea. Yahweh, upon hearing of this transgression, ressurected Rahab to
retrieve it for Adam. After this the book fades away. It resurfaces when it is
given to Noah because it contains the instructions for the Ark. From there it
passed down the family line until it reached Solomon. It is said that Solomon
obtained all of his great Wisdom from this book. Another job of Ratziel is to
stand before the Merkabah with outstretched wings, lest the breath of the
Chaioth haQodesh consume all of the Heavens. He is Lord of the Auphanim. He is
also listed as one of the seven, but with his inclusion, and Auriel’s, there are
nine.

RUACH ELOHIM (SHEKINAH): Ruach Elohim is the Spirit of the Gods, and the
Shekinah is the Presence of Divinity. Shekinah is also seen as a Goddess. (Gen
1:2)

SAMAEL: The Poison of Divinity. Samael is the greatest of Angels (excepting
Metetron HImself), with twelve wings as opposed to the normal six of the the
other ArchAngels. He is the most beautiful angel. He is the main Angel of
Death, and is the Archangel of Divine Severity. His angelic order is the
Seraphim; the Firey Serpents sent to punish Israel for it’s transgressions. He
is also the husband of the elder Lilith. See also Khamael and Shemhazai; two
other names for Samael. As Khamael, he is one of the seven.

SANDALPHON: She is the twin of Metetron and the Archangel of Earth (as in the
physical Universe, as opposed to the Element of Earth like Auriel). It is
written that she descended to Earth as the male prophit Elijah as a guardian and
protector. She is Ruler of the Kerubim. It is said that She stands at the foot
of the Merkabah, and weaves prayers into garlands to rest on Yahweh’s head.

SHADDAI: See El.

SHEKINAH: See Ruach Elohim.

SHEMESH: The Sun (god).

SHEMHAZAI: This Archangel, along with Azazel, descended with his angelic host
before the flood to steer Man back onto the right path. This order of Angels
became known as the Watchers. However, the angels soon fell prey to the same
vices as man and began to take wives from the Cainite women. For sex, they
would sell the secrets of Heaven to the women. They gave knowledge on
everything from making weapons of war, to the Qabalah itself. The offspring of
these unions are known as the Nephilim (giants), and were destructive giants
that plagued mankind. Others even became the heroes of ancient times (such as
Gilgamesh from Sumer). The Flood was then sent to destroy these giants. When
told of the news, Shemhazai repented his deeds and hung himself, upside-down,
between heaven and earth. To this day, he can be seen there as the consellation
Orion. Shemhazai is actually a form of the Archangel Samael. Also see Khamael.

TEHOM: This Goddess’ name is Hebrew for “Deep”. (Gen. 1:2). She is similar
to the Babylonian Tiamat, yet is more along the lines of the Sumerian Nammu.

TZADKIEL: Divine Justice. He is the Archangel of Divine Benevolence, and
Lord of the Chashmalim. One of the Seven.

TZAPHKIEL: Divine Contemplation. Lord of the Aralim. One of the Seven.

UZZA: Archangel of Egypt.

YAH: This, in Hebrew, is spelled “YH”. This, esetoricaly, is the combination
of the Y and H of YHVH. It is where the God and Goddess principals emerge from
the Primordial Waters and mate. Literally, it is the Hebrew version of
Babylon’s Ea (spelled IA- A and H, just like I and Y, are interchangable in this
context). It is the Name of Chockmah. In this, it should be thought of as
leaning toward the masuline (as opposed to Elohim), and is a primordial name.

YAHWEH: Yahweh is the God Force. Yahweh is also a War God, Storm God, and a
Volcano Deity. The name Yahweh itself may be from the Sanscrit “YHVH”, meaning
“Ever-Flowing” and thus relates him to volcanic activity. After a short time,
Yahweh became the National Deity of Isra-El, and was equated with El of Canaan.
Along with this, He adopted Asherah (the wife of El) as His own wife. Also, the
Hebrews seemed to have associated Yahweh with Baal, making the two gods (just as
with El and Yahweh) nearly identical.

YAM: Sea God.

YHVH: as differenciated from Yahweh, who was not the only god to the early
Hebrews. it is a formula to “sum up” the Ain (Nothingness)- or The One. The
Face of Divinity.

ZIZ SHADAI: This mighty beast is the King of Birds.

*****************************************

Hittite: B = Babylonian

ALALUS: Father of Anus. Anus removed him from the throne.

