AMERGIN
Also spelled Amairgin. Amergin was the chief bard of the Milesian
invaders credited with the composition of the poem "I Am the Stag of
Seven Tines." He was also known as a harper, magician, and seer. Many
other poems still exist which are attributed to him, many of which carry
reincarnation themes. Some mythologists feel he may be another version
of Taliesin. Make wish magick with Amergin, or invoke him when you face
a
writer's block or other creative impediments.
ARAWEN
He was the King of Annwn, the Otherworld. His name means
"sliver-tongue." He fought the Battle of Trees (Cad Goddeu)
with Bran against Amathaon and Gwyddion. Arawen, like most
Otherworld Gods, was a master hunter who rode a pale horse
and rode with a pack of white hounds with red ears. The archetypal
purpose of the hunt was to gather souls for the Otherworld if the
quarry was not smart enough to evade the chase. Arawen possessed
a magick cauldron of regeneration, later captured by King Arthur.
Arawen can help you in picking magickal names, in making magick for
strengthening friendships, or in facilitating spirit contact. He also
has attributes of reincarnation deities.
THE BLACK KNIGHT
A mysterious figure in Arthurian legend who battles Cymon and knocks him
from his mount. The following day, Owain seeks him out, but the wounded
knight flees, imprisoning Olwen in his castle walls. Archetypally, the
Black Knight represents the dark side of our own personalities, the
shadow self, with whom we must meet, and perhaps battle, in order to
be initiated into the greater mysteries.
Evoke the Black Knight to help you seek your own shadows.
BLADUD
This "flying king" was probably a regional sun God.
He is associated with the sacred English hot springs
known as Aquae Sulis, an area occupied heavily by
Roman forces which appropriated many of the local
deities. He is depicted in a famous stone carving
near the spring as a very virile male figure with
flaming hair, the radiant features making him
unmistakably a sun God.
Bladud can be invoked for protection, gaining
employment, or other endeavors governed by the sun.
CERNUNNOS
Cernnunos is a Greek name, one of many names of the European
Great Horned God. Whatever his orginal Celtic name might
have been has been lost in history. He was a randy goat
representing the fertility rites of Bealtaine, and the
master of the hunt who came into his full power in late
summer and early fall. He was the primal fertility God,
consort to the first Great Mother, and the make creative
principle. He is also honored as a death deity, and the
hunt is sometimes viewed as metaphor for rounding up the
souls of the living to take to the Otherworld. He has also
been cast as the role of guardian of the Otherworld's gates,
and as a God of the woodlands, animals, revelry, and male
fertility. His stories are sketchy and come largely from oral
sources. Herne is his British name. His Anglo-Celtic name is Herne,
and his Gaulish name was Dispater. He is equated with the Greek
God Pan whose name means "all." Both Cernunnos and Pan became the
prototype for the Christian anti-God, Satan. This was not a
judgement on the attributes of these deities, but rather a device
for frightening the European populace away from the Old Religion.
Invoke Cernunnos for Hunt, woodland, fertility, magick, sacrifice,
and animals.
CONAIRE THE GREAT
Also Conary and Conaire Mor meaning "big." A High King who was the
great grandson of Eochaid and Edain, and the son of
Messbuachalla and the bird God Nemglan. Before taking
the throne, Nemglan appeared before hom and laid a long
series of geise upon him including that he would not allow
a man or woman alone to enter any place he was dwelling
after sunset. Conaire acheived a measure of peace among the
warring Celts, and legends tell us that during his reign no murder
was committed, no blizzards blew, no floods ravaged, and no crops
or herds were blighted. His own three brothers were the ones who
often broke the new laws of peace, and the Tuatha, who also benefitted
from his reign, asked for their deaths which Conaire could not bring
himself to do. When he refused, the Tuatha tricked or cajoled him into
breaking all of his geise one by one.
Learn for Conaire the importance of the keeping of the geise, an honor
vow of great importance in Celtic mythology.
DYLAN
The guardian deity of the mouth of the River Conway whose name is sometimes
linked to the sea God Llyr. The Mabinogion story tells us he took off
for the sea as a newborn (he was son of Gwyddion and Arianrhod) where he could
swim like a fish immediately and was beloved of these creatures. No wave ever
broke beneath him and so he was called Dylan Eil Ton, "the son of the wave."
In other stories he married the Lady of the Lake who bore him Vivienne, Merlin's
great love. Romanticed stories grew up around his death, thanks in part to the
efforts of the bard Taliesin. The welsh believe that the restless crash of the sea
is an expression of longing to avenge his death. Around River Conway this roar is still
called "Dylan's death groan." In some stories he is the one and the same as Math Ap Mathonwy.
Dyonas is his Breton name. Call on Dylan for water magick or help to help to contact sea faeries.
LLYR
Spelled Lir in Ireland and Man, but he is better known by his Welsh name. Llyr was the
powerful God of the sea, and the father of sea God Manann who was probably more widely
known and worshipped than his father. Llyr had several wives in succession including
Iweriadd, Penardun, Aebh, and Aife. Four of his children (by Aebh) are part of the folk
tales known as the "Four Sorrows of Erin." He is thought to be the prototype for Shakespeare's
King Lear. Invoke Llyr for water magick, and contacting sea faeries.
MERLIN
All that we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream.
-Edgar Allen Poe
Also Myrddin, Merlyn, and Emrys. The Merlin of myth and folklore has many faces, often as blurred
and contradictory as his historical orgins. He is bard, magician, wizard, seer, and Druid. He became the
spiritual advisor to young King Arthur only in later versions of the myth. His human origins are mysterious,
and it is possible he once was a long-forgotten Druid whose legends eventually merged with the mythic archetype.
It is likely that he was once whorshipped as a God, yet no hard evidence exists that he was ever revered by Celts
any more than as a very powerful and wise Druid. Sone scholars point to his possible origins as a pre-Hellenic God
of fertility and the harvest. Ancient Welsh poetry refers to Britian as Clas Myrddin, "Merlin's Enclosure,"
creating lilnks to earth or sovereign deity images. Merlin tookthe role of sacrificial God when Vivienne, his contrary
lover, embedded him in rock. The lament she sung over him was overheard by Sir Gawain, who took word of Merlin's fate
to Arthur who set out on a quest to rescue him. When he retreated (or was imprisoned as some stories tell) into his
secret cave to die (possibly intended originally to make him another sleeping God) he took with him the Thirteen Treasures
of Britian lost to humans. They included a sword, a basket, a drinking horn, a chariot, a whetstone, a garment, a pot, a
serving platter, a mantle, and a chess board. Born of an earthly mother and Otherworld father, he is an archetypal bridge and
mediator between the realms of spirit and matter, and has sometimes been veiwed as a minor God of light. There is almost no
task in which Merlin cannot aid you. He is also an excellent temporal guardian of your sacred spaces.
NOTE:The information contained here and on the Goddess page were obtained from the book "Celtic
Myth & Magick" by Edain McCoy. Please be sure to read the book it is very informative.
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