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| Celtic Gods & Goddesses Section ~ 2 |
| ESUS:A god of the Gauls "Whose shrine make men shudder", according to a Roman poet. Human sacrifices to Esus were hanged and run through with a sword. For unknown reasons, Esus is usually portrayed as a woodcutter. GOVANNON:The Smith God. The weapons Govannon makes are unfailing in their aim and deadliness, the armor unfailing in its protection. Also a healer. Those who attend the feast of Govannon and drink of the god's sacred cup need no longer fear old age and infirmity. LUG also LUGH, LLEU:A sun god and a hero god, young, strong, radiant with hair of gold, master of all arts, skills and crafts. One day Lug arrived at the court of the Dagda and demanded to be admitted to the company of the gods. The gatekeeper ask him what he could do. For every skill or art Lug named, the gatekeeper replied that there was already one among the company who had mastered it. Lug at last pointed out that they had no one who had mastered them all, and so gained a place among the deities, eventually leading them to victory in the second battle of the Moytura against the Formorian invaders. (The Formorians were a race of monsters who challenged the Gods for supremacy in the first and second battles of Moytura). The Romans identified Lug with Mercury. The most popular and widely worshipped of the Celtic gods. Lug's name in its various forms was taken by the cities of Lyons, Louden, Laon, Leon, Lieden, Leignitz, Carlisle, and Vienna. MACHA: "CROW":The third of the Triad of the war goddesses known as Morrigan, Macha feeds on heads of slain enemies. Macha often dominates her male lovers through cunning or simple brute strength. MEDB "Drunk Woman", a goddess of war, not of the Morrigan. Where the Morrigan use magic, MEDB wields a weapon herself. The sight of MEDB blinds enemies, and she runs faster than the fastes of horses. A bawdy girl, MEDB needs thirty men a day to satisfy her sexual appetite. MORRIGAN, THE also MORRIGU MORRIGAN:A war goddess, forerunner of the Arthurian Morgan Le Fey. Like Odin, fickle and unfaithful, not to be trusted. A hag with a demonic laugh, the Morrigan appears as a grotesque apparition to men about to die in battle. Her name is also used for a triad of war goddesses, who are often thought of as different aspects of the Morrigan. NEMAIN "Panic": A war goddess. NUADHU also NUD, NODENS, LUD:"Nuadhu of the Silver Arm". God of healing and water, his name suggest "wealth bringer" and "cloud maker". At the first battle of Moytura, Nuadhu lost an arm, and DIan Cecht replaced it with a new one made out of silver. Because of this, Nuadhu was obliged to turn leadership of the Tuatha de' Danann over to Lug. People came to be healed at Nuadhu's temple at Lydney, and small votive limbs made of silver have been found there. OGMIOS also OGMA "Sun Face":A hero god like Hercules, a god of eloquence, language, genius. Generally portrayed as an old man dressed in a lion skin. From his tongue hang fine gold chains attached to the ears of his eager followers. SUCELLUS:Guardian of the forests, patron of agriculture. His consort is Nantosvelta, whose name suggests brooks and streams. Sometimes considered synonomous with Cernunnos or Daghda TUATHA de' DANANN:The divine tribes and people descended from the goddess Danu. Skilled in Druidry and magic, the Tuatha de' Danann posesses four talismans of great power: the Stone of Fal, which shrieked under the true heir to the throne; the spear of Lug which made victory certain, the sword of Nuadhu which slays all enemies; and the ever full cauldron of Daghda from which no man ever goes away hungry. |
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