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Episode 54: Fae Deities
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Welcome back Witches! This week's episode is bringing you some Fae Deities. We really hope you all are ready to hear us struggle through some rough pronunciations, but as we always say... We really try our best. So get in losers, and lets talk about some Fae Deities.
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References
- Ceridwen (2023). A Complete Guide to Wiccan Fae and Fairies. Craft of Wicca. https://craftofwicca.com/a-complete-guide-to-wiccan-fae-and-fairies/
- Ian (2008). Aengus Angus. Mysterious Britain and Ireland- Mysteries, Legends & the Paranormal. https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/pantheons/aengus-angus/
- Mike Greenberg, PhD (2020). Aengus: The Irish God of Youth. Mythology Source. https://mythologysource.com/aengus-irish-god-youth/
- Mitchell, Robbie (n.d.). Manannan mac Lir: The Otherworldly God of Irish Myth. Historic Mysteries. https://www.historicmysteries.com/manannan-mac-lir/
- Cartwright, Mark (2021). Cu Chulainn. World History. https://www.worldhistory.org/Cu_Chulainn/
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manannan-mac-Lir
- Daimler, Morgan. Introduction to Faery & Celtic Witchcraft. (2020). To Salem. https://tosalem.com/introduction-to-faery-celtic-witchcraft/
- Kabir, Syed Rafid. Danu: The Mother Goddess in Irish Mythology. (2023). History Cooperative. https://historycooperative.org/danu/
- Tauseef, Khadija. What is the Real Celtic Creation Myth?. (2022). Ancient Origins. https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/celtic-creation-myth-0016475
- Stevens, Caroline. Celtic Goddess: Nimue- Lady of the Sacred Wells and Waters. (2022). https://goddessconference.com/nimue-lady-of-the-sacred-wells-and-waters/
- DanFF. Gwenhwyfar- Goddess of Sovereignty and Judgment. (2020). https://www.santuariolunar.com.br/en/goddess-gwenhwyfar/
- Van De Kerkhof, Maup. Medb: Queen of Connacht and Goddess of Sovereignty. (2023). https://historycooperative.org/medb/
- Daughter Ravynstar. https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/category/goddess-spirituality/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft Journey
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft in the occult but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In, Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So get in witches and let's learn about some fae deities.
Personal Anecdotes and Cultural Experiences in Japan
00:00:37
Speaker
so
00:00:46
Speaker
I was playing Catan yesterday. I was. It was awesome. So my friend, she invited us over and she makes the best food. I brought pancit and then I was like, oh, it's probably going to pale in comparison to anything she makes. She made like, I don't even know any of the actual terminology she told me. And I think I've forgotten, but it was like she made tacos, but it was like homemade, like
00:01:16
Speaker
What's it called, carnitas? So we had homemade carnitas and then homemade, something with steak. And I think she said it was like, I could be making this up like some sort of Guisada, some, I don't know.
00:01:28
Speaker
Yeah, but it's like a steak kind of thing. Yeah, so we had that and then homemade beans and rice. It was so good. And I'm just like, man, I wish that I was better at something to cook than like what I brought. But like she said, the answer is delightful.
00:01:51
Speaker
Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah. I was like, man, um, this is so good. But like we played and obviously I'm really bad at playing Catan or Catan or I don't even know how to say it. Um, but it's still fun, but I think that game is like a test to our marriage. Well, first of all, her husband like kicked all of our asses. Um, but it was actually close between Mike, her and her husband. And I was like,
00:02:18
Speaker
not great at it um and then like every time mike would move the robber he would always choose me to take cards from and i'm just like oh damn it like i was so mad at him um but you know it was a lot of fun um yeah but we didn't even like stay that late oh she made like homemade margaritas and stuff and
00:02:43
Speaker
At first I wasn't even going to drink, but then I was like homemade margaritas though. Yeah. Something we ended up doing because here it's like you can't have like a drink and drive here at all. So we did this, they have this service here called Daiko and basically like you call this number and you tell them where you're at and they will send two people and one of them gets out of the car and drives your car home for you when you're in the car with them.
00:03:12
Speaker
So we did that, but. Have you guys, like we used to have this at Tinker and I know they did it at Ramstein, but it's like AADD Airmen against drunk driving. Yes. They don't have that. This is like Japanese people, like picking you up. It's not even like the base doing it. No. Yeah. It's like, and I thought it was going to be like AADD like that, but it wasn't. It was like, like legit Japanese people.
00:03:40
Speaker
and legit, like what makes them legit Japanese people. Like they did not speak English. Like the guy that we had, like he didn't really speak English in our car. And so I made Mike sit in the front seat. I was like, I'll sit in the back seat with the kids and I should have sit in the front seat because Mike drank a lot. I mean, he didn't like, he was like drunk or anything, but he was like definitely like not sober. And I was sober, but like I knew I couldn't drink just in case we got like
00:04:05
Speaker
Um, you know, pulled over and breathalyze out. We would have blown something, but like he missed the guy, like whenever he was giving directions, he gave him the wrong directions to her house. And I'm like, what are you doing? And I felt so bad.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah. And he was so confused because he couldn't really speak English. And Mike's just like, okay, just pull in here. And so he thought our house was over there. And he's like, no, you have to do like, just keep going, keep going, like making them do a U-turn. And I'm like, dying in the back seat.
