"In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess, wise-woman, queen. Now in truth I have come to be wise-woman...but in sober truth, I think it is the Christians who will tell the last tale. For ever the world of Fairy drifts further from the world in which the Christ holds sway. I have no quarrel with the Christ, only with his priests, who call the Great Goddess a demon and deny that she ever held power in this world. At best...they clothe her in the blue robe of the Lady of Nazarath and say that she was ever virgin. But what can a virgin know of the sorrows and travail of mankind?...This is the thing the priests do not know, with their One God and One Truth: that there is no such thing as a true tale. Truth has many faces...For all the Gods are one God, and all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is only one Initiator. And to every man his own truth, and the God within...But this is my truth; I who am Morgaine who was in later days called Morgan le Fey."
Morgan's Name
Morgan is known by many names throughout different times and countries. While the above spelling is the one I prefer and use (for translated, it means "Morgan of the Fey" - Fey, of course, referring to the Faerie Folk), other spellings of this particular version of her name include: Morgan le Fay (Wales), Morgaine La Fee (France), and also Morgaine la Fey (unknown origin). The other variations of her name most commonly used are: Morgana (Denmark), Fata Morgana (Italy, which translates to "Morgan of the Fates"), and The Morrighan (Ireland, other spellings include The Morrign and The Morrigan). She is often confused with Nimue, Niniane, Viviene, and even Morgause in terms of Arthurian Legends - the first three since it is unsure which was the Lady of the Lake (and therefore, the Priestess of the Goddess), and the latter due to the question of Mordred's parentage. For simplicity's sake, I will refer to Morgan le Fey simply as "Morgan" from here on out, and I will get into more detail about the truth behind the Arthurian Legends in a bit. Suffice to say that Morgan, although confused with the other four names, is none of them.
The Arthurian Legends
Since so much of Morgan's history evolved from the Legends of King Arthur, I have dedicated a separate page explaining Morgan's many false and her one true role in this. Please go to The Arthurian Legends for more information on this subject.
The Case for Morgan as Goddess
Because of her role in the Arthurian Legends as either sorceress, witch, priestess, etc., many people ask - how can she be considered a deity? Morgan in the Arthurian Legends is basically a variation on the Irish goddess, The Morrighan. D.J. Conway, in her book "Celtic Magic" refers to The Morrighan and Morgan as the same entity and describes her as "Great Queen", "Supreme War Goddess", "Queen of Phantoms" and "The Crone aspect of the Goddess, Great Mother, Moon Goddess, Great White Goddess, Queen of the Faeries." Morgan in Wales is considered a "death-goddess", again referring to the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess. In her earliest incarnation, she is usually depicted as a shape-shifter associated with ravens and crows, fully armed with two spears. In Ireland, Wales, and Britain, she is the goddess of rivers, lakes, fresh water - basically, anything having to do with water (here is where the association with Avalon began). She is also known as the "goddess of war, fate, and death" (Crone aspect) as well as the "patroness of priestesses and witches". It is for this last reason that I have been drawn to her, or better yet, that she has been drawn to me. However, as one can clearly see, her true nature has been warped throughout time until her aspect as a goddess was lost and replaced by the "evil enchantress" during the days of King Arthur. How, one might ask, could a goddess be "born" and live during the reign of Arthur? Just as easily as Merlin could have assumed human form to assist mortals in those troubled times. Morgan, after all, was a shape-shifter. Although her preferred shape was that of the raven, she did assume human form during this period of time when Christianity began to take hold and the Old Ways became lost.
Recommended Reading
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Arthurian Quest by Amber Wolfe
Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway
A Keeper of Words by Anna-Marie Ferguson
