Celtic/English Moon Goddess

[StormVixen]

i know there is cerridwen but what others are there? im just wondering... so you dont need to write lots just a name will do!

thanx :hmmmmm:

[Seren_]

There's very little evidence that the Celts thought of their deities in terms of "Sun" or "Moon" deities...I don't think the Anglo Saxons did either, really.

But having said that, some people think Arianrhod is a possibility, since her name is commonly translated as meaning "Silver Wheel" (though nobody's really certain), suggesting either the moon, a star or perhaps a planet. Or something else...

In a more modern sense, though, you could fit just about any deity into an aspect or phase of the Moon if you wanted to. :whatgives Not sure if that helps.

[Anjel]

I know Anu is the goddess of fertility and Brigid was also a Pagan goddess.

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

Anjel, Brighide would not at all be appropriate to fit Brighde or Danu/Anu into the mold of a moon goddess. Brighde has clear solar aspects and is very strongly associated with fire. Danu on the other hand very much fits the definition of an Earth goddess

Stormvixen, I've never heard of any particular deity of the Celtic tribes, either male or female, being associated with the moon, outside of the shakey connections of Arianrhiod and possibly Cerridwen. I've not read or seen any evidence that would suggest they were moon goddesses that is not neo-pagan in origin. There isn't any historical evidence to support such a perception.

If by English you are referring to the Anglo-Saxons, and not the British tribes (which were Celtic), then I believe that a god was more commonly associated with the moon, though I'm not 100% certain of that. However they did associate the goddess Sunna with the sun and I don't know of a lunar goddess in Anglo-Saxon lore.

[MoonDragn]

There are some who consider the Morrighan, Morrigan, Morrigu, dark aspect of the triple celtic goddess to be associated with the Moon.

[Zophael]

Mor is an Irish Celtic sun goddess. Aine is also sometimes considered a sun goddess.

[Morgandria]

There are both gods and goddesses in the Irish pantheon associated with the sun. There is no one god/goddess of the sun or moon in this pantheon...the moon itself is alternately referred to as male and female, as is the sun.

Also, Morrigan is only associated with the dark moon by those who sandwich her into the neo-pagan Maiden/Mother/Crone construct. Typically Irish triple goddesses were sisters, not M/M/C. The Morrigan herself is more of an Earth Goddess than anything else.

I have never heard of an Irish Sun Goddess named Mor.

[StormVixen]

so ... in proper old celtic times there wasnt a deity connected to the moon, its just in later times that some of the celitc deitys were linked to the moon...? interesting... are there any books that have the celtic deitis listed and what they are thought to have represented in "the olden days"? the books i have are pretty unclear and the internet just seems to repeat itself... thanyou every one, i only aslked for names but the information you have givrn me is amazin!

by english i mean english/british celtic, rather than anglo-saxon... i only said english because thats what region of the celtic lands i live in, so it feels strange talking to irish, scottish, french or welsh (etc.) deities...

[Seren_]

so ... in proper old celtic times there wasnt a deity connected to the moon, its just in later times that some of the celitc deitys were linked to the moon...?

That's pretty much on the nose. Modern paganism, especially the books, has contributed a lot to the idea that goddesses=moon and gods=sun. It's not always the case.

Ceridwen (http://www.maryjones.us/jce/cerridwen.html) is thought by some people to be a moon goddess because (one interpretation of) her name is thought to mean "crooked white one", which you could interpret as indicating a crescent moon, I guess. Or any other number of things. Other etymologies for her name include "crooked woman" or "fair and loved" - according to the link above, so you can see it's not certain. Her portrayal in the myth and poetry doesn't really see her doing much moony stuff, but anything's possible.

Arianrhod could mean silver wheel, as I said, but it depends on whether you consider her a goddess at all. Some people don't, because she's more a "supernatural" figure than "superhuman", if you see what I mean. But nobody's really sure on that either :D

If you're looking for deities of a specific area (I see you're in Bristol, so I'll make a guess and go with that), then it's a little more difficult to get much detailed information. They just didn't write stuff down, so it's hard to get first hand info.

