The Goddess Morrigan
Level I Final Project
By Morrigan of Sister in Freya's Moon
Sky to the earth
Earth beneath sky
Strength in
anyone
Though it is said the Morrigan is associated with Celtic
Tradition, she existed a long time before the Celts occupied
the land - Her worship is thought to date back to the Stone
Age. So we can say the Morrigan origins in the megalithic
cult of the mothers.
Some sources say that the Morrigan and Sheela Na Gig
(Irish Mother-Goddess) are referring to the same deity, or at
least are closely connected.
The Morrigan is also known as Morrigu, Mor Rioghain and is
translated as Phantom Queen or Great Queen. Dr. Daithi
OhOgain favors the spelling Mor Rioghain because it
translates directly to Great Queen
According to Ian MacAnTsaoir, There is substantial evidence
to establish that the Morrigan (Mor Rioghain) has been
portrayed as a Goddess of Soveranty (Land Goddess).
As a Celtic Goddess, the Morrigan also appears in form of a
triple goddess, and is portrayed of three aspects: Badb,
Macha and Nemain.
BADB, to be translated as ‘The Crow’ or ‘The Raven’, is the
MAIDEN aspect of The Morrigan. She is said to appear in
form of the crow or raven to take with her the souls of the
brave warriors that died in the battle and bring them to the
cauldron of rebirth.
MACHA, to be translated as ‘The Mare’, represents the
MOTHER aspect of The Morrigan. According to the lore,
Macha fell in love with a mortal man. This man boasted that
she could run even faster than the Kings horses. The King
wanted him to proof this and asked him to let Macha do a
race. Macha was pregnant with twins by that time and
begged the King to wait until they were born. The King had
no pity and forced her to run. Macha won the race but gave
birth to the twins at the finish.
She cried a curse on the Ulstermen that for 9 generations at
the eve of every important battle every bearded man should
suffer her pains of childbirth for four days so they could not
fight. Then she turned into a mare and left her husband and
her twins behind.
NEMAIN, ‘the Fury’ is the CRONE aspect of the Morrigan.
Also known as the ‘washer at the ford’ she appeared as a
gloomy crown washing blood spotted clothes in the river.
The warrior who saw her before a battle knew that his time
was up and he was going to die. Nemain was also the one
that put in the blood-fury in the heart of the warriors. She is
the patroness of priestesses and gives her wisdom to all
that call upon and listen to her.
Copyright©Morrigan,2005
This piece of art is a natural stone (pebble) from the river banks.
I painted the stone with Acrylic Colors and stiff-bristled brushes.
You see Morrigan, lying down, her Womb with the earth inside, her
thighs embracing her vagina, falling down from the green hills of
fertility.
Saying: If we seek renewal we must leave these green fields to an
unknown realm.
I painted her thighs red like fire and black as earth to clarify the
purifying aspect of the Morrigan.
We need to ‘burn’ our egos, our selfishness before we can enter her
healing womb.
The blue spot represents the life that we find in the goddess womb.
I have chosen the color blue to emphasize the healing we
experience being in her.
We are like the eucalyptus seeds – only after the fire they sprout
and grow to become new trees.
INSIDE HER
I am tired
And let the day
Sink in me
Drown in me
Until it’s soaked up
With my fatigue
With my stillness
In my soul
Inside me
No envy
No sands
To stand up
And pass along
Calm
But no doldrums
Homesick
But not sore
For the good old times
Where the death were still alive…
Fate, Death, Rebirth, Magic, Revenge, War, Warriors, Change.
Morrigan is also the Goddess of the Priestesses
ANIMALS SACRED TO HER
Crow, Wolf, Black horse
HER CONNECTION TO THE MOON
The Morrigan is a Moon Goddess.
Her moon is the Dark Moon
She is a powerful goddess that helps to find the truth and fights at your
side for Justice ( not only what you consider justice to be) .
GODDESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE MORRIGAN
Baba Yaga, Kali, Anahita, Sheela-Na-Gig, Coatlicue, Sekhmet
By Morrigan
YOU WILL Need:
Pomegranate
black and red candles
Bath-salt with dragons blood
incense sandalwood, tuberose
red cover- counterpane
music - Kiva (South Kiva/Mother Ayahuasca) Ron Sunsinger and Steve Roach
Time: evening/night of the dark moon
Take a warm bath in the red tinted water
Relax
Meditate to prepare to enter the realm of the Morrigan
Come out of the water and wrap yourself up in a cozy bathrobe
Start the music
Light the black and red candles (only if you like, you can stay without light)
Light the incense
Ask the Morrigan to keep care of you during this evening/night
Now lay down on the floor, skyclad, and relax
Breath the heavy sent of the incense
Feel how the mother earth is absorbing you
Enter her realm
Feel how you fall
deeper and deeper
how you sink in her womb
feel the warmth
the pure energy encircling, embracing you
Be a part of her
Give up
You are no longer a discrete being
Give up your ego
and fall fall fall....
Be like blinking star in the dark space
Be a part of this cosmos
Feel other stars around you
You all are streaming towards this black whole
stream,
fly with all the others....
see how this black dark whole comes near,
how it soaks you up
You feel very relaxed when you enter the energy of her black center
now!
You are centered,
you are filled with energy
you are part of the whole
Feel the darkness
and come down...
Now the black darkness turns into a deep red
After a while you see it is the red walls of a perfect round cave
you are lying in the cave of the goddess
you can smell the ground, the earth
you can feel her energy
you feel the smooth ground of the earth under your body
feel the presence of the mother
feel her power and seal it up in your belly
Your belly is the center of your being
You will take this energy with you
back to the room you are lying
Now touch the ground with your hands
Feel the velvet ground
Feel your body your spine lying on the ground
Feel the velvet underground you are laying on
Smell the incense
Keep your eyes shut and dream along, feeling how the energy is caressing you
Get more and more aware of your environment
If you feel ready open your eyes
If you feel ready sit up
Listen to some nice music
Eat the pomegranate seeds...
Copyright©Morrigan,2005
Acryl on canvas ;
I painted the Morrigan with a head of the triple moon – showing her as
triple goddess and a moon goddess, a cloak of raven feathers –
symbolizing the darkness within us we have to come through to find her
and a robe of crystal water – symbolizing the Goddess, the grail, the
waters of life that we are quenched with once we found her. She is
surrounded by flames and the wind of fire that are purifying us when we
begin our journey towards her.
The elements in this painting are the wind – the yellow spots, the fire –
the red waves surrounding the goddess, the earth, the black cloak
embracing her, the water – the blue robe she is wearing, and ether – the
silver blue-violet moon crown of the Morrigan
ABOUT THE MORRIGAN AND ME
The Morrigan, being the goddess of death and war, is feared or disliked
somewhat.
I believe the reason for this to be that our society with all its ‘civilization’ has
come to a sick relation to the death.
We have separated what belongs together, we have separated the death from our
lives, banned it from our thoughts.
We don’t see that we deprive ourselves of further development.
I see the Morrigan as the watcher at the gate- the gate from life to death and vice
versa.
I see her as a Goddess of the sills – sills we have to pass in our spiritual lives.
I personally see no reason why to fear her – and I emphasis the word ‘fear’.
If raising children, it is wonderful when your child respects you, but awful when it
fears you…
I love the Morrigan in all her guises. I have never had a greater feeling than the
love I feel,
So big, so warming, so overall, when I only think of her…
I completely gave up myself as I was. Not that I changed to an absolutely different
person now.
I was – and still are – able and willing to question ALL I had learned, believed,
thought before...
And I was willing giving up my personality – if necessary. Emphasize: I was
willing and ready to do it.
I want to make clear that this might not inevitably be the case that you loose all
your old personality,
But that you loosen all bindings to it, so it is no longer prior to anything for you.
This process will never stop, i.e. you never can hold to yourself as you are – it is
as the French say:
‘Il y a que les imbeciles qui ne changent pas l’avis.’
‘Only fools don’t change their opinion.’
We are in a perpetual process of transformation .... always in her.
And this is why she is the Goddess of Death and Rebirth!
This planet would be a terrible place if all its inhabitants had this ill attitude of the
human race towards death and new beginnings.
The old has to die before the new can be born – its all about live and let die.
For me, Morrigan is one of the big AllGoddesses. She always was – always has
been – always will be - only with changing names, with changing guises, but at
the end, she is the one that I believe in… that I will return to.
http://www.clannada.org/
http://druidry.org/obod/deities/morrigan.html
http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/177082
http://www.pantheon.org
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/anahita.html
http://www.mythinglinks.org/BabaYaga.htm
Ritual AND Background is original work by
Morrigan