Cliodhna (pronounced KLEE-nah) is the Irish Goddess of beauty. She was one of the Tuatha de Danaan, and became known as the Fairy Queen of Munster. She fell in love with a mortal named Ciabhan and ran off with him. One day, while Ciabhan was off hunting, Manannan mac Lir, God of the sea, sent a wave that carried her back to the land of fairy. In the 15th century, the Irishman Cormac MacCarthy called on Cliodhna to give him her assistance with a lawsuit. Cliodhna appeared to Cormac and told him to kiss the first stone that he saw in the morning on his way to court. He did so, and was so persuasive in court that he won his suit. He then took the stone and hid it away in the walls of his castle, where it remains to this day---the Blarney Stone. Cliodhna, whose name means "the shapely", was also known as Cliodne, Clidna, Cliona, or Cleena.

Ceridwen (pronounced KARE-id-wen) is the Celtic Goddess of wisdom and magic. She had three children, a beautiful maiden named Creirwy, an ugly but strong son named Morvran, and an extremely ugly son named Afagddu. Unfortunately, Afagddu had no skills or knowledge that would compensate for his looks. Ceridwen, as Goddess of magic, decided to brew a potion that would give her son the gifts of poetry and wisdom. The potion took a year and a day to brew, and Ceridwen employed a blind man to tend the fire under it and a boy named Gwion to stir it. Just as the potion was ready to be used, three drops splashed out of the cauldron and burned Gwion's thumb---he instinctively licked them off, thereby gaining the gifts of the potion. The rest of the potion was useless, and Ceridwen was so angry with Gwion that she chased him down. He tried to turn into a rabbit, but she turned into a dog. He turned into a fish, but she became an otter and followed him into the water. He turned into a bird, and she pursued him as a hawk. Finally, he turned himself into a grain of corn, hoping that she would not be able to distinguish him from the other grains. But, of course, Ceridwen immediately recognized Gwion and, turning herself into a hen, she ate him. Ceridwen soon found that she was pregnant, and knew that her child would be Gwion reborn and that he would remember his previous life and retain all the knowledge that he had stolen from her son. She swore that she would kill him as soon as he was born, but the baby was so beautiful that she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she wrapped him in a sealskin and set him out to sea. The baby was rescued by a Celtic prince named Elffin, who named him Taliesin. He grew up to be one of the greatest bards of Celtic history. Ceridwen's name means "blessed poetry", and has several variations, including Caridwen, Cereduin, Cerridu, Cerridwen, Keridwen, Kerridwen, Kerituen, Kerrituen, Kerritwen, Kyrriduen, and Kyrrituen.

Belisama (pronounced Bell-ih-SAH-mah) is the Gaulish Goddess of light and fire. Her husband, Belenus, is the God of the Sun, and she shares many attributes with him. Belisama, whose name means "summer bright", was associated with the Greek Goddess Athena and the Roman Goddess Minerva, and this brought her rule over crafts. Her roles as Goddess of fire and Goddess of crafts combined in her power over the forging of metals and those who worked them, smiths. Her association with Athena and Minerva also brought her recognition as a Goddess of wisdom, as shown by the frequent depiction of a serpent at her side. Her name is also seen as Belesama and Belisma.

Today is my birthday, so I get to be the Goddess of the Day! I'm not actually named after her though; I'm named after Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Of course, these days I'm Sabrina the Thirty-something Witch. And with the 3 names I'm adding today, my total count is now up to 1000! Sabrina is the Celtic Goddess of the river Severn, which flows from its source in Wales through England and empties into the Bristol Channel and then on into the Celtic Sea. The river is named for Sabrina, whose original Welsh name was Havren or Habren; Sabrina is the Romanized version. The legend of how the Severn got its name begins with Brutus of Troy. He led a band of Trojan exiles to Britain, and the land was named for him. On Brutus's death, the land was divided into four parts and given to his three sons, Locrine, Camber, and Albanact, and his good friend Corineus. To cement the alliance, Corineus's daughter Guendolen was promised to Locrine in marriage. Before they were to be married, Britain was invaded by the Huns, and Locrine led the fight against the invaders. A princess named Estrildis was one of those captured, and Locrine fell in love with her. He asked Corineus to let him out of his engagement to Guendolen, but Corineus would not hear of it. Locrine married Guendolen, but he had secret rooms built under the castle where he hid Estrildis away. For the next seven years, Locrine continued to see his true love, using the excuse that he was making offerings to the Gods. After a time, Estrildis gave birth to Locrine's daughter, Havren. When Corineus died, Locrine divorced Guendolen, sent her back to her father's kingdom, and acknowledged Estrildis and Havren as his family. The jilted Guendolen raised an army of her father's men against Locrine, and he was killed in battle. Guendolen ordered that Estrildis and Havren be thrown into the mighty river that ran through Locrine's kingdom. She then declared that the river would be henceforth named after Havren, so that Locrine's infidelity would be forever remembered. When the Romans invaded, they changed the name to their own version, Sabrina, which means "from the boundary".

