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awinterrosesstuff · 4 months

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Irish mythology : The Dagda : Chief of the Tuatha Dé Danann, druid god, god of life and death, associated with seasons, agriculture, fertility, magic. He's depicted as very wise, skilled in arts and sciences of his time.

#moodboard #aesthetic #mythology #irish mythology #celtic mythology #irish gods #celtic gods #dagda #the dagda

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tuatha-de-danann-blog · 6 months

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The Real Mother of the Gods

Random internet articles will tell you how Danu is the mother of the Irish gods, like some overarching ancestral figure.

When reading the actual lore, this idea is pretty false. There may be a Danand, mother to three gods, but no great Danu. This is even argued, as a better translation may reveal they are three gods of skill, the word for skill confused or made into the name of a goddess.

While I was reading the verse portion of the Lebor Gabála Érenn volume 4 (LGE) on the tuatha, I discovered something interesting. Ethniu is named as mother to seven of the major gods: Luichtaine, Creidne, Goibnu, Dian Cecht, Nuada, Dagda, and Lugh.

Additionally, in the Cath Maige Tuired, if I am not mistaken, Ogma is named as one of her sons.

It is a shame this isn't discussed more. The prose text of the LGE does not mention this either. It mostly recounts who is the father to whom.

Ethniu is daughter of Balor, a Fomorian king. The Fomorians share ancestors with the gods, and live on islands close to Ireland.

Folk or fairy tales tell how Balor heard a prophecy that his grandson would kill him, so he locked Ethniu up, surrounded only by women, until a man looking for a magic cow Balor stole sneaks in and she gets pregnant with Lugh.

In the LGE it is mentioned she is given to Cian, a god, in marriage and they have Lugh.

But turning to the verse texts in the LGE, here is the small passage:

"They were powerful against their firm conflict,

The seven lofty great sons of Ethliu.

Dagda, Dian Cecht, Credne the wright,

Luichne the carpenter, who was an enduring.

consummate plunderer,

Nuada who was the silver-handed,

Lug Mac Cein, Goibninn the smith."

(The names have variations of how they're spelled in the LGE.)

Her first six sons are over different skills/roles, a smith, wright, carpenter, a physician, a king, and a druid/wizard/warrior, but her son Lugh possess all of the skills and becomes the king of the gods after Nuada’s death.

I think Ethniu/Ethliu should get the credit for being mother of the gods.

#irish mythology #tuatha de danann #irish myth #pagan #irish lore #celtic myth #goddess #irish gods #witchblr

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runningwithfawns · 4 months

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Continuing to get as much sources on Nuada as possible, one thing I've come across only a few times is that some consider him to have a connection to the sea, akin to being a sea god, although to my knowledge right now I haven't found any connection of Nuada being a god of the sea

which then led me to Nechtan being coined as a god of the sea, however he was much more connected to wells considering the tale of Nechtan and Boann, so now I'm left curious how this overlapping of Nuada and Nechtan happened when their tales don't overlap in context

#irish mythology #tuatha de danann #irish polytheism #irish paganism #Irish gods #Nuada Airgetlám #Nechtan

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seawitchtidepool · 3 months

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Aine ☀

Aine (pronounced Awn-Ya) is a irish goddess associated with the sun, summer, agriculture and horses. She is the daughter of either Mannan Mac Lir or Egobail and the sister to Aillen. In variants stories she can be presented as a goddess, a faerie queen, or a mortal. In other stories she presents herself as a red mare.

In her most retold tale, she is the mother of Gerald FitzGerald. His father Earl of Desmond rapes her while witnessing her bathing in a pond and combing her hair. In retaliation, Aine either killed him or bit off his ear (depending on the tale. My mother would tell me the one where she killed him). Aine's son is known for having unusual powers such as the ability to change size and turn into a goose. This story is why I hesitate to consider Aine a fertility deity or a love diety.

Aine has a celebration on Midsummer celebrating her more agricultural aspects. She is also said to reside in a fairy hill Cnoc Áine where people used to gather to celebrate.

Some offerings include medowsweet, milk, violets, horse imagery, lavender, and fairy imagery. I've also offered bronze or silver jewelry, which seems to be received well.

