Angus Mac Og - Angus of the Brugh - Oengus of the Bruig - Angus Mac Oc

Ireland. "Young son." One of the Tuatha De Danann. He had a gold harp that made irresistibly sweet music. His kisses became birds carrying love messages. He had a brugh (fairy palace) on the banks of the Boyne. God of youth, love and beauty.



Anu - Anann - Dana - Dana-Ana

Ireland. Mother Earth; goddess of plenty, another aspect of the Morrigu; Great Goddess; greatest of all goddesses. The flowering fertility goddess, sometimes she formed a trinity with Badb and Macha. Her priestesses comforted and taught the dying. Fires were lit for her at Midsummer. Two hills in Kerry are called the Paps of Anu. Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess in Ireland. Guardian of cattle and health. Goddess of fertility, prosperity, comfort.



Arawn

Wales. King of Hell; god of Annwn, the underground kingdom of the dead. Revenge, terror, war.



Arianrhod

Wales. "Silver Wheel"; "High Fruitful Mother"; star goddess; sky goddess; virgin; goddess of reincarnation; Full Moon goddess. Her palace was called Caer Arianrhod (Aurora Borealis). Keeper of the circling Silver Wheel of Stars, a symbol of time or karma. This wheel was also known as the Oar Wheel, a ship which carried dead warriors to the Moonland (Emania). Mother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Dylan by her brother Gwydion. Her original consort was Nwyvre (Sky or Firmament). Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess in Wales. Honored at the Full Moon. Beauty, fertility, reincarnation.



Badb - Badhbh - Badb Catha

Ireland. "Boiling"; "Battle Raven"; "Scald-crow"; the cauldron of ever-producing life; known in Gaul as Cauth Bodva. War goddess and wife of Net, a war god. Sister of Macha, the Morrigu and Anu. Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess in Ireland. Associated with the cauldron, crows, and reavens. Life, wisdom, inspiration enlightenment.



Banba

Ireland. Goddess; part of a triad with Fotia and Eriu. They used magic to repel invaders.



Bel - Belenus - Belinus - Belenos - Beli Mawr

Ireland. "Shining"; Sun and Fire god; Great God. Similar to Apollo. Closely connected with the Druids. His name is seen in the festival of Beltane or Beltain. Cattle were driven through the bonfires for purification and fertility. Science, healing , hot springs, fire, success, prosperity, purification, crops, vegetation, fertility, cattle.



Blodeuwedd - Blodwin - Blancheflor

Wales. "Flower Face"; "White Flower". Lily maid of Celtic initiation ceremonies. Also known as the Ninefold Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise. Created by Math and Gwydion as a wife for Lleu. she was changed into an owl for her adultery and plotting Lleu's death. The Maiden for mof the Triple Goddess; her symbol was the owl; goddess of the Earth in bloom. Flowers, wisdom, lunar mysteries, intiations.



Boann - Boannan - Boyne

Ireland. Goddess of the river Boyne; mother of Angus mac Og by the Dagda.



Bran the Blessed - Benedigeidfran

Wales. A giant; "raven"; "the blessed". Brother of the mighty Manawydan ap Llyr(Ireland, Manannan mac Lir) and Branwen; son of Llyr. Associated with ravens. God of prophecy, the arts, leaders, war, the Sun, music, writing.



Branwen

Manx, Wales. Sister of Bran the Blessed and wife of the Irish king of Matholwch. Venus of the Northern Seas; daughter of Llyr (Lir); one of the three matriarchs of Britain; Lady of the Lake (cauldron). Goddess of love and beauty.



Brigit - Brid - Brig - Brigid - Brighid

Ireland, Wales, Spain, France. "Power"; "Renown"; "Fiery Arrow or Power" (Breo-saighead). Daughter of Dagda; called the poetess. Often called The Triple Brigids, Three Blessed Ladies of Britain, The Three Mothers. Another aspect of Danu; associated with Imbolc. She had an exclusive female priesthood at Kildare and an ever-burning sacred fire. The number of her priestesses was nineteen, representing the nineteen-year cycle of the Celtic "Great Year". Her kelles were sacred prostitutes and her soldiers brigands. Goddess of fire, fertility, the hearth, all feminine arts and crafts, and martial arts. Healing, physicians, agriculture, inspiration, learning, poetry, divination, prophecy, smithcraft, animal husbandry, love witchcraft, occult knowledge.



