Mabb (Welsh) – As Queen Mabb she acted as midwife to the fairies. Henwen (English) – A fertility goddess who ,whilst in the form of a magical sow, birthed strange litters. Here she magically built highways for her soldiers to protect the country.Įpona (Irish) – The meaning of her name is “great mare” she is the protector of horses, donkeys and mules.įlidais (Irish) – The woodland goddess, protector of wild animals and cattle. She is also linked to fairy hills and a tribe of ancient deities known as Tuatha de Danaan.Įlen (Welsh) – Known as Elen of the ways she appears in the epic myth the Mabinogian.
Her name means “chiding love.” Other common spellings of her name include Cerridwen, Caridwen and Keridwen.Ĭoventina (English) – Goddess of the sacred waters her shrine is found in Northumberland.ĭanu (Irish) – Her name means “knowledge.” From her flowed all of life. She was known as Cally Berry which means "old gloomy woman" in Irish.Ĭerridwen (Irish) – Keeper of the cauldron, goddess of the moon, magic, agriculture, poetry, music, art and science.
The modern name Bridget derives from this popular triple goddess.Ĭailleach Bheur (Scotish) – The hag, destroyer goddess who ruled over disease, death, wisdom, seasonal rites and weather magic. Her name means “blessed raven.” Bronwyn is a modern day version of this name.īrigid (Irish) – This fire goddess’s name means “bright arrow.” Her myths spread into England and Scotland where she is known as Brigantia and Bride respectively. This enabled Llew Llaw to get around the curse place upon him by his mother, Arianrhod, that prevented him from taking a human wife.īranwen (Welsh) – The Welsh goddess of love. She is an aspect of Morrigan.īlodeewedd (Welsh) – Was created by magic from nine blossoms becoming the wife of Llew Llaw. Other spellings of her name include Aranhod and Arianrod.īadb (Irish) - A shape-shifting, warrior goddess who symbolises life and death, wisdom and inspiration. Her name means “silver wheel,” representing the cycles of life. Celebrations for this goddess were held on midsummer’s eve.Īrianrhod (Welsh) - Goddess of fertility, rebirth and the weaving of cosmic time and fate. Her name means bright as she lights up the dark. Recently with the revival of the Druid and Pagan movements the popularity and interest in the Celtic Goddesses has risen.Īine (Irish) – Goddess of love, growth, cattle and light. A few of the goddesses were adopted by the Romans like Epona the Celtic horse Goddess others like Brigid were renamed as Catholic Saints. Examples of this include the stories of Cerridwen and Arianrhod which appear in a collection of Welsh myths known as the Mabinogion. They did not disappear completely but were immortalised in the myths and legends.
Overtime the worship of the Celtic Goddesses was eroded by the Romans and the Catholic Church. After a successful war, select Celtic warriors took part in a ceremony to wed them to the goddess of the land before they could assume dominion over the place and its peoples. Offerings were made to the war goddesses and observations and divination were used to predict the outcome of the battle. On the eve of battles the Druids (the Celtic Priests) would conduct lavish ceremonies. They spread their goddess worshipping practices across the areas they conquered. Historically the Celts were a society of warriors using war to gain agricultural land, cattle and other valuable resources. The Celtic Goddesses page concentrates on names and qualities of the
0 kommentar(er)
