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Celtic Goddess Names - B
Badb
Badb is the Irish goddess of war. She often assumes the form of a raven
or carrion-crow, her favorite disguise, and is then referred to as Badb
Catha, meaning "battle raven". Not only did she take part in
battles themselves, she also influenced their outcome by causing confusion
among the warriors with her magic. The battle-field is often called 'land
of Badb'. She formed part of a triad of war-goddesses with Macha (Nemain)
and the Morrigan.
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Badbh
Catha
The Irish crow goddess. The crow and the raven are shape-shift forms of
the goddess; especially Morrigan, Rhiannon and Nanosuelta, and were considered
oracles due to their distinctive voices. They were called Cathubodva or
"Raven of Battle" in many Celtic myths. Badbc Catha was a form
of Morrigan, the great Irish War Goddess. She sometimes took the form
of a hooded crow, a wolf, a bear or a heifer, or a giant woman who straddled
a river with one foot on each bank.
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Banbha
("pig", "sow") The Irish goddess who represents the
spirit of Ireland, thought to be the first settler in Ireland. She is
part of a trinity of goddesses; the daughters of Fiachna, together with
Fodla and Eriu. Amergin, the son of Miled, promised her the honor of naming
the island after her. Banba is a poetic name for Ireland. Initially, she
may have been a goddess of war, as well as a fertility goddess. Her name
derives from the same root as "sow", or "pig". Banbha
was the wife of the Tuatha King MacCuill.
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Banshee
A common name for the Irish Bean Sidhe. In Scotland the banshee is known
as caoineag (wailing woman) and, although seldom seen, she is often
heard in the hills and glens, by lakes or running water (see also Bean
Nighe).
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Baobhan
Sith
The White Women of the Scottish highlands. These women are ghost-like
vampires who assume the shape of beautiful women and invite men to dance
with them, and drink their blood.
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Beag
An Irish goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, associated with a magic
well.
Bean
Nighe
The Washer at the Fords, she is the Scottish version of the Irish Bean
Sidhe (Banshee). She wanders near deserted streams where she washes the
blood from the grave-clothes of those who are about to die. It is said
that Bean Nighe are the spirits of women who died giving birth and are
doomed to do this work until the day their lives would have normally ended.
A Bean Nighe is thought to have one nostril, one big protruding tooth,
webbed feet and long hanging breasts. A mortal who is bold enough to sneak
up to her while she is washing and suck her breast can claim to be her
foster-child. The mortal can then gain a wish from her. The Washer of
the Fords is sometimes known under the generic name of ban nighechain
(little washerwoman) or nigheag na h-ath (little washer at the
ford).
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Bean
Sidhe
In Irish folklore, the Bean Sidhe (woman of the hills) is a spirit or
fairy who presage a death by wailing. She is popularly known as the Banshee.
She visits a household and by wailing she warns them that a member of
their family is about to die. When a Banshee is caught, she is obliged
to tell the name of the doomed. The antiquity of this concept is vouched
for by the fact that the Morrigan, in a poem from the 8th century, is
described as washing spoils and entrails. It was believed in County Clare
that Richard the Clare, the Norman leader of the 12th century, had met
a horrible beldame, washing armor and rich robes "until the red gore
churned in her hands", who warned him of the destruction of his host.
The Bean Sidhe has long streaming hair and is dressed in a gray cloak
over a green dress. Her eyes are fiery red from the constant weeping.
When multiple Banshees wail together, it will herald the death of someone
very great or holy. The Scottish version of the Banshee is the Bean Nighe.
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Bebhionn
An Irish underworld goddess and a patron of pleasure.
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Bendith
Y Mamau
("the mothers' blessing") The Bendith Y Mamau is a rather unpleasant
clan of Welsh fairies. They are ugly creatures, and are sometimes regarded
as the result of interbreeding between goblins and fairies. They steal
children and substitute them for their own ugly ones, called Crimbils.
Through the intervention of a witch, the parents can regain the stolen
child, who will remember nothing of its time with the Bendith Y Mamau,
except for a vague recollection of sweet music.
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Black
Annis
In England, Black Annis is a blue-faced hag who lives in a cave in the
Dane Hills, Leicestershire. The cave, called "Black Annis' Bower
Close" was dug out of the rock with her own nails. Situated in front
of it is a great oak in which she hides to leap out and catch and devour
stray children and lambs. Every year on Easter Monday, it was customary
to hold a drag hunt from her cave to the Mayor's house. The bait was a
dead cat drenched in aniseed.
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Blathnat
Wife of King Cu Roi. She fell in love with Cuchulainn and betrayed her
husband by showing Cuchulainn how to penetrate her husband's castle. In
the ensuing battle Cuchulainn killed Cu Roi and abducted Blathnat and
Cu Roi's bard, Fer Cherdne. When they stopped for the night on a cliff
top, Fer Cherdne revenged his king by grabbing Blathnat and jumping off
the cliff to their deaths.
