Little Raven

That being said though, like all divine feminine figures, they also have their own characteristics from the time in which they were derived. The divine feminine figure varies among different mythologies because of the needs of the people at the time they were created and the agendas of the scribes and authority figures who created the works. For example, while the Morrighan and Athena are similar, both fill different roles, Athena being a goddess of wisdom primarily focused as being a warrior, while the Morrighan is more about soverignty and marriage to the land.

The original poster on the page was referring to the idea that all goddesses are really aspects or faces of a single goddess, rather than being separate, which from what I understand is a pretty oversimplified and neopagan view (someone correct me if I’m wrong.)

That being said though, like all divine feminine figures, they also have their own characteristics from the time in which they were derived. The divine feminine figure varies among different mythologies because of the needs of the people at the time they were created and the agendas of the scribes and authority figures who created the works. For example, while the Morrighan and Athena are similar, both fill different roles, Athena being a goddess of wisdom primarily focused as being a warrior, while the Morrighan is more about soverignty and marriage to the land.

The original poster on the page was referring to the idea that all goddesses are really aspects or faces of a single goddess, rather than being separate, which from what I understand is a pretty oversimplified and neopagan view (someone correct me if I’m wrong.)

That being said though, like all divine feminine figures, they also have their own characteristics from the time in which they were derived. The divine feminine figure varies among different mythologies because of the needs of the people at the time they were created and the agendas of the scribes and authority figures who created the works. For example, while the Morrighan and Athena are similar, both fill different roles, Athena being a goddess of wisdom primarily focused as being a warrior, while the Morrighan is more about soverignty and marriage to the land.

The original poster on the page was referring to the idea that all goddesses are really aspects or faces of a single goddess, rather than being separate, which from what I understand is a pretty oversimplified and neopagan view (someone correct me if I’m wrong.)

Thank you for this guy’s blog.  I now have a project for the afternoon.  :D

I’d prefer finding resources that aren’t restricted to the Fianna-style outlaw warrior style.  Being an outlaw in the eyes of the law is almost a given, particularly nowadays, but to be that far removed from your non-warrior kin when it’s not an actively strategic choice is just so strange and painful to me.  Like, no, if that’s what it means to be a warrior in my Irish pol, then fuck it.  Hound out. \o/

I think your blog is a lovely and essential idea.  (Thank you, btw – I’m honored by your description of my compulsive organization page.  This one isn’t nearly as expansive, but maybe you’ll find something useful on it?)

Randomly found some commentary with additional commentary from Saigh.  I’ll talk to some people, see what else I can dig up. 

Thank you for your help.

Yes, “boundaries are fuzzy” …more to the point, I think I tend to fall too much into the “inside/outside” trap (I think this was set largely by Sjoestedt) thing. Because really these warriors I speak of are ON the boundary.  They even ARE the boundary.  Yes, they may mostly (possibly only for half the  year) live in the wilderness, when they are not in a king or lord’s retinue, and they may have largely been self-sufficient, and they were “outlaw” due to not having or having to pay honor price. But they likely did not exactly sever ties, most would return to their families after all. Others, in legend at least, had few if any ties to begin with that weren’t also outside. Certainly there is no reason to today, we all have multiple circles of people in our lives…and chances that was true then, especially when you consider that before an adolescent would have left for the war bands, they’d already have had a family they were born into and a, possibly even closer, family they were fostered with. These ties weren’t broken, although those families didn’t have to pay the usual honor prices if their loved one killed someone nor get honor price if those  youths were killed while Outlawed. Because basically that’s the definition of Outlaw here, someone who doesn’t pay or get recompense for death or injury. Which I suspect is why there really does not seem to be any actual “warriors inside the tribe” despite how many hold onto that idea from Sjoestedt. it would be far too expensive and problematic for the families.  Of course, everyone who had been a warrior in their youth would take up arms if need be against invasion and be trained to do so effectively. For that matter, everyone who hadn’t been would take up what ever they could to fight back, with or without training. Because people do. I have….softened….a bit on a tight definition of “warrior” as “warrior” and even “war” are so loosely used in our overculture as it is (”war on illiteracy,” war on women,” “war on drugs,” “war on terrorism” all have different level of literalness), we certainly can’t fault the same tendency in the Pagan/Polytheist communities.  I still, however, somewhat stand by the idea that it takes a life and death conflict to fully initiate the warrior and I’m troubled by too much self-labeling of “warrior.”  There is an arrogance there….BUT, then again, arrogance is kind of part of the path. You just got to be pretty sure you live up to it. ~;p Cú Chulainn could afford arrogance, some of us might often be more modest. Even Finn played humble when it served his purposes….sometimes you want to intimidate your enem, sometimes you want them to underestimate you. 

