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SPEAKER_04: Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. This month, we're doing something a little different. We're talking about goddesses, mythical figures who've shaped culture, history, and imagination around the world. Today, we're talking about a goddess who embodies the bloodthirsty, savage nature of ancient Irish warriors. Her ability to shape-shift made her a friend and a foe on the battlefield. Let's talk about the Morrigan. In ancient Irish Celtic mythology, the Morrigan is the goddess of war and fate. She belongs to a tribe of pagan Irish gods called Tuatha de Danann. They reside in a supernatural realm below the earth called the Otherworld. The Morrigan has many things. In some tales, she's one goddess. In others, she's three goddesses, Baev, Maacch, and Nevin. The Morrigan is also not limited to her human form. At times, she could appear as a beautiful woman or a hag, but she also shape-shifts into any living creature she pleases, a mammal, a fish, and most symbolically, a crow or raven. Crows and ravens signal war and death to the Celtic people. Her ability to embody so many different forms makes her a deceitful and unpredictable character. The Morrigan revels in all things war. She incites it, she participates in it, and ultimately, she can end it, often through death. Her name has been interpreted to mean phantom queen or queen of nightmares, and she lives up to it. Coming into contact with the Morrigan is often a sign of impending death. When the Morrigan shrieks, it's an omen of death and terror to come. If that sounds familiar, it's because she's possibly the precursor to the Banshee, a supernatural female spirit in Irish folklore, whose loud and visceral wail predicts the death of a family member. The Morrigan's premonition of death often came in handy before enduring battle. As the story goes, in the second battle of Moí Tuiread, the Morrigan's tribe was attacked by the Fomorians, a group of supernatural demonic pirates. The Morrigan first warned her husband, Dagga, another war god of their attack plans. Then she took matters into her own hands by distracting one of the main Fomorian warriors so that her tribe could kill him. In another version of the story, the Morrigan brutally murdered the Fomorian warrior herself. To inspire fear in the enemy warriors, she passed out handfuls of the deceased warrior's blood to his fellow pirates. But it was rare that the Morrigan actually participated as a warrior in battle. In a famous tale from the Ulster Cycle of Myths, the Morrigan prophesized the death of a warrior hero and demigod, Cú Cúlann. When Cú Cúlann was just a teenager, an opposing army invaded the kingdom of Ulster. Their aim was to steal a sacred bull. An ancient curse paralyzed the warriors of the kingdom, and Cú Cúlann was left to defend the territory on his own. Knowing he couldn't stop a united advance, Cú Cúlann challenged the enemy to one-on-one combat. He beat warrior after warrior by transforming into a fearsome ball of destruction and chaos. At one point in between matches, he met a beautiful young woman who tried to seduce him. Blinded by his battle duties, he rejected her. What he didn't realize is that this young woman was the Morrigan. The Morrigan, unfazed by this rejection, transformed into multiple different animals to attack Cú Cúlann. In each form, an eel, a wolf, and a cow, the Morrigan suffered an injury from Cú Cúlann's defense. Finally, Cú Cúlann defeated every member of the opposing army. He was basking in his victory when he came across an old woman milking a cow. She had very distinct injuries, but Cú Cúlann thought nothing of it. The woman offered him several drinks of milk from her cow. Cú Cúlann blessed her after each drink, and with each blessing, her injuries magically healed. As the last wound healed, her true identity was revealed. Cú Cúlann realized the old woman was the Morrigan, never a good sign for a heroic warrior. The Morrigan alerted Cú Cúlann to his imminent death and left him to sit with it. Cú Cúlann was called to battle again in his 20s. After taking the field in his usual frenzied way, he was fatally wounded. Having made a promise to die on his feet, he pinned himself to a standing stone. The Morrigan's prophecy had come true. She appeared as a crow and landed on his shoulder. When the Morrigan foretells her death, there's nothing anyone can do, not even Ireland's greatest warrior hero, to escape the fate. The Morrigan was religiously important to an annual festival known as the Samhain Festival. On the eve of October 31st, the ancient Celtic people gathered to celebrate the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the new year. Samhain celebrations included large feasts and opening up ancient burial mounds in hopes of communicating with the other world. If the Morrigan and Dagda consummated their relationship during this time of year, it signified the success of the tribe and the health and prosperity of the new year's harvest and livestock. So the Morrigan can be a symbol of death and life. All month, we're talking about goddesses. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram, at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
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