CLIODHNA
Pronounced 'Clee-ona', this is a woman's name in modern Ireland, but, in earlier times, she
was a supernatural female entity who lured young men away for sexual purposes. She was
Banshee-like, in that she emitted a wail or call. This call was akin to that of sirens in
Classical culture, and none could resist. She lived in the heart of rocks, but also near the
sea. Connections have been drawn between her and the Gaulish 'Clutonda'. Cliodhna
sometimes appears in the form of a wren. The Irish word for this bird has been translated
as meaning 'Druid's Bird', maybe so. But in any event 'Wren Boys' were youths who
hunted, captured and killed these birds. With branches decorated with their corpses they
processed about, chanting ritually and demanding gifts of money and drink. The
origination of this practice is from the custom of religious tax-gatherers in ancient times;
bearing the symbol of their sacred animal, a wren, or pig, or whatever, and dressed in
outlandish clothes to mystify and terrify the simple classes, the priestly castes moved
around the countryside at particular important times of year. Christian 'Easter Dues' are a
modest reminder of those times.
DAUGHTERS OF CALATIN
The 'triad' or concept of threeness is central to mankind's understanding of the spirit
world. There are reasons for this. . . but they belong to another book. In any event,
Christians will be as familiar with their Trinity as the ancients were with a ferocious
threesome of female spirit entities, Badb, Macha, and Anand, daughters of Ernmas,
associated with Queen Medb and Rathcroghan. In actuality this was the Triad Goddess of
war. Sent away (to 'Babylon'?) by Medb, she recalled them to fight in the Táin.
DIVIZIACUS
A druid of the Euro-Celtic people the 'Aedui', Diviziacus visited Rome in 61 AD and met
Cicero and his brother. They discussed details of Druidic doctrine. The modern equivalent
of this meeting would be a visit from a a member of the Brazilian rain forest people to the
Pope. Or to the Secretary-General of the UN. He would receive a polite and interested
reception and then be shown the door. But not before a photo-opportunity to demonstrate
to the world at large that the concerns of the rain forest folk were high on the agenda of
affairs. The actual details of 'Druidic doctrine' discussed are not easy to pin down. While
Diviziacus no doubt spoke a type of Latin intelligible to Cicero, nonetheless the language
required to express the Druidic concepts was not available.
DONN
The Dark One, Lord of The Dead. He lives on an island off the south-west coast of
Ireland. Here we (the Irish) must go on our deaths. The actual island is unidentified. It
may even be one of the Blaskets. Inisvickilaune ?
LEPRECHAUN
Apart from the word 'bomb', the word 'leprechaun' is probably the one most associated
with Ireland throughout the world. Close behind come the words 'fairy' and 'banshee'.
Everyone thinks they know what these mean, few do.
Some rule of existence seems to determine that the most important mysteries of a culture
are translated into the most ludicrous concepts when that culture is superceded. It is as if
the new culture realizes that some things just cannot be extirpated. But they can be
controlled by diminishing them as concepts and integrating them into the new schema.
Lugh is the great Sun God of the Irish, patron of Arts and Crafts, leader of the Tuatha dé
Danaan. And not only of the Irish, he is God of the Euro-Celts; European cities such as
London, Léon, Loudan, Lyons, Laon, Liegnitz, Leiden and Carlisle all owe their names to
Lugh. And beyond the Celts in time and geography, Lugh (known as Lugh Lamhfada,
'long-armed Lugh') is rooted in the Indo-European pantheon of Gods. To a believer (if
there were a believer !) Lugh would be as important as Christ is to a Christian. Instead he
is now a 'leprechaun'. A little character with buckled shoes, green hat, and tweed
waistcoat. He sometimes sits on toadstools. And in his vicinity there are frequently other
little people with pointed hats (and pointed ears). The male variety are cute-eyed,
mischievous, but nice. Like a guy a girl would hope to meet at a Fleadh Ceoil. Except a lot
smaller. The female variety of these fairies (for these are them) is invariably pretty. And
wears a First Holy Communion Dress. These 'little people' dance a lot. They say things
like "come away o human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand in hand, for
the world's more full of weeping, than you can understand". Great poetry like this is no
bother to them. And why would it be ? For these 'fairies' are the Tuatha dé Danaan. The
people of the Goddess Anu. These are the people of Light, the Rulers, the Gods and
Goddesses of Ancient Ireland. When driven out and dispossessed by newcomers (well us,
actually, the Gaels) the Tuatha took to the hills. Or, more precisely, into them. And
absolutely precisely, into the burial mounds of peoples even more ancient. There they
carry on a parallel existence. In former times they were real enough, emerging in human
enough form to have sex with us (the Gaels) or to slaughter us. Or to do both. Over the
last few centuries they have shrunk considerably, however. Much too small to slaughter
us, let alone have sex, they get up to mischief instead. Turning milk sour. Hiding things.