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Blodeuedd
("flowerface") In Welsh legend, Blodeuwedd was created out of
oak, broom, and meadowsweet flowers by Gwydion to wed Llew Llaw Gyffes.
She betrayed Llew, either because she had no soul, being non-human; or
because she resented being his chattel. The drama of one of a triplicity
of woman and two men must play itself out in Welsh myth, and Llew Llaw
Gyffes must die.
She fell in love with Goronwy and, wishing to be rid of Llew, she tricked
out of him the clearly supernatural and ritual manner in which only he
could be killed: neither by day nor night, indoors nor out of doors, riding
nor walking, clothed nor naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made. She asked
him to explain this, and he did: he could be killed only if it were twilight,
wrapped in a fish net, with one foot on a cauldron and the other on a
goat, and if the weapon had been forged during sacred hours when such
work was forbidden. Blodeuwedd convinced him to demonstrate how impossible
such a position was to achieve by chance, and when he was in it, her lover
Goronwy leapt out and struck. Llew was transformed into an eagle and eventually
restored to human form, after which he killed Goronwy. Blodeuwedd was
transformed into an owl, to haunt the night in loneliness and sorrow,
shunned by all other birds. |
Boand
(Boann) ("she of the white cattle") The Irish goddess goddess
of bounty and fertility, whose totem is the sacred white cow, the tutelary
goddess of the River Boyne. She is the wife of the water god Nechtan or
of Elcmar, and consort of the Dagda, by whom she was the mother of the
god Aengus. To hide their union from Nechtan, Boann and the Dagda caused
the sun to stand still for nine months, so that Aengus was conceived and
born on the same day. |
Bodb
The Irish goddess of battle. She prophesied the doom of the Tuatha Dé
Danann after the Battle of Mag Tuireadh (Moytura).
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Bodb Dearg
(Bodb the red).Irish. A daughter (son?) of the Daghda, and the tutelary
God over southern Connacht and part of Munster.
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Boudicca
("victory") An Irish and British female personification of
Victory, especially in a martial sense. A very appropriate personification
of her is seen in the historical Boadicca, Queen of the Iceni, who fought
the Romans to a standstill in the first century CE. Although she ultimately
lost, this original Victoria resembles her namesake very strongly.
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Branwen
("white raven", "white crow") In the Welsh epic
Mabinogion, she is a central figure, wed to the High King of
Ireland and thereby encompassing the doom of both the Irish and Britons.
Her brother Bran invaded Ireland to rescue her from the degradation
she experienced at the hands of a vengeful Court.
Branwen, daughter of Llyr and Penarddun, and sister of Bran and Manawydan;
and half-sister of Nisien and Efnisien. Matholwch of Ireland sued for
her hand, and gave horses to Bran. Efnisien mutilated the horses, nearly
precipitating warfare, but Matholwch was appeased by the gift of a cauldron
that could resurrect the dead. Branwen wed him, and went to Ireland,
where she bore him a son, Gwern. But the Irish began to complain about
their foreign queen, and she was banished to the kitchen, where she
was a slave and boxed on the ears by the butcher daily. This lasted
three years, during which Branwen trained a starling to speak and sent
it to Wales, where it told Bran of her plight, and he sailed to rescue
her.
Matholwch was terrified at the sight of a forest approaching Ireland
across the sea: no one could make it out, until he called for Branwen,
who explained it as Bran's navy, and Bran himself wading through the
water. He sued for peace, they built a house big enough for Bran, and
Matholwch agreed to settle the kingdom on Gwern. Some Irish lords objected,
and hid themselves in flour bags to attack the Welsh. But Efnisien,
scenting Irish treachery, cast them into the fire, and then cast Gwern
himself in, thereby avoiding the geas against shedding kinsmen's
blood. A war broke out, and the Irish replenished themselves through
the cauldron. Efnisien, repenting, sacrificed himself by feigning death
and being thrown into the cauldron, which he then broke, dying in the
process. Only seven Welshmen survived, and Bran was fatally wounded.
His head, which remained alive and talking, was returned to Wales and
buried, and soon afterwards Branwen sailed to Aber Alaw and died. She
is one of the matriarchs of Britain, as are Rhiannon and Arianrhod.
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Breg
An Irish goddess, wife of the Dagda.
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Bride
Scotland's version of the Celtic Irish Brigid.
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Brigandu
Celtic French version of the Celtic Irish Brigid.
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Brigantia
Another form of Brigit, the protective deity of the Irish Celts. She
holds an orb and wears the crown of queenship, also holding the spear
of Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom. As the tutelary deity of warfare (briga),
her soldier acolytes were known as brigands.
The British tutelary
goddess of the Brigantes in Yorkshire, and the goddess of the rivers
Braint and Brent, which were named after her. Brigantia was also a pastoral
goddess associated with flocks and cattle. During the Roman occupation
she was associated with the Roman goddess Caelestis as Caelestis Brigantia.
