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The Morrigan
There was an extraordinary goddess named the Morrigan (the Great Queen), who appears to embody all that is perverse and horrible among supernatural powers. She delighted in setting men at war, and fought among them herself, changing into many frightful shapes and often hovering above fighting armies in the aspect of a crow. She met the Irish hero Cuchulainn once and proffered her love in the guise of a human maid. He refused it, and she persecuted him thenceforward for the most of his life. Warring with him once in the middle of the stream, she turned herself into a water-serpent, and then into a mass of water- weeds,
seeking to entangle and drown him. But he conquered and wounded her, and she afterwards became his friend. Before his last battle she passed through Emain Macha at night, and broke the pole of his chariot as a warning that he was to die in battle.
A bird long associated with magic and ability to pass into the otherworld. As its Gaelic name (Druid-dubh) suggests it was also associated with the Druids, while still others identified it with the birds of the Welsh goddess Rhiannon. These birds, whose songs could put people to sleep or enchant them outside time, sang above the island of Gwales, where Bran the Blessed and his seven followers remained in a state of suspended life for seventy-two years, during which time they grew no older nor were aware of the pssage of time. The blackbird is thus able to impart deep secrets of the Otherworld and to transport the listener to another place, as at twilight when it sings its mystical melody at the time of the between-lights. Though the crow was seen as a bird of ill-omen, and as betokening the Irish war-goddesses Macha, Badb and Morrigan, it was also acknowledged for its skill, cunning and single mindedness. It is a bringer of knowledge, though not always the kind the heart might wish. As a companion in the Otherworld it is wise and knowledgable, though sometimes tricky. Likewise the raven; as well as being the terrible stalker of the battlefield, it was recognized as an oracular bird, given to providing omens, though it too has a dubious reputation.
The Morrigan is associated with sovereignty, prophecy, war and death on the battlefield. She sometimes takes on the form of the crow, flying above the heads of warriors on the battlefield, and in the Ulster Cycle she also appears as an eel, a wolf and a cow. She is widely viewed as a war deity although her role as shapechanger also suggests the role of a fertility goddess, sovereign of the heavens and provider of a rich harvest.
One of the most important roles of the earth goddess is as the bestower of sovereignty (mainly in deciding who will prevail in battle, and thus rule over those who did not prevail). Goddesses of death, for instance Kali, are often depicted as being hideous or very frightening in aspect, ancient and unstoppable. She is the devourer of worlds who will swallow us no matter what we might do to placate her. Again this aspect has tended to be demonised through fear, rather than accepted as part of the natural cycle of existance. The wisdom of old age is ignored in the fear of death. And beyond death there is the underworld and judgement. Where you will be measured on your deeds. Excuses are irrelevent; it is the quality of your life and deeds that will determine how you are judged by the dark queen of the underworld, by goddesses like Hekate and Hershkigal.
The idea of the triple moon goddess, and her aspects as maiden, mother, crone, although it works well, is a modern invention. It was created by Ronert Graves in the mid nineteenth century and presented in The White Goddess, but it ignores the power of the dark, and so keeps people away from this time of power, especially strong for women. If you look at all the goddesses through history, you will see that there are no triple goddesses that embody all three phases - i.e. maiden, mother and crone. When you find goddesses represented in triple form, like Bride or Hekate, they are depicted as all being of the same age, often as beautiful young women.
Like Hekate the Morrigan was also a member of the incumbent chaotic pantheon that was superceeded by a new order. In her case it was the Fomorians, who Morrigan sided against with the Tuatha De Danaan. That she was Fomorian or earlier is clear from the fact that she was already in Ireland when the Tuatha De Danaan arrived. And she certainly has a chaotic nature compared to the gentler gods of the Tuatha De Danaan.
The origins of the Morrigan reach back to the megalithic cult of the Mothers. The Mothers (Matrones, Idises, Disir, etc) usually appeared as triple goddesses and there cult was expressed through both battle ecstasy and regenerative ecstasy. It's also interesting to note that later Celtic goddesses of sovereignty, such as the trio of Eriu, Banba, and Fotla, also appear as a trio of female deities who use magic in warfare. "Influence in the sphere of warfare, but by means of magic and incantation rather than through physical strength, is common to these beings.