ANUS: Sky God. Removed his father Alalus from the throne, and was, himself,
removed by his son Kumarbis. B = Anu.

ARINNA: Sun Goddess. She sent an Eagle out in search of Telepinus. The
effort failed.

EA: He resides in the Apsu, just as he does in Babylonia. What he does in
the Hittite pantheon I don’t know. He is the one who decided on how to defeat
Ulikummis, by using the copper knife that was “used to seperate heaven and
earth”. B.

ENLIL: Enlil also makes a guest appearance in the Ulikummis myth. He saw
Ulikummis as a child and told the gods later, after the child had grown to it’s
great size, that they could not hope to defeat it.

HEBAT: Wife of Teshub.

HANNAHANNAS: Queen of Heaven. She urges Teshub to do something about
Telepinus’ disappearance. Teshub went as far as Telepinus’ own door, where he
banged on the door until he broke his hammer, and thus abandoned the quest.

ILLUYANKAS: A dragon slain by Teshub. There are two versions of this myth.
In the old version, they two gods fight and Illuyankas wins. Teshub” then goes
to Inaras for advice, and she devises a trap for the dragon. She goes to him
with large quantities of liqure, and entices him to drink his fill. Once drunk,
the dragon is bound, and Teshub appears with the other gods and kills him. In
the later version, the two gods fight and Teshub, again, loses. Illuyankas then
takes Teshub’s eyes and heart. Teshub then has a son, who grows and marries
Illuyankas’ daughter. Teshub tells his son to ask for his eyes and heart as a
wedding gift, and it is given. Restored, Teshub goes to face Illuyankas once
more. At the point of vanquishing the dragon, Teshub’s son finds out about the
battle; realizing that he had been used for this purpose. He demaned that his
father take him along with Illuyankas, and so Teshub killed them both.

illuyankas’s daughter: See Illuyankas.

IMBALURIS: A messenger of Kumarbis.

INARAS: Goddess who set a trap for Illuyankas in the old version of the myth.

IRSIRRA DEITIES, THE: Either the “Maidens of Heaven” or else they are
underworld deities.

ISHTAR: Only appears in Hittite myth in an attempt to lull Ulikummis by
undressing and singing to him. Her attempt failed as the creature didn’t see or
hear her. B.

KAMRUSEPAS: Goddess of healing and magick. She calms and purified Telepinus
upon his return.

KUMARBIS: The Hittlte High God (like El of the Canaanites), Father of the
Gods. Removed his father, Anus, from the throne. In order to keep his son
Teshub from removing him from the throne, he made Ulikummis to oppose him.

MUKISANUS: Vizier of Kumarbis.

sea goddess: Kumarbis went to this goddess for advice on how to stop Teshub
from taking the throne. Her advice seems to have lead to the creation of
Ulikummis.

SHAUSHKA: a Love Goddess.

teshub’s son: See Illuyankas.

TELEPINUS: He is like Tammuz, a fertility god. He becomes enraged for
reasons unknown and storms off into the stepp lands where he falls asleep.
Draught and famine ensue. He was brought back by a Bee, after extensive
searching by the gods had failed. Son of Teshub.

TESHUB: Ruler God (like Baal of the Canaanites), son of Kumarbis. He is also
a sun God, and a fertility God. He carries a hammer as a weapon. He defeated
Ulikummis with the help of Ea. When Kumarbis first attempted to remove his
father, Anus, from the throne, he bit off the Anus’ loins in the struggle.
Thus, Anus’ seed was implanted within Kumarbis and Teshub was born.

UBELLURIS: This deity is much like the Greek Atlas, who supports the world on
his shoulders. Ulikummis was placed on his right shoulder by the Irsirra
deities to grow tall and strong. Ubelluris didn’t even notice the presence
until Ea pointed it out to him.

ULIKUMMIS: Son of Kumarbis. He was made to oppose Teshub. There is also
mention that he destoys some of mankind. However, he is actually described as
being blind, deaf, and dumb; as well as immobile. He was made of stone and
placed on Ubelluris’ shoulder to grow. He grew until he reached heaven itself.
When the gods found him, Ishtar removed her clothing and attempted to lull him
with music, but he didn’t see or hear her (as he was a blind and deaf creature).
The gods attempted to destroy him, but had no affect (he didn’t even notice).
Finally, Ea called for the Copper Knife that had been used in the seperation of
heaven and earth. He then used the blade to sever Ulikummis from Ubelluris’
shoulder; lopping the creature off at the feet. Teshub was then able to destroy
the creature totally. It is interesting to note that this god’s name is the
same as a pair of twin volcanic mountains in Asia Minor. This may explain why
he is said to be destroying mankind, even in his seemingly catatonic state.