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Brighid
(Brigit) Brighid was the Gaelic goddess of fertility, therapy, metalworking,
and poetic inspiration. She is the wife of Bres. She is known as Caridwen
(Cerridwen) in Wales. There are three sisters by the name of Brigit in
Irish myth (daughters of In Dagda) who are the patron-goddesses of learning
(poetry), healing and smithcraft.
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Brigit
(Breo Saighead, Brid, Brighid [Eriu], Brigindo, Brigandu [Gaul], Brigan,
Brigantia, Brigantis [Briton], Bride [Alba])
The Welsh and Irish goddess of healing, smithcraft, poetry, inspiration,
queenship and healing, she was known as the "Bright Arrow"
or "Bright One" and was associated with fertility and the
birth of lambs in the spring. The goddess of fire, wells, springs and
of poets, a teacher of the martial arts and patroness of battle. The
oystercatcher bird, shamrock, the rowan tree and the scallop shell were
sacred to her; she is the lady of fire and sunlight. She is said to
have invented whistling, and she is sometimes depicted with a caldron,
symbolizing inpsiration.
Brigit's feast, Imbolc, is celebrated on the first of February. Imbolc,
the day of union between Goddess and God. Her shrine at Kildare was
maintained by 19 virgins who tended Her undying fire until almost modern
times. No man was allowed to pass beyond the hedge surrounding Her sanctuary.
On Her feast day of Imbolc, the universal Celtic fertility day, the
Goddess Brigit kindles the fire in the Earth, preparing the way for
Spring. Her power is that of fire-in-water: a power that heals and nourishes.
Imbolc is the first day of Spring, mid-way through the dark half of
the year. Brigit, Goddess of all creative activity, rekindles the fire
in the Earth, preparing it for the reemergence of green things.
This stirring of new life is manifested by the first flowing of milk
in the udders of ewes, a few weeks before the lambing season. Agricultural
tools are reconsecrated for use, household fires and the fire of the
smith's forge are blessed by the Goddess (often by a woman who plays
the role of Brigit) and talismans of rushes, Brigit's Crosses are made
for the protection of homes. Brigit's snake comes out of the mound in
which it hibernates, and it's behavior is thought to determine the length
of the remaining period of frost. During this time Brigid personifies
a bride, virgin or maiden aspect and is the protectoress of women in
childbirth. Imbolc also is known as Oimelc, Brigid, Candlemas, or even
in America as Groundhog Day. As the foundation for the American Groundhog
Day, Brigid's snake comes out of its mound in which it hibernates and
its behavior is said to determine the length of the remaining Winter.
As Muse, she inspires bards with the spirit of truth.The Celts held
poetry in great reverence as it was the art of divination, the revelation
of secrets, and preservation of history. Her name derives from her worship
by the pre-Christian Brigantes, who honored her as identical with Juno,
Queen of Heaven. Brigit also shares attributes with the ancient Greek
triple goddess Hecate. She is Ruler, Bringer of Prosperity; her two
sisters display the alchemical sword and tongs of blacksmithing and
the twin serpents connoting medical skill. As Guardian of the forge
and consort of smiths, she is the patroness of warriors. As the Lady
of the Land Who knows all herbs, She is the greatest of healers.
Her Irish consort was the Dagda, she is a daughter of the Daghda. As
an individual, In pre-Roman Britain, she was the tutelary Goddess of
the Brigantes tribe, and like so many Celtic Goddesses, she has some
riverine associations. She was conflated into Christian mythology as
Saint Brigit. The great Celtic empire of Brigantia included parts of
Spain, France and the British Isles. Unable to eradicate the cult of
Briget (pronounced Breed), the Catholic church made her a saint, saying
she was a nun who founded a convent at Kildare. The convent was known
for its miracles and evidences of fertility magic. Cows never went dry;
flowers and shamrocks sprang up in Her footprints, eternal Spring reigned
in Her bower.
Like the Arthurian Avalon, or "Isle of Apples," Brigid possessed
an apple orchard in the Otherworld to which bees traveled to obtain
it's magickal nectar. Brigid, which means "one who exaults herself,"
is Goddess of the Sacred Flame of Kildare (derived from "Cill Dara,"
which means "church of the oak") and often is considered to
be the White Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. She was Christianized
as the "foster-mother" of Jesus Christ, and called St. Brigit,
the daughter of the Druid Dougal the Brown. She sometimes also is associated
with the Romano-Celtic goddess Aquae-Sulis in Bathe.
The crone Cailleach drank from the ancient Well of Youth at dawn, and
in that instant, was transformed into her Maiden aspect, the young goddess
called Brigid. Wells were sacred to her because they arose from oimbelc
(literally "in the belly"), or womb of Mother Earth. Because
of her Fire of Inspiration and her connection to the apple and oak trees,
Brighid often is considered the patroness of the Druids.
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Britannia
A British Romano-Celtic tutelary goddess.
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Brunissen
("brown queen"') Her origin may be that of a Celtic goddess
of the black sun of the other world, which shines more brightly at sunrise
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Bronach
An Irish goddess of cliffs.
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