So I still only say I’m on the warrior path rather than I’m a warrior. Except perhaps in the title “Warriors for the Horse Goddess,” but that’s also the thing about words, sometimes you throw out accuracy for poetry.  “People on the warrior path for the Horse Goddess” just doesn’t have the same ring. Also it’s a topic I’m passionate about and that passion can build to really not  worrying if I sound arrogant or like I’m trying to intimidate. And as FiachBeag noted, in my more recent explorations regarding hints of traditional initiation, it was a continuous run. Again, it is easiest to say inside to outside to inside….but it’s really always a run right on the boundaries.  And I think it’s why I like the word “path” when I know others aren’t fond of it. In the case of this one you keep moving along it… and it might change…..and you might detour a bit…..and ti might switchback on itself…and sometimes you move backwards for some reason…and it’s always a good idea to stop and rest a bit.

Most of my criticism is coming from a position of having strong feelings about mental and physical ableism.  In the past, of course, if you couldn’t keep up, then you were either dead or not a warrior, and in that cultural context it made sense.  Given how battlefields have changed so dramatically now, though, war is being waged in completely new ways that people like the Fianna never could’ve dreamed about.  I do think there’s a limit as to how far we can reinterpret “warriorship” before it becomes too inclusive and meaningless, but I also think it needs to be adjusted.

(Speaking of ableism, I’m really interested in exploring how mental illnesses like bipolar disorder interact with certain kinds of practices, like my bipolar disorder and pull towards Badb, but that’s a whole tangent, argh.)

There’s also the issue that most martial arts cost a significant amount of money for the average person, so there’s an economic issue too, imo.  If I weren’t so poor, I’d have been able to replace my bow and resume hand-to-hand by now. This is where I wonder about the whole ~what makes a warrior~ and ~does it end when the bow breaks~ kind of thing.  Cleverness and creativity have always been important weapons, so to speak, so if a fighter wins a battle without having to lift a sword, are they not a warrior anymore?  Maybe I’m being too pedantic, idk. 

This isn’t a subject that’s been easy to discuss with the few actual war veterans I know.  Your description of honor prices and the burden it can place on a family hits uncomfortably close to home even now.

They even ARE the boundary.

This phrase is awesome, mostly because defenders, guardians, are the claws and teeth in the no-man’s land between their enemy and their loved ones.

I still, however, somewhat stand by the idea that it takes a life and death conflict to fully initiate the warrior and I’m troubled by too much self-labeling of “warrior.”

I hesitantly agree with you on that first part (and agree fully on the last). Is a single conflict enough, though?  Or does it matter not that you’re continually in those situations but what you do with the consequences of the initial conflict?

So I still only say I’m on the warrior path rather than I’m a warrior.

Wonderful distinction.  \o/  I’m reluctant to say even that much for myself right now for personal reasons, but def important.

Maybe the perception that there are more people on a warrior path (people don’t like “path”? Seems so innocuous…) is because deities like Odin and the Morrígan seem to be gaining in popularity and the assumption just follows?  Or maybe it’s just the people I hang out with irl  @heathenchinese I’m looking at you :p.

