AN ANCIENT IRISH GODDESS OF WAR
(PLS EXCUSE CAPS, SIGHT ISSUES)
“ The etymology of the name being examined, M. Pictet proceeds to illustrate the character of the Badb, and her position in Irish fairy mythology, by the help of a few brief and scarcely intelligible references from the printed books, the only materials accessible to him, but finds himself unable to complete his task, “for want of sufficient details,” as he observes more than once. The printed references, not one of which has escaped M. Pictet’s industry are no doubt few, but the ancient tracts, romances, and battle pieces preserved in our Irish MSS. teem with details respecting this Badb-catha and her so-called sisters, Neman, Macha, and Morrigan or Morrigu (for the name is written in a double form), who are generally depicted as furies, witches, or sorceresses, able to confound whole armies, even in the assumed form of a bird.“
(THE SIMILARITIES TO NORSE HEATHEN GODDESSES ASSOCIATED WITH WAR AS WELL AS OTHER ATTRIBUTES ARE FIRM HERE. FREYJA, FOR EXAMPLE, WHO HAS FIRST PICK OF THE SLAIN OF THE BATTLEFIELD, AND WHO ALSO BOASTS A CLOAK OF HAWK FEATHERS WHICH ALLOWS HER TO TRANSFORM INTO A BIRD, ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES THE CLOAK IS OFTEN WORN BY FRIGGA ...PERSONAL OPINION ONLY HERE, BUT IT MAKES SENSE THAT IN ANCIENT TIMES, SINCE WOMEN BIRTHED FOLKS INTO LIFE, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN BELIEVED WOMEN IN THE FORM OF DEITIES ALSO BIRTHED FOLKS INTO THE AFTERLIFE. AFTER ALL, YOU ALSO HAVE THE GREEK FATES, AND THE NORSE NORNS, ALL FEMALE. AND IT’S THEY WHO CUT THE THREAD OF OUR LIFESPAN, SO...*SHRUG*. I PERSONALLY HAVE NO PROB WITH WHO (SHOULD THAT BE “WHOM” THERE? ) TAKES ME OUT, BUT I’D REALLY PREFER IT TO BE PAINLESS. TO HEL WI’ THON FOLKS WHO BELIEVE SUFFERING PAIN IS A VIRTUE OR THING OF BRAVERY. PAIN HURTS. CHRONIC PAIN HURTS MORE. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE HERE. SO IF IT’S THE NORNS CUTTING MY THREAD, PLEASE PICK THE PART OF MY LIFE TAPESTRY WHERE I’M HAVING A GOOD DAY OF IT, AND MAKE IT QUICK AND PAINLESS. JUST ASKING.)
ARTICLE SOURCE HERE: https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/aigw/aigw01.htm