Nothing serious. Just bad-neighbour behaviour. The serious stuff is left to a singular
character, the Banshee. She sits up in a tree. Wearing white, she sits there on a dead
branch, combing her hair. . . and wailing. Be assured that you do not want to hear her. If
you hear the banshee, you or one of yours will surely shortly die. The Banshee is The Real
Thing. Her name is derived from the Irish 'Fairy Woman'. Sometimes a hag, other times a
beautiful woman, the Banshee is at the heart of ancient spirituality. Her ability to appear as
hag or beauty is that of the Cailleach, that 'hag' character who, when embraced by a Hero,
will turn into a beauty. In essence that Cailleach is the Spirit of Ireland. Getting old and
weary . . . to be revived by a new champion. Inevitably he will fail her. But someone else
will come along. She lives forever. This is quite reassuring until we notice that in certain
parts of Ireland this banshee/cailleach character is still called 'The Badb'. In modern Irish
the word means a 'dangerous frightening being of the female sex'. Badb is the War
Goddess. In old stories she appears, sometimes as a crow (hence that old woman sitting in
the tree), but other times as a naked screaming female entity in battlefields. As late as the
Battle of Clontarf (1014AD ) she appeared, a shrieking crow over the heads of the
warriors. Badb is actually part of the great triad Goddess of old. Another name for her is
Anu.
WITCH
A woman wishing to acquire the basic powers of witchcraft should perform the following
ritual. Gather five oval and two flat stones, somewhat the size of a fist. Travel, with a
selected companion (and the stones) to one of certain specified places around Ireland.
Remove one's clothes. At midnight turn three times 'against the sun'. Essentially this means
revolving anti-clockwise, a method of stirring up certain classes of spiritual entities. Lie on
the ground, face up, head to the north, arms and legs out like the spokes of a wheel. An
oval stone is placed, by the companion, at each foot, each hand, and between the legs. One
of the flat stones is placed over the heart, tucked beneath the breast. The other flat stone is
placed over the right breast. Thus readied, the witch-to-be will call upon the spirit of the
place to give her power - in return she pledges herself to that particular spirit. She rises by
rolling onto all fours to the left. Like this she travels animal-like in three circles, returning
then to the scattered seven stones. She casts one of these away. Then three more
animal-like circles, all anti-clockwise, back to the stones, casts another away. She repeats
this until all stones are dispersed and then rises to her feet, puts on her clothes, and goes
about her business. Though apparently farcial, none of this should be taken lightly. (To
avoid a plague of witches this writer has omitted the 'certain specified places'). The
interesting thing about this ritual, which is of late date, is the connection it draws between
stone, woman, and particular place. These are three of the fundamentals of the ancient
psychic system.
YEW STICKS
Wands or sticks of this tree were cast by Irish magicians to foretell the future. The Magi
of the East threw little sticks of tamarisk wood for the same purpose. The links between
the two cultures are perhaps via the Tuatha dé Danaan and Finland. From the 'northern
islands', the dé Danaan brought to Ireland the magical arts. The magic/mythology of pagan
Finland has very strong connections with that of ancient Chaldean civilizations. In Wales
the magicians used 'Coelbreni', translated as 'omen-sticks'. There the fires lit at Samhain
were known as coel-coeth, omen-fires. Coelcannon is a modern cabbage dish eaten
particularly at Hallowe'en, which is Samhain. While all these links may not be obvious,
they are certainly there.