And, yeah, I think Odin and the Morrígan’s current popularity plays into a lot of the perception that “everyone else is a warrior….but there’s more to Them than that.”  (I noticed that some have an issue with path from this blog post and a couple of others that came up shortly after….*shrug*…maybe i am feeling defensive as I don’t know why I brought it up…I actually doubt any of them read me but the posts happened around the last time I explained somewhere why I really love the term but I do know they weren’t remotely responding to me…still…. LOL) I believe things should be approached from every direction possible and, for myself, I find the lore and other cultural evidence puts context to the more abstract. Even as we don’t expect to completely recreate that past (and even knowing that the literature hints but is no more a completely accurate portrayal than modern TV show is of life today). And discussions help bring up the different approaches. So I don’t think they are too different, it’s just a matter of finding where they converge (oh, look we’re on paths again LOL). I more and more question how much “leaving behind” there was ever. Sure, certain disabilities and illness could have kept someone from becoming a warrior, while others may not have been as limiting as we might think.  Of course, other privilege, such as class and wealth, might help…depending on which theory one holds about Ivar the Boneless, he may be a quasi-historic example. Warfare was (and is) a cause of disability, and even our Gods sometimes had to over come injuries that some today think were not survivable….but we know sometimes were  So I always question the “left behind” stuff….I don’t think most cultures were like that. And  I think survival often depends on various types of strength and always did. I believe the fact that various member of Finn’s Fíanna being good at particular things (while he was good at them all but maybe not as good as the others at their one main thing) gives us something to consider. And I do think, think that, at least in early Christian times (before that, well, we just don’t know) there probably was a very pagan Outlaw subculture that wasn’t just about fighting. Probably everyone could to some extent, but that doesn’t mean it was their entire focus.  Druids and satirists were covered under the same law and we have Cathbad who was draoi and fénnid, as well as seership and poetry being part of the whole Fenian identity.  (and how many of us would fit in early Christian society with it’s strong gender polarity and focus on breeding and inheritance?) And I’m approaching this as someone who has chronic health problems (one of the distractions I mentioned is an acute episode, actually). I can question whether I’d have been able to be a banfhénnid “back in the day” with such conditions…if I hadn’t died in my first year….but it’s all moot. Today, I have resources and a certain amount of privilege to get through the bad periods. I do what I can, when I can. And, yes, financial issues, too. Marital arts can be expensive. I’m not currently training formally partially for that reason (cars are expensive to keep on the road so we only have one running which the EMT in the family has dibs on so we have some money coming in, so if I had the money there would still be the transportation issue here in the boonies). These are factors as to why I try to emphasize that my outline for a suggested training program is not something one does all at once. Who could, anyway? (okay, Cú Chulainn or Finn, but none of us are either of them) It is to try to cover the various elements I have found to be part of fénnidecht, but also so that someone can approach the things they can do at a given time, the others may have to wait. AND, of course, each person will find their strengths and preferences (which may not always be the same…I love running, but even when I’m healthy enough to do it I’ll never be Luas Lurgann …or even able to keep up with most people who hate running and never run, if they were to feel they had to run….but I will still run, when I can).

Thank you for this guy’s blog.  I now have a project for the afternoon.  :D

I’d prefer finding resources that aren’t restricted to the Fianna-style outlaw warrior style.  Being an outlaw in the eyes of the law is almost a given, particularly nowadays, but to be that far removed from your non-warrior kin when it’s not an actively strategic choice is just so strange and painful to me.  Like, no, if that’s what it means to be a warrior in my Irish pol, then fuck it.  Hound out. \o/

I think your blog is a lovely and essential idea.  (Thank you, btw – I’m honored by your description of my compulsive organization page.  This one isn’t nearly as expansive, but maybe you’ll find something useful on it?)

Randomly found some commentary with additional commentary from Saigh.  I’ll talk to some people, see what else I can dig up. 

Thank you for your help.

