by Feilanna Ravensmoon
Sisters of the Burning Branch Goddess Gallery Presents...
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The Morrigan – Background and Mythology
The Morrigan is one of the mythical tribe of Ireland - the Tuatha Dé Danann She is known as holding the triple aspect of Birth, Death, Rebirth and is analogous with the Valkyries of Scandinavia and Kali, the destroyer of the East. In the past she has been much feared as a Death Goddess yet she brings much to our conscious at the time of energetic catapult towards Summer when we leave the death of Winter and the Earth is reborn to plenty and abundance.
The Crow is The Morrigan’s totem bird and this is who she shapeshifts or morphs into to gain perspective and fly high over any given situation. Therefore, she is also known as the Crow Goddess or sometimes the Phantom Queen or Great Queen. Her sisters are Badb and Macha - The Horse Goddess of Ulster. They support her – Badb from the Lower World and Macha from the Upper World with The Morrigan as the Middle World incarnation of this powerful triskel of Goddesses. She is the physically prominent one drawing on the energy of her 2 invisible sisters. 1
The origin of the Morrígan dates back to the cult of mothers in Celtic mythology. She is present in all wars and confrontations, taking the form of a raven that flies over in each of the battles, instilling courage in the soldiers and of course giving them strength, anger and rage. She is commonly known for being involved in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, where she is both a helper and a hindrance to the hero Cú Chulainn.
In her shapeshifting form as a Crow, The Morrigan landed on Warrior Cúchulainn’s shoulder in the Taín legend to signal his death on the battlefield and this is depicted today in the bronze statue in the General Post Office, Dublin. Because of this she is associated with war and battlefields but her power is much more profound and vast than that. She is the least known, feared and understood of the Celtic Goddesses and yet, she is the one that affects us all at key times in our lives. Her energy is subtle yet can be powerfully wild – it all depends on how you personally view the Birth, Death, Rebirth cycle.
Sacred to Her:
There are many things sacred to The Morrigan but the most powerful by far is the crow or raven. She is also associated with the number three as she is one of the Triple Goddesses. Thus the Triskele or Triquetra are often symbols of the Morrigan. Clove, sage and black peppercorn are herbs and spices that correspond to her. In the plant world the holly, rowan and black roses are sacred to her. The colors red and black are associated to her and thus you can work with these colors in many fashions to honor and connect with her. For exmaple using red and black candles anointed with clove oil and inscribed with her name or a triskele to call to her for guidance.
Red foods are considered special offerings to the Morrigan so consider preparing a Morrigan Feast of red wine, red beans, red meat, strawberries or other red foods. These items can also be used on an alter to honor her as well as a knife, crow feathers, stormwater, milk and spiced incense.
Ritual
This ritual is best performed during the dark moon or at least a waning moon.
Prepare a red and black candle with clove oil or cinnamon powder. Using a small knife or a sharp pointed tool, carve the Triskele into both candles while imagining The Morrigan as a woman with raven hair. Light both candles and sit before them. Close your eyes and allow yourself to drift into the darkness. Imagine the Morrigan appearing before you, first as only a shadow. Listen closely and imagine the sound of crows wings beating around you as you stand in this darkness. Slowly the image of the Morrigan appears before you shifting from woman to crow and back until she stands before you with raven black hair and raven and crow feathers in her hair and around her like a cape.
Is she fearful to you? Feel into that place in your body – can you soften that fear in you? Is it fear of her darkness or your own? Ask the Morrigan to help you transform any fear around the unknown, change, death. And as you do breathe in your own Goddess energy from the earth and as you breathe out you send that toward this image of the Morrigan. Imagine her now, shifting into one of her other aspects and realize that we all have many faces and there are many perspectives to every situation. For every winter there will come a spring again. Ask the Morrigan to help you see the different aspects of your current concern or situation. Or to simply give you the strength to walk in the darkness knowing that she walks with you and she is the light and the dark in one.
As you prepare to come back into the room, offer The Morrigan something – whatever comes to mind. Hand this offering to her as you ask her for prophetic vision in your dreams or in the waking world. Thank her for her support and wisdom and release her from your vision with gratitude and thanks.
When you open your eyes you can continue to watch the flames of the candles as you think on what you saw and experienced or you can choose to let them burn away on their own. As always, should you choose to do this be sure your candles are somewhere safe that they cannot catch anything else on fire. I like to put my candle in a bowl of water and then you can use that water for bathing the next day while thanking The Morrigan.
Original Art
This is a smudge wand that I created to honor the Morrigan from found materials on the land where I live: A raven’s wing, and a deer femur, wrapped with recycled black silk. I created this to use when creating sacred space and preparing the circle for calling in the directions, particularly when I’m doing releasing or letting go ritual in the waning or dark moon. Blessings of the Morrigan to all!
Sources and further reading:
Moon Mna Goddess coursework – copyright Karen Ward
https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Morrigan/
https://druidry.org/resources/morrigan
https://mythopedia.com/topics/morrigan
Copyright Feilanna Ravensmoon
Samhain 2023
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