Study of Pagan Gods and Goddesses: Cerridwen, Keeper of the Cauldron

Cerridwen

Keeper of the Cauldron

The Crone of Wisdom
In Welsh legend, Cerridwen represents the crone, which is the darker aspect of the goddess. She has powers of prophecy, and is the keeper of the cauldron of knowledge and inspiration in the Underworld. As typical of Celtic goddesses, she has two children: daughter Crearwy is fair and light, but son Afagddu (also called Morfran) is dark, ugly and malevolent.

The Legend of Gwion
In one part of the Mabinogion, which is the cycle of myths found in Welsh legend, Cerridwen brews up a potion in her magical cauldron to give to her son Afagddu (Morfran).

She puts young Gwion in charge of guarding the cauldron, but three drops of the brew fall upon his finger, blessing him with the knowledge held within. Cerridwen pursues Gwion through a cycle of seasons until, in the form of a hen, she swallows Gwion, disguised as an ear of corn. Nine months later, she gives birth to Taliesen, the greatest of all the Welsh poets.

The Symbols of Cerridwen
The legend of Cerridwen is heavy with instances of transformation: when she is chasing Gwion, the two of them change into any number of animal and plant shapes. Following the birth of Taliesen, Cerridwen contemplates killing the infant but changes her mind; instead she throws him into the sea, where he is rescued by a Celtic prince, Elffin. Because of these stories, change and rebirth and transformation are all under the control of this powerful Celtic goddess.

The Cauldron of Knowledge
Cerridwen’s magical cauldron held a potion that granted knowledge and inspiration — however, it had to be brewed for a year and a day to reach its potency.

Because of her wisdom, Cerridwen is often granted the status of Crone, which in turn equates her with the darker aspect of the Triple Goddess.

As a goddess of the Underworld, Cerridwen is often symbolized by a white sow, which represents both her fecundity and fertility and her strength as a mother.

She is both the Mother and the Crone; many modern Pagans honor Cerridwen for her close association to the full moon.

Cerridwen is also associated with transformation and change in some traditions; in particular, those who embrace a feminist spirituality often honor her. Judith Shaw of Feminism and Religion says, “When Cerridwen calls your name, know that the need for change is upon you; transformation is at hand. It is time to examine what circumstances in your life no longer serve you. Something must die so that something new and better can be born. Forging these fires of transformation will bring true inspiration into your life. As the Dark Goddess Cerridwen pursues her version of justice with ceaseless energy so can you breathe in the power of the Divine Feminine She offers, planting your seeds of change and pursuing their growth with a ceaseless energy of your own.”

Cerridwen and the Arthur Legend
The stories of Cerridwen found within the Mabinogion are actually the basis for the cycle of Arthurian legend. Her son Taliesin became a bard in the court of Elffin, the Celtic prince who rescued him from the sea. Later on, when Elffin is captured by the Welsh king Maelgwn, Taliesen challenges Maelgwn’s bards to a contest of words.

It is Taliesen’s eloquence that ultimately frees Elffin from his chains. Through a mysterious power, he renders Maelgwn’s bards incapable of speech, and frees Elphin from his chains. Taliesen becomes associated with Merlin the magician in the Arthurian cycle.

In the Celtic legend of Bran the Blessed, the cauldron appears as a vessel of wisdom and rebirth. Bran, mighty warrior-god, obtains a magical cauldron from Cerridwen (in disguise as a giantess) who had been expelled from a lake in Ireland, which represents the Otherworld of Celtic lore. The cauldron can resurrect the corpse of dead warriors placed inside it (this scene is believed to be depicted on the Gundestrup Cauldron). Bran gives his sister Branwen and her new husband Math — the King of Ireland — the cauldron as a wedding gift, but when war breaks out Bran sets out to take the valuable gift back.

He is accompanied by a band of a loyal knights with him, but only seven return home.

Bran himself is wounded in the foot by a poisoned spear, another theme that recurs in the Arthur legend — found in the guardian of the Holy Grail, the Fisher King. In fact, in some Welsh stories, Bran marries Anna, the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. Also like Arthur, only seven of Bran’s men return home. Bran travels after his death to the otherworld, and Arthur makes his way to Avalon. There are theories among some scholars that Cerridwen’s cauldron — the cauldron of knowledge and rebirth — in in fact the Holy Grail for which Arthur spent his life searching.