Badb is said to have uttered these words to prophecy the end of the world:
Summer without flowers,
Kine without milk,
Women without m,odesty
Men without valour;
Captives without a king,
Woods without a mast,
Sea without produce...
seeking to entangle and drown him. But he conquered and wounded her, and she afterwards became his friend. Before his last battle she passed through Emain Macha at night, and broke the pole of his chariot as a warning that he was to die in battle.
A bird long associated with magic and ability to pass into the otherworld. As its Gaelic name (Druid-dubh) suggests it was also associated with the Druids, while still others identified it with the birds of the Welsh goddess Rhiannon. These birds, whose songs could put people to sleep or enchant them outside time, sang above the island of Gwales, where Bran the Blessed and his seven followers remained in a state of suspended life for seventy-two years, during which time they grew no older nor were aware of the pssage of time. The blackbird is thus able to impart deep secrets of the Otherworld and to transport the listener to another place, as at twilight when it sings its mystical melody at the time of the between-lights. Though the crow was seen as a bird of ill-omen, and as betokening the Irish war-goddesses Macha, Badb and Morrigan, it was also acknowledged for its skill, cunning and single mindedness. It is a bringer of knowledge, though not always the kind the heart might wish. As a companion in the Otherworld it is wise and knowledgable, though sometimes tricky. Likewise the raven; as well as being the terrible stalker of the battlefield, it was recognized as an oracular bird, given to providing omens, though it too has a dubious reputation.
The Morrigan is associated with sovereignty, prophecy, war and death on the battlefield. She sometimes takes on the form of the crow, flying above the heads of warriors on the battlefield, and in the Ulster Cycle she also appears as an eel, a wolf and a cow. She is widely viewed as a war deity although her role as shapechanger also suggests the role of a fertility goddess, sovereign of the heavens and provider of a rich harvest.
One of the most important roles of the earth goddess is as the bestower of sovereignty (mainly in deciding who will prevail in battle, and thus rule over those who did not prevail). Goddesses of death, for instance Kali, are often depicted as being hideous or very frightening in aspect, ancient and unstoppable. She is the devourer of worlds who will swallow us no matter what we might do to placate her. Again this aspect has tended to be demonised through fear, rather than accepted as part of the natural cycle of existance. The wisdom of old age is ignored in the fear of death. And beyond death there is the underworld and judgement. Where you will be measured on your deeds. Excuses are irrelevent; it is the quality of your life and deeds that will determine how you are judged by the dark queen of the underworld, by goddesses like Hekate and Hershkigal.
The idea of the triple moon goddess, and her aspects as maiden, mother, crone, although it works well, is a modern invention. It was created by Ronert Graves in the mid nineteenth century and presented in The White Goddess, but it ignores the power of the dark, and so keeps people away from this time of power, especially strong for women. If you look at all the goddesses through history, you will see that there are no triple goddesses that embody all three phases - i.e. maiden, mother and crone. When you find goddesses represented in triple form, like Bride or Hekate, they are depicted as all being of the same age, often as beautiful young women.
Like Hekate the Morrigan was also a member of the incumbent chaotic pantheon that was superceeded by a new order. In her case it was the Fomorians, who Morrigan sided against with the Tuatha De Danaan. That she was Fomorian or earlier is clear from the fact that she was already in Ireland when the Tuatha De Danaan arrived. And she certainly has a chaotic nature compared to the gentler gods of the Tuatha De Danaan.
The origins of the Morrigan reach back to the megalithic cult of the Mothers. The Mothers (Matrones, Idises, Disir, etc) usually appeared as triple goddesses and there cult was expressed through both battle ecstasy and regenerative ecstasy. It's also interesting to note that later Celtic goddesses of sovereignty, such as the trio of Eriu, Banba, and Fotla, also appear as a trio of female deities who use magic in warfare. "Influence in the sphere of warfare, but by means of magic and incantation rather than through physical strength, is common to these beings.
Badb is said to have uttered these words to prophecy the end of the world:
Summer without flowers,
Kine without milk,
Women without m,odesty
Men without valour;
Captives without a king,
Woods without a mast,
Sea without produce...