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Morrigan (pr. mor-ee-gan) Ireland, Whales, Britain Morrigan - with royal torque, two spears, celtic sword, shield and cape. Celtic Goddess in the tradition of the Celtic warrior, she is naked, Her skin covered in tattoos. In Celtic Mythology, to uncover the tattoos was to activate the magic they contained, giving the warrior strength, courage, ferocity and good fortune in battle. Also given as MorRoighain (mor-ree-an), Morrigu (mor-i-goo), and later as Morgan. ‘Great Queen’ or ‘Phantom Queen’ The name ‘Great Queen’ makes the most sense to me as the word for great, even in the modern Irish language is Mor, and the modern Irish word for queen is banrion (ban-ree-an). Along with Her sisters, Macha and Badb, forms a triple aspect Goddess of war. Many people, upon seeing this, may decide to write Her off as unworthy of their attention. According to Steve Blamires, in his book Glamoury, “Because She is associated with war, grief, mutilation, shapeshifting, and sexual gratification for it’s own sake, She is not a contact to be encouraged”. While I highly recommend Mr. Blamires’ book, I cannot agree with that statement. There is far more to this Goddess than is readily apparent. I’ll attempt to give a more in depth presentation of Morrigan and Her aspects here. Once again, quoting from Glamoury, She appears in both the Mythological Cycle and the Ulster Cycle (of the old Irish tales) particularly in the Cattle Raid of Cooley, which is very heavily battle oriented. (The entirety of the Ulster cycle focused on Warriors and their feats of bravery and self-sacrifice for home and kin). Memories or her survive in modern Celtic folklore as the Washer of the Ford (Ford as in river or stream), who is seen as a weeping woman washing blood stained shrouds at a ford in the river. This is obviously a bad omen, especially if you happen to be a warrior on your way to battle! ( This last statement I would also disagree with. We know that the ancient Celts held warriors in high esteem and that to die in battle was an honorable thing. In many tribal cultures, it was even desirable, for the Vikings it assured ascension to Valhalla, for many Native American Tribes, it also guaranteed entrance into their versions of paradise. For other cultures, to die bravely in battle could even turn the slain warrior into a God. There are many stories of Celtic warriors receiving an omen of their impending death in battle, but it never swayed them from their course. It wasn’t that they ignored the warning, simply that sometimes “a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do”. They would simply prepare themselves and put their affairs in order. See the tales of King Conchabar of Ulster). It was Morrigan, who attempted , unsuccessfully, to seduce the hero Cu Chulainn. She tried to avenge the snub by impeding him at the most critical times of life and death struggles. After being defeated, she turned to his aid. appearing as Nemain and causing his enemies to die of terror and heartbreak. She also showed Herself to High King Cormac just before he was killed in battle. Yet she also raised the water, enabling the king and his entire army to walk across the very river in which she was seen prophetically scouring the blood from his armor. In the Arthurian legends, as Morgan le Fey (Morgan of the Fairies), She was accused of trying to kill Her royal half brother. She is later, however, among three queens who bear him off to Avalon to be cured of his wounds. Her skill as a healer is also mentioned by Chretian de Troyes. That there were three queens in the tale further helps to identify Morgan le Fey as the triple Morrigan. Morrigan reigned over the battlefield, helping with Her magic, but did not join in the battles directly. In Her dark aspect She is associated with ravens or crows. She is depicted fully armed and with two spears. She is the Goddess of rivers, lakes and fresh water. It may have been to Her that the weapons often found at the bottom of lakes and bogs were offered as sacrifice. Fate and prophesy are two of Her more favorable aspects. She is said to be patroness of priestesses and witches, evidenced by Her association with ravens, crows, fairies, magic, fate and prophesy. When studying deities of ancient pantheons, it is necessary to also study the culture and lifestyle of the people that first worshipped them. These people lived a very different life than we do today. Their ideas and beliefs about humanity, the universe, life, death and sexuality were of an entirely different paradigm than what most of us in western civilization grew up with. As pagans, we often give great lip-service to being open-minded, but as soon as some of us come across ideas that deeply challenge the core beliefs of our upbringing, they are rejected wholesale. Prime examples of this are beliefs about death, evil, nudity and sexuality. I had a short conversation with some women who were relatively new to Wicca recently. The subject of skyclad rituals came up and one woman said “Is that what we’ve degraded to?”. She was clueless to the tradition, the reasoning, and the purpose of being skyclad in ritual and simply assumed it to be of a base and sexual nature (as if there’s anything wrong with that, either). When confronted with Gods or Goddesses of death or war, many assume them to be sinister or evil. Once again, look at the origin and the people who worshipped them. Death is not sinister or evil. Death is an important part of the wheel of life. War is a reality of human history, and possibly even human nature. These deities provide comfort, wisdom and guidance through the harsh realities of life and it’s mysteries. To reject part of the mystery is to weaken it. To reject part of the wheel of life may leave you lost, alone and very afraid. Life and nature are not always gentle and nurturing, they can be very cruel and very harsh. We take power in understanding all aspects of the world we live in. Get to know deities like Morrigan, She may be of great help when life gets cruel and harsh.

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