#tw sa #fae #aine #celtic paganism #irish gods #irish paganism

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15pantheons · 11 months

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Bres: When I first met you, I did not like you. Lugh: I'm aware of that. Bres: But then you and I had some time together. Lugh: Uh-huh? Bres: It did not get better.

#mythology #celtic mythology #celtic gods #irish mythology #irish gods #incorrect quotes #source: perchance generator #tuatha de danann #bres #lugh

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sword-in-the-sea · 8 months

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sometimes meeting a deity means five months of cross-checking your divination sessions with said deity with friends (what if i'm going insane? is this real? why is there a norse god all the way in southeast asia??) and researching resources, traditions, culture, etymologies, etc etc. but sometimes meeting a deity also means you offer pretty rocks at them and they gave you cool rocks back and so you gave them strands of your hair (like a fool) and now you end up in the court of manannán mac lir.

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mythosblogging · 2 years

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In the western world, the sun is quite often depicted as masculine, accompanied by the feminine moon, often the sun god’s sister or wife. One of the most famous of these gods is Apollo, known for his unlucky love affairs, his archery skill, and his musical ability. But while the sun may often be seen as male, this is not always the case, and there are many goddesses around the world known for their connection to the sun.

Áine

An Irish Goddess or fairy, Áine is said to have many attributes including love, fertility and summer. One of these attributes is the sun. She is said to make her home in Cnoc Áine, or Knockainy a hill located near a village of the same name in the Irish county of Limerick. She is said to show herself on this hill at midsummer and will sometimes take on the form of a red mare who is too swift to ever be caught.

Many of the legends surrounding Áine involve her laying with mortal men and conceiving children – sometimes willingly and sometimes unwillingly. Her son Eogan was said to be the result of her rape by the human king Ailill, in retaliation for which Áine is said to have bitten off the king’s ear. This is said to have lost him his kingdom as an old law of the time stated that a king must be unblemished, which Ailill no longer was.

Keep Reading

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godsofhumanity · 2 years

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Ferdiad: That's a crazy idea, Cú Chulainn. Ferdiad: Absolutely insane. Ferdiad: It doesn't make any sense. None at all. Cú Chulainn: Cú Chulainn: So, you'll do it? Ferdiad: Of course!

#ferdiad #cu chulainn #cú chulainn #irish heroes #irish gods #irish mythology #incorrect mythology #mythology #incorrect irish gods #incorrect irish mythology #incorrect celtic gods #incorrect celtic mythology #s: tumblr #queuetzalcoatl

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7serendipities · 1 year

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Bé Chuille and Dinand: My Understanding of Two Obscure Irish Goddesses

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably seen the craft name I use at some point. I generally use my given first name, and a matronymic: Nic Bhé Chuille. This is a name I was told to use more publicly, as I’ve been using the matronymic for a while in the Otherworlds on account of my relationship with a fairy queen I publicly call “Starflower”, who I understand to be the daughter of the goddess Bé Chuille. UPG alert on that whole bit, because there is no lore about Bé Chuille’s children, and honestly UPG alert on most of the rest of this blog, because there just isn’t a lot of lore. So if that’s not your thing, read the next paragraph and then wander off or something.

The lore that we do have for Bé Chuille and Dinand is pretty sparse, and the main myth they appear in is the Lebor Gabála Érenn, commonly called the Book of Invasions in English. They are referred to as “she-farmers” (in most translations) and as daughters of the goddess Flidais near the beginning of the section on the Tuatha Dé Dannan, though the word translated as “she-farmers” bantuathig,¹ may instead mean a type of witch associated with north-turning or anti-clockwise movement (and likely with what we might call cursing and banework), which elsewhere is spelled bantuathaig². In the Cath Maige Tuired, where Lugh asks “his two witches” what power they will bring to the battle, the original text uses the second word/spelling, and most translators give it as “witches”. They respond “We will use our sorcery on the trees and stones and clods of earth, so they will be a host under arms against them and they will flee in fright and terror”.³ Bé Chuille and Dinand also appear in the Banshenchus (Lore of Women), named as sorceresses, along with Nemain, Morrigan, Badb, Macha and Etain, and in the Metrical Dinsenchas (Lore of Places) as adversaries of an evil Greek witch named Carmun. They are probably also meant to be the two “witches of Lugh” who are also called daughters of Flidais in the Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann (Fate of the Children of Turenn), where he gets revenge on the men who killed his father. And that’s basically it! Not a lot to go on.