00:04:41
Speaker
But it was really, it was awesome. It was a good time. I just wish that we like lived on the same base. Yeah. That way we could just walk home. But yeah, that like, I know when we were, I mean, we didn't live on base, but when we lived in Germany, all of our friends around the base, that was like 15 minutes away, like all of our friends that lived on base.
Introduction to Fae and Fairy Magic
00:05:02
Speaker
they were on Volga Way and not on Ramstein. So every time we hung out somewhere with friends or whatever, we would have to drive to the other base. And then you're like, do I risk driving home? Do I just get a cab?
00:05:21
Speaker
Just because the alcohol limit is so low here, they basically are like, if you have a drop of alcohol, you can't drive in Japan. And I'm like, okay, that's great and all. But at the same time, I hadn't drank in a few hours and only had a couple margaritas.
00:05:42
Speaker
And I felt like I was completely sober when we left. And I just knowing based on like what the blood alcohol level is in the States, I would have been legal to drive. Yeah, I would have been fine. But just knowing that like now we have to pay money to go home because like, yeah, it's just it makes you like not want to do anything. Yeah.
00:06:03
Speaker
For us, it's why we ended up having so many local friends. We have so many German friends. It's kind of like a melting pot in Ramstein, so a lot of our friends are from Germany, obviously, but also Ireland and England and stuff that lived over there.
00:06:20
Speaker
because we ended up like it was easier to just hang out with people like at Sven and Marie's house and then like walk down to the Dubliner or the Holtzworm and get a drink and hang out all night and then walk back home and not have to worry about it. Yeah, I wish it was a little bit easier to do that here. We live near like one of the gates to leave the base but it's like
00:06:45
Speaker
There is not a whole lot around as far as... We'd have to walk probably 20, 30 minutes for something like that, but there's no way. I don't know. It's just the base is just so big here and I hate that we had to live on base.
00:07:03
Speaker
Yeah, that sucks. I know you guys like really wanted to live off base and then they were like, yeah, sucks to suck. Yeah. So that's the only thing that, and then finding out like later there's ways that you could have like kind of not played the system in a way to get off base, but played the system to get like a better house than what we had. Oh yeah. What? So because I originally wanted to live on the base that my friend
00:07:32
Speaker
lives on because our house I like it a lot better than our house and it just seems a lot quieter over there but I didn't know that I could have like technically been like since one of the houses they showed us was like riddled with mold. I didn't know it could have been like actually this house is riddled with mold. I want another option
00:07:53
Speaker
And I wanted to be on this base. I didn't know that we could do that. And I'm just like, man. But I mean, I love our street that we live on. And like the kids all play together and everything. But at the same time, I'm like, if I had to do it over again, you'd definitely do the other base. Yeah. Because then we could have walked to each other's houses. And that would have been so much fun. But oh, well, we'll just drive. Dumb. Dumb.
Exploration of Irish Fae Gods
00:08:24
Speaker
But anyway, what are we talking about today? We're talking about the fae. This episode is going to be really fun, but just to preface, we don't speak any of these languages, so cut us some slack on these pronunciations. Right?
00:08:44
Speaker
It's definitely, we tried our hardest and there was some things I think on mine that I had two different pronunciations and I wasn't sure which one was the appropriate one. I was like, okay, I don't know which one's best or which one sounds more Welsh or Celtic than the other one, so I don't know.
00:09:08
Speaker
I know a lot of mine, it would be like also known as, and it would just be different spellings of the same name, like same pronunciation, but just different letters. So I'm like, well, I mean, also known as Maeve, also Maeve, and this one's also Maeve. So I'd left a lot of those out, but just know some of them do have a lot of different spellings that are still pronounced the same.
00:09:34
Speaker
Oh, yeah, that's really funny. Well, and I remember it mostly with Maeve because she had like 20 of them. And I was like, okay, well, how do you pronounce this one? Because I want to try to like include stuff if there's like differences, you know, but I would like go to pronunciations and it would be like Maeve. And I'm like, okay, what about this one? And it'd be like,
00:09:54
Speaker
Maeve. These are all Maeve. They're just spelled differently. That's really funny. And then it's like, how would you know which one to use? Which one is the most appropriate spelling to use too? It just depends, I guess, on where you're from. I just went with the most commonly known ones.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, so if it was like that where it was like the same pronunciation, just different ways to spell it. Because I mean, I'm just saying it, they're not seeing our notes. Right. Yeah. Also known as and also known as Maeve and Maeve. That's why I also left them out because I was like, they're gonna be listening. And they're not even gonna see like what I'm talking about. And I'm like, Oh, Maeve, but also Maeve.
00:10:46
Speaker
But you know, pronunciations are probably going to be trash, but just know, as always, we try our best. And we did look all of these up. Yeah, I literally sat on YouTube for an hour and a half this morning trying to practice some of these, because yikes. Well, I feel like some of these too, whenever I would look up the pronunciation, it doesn't
00:11:11
Speaker
It would sound better coming from somebody who has a British accent or already has an Irish accent or a Welsh accent or Scottish or whatever. Saying these words with an American accent, it just sounds great. It doesn't sound that great at all. No. My very last one.