*****************

Cerridwen

Areas of Influence: Cerridwen’s name is derived from the Celtic word “cerru,” meaning cauldron. Like the Goddess herself, the cauldron symbolises the transformative power of magic, wisdom, rebirth and creative inspiration.

For these reasons she is seen as a patron Goddess of witches and wizards. She is also associated with the moon, fertility, science, prophecy and poetry.

Other spellings of her name include Ceridwen, Cereduin, Keridwen and Kerridwen.

I’m often asked how to pronounce Cerridwen? (Ker-RID-Wen) so I thought it would be useful to include that piece of information on this page.

Origins and Genealogy: Married to Tegid Voeland and was mother to three children: Creirwy, Morfan and Taliesin. There is no mention of her own origins in the surviving myths.

Strengths: Wise, powerful and resourceful.

Weaknesses: She tries to interfere in her children’s lives.

Cerridwen’s Symbolism
The Cauldron and the dark moon are associated with this Goddess.

Sacred Animals: This Goddess often transformed into a white sow to address her people.

In her myths she also shape shifted into a greyhound and an otter

Sacred Birds: Hawks and hens.

Sacred Plants: Corn.

Cerridwen’s Myth
The Goddess uses her knowledge of magic and herbs to create a potion to transform her ugly son Morfan into a wise boy.

The potion needs to be boiled in her cauldron for a year and a day. She leaves her servant Gwion in charge of the mixture until one day when he accidentally spilled three drops on his hand and licked it off, empowering him with the brew’s knowledge and power.

Frightened of the Goddesses reaction he turned himself into a rabbit. Cerridwen gave chase in the form of a greyhound. He then became a fish and jumped into a river and she became an otter. He turned into a bird and she followed as a hawk. Eventually Gwion transformed into a grain of corn and is eaten by the Goddess who had by then become a hen.

The grain took seed in her womb, and nine moons later, she gave birth to the Taliesin. She is unable to kill the child, instead she wraps him up in a leather bag and sets him out to sea. He survives and becomes the famous Welsh poet Taliesin

Cerridwen’s Archetypes
The Crone

The Crone represents the wise old woman whose child bearing days are behind her. Other associations with this Archetype include: compassion, transformation, healing and bawdiness death and endings. She is the respected older woman or grand parent at the heart of family who enjoys life and sharing her experience.

Unfortunately the word Crone or Hag often has negative connotations as many wise woman and midwives were persecuted as witches in the middle ages.

Shadow Crone is the bitter, old woman who has failed to learn from her life. She blames all her failings and unhappiness on a society that no longer respects the elders. As a result she becomes increasingly isolated and fearful.

This Celtic Goddess is often depicted as a Crone Goddess as she is wise and due to her cauldron’s associations with transformation and rebirth.

The Shape-shifter

The shape-shifter has the ability to change her physical appearance. They are also able to adapt easily to different environments by altering there behaviour.

Shadow shape-shifter is fickle, lacking conviction and constantly reinventing themselves like politicians to appeal to most people.

Cerridwen has the power to transform herself into many different creatures. As well as being regarded as a Crone Goddess she is also said to represent the Mother and Maiden aspects of the Triple Goddess.

How To Work With These Archetypes
The Crone: This maybe one of your Archetypes if you have gained wisdom, learning from your mistakes and showing a willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.

You are experiencing the Crone’s shadow if you have become rigid in your beliefs and have become stuck in a rut having lost all ability to let those areas of your life go that no longer serve you.

The shape-shifter is a useful archetype to have if you need to be flexible or perform lots of different roles.

The shadow side asks whether your chameleon like tendencies reflect a deep insecurity and inability to commit to any particular path.

**********

Reference

Patti Wigington, ThoughtCo.

Goddess-Guide.com

	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on A Little Humor for Your D…
	zorropioneeringdcdcc… on A Little Humor for Your D…
	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on A Little Humor for Your D…
	zorropioneeringdcdcc… on Welcome to WOTC! A Thought for…
	zorropioneeringdcdcc… on A Little Humor for Your D…
	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on Welcome to WOTC! A Thought for…
	Charlene 'White Deer… on Welcome to WOTC! A Thought for…