The next issue of @airn-aithesc which includes another wolfy article of mine is right around the corner!   So I’m reposting my article from the last issue, simply because it’s a very important one for me.

The comparative study of mythology and religion traces the evolution of human belief and the evolution of the gods themselves through the lens of historical and cross-cultural context and discerning analysis of sacred texts and folklore. Through the comparing and contrasting of various recurring mythic themes, tropes, formulas, and archetypes from a variety of religions and traditions patterns begin to appear revealing the structure and format of spells and rituals performed in ancient times. By learning how to interpret and analyze both the narrative structure and the spirit of myth one can build their own poetic and mythic voice for the construction of rituals and formulation of spells in their own practice while drawing upon the power of millennia-recited and re-enacted narrative. With an approach that is both academic and mystical, drawing upon history, anthropology, etymology, psychology, and even divination; students will become intimate with mythic themes beyond surface-level syncretism. Rather than smudge or detract from the identity of deities, this class will enhance students’ understanding of gods’ origins and personalities. This class is an invaluable resource for practitioners and pagans of all paths and backgrounds looking to build a solid historical and mythic foundation for their practice.

—Classes begin February 25th—

**I still don’t know how much they will cost, that’s up to the school, but there will be a fee.

For more information follow New Orleans School for Esoteric Arts on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewOrleansSchoolforEsotericArts

Enrollment will begin when the listing is posted on www.nosea.org

Also, be sure to follow The Bodacious Banshee on Facebook as well: www.facebook.com/bodaciousbanshee

and my other blog: bodaciousbanshee.com

The Morrígan: Her/Their History & Contemporary Cult

This page is a work of love, devotion, and practicality.  It is for the Morrígan, as herself and themselves, and for any of us who have tasted her names in the blood on our lips.

Introductions & History

Her Cult

Contemporary Reflections on the Morrígan, Sovereignty, War, & Death

Tumblr Resources and E-shrines

Books, Sites, & Organizations

It is a work that will never be finished, I hope, as my own practice deepens and our community continues to grow and publish and evolve as long as there is need of her/them.  I sincerely hope it provides some measure of help for people.

Through blood spilled, bone broken, and lips split to lips loving, bone strong, and blood born.  

Yes, many articles and books have been written on this subject, in fact. For example, the Irish Fíanna and the Norse úlfheðnar (”wolf-hides,” the counterpart to the berserkir, “bear-shirts”) have both been linked to lycanthropy and to Proto-Indo-European warbands.

The Irish Reconstructionist blog A Wolf-Man, Not A Wolf In Man’s Clothing is entirely dedicated to this topic.

Of particular interest is the article “Hounds of God.” In 1691, the Inquisition of Livonia interrogated a man called Thiess, who admitted to being a werewolf and described werewolf practices.

“Going Into Wolf-Shape” by Saigh Kym Lambert, a Celtic Reconstructionist and Gaelic Heathen.

Apollo the Wolf God by Daniel Gershenson.

Werewolves, Magical Hounds, and Dog-headed Men in Celtic Literature: A Typological Study of Shape-Shifting by Phillip A. Bernhardt-House.

The Roman festival of the Lupercalia commemorates the suckling of Romulus and Remus by a she-wolf.

Some articles to also consider if the Irish interests you:

Kim McCone, “Werewolves, Cyclopes, Díberga and Fíanna: Juvenile Delinquency in Early Ireland” Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, issue 12, 1986

Kim McCone, “Aided Cheltchair Maic Uthechair: Hounds, Heroes and Hospitallers in Early Irish Myth and Story.” Ériu 35, 1984 at JSTOR

J. R. Reinhard and V. E. Hull, “Bran and Sceolang,” Speculum 11, 1936 at JSTOR

Richard Sharpe, “Hiberno-Latin Laicus, Irish Láech and the Devil’s Men,” Ériu  30, 1979 at JSTOR

John Carey, “Werewolves in Medieval Ireland” Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies, Issue 44, 2002