Читать книгу 366 Celt: A Year and A Day of Celtic Wisdom and Lore - Carl McColman - Страница 14

The crone whom Niall kissed may be the most obvious example of a mythological figure in the Celtic tradition linked with the concept of Sovereignty—after all, she described herself as such. But she is hardly the only figure in the tradition who embodies this powerful spirit. Indeed, many goddesses in Celtic lore have a profound connection with the land, or with the king, or with the relationship between the two. Meadbh, who appears in Irish literature as a mythic queen, may have originally been a goddess linked with Tara, the traditional seat of the high king of the land. Meadbh’s name means “she who intoxicates” and she may be linked with ancient rituals that conferred kingship onto a new leader through ritualized marriage with the goddess. Other Irish goddesses are associated with traditional seats for regional kings: the king of the northern province of Ulster ruled from Emain Macha, a site associated with the goddess Macha; while the royal seat of the western province of Connacht was associated with the Mórrígan, a goddess whose name means “great queen.” Again and again, political authority and the relationship between the king and the land all points back to a profound spirituality—where the freedom of the people is bound up with the spirit of the Feminine Divine.