Morrigan
(Celtic Translation: Mór, "Great"; Rigan "Queen")
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ANCIENT IRELAND
Depicted wearing armor and armed.
Pronounced: More Ree-an) Also sometimes called Morrigu, she is a Goddess of War, Strife, and Fertility. She is usually depicted as a crow wearing a hood. She is also a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She originates with the "Mother" cult from megalithic times, in which the goddesses were depicted in the guise of the "triple goddesses" (similar to Selene/Phoebe/Artemis of Classical Greek Tradition).
Morrígan is either depicted as one goddess or a trio of goddesses (Badb (also spelled Badhbh) ["Crow"], Macha ["Crow"], and Nemain ["Frenzy"]).
Morrígan loved the hero Cu Chulainn (son of the god Lugh), but he rejected her. In retaliation for him spurning her love, she impedes him in battle, and thus he is slain. She then sat on the shoulder of his corpse in the form of a crow.
Some of her other forms/guises are: Cathubodva ("Battle Raven," a goddess of the Gaulish (French) Celts), The Washer at the Ford (a woman who "washes the clothes" of men about to die in battle, as foreshadowing), Murigen (a minor lake goddess of Ireland), Macha (she feeds on the slain enemies’ heads), Badb (carrion-crow "Badb Catha;" confuses men in battle with magic).
Morgan le Fay of Arthurian Legend may have originated with Morrígan. She is married to Dagda [translation: "The Good God"] (also called: Daghda, Dagde, Dagodevas, Cian), who is the Irish-Celt god of the Earth and Treaties. He also ruled over life and death.
Text by Sarah (Truth Behind Stargate)
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