00:11:32
Speaker
like I know it sounds terrible coming out of my mouth but like listening to other like Irish accented people like show how to pronounce it I was like oh that's awesome and then I try it and I'm like that sounds like trash I know right yes so look we really do try our best but you have to cut us slack mm-hmm that is true yeah so just as like a general background um
00:11:57
Speaker
disclaimer for this. This is going to be a very limited background on the fae. We're going to have an entire episode on fae and fairy magic later on, but this is just a general background because there's so much we could discuss when it comes to the fae. If we tried to do that, this would be a couple hours.
00:12:16
Speaker
at least just on the background. I mean, even on this small amount that we're covering, there was way more information that could have been included. Yes. I felt like I had to just get the cliff notes because I was like, I can't keep going down these rabbit holes. It's going to be so long. Same. So much of what we know of the fae comes from oral tradition and writings that have been heavily influenced and changed by Christians and ancient Romans.
00:12:44
Speaker
This heavily skews their legends and lore, and they've often been demonized. Some writers have noted them as being heroes, queens, and kings that hold mysterious powers. According to Caridwen from Craft of Wicca, Feyre depicted as magical or supernatural entities that appear at critical junctions of one's life and live in the liminal spaces, or places where two worlds connect.
00:13:09
Speaker
And this is something like when it comes to liminal spaces, we've talked about this before in previous episodes, but just as kind of a refresher, this would be things like the crossroads, forests, or you see them more prevalent during certain times of the year, like at Beltane and in bulk, where the day and the night are equal. And then also during new moon phases and solstices and during Samhain.
00:13:32
Speaker
As far as the reputation, fae are known for being mischievous, cunning, and if you interact with them, you should come prepared knowing that they will be mischievous and cunning. And this is something that harkens back to a lot of the books that we read just in our downtime. But there's that lore that says not to make any bargains or promises with fae unless you know exactly what you're getting in return.
00:14:00
Speaker
and to know that there are never any gifts from the fae. Every transaction is an exchange and it is never one-sided. Lore related back to fae and fae deities state that they live in places that go by many names such as the land of the fae, the inner realm, or the other world. For this episode we're going to be discussing fae gods and fae goddesses and so I'm going to kick it off with a fae god named Angus.
00:14:28
Speaker
And Angus, the name itself, means true vigor in Old Irish, and he's also referred to as Angus Ogg, meaning young Angus, or Mac Ogg, meaning the young son. He's known for his good looks, and it's said that his beauty, youth, and brightness would bring about the promise of spring to the world.
00:14:50
Speaker
He's an Irish god of love, youth, and beauty, as I just said. And he's often associated with poetry. He has the ability to bring the dead back to life with only his breath. Even though he was associated with love, though, he was also perceived as a warrior. And he was known to fight in raids. However, more often than not, he would use words and wits to avoid confrontation.
00:15:16
Speaker
which I really like because I like that he would, I mean, I think this goes back to some of the lore about fairies and how like they are very cunning and mischievous. So I like that.
00:15:28
Speaker
He is the illegitimate son of the Dagda and Boan, and I forgot to look up how to actually say her name, so I could be pronouncing it completely wrong. But she was the goddess of the river Boin. His father had to have her as his mistress, even though she was married. So he got her pregnant, and then slowed down time. So basically, Angus was conceived and born on the same day. And by the time he was born,
00:15:57
Speaker
nobody knew what had happened until after he was born. So he was like, okay, time, you're going to stretch on. But the pregnancy still happened like normal? Right. Yes. Could you imagine being pregnant for 10 months?
00:16:14
Speaker
But then also, yeah, and I wonder, did time slow down for just him and that was it? And then she's just like, oh my God, how do I have this baby? Or did it slow down for her too? So I'm confused about that because I can't even imagine, I mean, I would be pissed either way. Living with time being so slowed down that I think it's been 10 months and it's only been 30 seconds.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah. But then also I would be super pissed off if I just had this baby now and I had like 30 seconds. Yeah. 30 seconds later, I just have this baby. Like you're like, I haven't even gotten to buy a crib or some diapers. Right. I am not mentally prepared for this. But yeah, so I guess he wasn't even raised by his dad. Like the dad didn't raise him or anything. He was raised by his mother and his stepfather.
00:17:09
Speaker
who his mother was married to at the time.
00:17:13
Speaker
Elmar. So what a mess. And to make it even worse, Angus was left out of any inheritance by both of his fathers. And he was like, oh, hell no. Like, this is not my fault I was born, right? So he used a linguistic trick to win control over Bruno Boyne. This was the land that was originally split between his father's heirs and none was given to him.
00:17:40
Speaker
He asked if he could stay at Bruinaboyne for a day and a night. And either Dagda or Elkmar agreed. No one really knows. I mean, it changes depending on which lawyer you're reading. So I'm not sure which one it was that led him. But in Old Irish, there is no definite article. So a day and a night was the same as day and night. So he tricked them. And they thought he was only going to stay there for one day.