Cernunnos - Cernowain - Cernenus - Herne the Hunter

Known to all Celtic areas in one form or another. The Horned God; God of Nature; god of the Underworld and the Astral Plane; Great Father; "the Horned One". The Druids knew him as Hu Gadarn, the Horned God of fertility. He was portrayed sitting in a lotus position with horns or antlers on his head, long curling hair, a beard, naked except for a neck torque, and sometimes holding a spear and shield. His symbols were the stag, ram, bull, and horned serpent. Sometimes called Belatucadros and Vitiris. Virility, fertility, animals, physical love, Nature, woodlands, reincarnation, crossroads, wealth, commerce, warriors.



Cerridwen - Caridwen - Ceridwen

Wales. Moon Goddess; Great Mother; grain goddess; goddess of Nature. The white corpse-eating sow representing the Moon. Wife of the giant Tegid and mother of the beautiful girl Creirwy and an ugly boy Avagdu. Welsh Bards called themselves Cerddorion (sons of Cerridwen). The Bard Taliesin, founder of their craft, was said to be born of Cerridwen and to have tasted a potent brew form her magic cauldron of inspiration. This potion known as 'greal' (from which the word Grail probably came), was made from six plants for inspiration and knowledge. Gwion Bach (later called Taliesin) accidentally drank the remaining three drops of the liquid. Her symbol was a white sow. Death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration, magic, astrology, herbs, science, poetry, spells, knowledge.



Creiddylad - Creudylad - Cordelia

Wales. Daughter of the sea god Llyr. Connected with Beltane and often called the May Queen. Goddess of summer flowers. Love and flowers.



The Crone

One aspect of the Triple Goddess. She represents old age or death, Winter, the end of all things, the waning Moon, post-menstrual phases of women's lives, all destruction that precedes regeneration through her cauldron of rebirth. Crows and other black creatures are sacred to her. Dogs often accompanied her and guarded the gates of her after-world, helping her receive the dead. In Celtic myth, the gatekeeper-dog was named Dormarth (Death's Door). The Irish Celts maintained that true curses could be cast with the aid of a dog. Therefore, they used the word cainte (dog) for a satiric Bard with the magic power to speak curses that came true.



The Dagda

Ireland. "The Good God"' "All-father"; Great God; Lord of the Heavens; Father of the gods and men; Lord of Life and Death; the Arch-Druid; god of magic; Earth God. High King of the Tuatha De Danann. He had four great palaces in the depths of the earth and under the hollow hills. The Dagda had several children, the most important being Brigit, Angus, Midir, Ogma and Bodb the Red. God of death and rebirth; master of all trades; lord of perfect knowledge.

He had a cauldron called The Undry which supplied unlimited food. He also had a living oak harp which caused the seasons to change in their order. He was pictured wearing a brown, low-necked tunic which just reached his hips and a hooded cape that barely covered his shoulders. On his feet were horse-hide boots. Behind him he pulled his massive 8-pronged warclub on a wheel.

Protection, warriors, knowledge, magic, fire, prophecy, weather, reincarnation, the arts, initiation, patron of priests, the Sun, healing, regeneration, prosperity and plenty, music, the harp. First among magicians, warriors, artisans, all knowledge.



Danu - Danann - Dana

Ireland. Probably the same as Anu. Major Mother goddess; ancestress of the Tuatha De Danann; Mother of the gods; Great Mother; Moon goddess. She gave her name to the Tuatha De Danann (People of the Goddess Danu). Another aspect of the Morrigu. Patroness of wizards, rivers, water, wells, prosperity and plenty, magic, wisdom.



Diancecht - Dian Cecht

Ireland. Physician-magician of the Tuatha. Once he destroyed a terrible baby of the Morrigu. When he cut open the child's heart, he found three serpents that could kill anything. He killed these, burned them and threw the ashes into the nearest river. The ashes were so deadly that they made the river boil and killed everything in it. The river today is called Barrow (boiling). Diancecht had several children: sons Miach, Cian, Cethe and Cu, and a daughter Airmid. God of healing, medicine, regeneration, magic, silver-working.



Don - Domnu - Donn

Ireland, Wales. "Deep sea"; "Abyss". Queen of the Heavens; goddess of sea and air. Sometimes called a goddess, sometimes a god. The equivalent of the Irish Danu. In Ireland, Don ruled over the Land of the Dead. Entrances to this Otherworld were always in a sidhe (shee) or burial mound. Control of the elements, eloquence.



Druantia

"Queen of the Druids"; Mother of the tree calendar; Fir goddess. Fertility, passion, sexual activities, trees, protection, knowledge, creativity.



