Deities 25 Nov 2007 03:20 am
Manannan Mac Lir
 Manannan Mac Lir Irish Celtic God of the Sea, embodies Transformation and Change Manannan is one of the most popular Gods of Irish Celtic mythology. He was lord of the sea, beyond or under which the Land of Youth or Islands of the Dead were supposed to lie; he therefore was the guide of man to this country. He was master of tricks and illusions, and owned all kinds of magical possessions - the boat named Ocean-sweeper (the Celtic God Lugh brought this back to the land of the living in later tales of Celtic mythology) which obeyed the thought of those who sailed in it and went without oar or sail, the steed Aonbarr (also brought back to the land of the living by Lugh), which could travel alike on sea or land, and the sword named Answerer, which no armour could resist (the final item Lugh brought back to the land of the living). White-crested waves were called the Horses of Manannan, and it was forbidden (tabu) for the solar hero, Cuchulain, to perceive them-this indicated the daily death of the sun at his setting in the western waves. The Celtic God Manannan wore a great cloak which was capable of taking on every kind of colour, like the widespread field of the sea as looked on from a height; and as the protector of the island of Erin it was said that when any hostile force invaded it they heard his thunderous tramp and the flapping of his mighty cloak as he marched angrily round and round their camp at night. The Isle of Man, seen dimly from the Irish coast, was supposed to be the throne of Manannan, and to take its name from this deity. (source, Celtic Myths and Legends:TW Rolleston) |
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