So - UPG from here on out.

While the etymology for Bé Chuille’s name isn’t known for sure, and is made more complicated by the fact that Old Irish spelling and diacritical mark usage wasn’t standardized, Morgan Daimler suggests “woman of destruction”,⁴ and while I’m not a trained linguist, I personally wonder if it might not be related to modern Irish cuil, a fly or an angry or aggressive appearance.⁵ Those do seem to fit my experience of her magic - she seems to be particularly adept at magic relating to decay. Partly because of that, I associate her most with the season of autumn. She also seems to specialize in certain types of battle sorcery, especially related to land and to a lesser extent freshwater, as in the Cath Maige Tuired, where she raised the sods of the plain to fight on the side of the Tuatha Dé Danann. When I journey to see her, I meet her most often in a dark autumn pine forest on the edge of a river, and I associate her with those shades of dark green and black-brown, and with thorny thicket plants, fungus, and the cycles of autumn decay. When I see her, she is usually light complexioned, with dark wavy hair. I find her to be intense but somewhat lively, though quick to anger. Devotees of the Morrigan may feel some recognition at her untalkative and yet very expressive manner.

Dinand is possibly even more obscure, as there are three spellings used (Dinand, or Dianann, or Dinann), and it’s very hard to say what the etymological root might be. She is often there when I journey to see her sister, and she seems to be the elder of the two. I see her as light complexioned and dark haired as well, though her hair is thicker and less wavy. I associate her with the same dark autumn pine forest, but she seems to have more affinity with the river running through it, and so her colors in my practice are dark green and dark blue. She seems to also practice destructive magic, and of course the battle sorcery from the Cath Maige Tuired, and I associate her magic with the fierceness of river rapids, the water crashing against large boulders in its path. Like her sister, she is intense, and sparing with her words.

I tend to honor them together most of the time, and for offerings I suggest woodsy scented candles, coniferous or thorny plants, river stones, and I’ve yet to meet an Irish deity that doesn’t like whisky! For non-consumable offerings, maybe try going for a walk in the woods, swimming or boating in a river (safely!), bouldering, cleaning up trash in those areas, removing invasive plants, composting, fermentation, martial arts practice, or mastering a magical skill.

Let me know if you’ve met these goddesses - I’d love to hear others’ experiences! I really haven’t seen much of anyone discuss them in a modern pagan context.

Notes:

Full text is available online here: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G800011A/text001.html . P. 35

Full text is available online here: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/G300011.html . P. 92

From Morgan Daimler’s translated volume “Cath Maige Tuired: A Full English Translation”, independently published, 2020. Lines 116-117. (Available on Amazon.) See also Daimler’s footnote #77 for more information on “bantuathaig”.

Daimler, “Cath Maige Tuired”, footnote #76.

https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/cuil

#Be Chuille #Dinand #goddess #Irish Gods #Tuatha De Danann #UPG

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winterowl · 1 year

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Please ignore the photo quality

Im so proud of this tividjciekwnekckekakjcwkskckks

From left to right we have: Eir, the goddess that Ireland is named after, Neman the goddess of war and part of the Morrigan, agus Brigid goddess of harvest.

#art #drawing #digital art #irish folklore #irish gods #character art #character design #morrigan #goddess of war #goddess of harvest

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jessgoulder · 14 days

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#brigid goddess #saint brigid #brigid #irish mythology #irish paganism #irish gods #celtic gods #celtic god #celtic pantheon #celtic mythology #celtic goddess #etsy artist #etsystore #etsyseller

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tuatha-de-danann-blog · 6 months

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The Irish Gods pt. 1

After reading several texts, I've painted this picture of the Irish gods.

There is the war god Net. His descendants procreate with his granddaughter Ethniu. She has 7 sons: the smith, the carpenter, the wright, the physician (Dian Cecht), the king (Nuada), the druid warrior (the Dagda), and the god of every skill (Lugh).

Elatha, Net's grandson, is a Fomorian king. He is father to Bres, the Dagda, and Ogma the champion; though, one text makes Ogma the son of Ethniu.