Dylan

Wales. Son of the Wave; god of the sea. Son of Gwydion and Arianrhod. His symbol was a silver fish.



Elaine

Wales, Britain. Maiden aspect of the Goddess.



Epona

Britain, Gaul. "Divine Horse"; "The Great Mare"; goddess of horses; Mother Goddess. Fertility, maternity, protectress of horses, horse- breeding, prosperity, dogs, healing springs, crops.



Eriu - Erin

Ireland. One of the three queens of the Tuatha De Danann and a daughter of the Dagda.



Flidais

Ireland. Goddess of forsts, woodlands, and wild things; ruler of wild beasts. She rode in a chariot drawn by deer. Shape-shifter.



Goibniu - Gofannon - Govannon

Ireland, Wales. "Great Smith"; one of a triad of craftsmen with Luchtaine the wright and C redne the brazier. Similar to Vulcan. He forged all the Tuatha's weapons; these weapons always hit their mark and every would inflicted by them was fatal. His ale gave the Tuatha invulnerability. God of blacksmiths, weapon-makers, jewelry making, brewing fire, metalworking.



Great Father

The Horned God; The Lord. Lord of the Winter, harvest, land of the dead, the sky, animals, mountains, lust powers of destruction and regeneration; the maile priciple of creation.



Great Mother

The Lady; female principal of creation. Goddess of feritlity, the Moon, Summer, flowers, love, healing, the seas, water. The index finger was condidered the "mother finger, " the most magical which guided, beckoned, blessed and cursed.



Gwydion

Wales. Druid of the mainland gods; son of Don; brother of Govannon, Arianrhod, Amaethon (god of agriculture). Wizrd and Bard of North Wales. a many-skilled deity like Lugh. Prince of the Powers of Air; a shape-shifter. His symbol was a white horse. Greatest of the enchanters; warrior-magician. Illusion, changes. magic, the sky, healing.



Gwynn Ap Nudd

Wales. King of the Fairies and the underworld. Later he bacame king of the Plant Annwn, or subterranean fairies.



Gwythyr

Wales. Opposite of Gwynn ap Nudd. King of the Upper World.



Llyr - Lear - Lir

Ireland, Wales. God of the sea and water, possibly of the underworld. The father of Manawyddan, Bran the Blessed and Branwen.



Lugh - Luga - Lamhfada - Llew - Lug - Lugus - Lug Samildanach
Lleu Llaw Gyffes - Lleu - Lugos

Ireland, Wales. The Shining One; Sun god; god of war; "many-skilled"; "fair-haired one"; "white or shining"; a hero god. His feast is Lughnassadh, a harvest festival. Associated with ravens. His symbol was a white stag in Wales. Son of Cian and Ethniu. Lugh had a magic spear and rod-sling. One of his magic hounds was obtained from the sons of Tuirenn as part of the blood-fine for killing his father Cian.

He was a carpenter, mason, smith, harper, poet, Druid, physician, and goldsmith. War, magic, commerce, reincarnation, lightning, water, arts and crafts, manual arts, journeys, martial arts, blacksmiths, poets, harpers, mucicians, historians, sorcerors, healing, revenge, initiation, prophecy.



Macha

Ireland. "Crow"; "Battle"; "Great Queen of Phantoms"; Mother of Life and Death; a war goddess; Mother Death; originally a Mother Goddess; one of the aspects of the triple Morrigu. Also called Mania, Mana, Mene, Minne. Associated with ravens and crows. She was honored at Lughnassadh. After battle, the Irish cut off the heads of the losers and called them Macha's acorn crop. Protectress in war as in peace; goddess of war and death. Cunning, sheer physical force, sexuality, fertility, dominance over males.



Manannan Mac Lir - Manawydan Ap Llyr - Manawydden

Ireland, Wales. He dressed in a green cloak and a gold headband. A shape-shifter. Chief Irish sea god, eauivalent of the Welsh Llyr. Son of the sea god Lir. the Isle of Man and Isle of Arran in Firth and Clyde were under his protection. At Arran he had a palace called Emhain of the Apple Trees. His swine, which constantly renewed themselves, were the chief food of the Tuatha De Danann and kept them from aging.

He had many famous weapons: two spears called Yellow Shaft and Red Javelin; swords called The Retaliator, Great Fury, and Little Fury. His boat was called Wave Sweeper, and his horse Splendid Mane. He had magic armor that prevented wounds and could make the Tuatha invisible at will. God of the sea, navigators, storms, weather at sea, fertility, sailing, weather-forecasting, magic, arts, merchants and commerce, rebirth.