00:18:08
Speaker
But he tricked them into allowing him to stay there forever. And so that's how he got the land. What a smart one. I know, right? So there's a lot of tales about Angus in Irish mythology. And he's one of the most popular heroic gods of Celtic mythology. And so in Irish mythology, there is this story called Ashling ingoso.
00:18:35
Speaker
Um, and this is called the dream of Angus and it was written in the eighth century. And what this lore states is Angus had a dream where he saw a maiden called Carre Ibormith and I should have looked this one up too, but I did it. And what is wrong with me? I meant to look this one up. So sorry about that. Um, I looked up almost everything else though. Um,
00:19:00
Speaker
except for two important names. He kept dreaming of her for a while after and over time he fell in love with her and he tried to find her. The problem with this maiden though is she would spend one year in human form and one year in swan form, but he was able to find her in her swan form on Samhain at the
00:19:24
Speaker
at the Loch Bel Dracon and he shapeshifted into a swan and with the help of 149 other maidens who were also like shapeshifted into swans, they circled the like three times singing enchanted music
00:19:41
Speaker
And this music made people who were living in the area fall asleep for three days and three nights. And during this time, he was able to find care and they both fell in love with each other and he returned with her to his palace. And that's one of the most, I guess, famous legends relating back to him.
00:20:03
Speaker
That makes me think of Vassa. Yes, exactly. Literally, I wonder if this is like where she got that. Yeah. And if you guys don't know, we're talking about a character from the Sarah J Maas Akutar series. Yeah. And if you haven't read it, you totally should. Maybe that's something that we visit later on for our
00:20:29
Speaker
amazing series book club. Because there's a lot of like magic and just mythology that are, I was gonna say artist, the author pulls like legends and stuff to create her magical world. So yeah. So the next god that I'm going to talk about his name is Manon Maclear.
00:20:56
Speaker
and he is known as the son of the sea. He's an Irish sea god, and it's said that the name Isle of Man is derived from him, and he was supposed to be the first official ruler of the Isle of Man.
00:21:11
Speaker
He appears in Irish, Max, which is the Isle of Man folklore, and Welsh mythology, and all of which have different versions of him and different roles for him. And I'll get into those a little bit later, but mostly when you look up him and you look up his mythology, a lot of what you'll see is that
00:21:37
Speaker
He was the leader of the Tuatha de Danann, which we've talked about previously on this podcast when we were talking about Celtic gods and goddesses. But they were legendary people said to have lived in Ireland during the Bronze Age. And he was a supernatural being who was the master of the sea, the dead, and the veil between worlds.
00:22:00
Speaker
He was a ruler and protector of the Otherworld where Sol's journey to after death and he could control the weather and command magical ships that could never sink. Traditionally, he ruled an island paradise, protected sailors and provided crops to people. He was known for being really generous and he would give gifts and blessings to
00:22:22
Speaker
anyone who pleased him. And he gave immortality to the gods through his pigs. And so those who ate the pigs never died. Wow. Yeah. Could you imagine like just eating some pork chops and then being able to live forever? Well, pork sandwiches and now I'm immortal.
00:22:43
Speaker
Like, interesting. He was the master of tricks and illusions, and he owned many magical possessions. So he had a horse called Einbar. Einbar. This is something else that also escaped my Googling for pronunciation. So, but just know it was a horse who could run on water.
00:23:09
Speaker
He had a chariot of a ship called Wave Sweeper that could propel itself and never sink. He had an invincible sword called Fraggerock.
00:23:19
Speaker
And this was something I did look up, actually, and that is the pronunciation. But it means the answer and the sight of the sword would fill men's heart with fear and make them weak. And any person who was wounded by this sword would not survive. And when the sword was at a person's throat, they couldn't lie. He also had impenetrable armor that was also magical. And I
00:23:48
Speaker
I found a lot of different information about this armor and where he was supposedly got it. And that was just, I mean, it was going to be too much. So I didn't include any of that. But in Meng's mythology, he was known as he had the role of defender and he would use magic to veil the Isle of Man and a mist to confuse and intimidate invaders. And he also aided Liu in battle.
00:24:13
Speaker
In Welsh mythology, Manonin goes by Manonin Fablier, and the focus was on his children, usually in Welsh mythology. So he was the father of Bran the Blessed, who was the god of regeneration, and he owned a cauldron, Bran did, not
00:24:38
Speaker
his son, Bran, owned this cauldron that, if drank from, could bring a warrior back from the dead. But, um, Manouin de Fablier had a golden cup that served a purpose like the answer, so it would break
00:24:55
Speaker
The cup itself would break if lies were told in front of it and it would mend itself when the truth was told. But I can't even imagine, this would be so fucking frustrating. Could you imagine having a drink and then someone tells a lie in the room that you're in and it just shatters and it's like, I was going to drink that. Thank you. I really wanted that wine, but I guess not. I guess not. I guess it's all over the floor now because you can't tell the truth.
00:25:21
Speaker
Um, and then in Irish mythology, the focus again was more largely placed on his children, um, where he would like lore would have him offering them aid or using magic to test and trick mortals. Um, and then the last God that I'm going to talk about is Kukulen. Kukulen. Here's the thing with this, with this God, right? There was many different pronunciations for his name. I've seen Kukulain.
