07 June 2007

Thirteen Lesser-Known Celtic Goddesses



Thirteen Lesser-Known Celtic Goddesses


Pretty much everyone knows about Brighid, Cerridwen, Arianrhod, Epona and the Morrigan. The following list gives sheds a bit of light on some of the goddesses who reside in the better-known ladies' long shadows.

1. Abnoba - Goddess of woods and springs; protectress of hunting and beasts. From her name, the name of the English river "Avon" is derived.

2. Aeval - "Lady of Sexuality". Among the Celts of Ireland, Aeval was the Fairy Queen of Munster. She held a midnight court to determine if husbands were satisfying their wives' sexual needs, or not, as the women charged.

3. Aife - Scottish Warrior Goddess who stole a magick alphabet from the deities and gave it to humans. For this act and her meaness she was turned into a crane. Sacred to Aife: The crane, the lance. (The Celtic Ogham alphabet is said to be based on the images of cranes flying.)

4. Arduinna - Gallic Goddess of moon, woods and hunting in the Ardennes. The Ardennes Forest in France is named after Her, were Her special domain.

5. Beag - Mistress of the Well, owner of the Well of Wisdom.

6. Fotla - Irish Mothergoddess; one of the mothers of Ireland.

7. Scathach - She is the patron of blacksmiths and warriors.

8. Sulis - Goddess of the thermal-baths of Bath. She was also a goddess of the Underworld, Wisdom and Fortunetelling.

9. Druantia - "Queen of the Druids". Mother of the tree calendar; Fir Goddess. Fertility, passion, sexual activities, trees, protection, knowledge, creativity.

10. Habetrot - A "spinning" Goddess. Spinning is both Pagan lingo for spell casting and for the turning of the Wheel of the Year. Habetrot is best known for her powers of healing which were linked to her skills with weaving fiber. All who wore the clothing she made would never fall ill.

11. Nehalennia - Primarily associated with protection of travelers over the sea. Her known temple locations are always on the coast, and surviving inscriptions often praise her for successfully completed voyages, or implore her for similar journeys to come.

12. Stine Bheag O'Tarbat - This old woman, who lived near Tarbat Ness, was said to be very powerful, with special mastery over the weather.

13. Uroica - Goddess of heather and heather wine. (I think she's my favorite!)

Sources: Joelle's Sacred Grove
Celtic Realm

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1.
Dog's Eye View 2. Christina's Shoebox 3. Samantha Lucas 4. Amanda Young 5. Jenny's Wandering Thoughts 6. Off the Wall Thoughts 7. Emerald City Guy 8. NJ Walters 9. Will Write for Food 10. Shelley 11. Qtpies7 12. Seeley Deerborn 13. Michelle Pillow 14. Philly Transplant 15. Bending the Twigs 16. On the Lake Front 17.



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23 comments:

MsSnarkyPants said...

I just love Aeval! What a great goddess to have around!

Carolan Ivey said...

Doing this list makes me want to do more research into the less-famous deities. Thanks for visiting!

Shelley said...

Interesting TT...and very educational. I went to some goddess circles when I was in college...and that post reminded me a lot of that experience.

My TT is up...and lonely. Come on over.

N.J.Walters said...

You always have the most fascinating stuff on your blog!

Carolan Ivey said...

Thanks, NJ! :)

Qtpies7 said...

Great TT, thanks for visiting my blog!
I know that I have more than 20 pairs of shoes to get rid of, lol. With 7 kids people give us lots of shoes for kids to grow into or whatever. And I save shoes for the next kid, etc. Plus I hate to get rid of my shoes......
But they have to go, this is ridiculous!

Carolan Ivey said...

Q, my kids pretty much wore their shoes out before they could be passed down to someone else. :) But mine go out of style before I wear them out. :)

Anonymous said...

What a gret list! Thanks for the link too!

Michelle Pillow said...

Great list!!

Michelle
http://michellepillow.com/authorblog/
http://ravenhappyhour.com/ravenblog/

Christina said...

What an educational T13. I didn't know anything at all about Celtic goddesses, so I definitely learned a few things :)

Christina
www.patentprincess.com

Sparky Duck said...

what a nice little list. I am so out of touch I guess, since I didnt even know the Druids were connected to the Celts

Lori said...

Very cool....happy TT:)

Nicole Austin said...

Great TT! I really enjoyed reading about the different Celtic Goddesses.

Unknown said...

Oooh, fun and informative! :)

Unknown said...

Huh, I wonder how long I've been posting as just samantha I swear I'm blonde all the way to my roots!

L^2 said...

I don't know much about Celtic Goddesses, so I definitely learned something new.

Thanks for visiting my TT! :-)

SusieJ said...

I studied mythology in college. I had definitely forgotten many of these. Beag was my favorite.

Lara Croft said...

I enjoyed this, it was great insite. LC

Crimson Wife said...

Interesting post! I'm of Irish heritage but I really don't know all that much about their pre-Christian mythology. I should read up on it...

Carolan Ivey said...

Thanks for visiting, Lara and C.W.!

Heather said...

Interesting list! Thanks for visiting my blog.

http://wordtrix.blogspot.com/

Tink said...

I see you do TT too. Great list! I know most of them, but still very interesting to read! Good to see Nehelennia in the list; she's on a comeback over here in the Netherlands.
I added your blog to my GoogleReader. :-)

Carolan Ivey said...

Thanks, Tink! I'll check out GoogleReader - I need something to keep track of all the interesting blogs out there. :)