Margawse

Wales, Britain. Mother aspect of the Goddess.



Math Mathonwy

Wales. God of sorcery, magic, enchantment.



Merlin - Merddin - Myrddin

Wales, Britain. Great sorceror; Druid; magician. Associated with the fairy religion of the Goddess. Old Welsh traditions called him a wild man of the woods with prophetic skills. He is said to have learned all his magic from the Goddess under her many names of Morgan, Viviane, Nimue, Fairy Queen, and Lady of the Lake. Tradition says he sleeps in a hidden crystal cave. Illusion, shape-shifting, herbs, healing, woodlands, Nature, protection, counseling, prophecy, divination, psychic abilities, foreseeing, crystal reading, tarot, magic, rituals, spells, incantations, artisans and smiths.



The Morrigu - Morrigan - Morrighan - Morgan

Ireland, Wales and Britain. "Great Queen"; "Supreme War Goddess"; "Queen of Phantoms or Demons"; "Specter Queen"; shape-shifter. Reigned over the battlefield, helping with her magic, but did not join in battles. Associated with crows and ravens. The Crone aspect of the Goddess; Great Mother; Moon Goddess; Great White Goddess; Queen of the Fairies. In her Dark Aspect (the symbol is then the raven or crow) she is the goddess of war, fate and death; she went fully armed and carried two spears. The carrion crow is her favorite disguise. With her, Fea (Hateful), Nemon (Venomous), Badb (Fury), and Macha (Battle) encouraged fighter to battle madness. Goddess of rivers, lakes, and fresh water. Patroness of priestesses and witches. Revenge, night, magic, prophecy.



Niamh

Ireland. "Brightness"; "Beauty". A form of Badhbh who helps heroes at death.



Nuada - Nudd - Nodons - Nodens - Lud - Llud Llaw Ereint
Llud of the Silver Hand

Ireland, Wales. "Silver Hand"; "He who bestows wealth"; "the Cloud-Maker"; chieftain-god. Similar to Neptune. He had an invincible sword, one of the four great treasures of the Tuatha. God of healing, water, ocean, fishing, the Sun, sailing, childbirth, dogs, youth, beauty, spears and slings, smiths, carpenters, harpers, poets, historians, sorcerors, writing, magic, warfare, incantations.



Ogma - Oghma - Ogmios - Grianainech - Cermait (honey-mouthed)

Ireland. "Sun-face"; similar to Hercules; carried a huge club and was the champion of the Tuatha. Invented the Ogham script alphabet. He married Etan (daughter of Diancecht) and had several children. One son Cairpre became the professional Bard of the Tuatha. Eloquence, poets, writers, physical strength, inspiration, language, literature, magic, spells, the arts, music, reincarnation.



Pwyll

Wales. Ruler of the Underworld at times. Also know as Pwyll pen Annwn (Pwyll head of Annwn). Cunning.



Rhiannon

Wales. "The Great Queen". Goddess of birds and horses. Enchantments, fertility, and the Underworld. She rides a swift white horse.



Scathach - Scota - Scatha - Scath

Ireland, Scotland. "Shadow, shade"; "The Shadowy One"; "She Who Strikes Fear". Underworld goddess of the Land of Scath; Dark Goddess; goddess in the Destroyer aspect. Also a warrior woman and prophetess who lived in Albion (Scotland), probably on the Isle of Skye, and taught the martial arts. Patroness of blacksmiths, healing, magic, prophecy, martial arts.



Taliesin

Wales. Prince of Song; Chief of the Bards of the West; a poet. Patron of Druids, Bards, and minstrels; a shape-shifter. Writing, poetry, wisdom, wizards, Bards, music, knowledge, magic.



Tephi

Ireland. Goddess of Tara and co-founder with Tea.



White Lady

Known to all Celtic countries. Dryad of Death; identified with Macha; Queen of the Dead; the Crone form of the Goddess. Death, destruction, annihilation.



Deities taken from the book Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway, ©1990, Printed by: Llewellyn Publications.

|My Tradition|Celtic Deities|Wicca FAQ's.|Herbs|Chants|Elementals|Tools|Wheel of The Year|
|Ritual Structure|Astrology|Recommended Books|Links|Family & Friends|Awards Won|Bookstore|Mall|
Return to Home Page
copyright Moonfire 1998, 1999, 2000,2001,2002