Celtic Goddesses: Warriors, Virgins and Mothers

This text offers a wide-ranging review of the significance of the female in Celtic myth and religion. Celtic goddesses presided over nature, animals, healing and fertility. Terrifying battle goddesses were invoked in times of war and a Mother Goddess was supplicated for the fertility of animals and crops. Goddesses were often linked with animals - birds, dogs, bears, pigs and snakes all had their divine protectresses. Divine and semi-divine females abound in Welsh and Irish myths, often associated with themes of virginity and sexuality, promiscuity and destruction. The concept of partnership is a prominent aspect of Celtic religion and myth, and it is possible to trace evidence of the divine marriage in both European iconography and Irish myth. The female is sometimes the dominant partner. In this account, the role of woman as religious leader, priestess (even druidess) and as seer, appeasing and controlling the supernatural powers, is examined. The final section of the book explores the transition from polytheistic paganism to monotheistic Christianity in the Celtic west. Here Celtic spirituality embraced women as of major importance as saints and mystics. One example is the Irish goddess Brigit, who became a Christian saint, but retained her pagan function as presider over the ale harvest.