00:25:51
Speaker
Um, but I feel like the most well-sounding version of this name or just Irish sounding version was Kukulan. I talked about him with, I think it was the Morrigan. He's like the Morrigan's where I can't remember the full thing, but it was like he could transform and he did something and like tried to trick her into falling into love with him. And she like.
00:26:17
Speaker
She was like, no, thank you. And so he tried to like, kill her. And then she like, turned into an eel and like, attacked him while he was like, battling in the water. And then she like, turned into a cow and made all the cows stampede so that his horses couldn't get by. And then he ends up getting like, mortally wounded and she sits with him.
00:26:36
Speaker
I don't, do you remember that? I do remember that. But here's the thing, it wasn't even in any of the stuff that I have here. Oh, with him, like with that version, it was the cuckoo lane. Yeah, this is when you said that I was like, this sounds familiar. Yeah, no, this is like a completely different story, like, and a different ending for him to like, so just goes to show you how much there is lore based on these guys.
Fae Goddesses and Creation Myths
00:27:06
Speaker
who writes it or who's telling the story on how it's written or what's said. So Kukulen is the son of Lu and Dikteen. And essentially, I guess, she swallowed a miniature version of Lu while drinking a cup of water and then miraculously becomes pregnant.
00:27:30
Speaker
weird. So his name means the Hound of Kulen and this was like he didn't and he wasn't born with this name is what I'm trying to say here okay. He was given this name after this great smith in Irish mythology. He was first actually called Setanta but he becomes known as Kukulen after he kills Kulen's guard dog
00:27:54
Speaker
in self-defense when he was seven years old. And this dog was like a fucking beast. He wasn't just any dog. This dog was kept on three chains and held by nine warriors. And I guess the actual role of this guard dog was to protect cattle.
00:28:12
Speaker
Why would you want this massive beast protecting your cattle? He would probably eat them all. You probably did Kulin a favor. But yeah, so after he slain this guard dog, his name changed from Satanta to Kulin.
00:28:29
Speaker
So his description sounds fucking terrifying. Okay. Let me just, let me tell you, right? He was described as being small, dark, beardless with incredible speed, agility, and energy. That's fine, right? Yeah.
00:28:45
Speaker
No, it gets worse though. Okay. Let me just tell you. His hair has three different colors, blonde, brown, and bright red, which, okay, that's fine too. Cheeks have four dimples, which are red, blue, yellow, and green. Just like little.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, just covered, colored indentions on his face, which, okay. I'm like, that's kind of weird, but you know, maybe, you know, whatever. Um, doing some like, maybe it's like an Edward colon, like you sparkle and it looks, you know, kind of way. But then he has seven toes on each foot, seven fingers on each hand and seven pupils and each eye. Like a spider.
00:29:29
Speaker
Yeah, could you imagine? Fuck that shit. No wonder that Morgan wasn't following for that, because hell no. Even still though, he was considered handsome, and women were very attracted to him. I'm telling you right now, I would not be. I'm just kidding. Maybe he had a great personality. I don't know. I prefer one pupil per eye, thanks. Yeah, thank you.
00:29:53
Speaker
So he is one of the greatest heroes in Irish Celtic mythology. He was a warrior. He used the weapon gay bulga, which was a spear that inflicts 30 wounds on a target from a single strike. It was made from the bones of a mighty sea monster.
00:30:08
Speaker
he can transform himself into a tower of raging fury before a battle and so this would look like I mean his body would essentially warp with parts shifting about and his crown would spurt blood and light
00:30:23
Speaker
And and the lawn lathe would shine from his forehead. And I looked this up. The lawn lathe is basically just a champion's light that would shine from his forehead. Like I thought it was going to be something else like in and the mythology. But no, it's just like this fucking beam. So it was kind of like a what's it called? Yeah. I reminded me of like. I can't remember lighthouse, like a lighthouse. So he was just like a fucking like swirling
00:30:51
Speaker
like massive blood and bones with like a light shining out of him. Sounds like nightmare fuel too. Absolutely right. Thank you. No thanks. So there's that. And he was trained by a female warrior named Skathak of the Isle of Skye and he learned how to make like big leaps
00:31:18
Speaker
during this training and many of the coastal rocks in Ireland are called Ku-Kulain's Leap because of that I guess. He was known to single-handedly hold off invading armies and I mean I can see how though because if I looked like that and I somebody was rushing up to me they would probably turn away too. Like if I was rushing up in an army and I saw this like
00:31:45
Speaker
rotating meat sack with a light shining out and seven pupils in each eye. I'm sorry, I'm going to go home. That's just me though. And there's a lore that has him entering into a contest with a giant to see how many victims they could each decapitate.