Your best bet is to either explore the Welsh myths - which are the only real surviving Celtic myths in Britain - or look into archaeology, which shows that many deities seem to have been quite localised, with some being more widespread or non-native. When the Romans came, the native British culture began to change and adopted certain Roman practises, like writing the names of their deities and even making sculptures of them - handy for us, because sometimes they give us an idea of what the deity was associated with (usually springs/healing, or what's thought to be a tutelary deity who looked after a particular tribe). The most obvious example I can think of near your area is Sulis (or Sulis Minerva) at Bath.

A good website to find some deity names is roman-britain.org (http://www.roman-britain.org/rbgods.htm). That's the list of deities in alphabetical order, but I think you can look by area as well. Mary-jones' encyclopedia (http://www.maryjones.us/jce/jce_a.html) is also worth a trawl but it lists more than just gods.

Bookwise, Miranda Green's The Gods of the Celts is good, but it's not a simple list of deities and what they do; it is very useful though.

[StormVixen]

thanx seren... oooh lots of info! who ever thought witchcraft could be so confusing!?

[KEishin]

Sul was a Celtic sun deity, specifcally associated with the hot springs at Aquae Sulis (which is the romanzied version of her name). Aka Adsullata.

Also Aine, and Irish goddess of fertility was associated with the sun.

[Seren_]

Sul was a Celtic sun deity, specifcally associated with the hot springs at Aquae Sulis (which is the romanzied version of her name). Aka Adsullata.

Also Aine, and Irish goddess of fertility was associated with the sun.

True, the name Sulis is thought to have solar connotations, though I'd personally say she was more a deity associated with water than "a Sun goddess". Aquae Sulis was the name of the place at which she was venerated (ie "the waters of Sulis") - modern day Bath. She was associated with the hot springs that the Romans later utilised to build the famous baths that are still standing. It seems that both the earlier native Britons and then the Romans considered her to have healing powers, like most Celtic deities associated with water. The Romans conflated her with their own goddess Minerva.

[Zophael]

you might find this list of interest.

http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/deities/celtic.htm

[KEishin]

Yeah I'd tend to agree with you about more water associations than sun, but it was the best I could think of on short notice!

[Kern]

Heres a good link but be weary of the info that link the goddesses to the triple moon goddess as was mentioned by others in this post.

http://www.seanachaidh.com/godcelt.html

[blackroseivy]

I have the book that "Bob" (R.J.) Stewart wrote on the subject in '80; there was some discussion of moon association, & also comparison to Brighid or Brigantia as a triple healing goddess.

[mystic_zoe]

okay i know im bumping up an old thread but i thought i would post a link to a list of lunar deities...i found it on wikipedia when i was also looking for lunar deities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_goddess

EDIT: having had a proper look through the list, i dont think they are lunar deities...

[StormVixen]

groovy...

[ancestral_lee]

arianrhod has very few 'moon' connections. her name prob means something like 'round hill or mound or possibly silver hill or mound' and therefore has nothing to do with the moon. silver wheel itself would prob indicate the stars themselves with her castle as traditionally mentioned as being the central pole star.

ceerridwen also has very few associations with the moon beyond neo-pagan shite.

as to english celtic - well you are going to struggle there if you dont look at roman inscriptions as the celts lost control over those lands during the dark ages to anglo saxons - england itself of course being derived from an anglo saxon word.

id avoid the more modern activity of ascribing the deities as moon god or sun goddess or somesuch and go with who calls to you.

may i ask your interest in finding this info out?

[StormVixen]

um... i can't remember.. the first post was from 2005! Since then i have learnt so much... but i always like to reply no new posts on my old threads... X

[SailleSeeker]

I was just browsing through Amazon.com and ran across this (http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Night-Rediscovering-Celtic-Goddess/dp/1578632846/sr=1-1/qid=1168792502/ref=sr_1_1/002-1765793-3686430?ie=UTF8&s=books) - I don't know if it's any good or not, but it made me think of this thread.

[StormVixen]

it looks pretty good... i doubt i would get it though... cheers xXx