The gods lived in islands in the northern parts of the world where they learned all their magic, sciences, and art.

They invaded Ireland. They sailed there, and clouds shielded their arrival.

They had four treasures: the cauldron that everyone left satisfied from, the spear no one could defeat, the sword that nothing could escape from, and the stone of destiny that shouted when the true king of the land put his foot on it.

They battled the Firbolg, the existing inhabitants, for Ireland. The Morrigan and her sisters cast clouds and rain of fire and blood over the Firbolg. The gods defeat the Firbolg. (The Firbolg and gods have common ancestors).

Nuada loses his hand in battle. A blemished king can't rule. Bres is made king in hopes his Fomorian side would render the Fomorians under the gods' power.

The smith god made a silver hand. Dian Cect attached it to Nuada, making a working silver hand.

One text says Bres was a bad king. He chose the Fomorian side of his family. He made the Dagda build forts and Ogma carry wood. There was no food or drink at his court. The gods were taxed heavily, and all their wealth went to the Fomorians.

Miach, Diancecht's son, restores Nuada’s real flesh hand, unburying it, attaching it, and restoring it completely. Nuada is able to be king again. Diancecht was jealous of Miach, so he killed him. From his grave grew healing herbs. His sister gathered the herbs on a cloth, but Dian Cecht mixed them, and their healing knowledge was lost.

A poet made a satire about Bres. It embarrassed him and brought him dishonor. The gods told him they wanted to remove him as king. He went to his dad Elatha for help to battle gods. Elatha refused. Bres went to the Fomorian Balor for help. (Balor is the war god Net's son).

Meanwhile, Balor's grandson, Lugh, son of Ethniu and the god Cian (Dian Cecht’s son) comes to the god's court. They don't let anyone in without a skill. Lugh was the only one that had all the skills put together. They let him in. He was stronger than Ogma, and Nuada put him in charge of the war.

The Dagda slept with the Morrigan at the mouth of a river. Afterward, she gave him war intel and told him her plan: to kill one of the Fomorians. (Some texts say the Dagda and Morrigan are married to each other).

The Dagda’s daughter, Brigid, is married to Bres. She owns the king of the cows and king of the pigs. Her son with Bres is a spy. The son is killed by the gods, and Brigid is the first to cry and scream in mourning in Ireland.

The war was on. Dian Cecht and his kids made a healing well, filling the water with herbs. Anyone wounded who bathed in it was healed. Only people with their head cut off or brains bashed in could not be healed. The smith god and his brothers magically repaired the gods' weapons by the next day of battle.

Lugh defeated Balor in battle. Balor had an "evil eye." Whatever it looked upon was destroyed. Lugh hit the eye with his sling shot. The eye shot through the back of Balor's skull and killed several many Fomorians.

They spared Bres' life if he agreed to teach them the times to plant and harvest.

Nuada had died in battle, and Lugh was made king.

See pt. 2

#irish mythology #tuatha de danann #irish myth #pagan #irish lore #celtic myth #goddess #the morrigan #irish gods #witchblr

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runningwithfawns · 1 year

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I would just like to bring up again that the Irish god Lugh is not strictly or specifically a sun god and that throughout Irish history and Irish cultural sources it was never stated that he was a sun god.

In tales when Lugh's radiance is brought up, the usage of the word radiance was towards his appearance/looks/his talents because he was in a sense a jack of all trades in some his tales. The word radiance was also used when explaining other Tuatha De Danann.

The biggest misunderstanding of this stems from Julius Caesar who compared Lúgh‘s Gaulish counterpart Lúgús to the Greco-Roman sun-god Apollo in his writings.

Lugh and Lúgús are not just Irish/Gaulish versions of Apollo, and their stories are not similar to Apollo. If your someone who is truly interested in learning about Lugh please look up Irish sources.

#irish polytheism #tuatha de danann #irish witchcraft #irish witch #Irish gods #lughnasadh #lugh #celtic

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iputaspellonyou2024 · 2 months

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Prayer to Brigid

You were a woman of peace.

You brought harmony where there was conflict.

You brought light to the darkness. You brought hope to the downcast.

May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious,

and may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.

Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.

Brigid you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.