00:32:08
Speaker
terrifying. Um, and like, I think one of the saddest things that I read about him is he ended up killing his own son, but didn't know it at the time. Um, isn't that terrible? Yeah. So he was called upon to defeat this dude who just like appeared on the coast and like killed two other champions. So he went to go fight this kid and the kid, like he kept asking like, what is your name? And the kid wouldn't tell him his name. And they had, they fought for a while and it was like,
00:32:37
Speaker
really close in battle, but he ended up defeating him and as the kid was laying dying, he told him his name and then he was like, oh fuck, this is my kid. And so yeah, he ended up killing his kid. But also out of the year, didn't even know it was your own kid. Didn't even know, didn't even know, right?
00:32:58
Speaker
Um, and then in the lore that I was reading, so obviously this is different than the lore that we had talked about previously on the podcast, but yeah. Um, and the lore that I was reading, he ends up dying at the hand of Lugade Mark, Lugade Mark Conroy after Kukulin slept with his mother. Like he was just basically like, you're going to sleep with my mom. I'm going to kill you. And then they ended up fighting and he tells him. So I wonder if it depends on like the spelling of the name.
00:33:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm. What the lore is because like the spellings come from different like dialects So I wonder like if the one that I had gotten when I was doing the Morrigan, maybe that was like a different dialect So a different version Yes, or it could just be too like um like as I was talking about with mana mana non Maclear
00:33:56
Speaker
with him, his lore changes depending on if you're in Wales or if you're in the Isle of Man or if you're in England. It could be that situation as well where it's like, okay, we have the same type of guy with the same name, but the legend changes depending on where you're living at. It could be that too. Those are fae gods and those are just a few. There was a lot more and there was a lot more I could say on each of these, but again, we'd be here all day.
00:34:26
Speaker
Yeah. No, we can't. We can't cover up all of their stuff. It's too much. So now I'm going to talk about the goddesses that are tied to the fae. And the first one I have is Danu. And she's also known as Anu or Dana. She is known as like the ancient mother goddess of Ireland. And for those with knowledge of the Welsh deities, her equivalent is the Welsh goddess Dawn.
00:34:54
Speaker
And while her origins are somewhat unclear, it is assumed that due to her matriarchal position, that she ties back directly to the Celtic creation myth. But I want to point out that the Welsh goddess Don, this is D-O-N because later I'm going to be talking about another, like in this creation myth, I'm going to be talking about another Don that is a male D-O-N-N.
00:35:19
Speaker
And this is why it gets confusing on podcasts because you guys can't see the way things are written and we're saying it, but it's like the same pronunciations.
00:35:27
Speaker
So the Celtic creation myth starts out as follows. Long, long ago, the great void produced a god and a goddess named Don, and this is the D-O-N-N, Don, and Donu. When they looked at each other, a sacred flame burned in their hearts. They locked into a loving embrace from which they could not be separated. And this is taken from Ancient Origin's website.
00:35:51
Speaker
So obviously this legend is really long. So I didn't include the whole thing, but just the start of it. But as the legend continues, the two of them have children that then become trapped between them in their like locked in brace because, you know, they can't like separate. So they're just sitting there holding each other.
00:36:10
Speaker
She goes through pregnancy, has kids, and the kids pop out and they're just stuck between their mom and dad, which is just weird. Their son, Brion, he convinces Donu to let go of Don to free the children, and then she eventually allows him to slay Don.
00:36:27
Speaker
Brion cuts Dawn into nine pieces, and in her grief, Donu's tears wash those pieces and her children away, where Dawn's head becomes the sky, his brain the clouds, his face the sun, his mind the moon, his bones the stones, and his breath the wind. His blood mixed with Donu's tears become the sea, and the children were washed down to earth, thus creating humanity. So that's the Celtic creation myth.
00:36:56
Speaker
That's terrifying. I was reading that like not only like does her son kill his own dad, her husband, she like loses everybody at once because she like cries so much in her grief that the tears become like a flood that wash away all the pieces of him and then the children as well and then humanity is made.
00:37:24
Speaker
Yeah. So Donu is associated with fertility, abundance, and wisdom, and she's often depicted as an influential and nurturing figure. She's revered and worshipped by the seed of the Tuatha de Danan, and it's also believed that both the moon goddess Diana and the fairy queen of the witcheries derived from Donu. Next I have Nemu. She's also known as Vivian,
00:37:55
Speaker
Nemanet, the Lady of the Sacred Wells and Waters, and the Lady of the Lake, who I discussed in our Cornwall and Peak District episode very briefly, and she's also considered one of the sovereign goddesses of Avalon. She's woven into Arthurian legends as a mysterious figure that offers advice and intervention. While Nemu is known especially thanks to the Arthurian lore, there's actually like
00:38:22
Speaker
no evidence of her, like no carvings, no statues, no place names that make any other references to her, like she's basically just found in Arthurian lore for the most part. She's said to be a student, a teacher, a lover, a foster mother to Sir Lancelot, and the guardian and keeper of the Sword of Sovereignty, which she gifted to Arthur, taking it back after his death.
00:38:47
Speaker
Namu is one of the nine priestesses of the Otherworld, and together they guard the cauldron of rebirth. Some believe that different goddesses have actually taken on the role of the Lady of the Lake, Morgan Le Fay being one of them. But another one that has compelling ties to this is Coventina.