IRISH DEITIES
AINE
Goddess of love and fertility, later known as an Irish fairy queen..
AIRMID
A healing goddess of the Tuatha de Danann, goddess of medicinal plants and keeper of the
spring that brings the dead back to life.
BRIGIT (Bridget, Brighid, Brigindo)
Brigit is the Irish-Celtic goddess of healing and fertility, patroness of smiths, poets and
doctors, symbolized by a white swan. She is the daughter of The Dagda, the deity of the
Tuatha de Danaan, one of the most ancient people of Northern Europe. Brigit is wife of
Bres, king of the gods and Ireland. Her festival is that of the Imbolc, observed on February
1. In Kildare, Ireland, she was served by a female priesthood. Brigit shares attributes with
the ancient Greek triple goddess Hecat. The pre-Christian Brigantes, from where her name
derives, honored her as identical to Juno, Queen of Heaven.
So well loved is Brigit, that she was made into a Christian saint when the Celts turned to
Christianity.
FOMORIANS (Fomors)
In Irish-Celtic mythology, the Fomorians are a race of demonic giants, the original
occupants of Ireland. The Tuatha DÈ Danann, the Irish race of gods, arrived and
destroyed the Fomorian hold over Ireland for good in the second battle of Mag Tuireadh.
The Fomorians were given the province of Connacht, and were allowed to marry some of
the Tuatha DÈ. The king of the Fomorians is the one-eyed Balor.
BRES
The Irish-Celtic god of fertility and agriculture. He is the son of Elatha, a prince of the
Fomorians, and the goddess Eriu.
BILE
Corresponds with Gaul god Belenius.
BOANN
Boann is a Goddess of bounty and fertility, whose totem is the sacred white cow. She was
the wife of Nechtan, a water deity. The father of her son Angus was Dagda. To hide their
union from Nechtan, Boann and the Dagda caused the sun to stand still for nine months,
so that Angus was conceived and born on the same day.
DAGDA(Dagde, Dagodevas)
The Irish Celtic God of the Earth and Father God. On New Years Day Dagda mates with
his wife the raven Morrigan. His attributes are a bottomless caldron of plenty and a harp
with which he rules the seasons. His club can kill as well as restore life. As leader of the
Tuatha De Danaan, Dagda is a fearsome warrior and skilled artisan.
DANU
Danu is considered to be the mother of The Dagda, god of the Tuatha de Danaan. She
most likely existed in an earlier form as Anu, Universal Mother.
MORRIGAN
Morrigan was the Celtic goddess of war and death who could take the shape of a crow or
raven. She is associated with the sometimes frightening aspects of female energy, and is
wife to Dagda. As one aspect of the Celtic triple goddess, Morrigan is seen washing
bloody laundry prior to battle by those destined to die.
LUGH
This Celtic deity was worshipped during the 30 day midsummer feast in Ireland, where
sexual magic ensured ripening of the crops and a prosperous harvest. He is linked with the
nature goddess variously named Tailltu, Machta or Rosmerta in Gaul. His animal totems
are the raven and the lynx, and he corresponds with the Roman God Mercury.
OGMA
Ogmias is his Gaul counterpart. Sometimes associated with the Greek Herakles, he is a
great warrior. Here he is seen carrying his club. He is the champion of eloquence.
SHANNON
Irish goddess of the river Shannon.
SIDHE
Ancient Irish hill people believed to be the spirits of the dead.
TUATHA DE DANANN
The Tuatha De Danann ("People of the goddess Danu") are the Irish race of gods,
founded by the goddess Danu. These gods, had perfected the use of magic. From the
legends of the Tuatha De Danaans we learn that these were deities of learning, magical
skills, arts and crafts. The three things that they revered above all others were: the plough,
the hazel and the sun.