I'm reading Laurell K. Hamilton's Princess Merry books right now, and the Goddess Danu has just made a guest appearance, so I thought I'd look her up. Danu (pronounced DAH-noo) is the Irish earth Goddess, mother of the Tuatha Dé Danann (people of the Goddess Danu). Danu is an ancient Goddess, and was worshipped extensively throughout Western Europe, ruling over rivers, magic, fertility, wells, and wisdom. She gives her name to many European places, including the Danube River and the country of Denmark. Danu, whose name means "wisdom", was known as Don in Wales, and her name is also seen as Dana or Danann. The Tuatha Dé Danann (pronounced TOO-uh-huh dey DAH-nun) were the fifth group to inhabit Ireland. After learning the magical arts, they arrived in Ireland on ships, which they then burned so that they would not be tempted to go back to where they had come from. They defeated the Fir Bolg (pronounced FEER buhl-ug) who then inhabited Ireland, and were the main population until the arrival of the Milesians. The Milesians nearly wiped out the Tuatha Dé Danann---the survivors were driven to Tír na nÓg (pronounced TEER na nohg), the "land of eternal youth", or underground, where they took the name Daoine Sídhe (pronounced DEEN-uh SHEE) or "people of the mounds". There they continue to reside, and we know them better as fairies.

"The Mists of Avalon" has always been one of my favorite books, and Morgaine my favorite character. Morrigan is the Celtic Goddess of war and death. She is seen as both a single Goddess and as a triple Goddess. As a single Goddess, her name was originally Anu, but was gradually transformed to Morrigan, derived from Mor Righ Anu "high queen Anu". Along with her sisters Badb and Macha, she forms the triple Goddess often referred to as "The Morrigan". All three could take the form of crows or ravens, and would fly over battlefields, choosing who would die and who would live. They would then take the souls of the deceased in their black wings, flying them off to the Otherworld. Morrigan and her sisters do not directly attack those who will die in battle. Instead, they use their magic to render warriors helpless at a critical moment during the battle. Morrigan is sometimes seen by those doomed to die before their battle as the "Washer at the Ford". She is seen washing bloody clothing or armor in a stream, and when asked by the soon-to-be victim whose clothes they are, she replies that they are his. One hero who saw her this way was Cuchulainn. In his first encounter with Morrigan, he does not realize who she is and challenges her. She tells him that he will be in a battle, and that it is she who will decide if he lives or dies. Cuchulainn is soon involved in a series of fights, and Morrigan appears to him as a young woman, offering her love and her aid in battle. He rejects her, and she tells him that she will hinder him in an upcoming battle. On his way to this final battle, he sees her washing bloody armor, which she says is his, and that he would soon be dead. Cuchulainn is indeed killed in the battle, and Morrigan comes in the form of a crow to land on his shoulder. Morrigan is the basis for the character of Morgan Le Fay, half-sister of King Arthur, downgraded from Goddess to Witch. Even so, she maintained the power to curse a man in battle, and it was she who accompanied Arthur's body to Avalon, where he could be reborn. Variations on Morrigan's name include Morrigu, Fata Morgana, Morgan, Morgaine, Morrighan, and Mor-Rioghain.

Yes, she's doing what you think she's doing.  They don't all wear pretty white dresses, you know! Sheela na gig (pronounced SHEE-lah-na-geeg) is a Celtic Goddess of fertility and rebirth. Her prominent display of her genitals has been interpreted in many ways; she is associated with sex and fertility, but several of her representations have the sagging breasts of a crone or no breasts at all. She is said to protect against evil; sheelas are often found above doors and windows, even on churches, because it was believed that the Devil was afraid of the sight of a woman's privates. Perhaps her most enduring interpretation is as the Earth Mother, ruler over life, death, and rebirth---she represents the gateway through which we all must pass and through which we will all return. Alternate spellings of her name include Sile na gCioch (Sheela of the breasts), Sile na Giob (Sheela on her hunkers), Sheela ny Gigg, Sile Ni Ghig, Shila na Gigh, Shela na gig, Sheela na jig, Seela na gig, Sheila na gig, Sheela na gich, Sela na geich, Sheela na Guira, Sile Ni Guire, Sile Ni Dhuibhir, Sileadh na gCioch, and Shee Lena Gig (fairy with her vagina).

Another short one today, but I'll do Isis tomorrow to make up for it! Nemetona is the Celtic Goddess of sacred groves and temples. She was worshipped in Britain, France, and Germany, where she stood guard over places of power, and could be invoked to bring her power to rituals performed there. She was depicted in a shrine at Bath in England with her consort, the Roman God Mars, and three hooded figures with a ram. The three hooded figures are the Cucullati, figures who were seen as protectors, and the ram is likely symbolic of an animal sacrifice.