00:39:05
Speaker
who was an ancient British triple goddess of wells and springs, and she gifted the ancestors fresh healing water. If you listen to episode 48 when I discussed Merlin, you might remember that he had ties to the fae, and the legends state that Namu turned against Merlin and trapped him in her crystal cave, though some believe that she kept him there for safekeeping to allow him to heal until the people of Earth invoked his return.
00:39:30
Speaker
And that's all I could really find on her. But again, that's because I think probably that there wasn't any other evidence outside of Arthurian lore with her. Yeah. Next we have Guinevere. She is known as the original May queen of fairy. She has also sometimes been called Jennifer and this is pre Arthurian lore, which I thought was kind of funny.
00:39:53
Speaker
I guess it's kind of close to Guinevere, but Jennifer to me is such an American name. I read that and I was like, that's interesting. She's also attributed as being a triple goddess.
00:40:10
Speaker
Guinevere is known as the goddess of sovereignty, fertility, judgment, goddess of the earth dawn and spring, and she's considered a guardian of the passage between worlds. She's sometimes even referred to as the great virgin goddess of sovereignty and judgment, and is often depicted wearing white.
00:40:30
Speaker
As a virginal goddess, it shows that she was complete by herself, being powerful and influential without the need of another and not requiring a pair. She was said to have been summoned by the Celts to bring fertility to the earth and to take the souls to the other world.
00:40:46
Speaker
Her name means white spirit or white shadow and it said that she and King Arthur were wed on Beltane or May Day and this was considered a month reserved for the marriages of the gods. Their marriage was not one of love but one to keep his kingdom from collapse without leadership because legend stated that one who bedded Guinevere ruled the lands. Her marriage to King Arthur is what gave him his right to rule and gave Camelot its structure and its strength
00:41:15
Speaker
While married to Arthur, she was said to have had an affair with Sir Lancelot that in turn weakened the power of Camelot. Next is Maeve. Her name translates to mean she who intoxicates, strong or intoxicated. Her name is also a derivative of mead, and she has a relation to alcohol throughout mythology.
00:41:37
Speaker
History shows a level of certainty that Maeve, the Queen of Connacht, and the Goddess of Sovereignty actually lived, and her myths are part of what's known as the Ulster Cycle, which is a body of medieval Irish legends and sagas of the Ulaid that focuses on the Ulster King and his court.
00:41:59
Speaker
The Ulster King has conflicts with Maeve, so she doesn't really like feature as a central character throughout most of it, except for in like one version. But she plays a necessary role to the cycle. She was a daughter to royalty, hence her title of queen, being born to the King of Terra and Queen Clothfin around the 9th and 10th century BCE. The pair had six daughters and four sons in total, and her father was also referred to as being
00:42:29
Speaker
a high king, which many historians argue that it meant hide in the sky, which made him a deity and not like an actual human king. Maeve had multiple husbands throughout her life and she birthed seven sons who were all named Maine. She named all seven of them Maine. She really liked that name. And then she had one daughter and her name was Findabere.
00:42:56
Speaker
Finda bear and you're gonna okay. First of all, how are you gonna name all seven of your sons main and then have one daughter and you're gonna name her something like Finda beer and
00:43:11
Speaker
This whole thing just made me laugh while I was doing my research for it. Some lore has said that her first husband was actually the king of Ulster and with whom she had her first son named Maine, which would be a more prominent tie to the Ulster cycle. Still, other lore states that she was known for her invasion of Ulster, though this invasion precipitated her death,
00:43:37
Speaker
As an act of revenge for the invasion, she was slain by a single slingshot while bathing in a pool by Forbe, who was said to be the Ulster King's son. She's known as the warrior queen of the fairies, and similar to the legends of Guinevere, Irish legends state that no king could reign in this world unless he was married to Queen Maeve, who ruled in the other world.
00:44:02
Speaker
So by marrying Queen Maeve, the king would have one foot in this world and then one foot in the other world, which I thought was interesting. That is interesting. Legends surrounding Maeve state that she drove men wild at the mere sight of her and that even birds would just fly to her arms and shoulders in a desire to be like near her.
00:44:23
Speaker
she was able to run faster than any horse. It was because of this attribute that she earned the name warrior queen and the connection to strength. Next is Anya. So Anya is a Celtic goddess of love, wealth, sovereignty, and summer. And sovereignty, I noticed at least in my end, was like a common theme in all of the like fairy deities.
00:44:47
Speaker
like the fairy deities, all of them have some kind of like tie to sovereignty. And she's also a goddess of summer. There was a cult in Limerick, Ireland that followed her and from there, her fame spread to other regions. She's a fertility goddess of ancient Ireland, who's known to be very beautiful. And Anja is often referred to as the fairy queen of Nakhani,
00:45:15
Speaker
Legends state that wherever Anya focuses her attention, love will flourish there. And in County Kerry in Ireland, Anya's Hill holds beautiful midsummer celebrations to honor her, like still to this day. There were some really cute pictures for those. So if anyone... It sounds like exactly the place I'm going to be.
00:45:36
Speaker
Right? It was really pretty. I was like, man, I want to go to this. But sadly, much of the legends that surround her include ones of her being raped and murdered, along with having to face many difficult situations. And this is simply because while the Celtic armies worked for others and fought for their land, women had to protect their homes, their towns, and settlements. And this often led to death, cruelty, and sexual abuse to many women.
00:46:04
Speaker
Anya became their deity and she brought women hope, reminding them of the joys of summer and of pleasant times. That's really sad. I know. I know. I was like reading all this stuff and I was like, oh, she sounds really cool. And then I was like, oh.
00:46:19
Speaker
Yeah. Oh no. This took a turn. Things got dark. Next is Rhiannon. Rhiannon is known as the great queen. Her themes are movement, communication, rest, ghost, fertility, and leadership. And she's often associated with white, horses, and the moon.
00:46:40
Speaker
Being considered a Celtic horse goddess who rides a white mare bearing fertility, leadership, and means to get things moving where they may have stagnated. She is said to be able to command singing birds that can wake spirits and then like grant mortals sleep. And she is considered a great goddess and is a potent symbol of fertility, but also an other world and death goddess, a bringer of dreams,
00:47:10
Speaker
and a moon deity. Rhiannon's lore states that she was cursed by a scorned lover's father and as a result, she became barren and childless for many years after. When she was finally able to give birth to her first son, she was falsely accused of devouring her own child
00:47:28
Speaker
Her son had disappeared, and she was found with blood on her mouth and cheeks, and they sentenced her to serve as Paul's gatekeeper, bearing visitors to the door on her back, symbolically transforming her into a horse. Her son was later found, and the maids confessed that, when her son went missing, they smeared puppy blood,
00:47:50
Speaker
on her while she was sleeping on her face because they were afraid that they would be accused for his disappearance. But you took the baby. I would kill every single one. He just disappeared. They don't know where he went. Oh. Yeah. They came in to get her and the baby ready. Notice the baby was missing. And they were like, fucking cut this puppy. Put blood on her face. And then they were like, no, she ate the baby.
00:48:18
Speaker
And then later, when the kid comes back, they're like, yeah, so about that. I would kill every single one. I read that and I was like, fuck those maids. Rhiannon is often seen writing a swift white steed and as being accompanied by blackbirds. And she's also often referred to as the patroness of all unjustly accused and of those who suffer long term hardships, which is precious.
00:48:46
Speaker
and this is the one I'm going to struggle, struggle with, you guys. So bear with me, but this one is Bledayweth, and she is the Welsh goddess of spring. Her themes are beauty, relationship, charity, and hope, and her symbols are flowers and owls. She's known as an otherworldly woman, and it's said that she was born of the flowers, and this is why.
00:49:12
Speaker
So, Lu's mother, Adondrad, placed a geysa, or a magical oath on him, that said he should never marry a mortal woman. And it's because of this legend that Bledayweth was created from the flowers of oak, broom, and meadow sweet by powerful magicians to be the wife of Lu. And her name literally means flower face.
00:49:38
Speaker
So while married to Lou, she ends up sleeping with another man. And the two plotted and carried out Lou's death by tricking him into the only pose in which he could be harmed. And so for this, the magicians that created her then transform her into an owl, which was considered to be like like not a beautiful creature, I guess, which I find weird because I think owls are really cute. So I understand that. But
00:50:05
Speaker
They transform her into an owl and they make her a creature of the night as a form of punishment. So she just like remained in this form ever since, just mourning the loss of love and reminding people that relationships are fragile and that beauty is only skin
Welsh Goddess Bledayweth
00:50:21
Speaker
deep. She represents temporary beauty and the bright blooming that must come full circle through death. And she's the promise of Autumn's, like Autumn being visible during spring.
00:50:33
Speaker
Because she had this affair, they make everything out to be so dark about her. It's like, oh, spring's coming to an end. We can see autumn now. And they attribute that to her. I'm like, that's so rude. It is, yeah.
00:50:49
Speaker
Many historians attribute her to being the symbol of betrayal or a representative of the May Queen who was wed ritually to the King who would then be sacrificed to her. And if you've seen the movie Midsummer that came out in 2019, this representation is like loosely depicted there. Have you seen that movie? Absolutely, I have.
00:51:10
Speaker
I remember we, because I think this was around fall is when it came out. And we were looking for a scary movie to watch. And so we Googled scariest, new scary movies. And this was on there. We watched it and I was like, this is not scary. It's not scary. It's not some uncomfortable parts, but it was definitely not scary. Yeah.
00:51:32
Speaker
uh but anyways as many of the other goddesses that i've discussed today blood dye with is also often referred to as a triple goddess who cycles through the maiden mother and crone phases and then just a couple of honorable mentions we that we covered in episode 26 are morden lafey and karidwen so that's it that's it yeah there were some other ones i probably could have put um for the honorable mentions because a lot of the
00:52:02
Speaker
like gods that we've talked about, like fae gods that showed up on the list were ones we've already talked about in the other episodes. So I was like, man, I'm not going to get into that. But I didn't make note of their names to put down here. So just know. If the fae gods are lacking, that's why.
Episode Reflections and Promotions
00:52:24
Speaker
And hopefully we didn't butcher those pronunciations too bad, but we tried. We really tried.
00:52:40
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:53:03
Speaker
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