Danu is a legendary mother goddess who sits right at the heart of Celtic mythology. She’s mysterious, powerful, and a quite magical. People have been telling stories about her for ages, and even though we lack many details, Danu’s influence is everywhere. From folklore to festivals, her spirit is very much alive.

You’ll find Danu in some of Ireland’s oldest texts, like the Lebor Gabála Érenn (“The Book of Invasions”), which basically lays out the wild and ancient history of Ireland. The Tuatha Dé Danann—whose name means “People of the Goddess Danu”—are said to have arrived in Ireland from a misty, magical place in the north. Th were said to control the weather, change their shape, and were talented in art and music.

Danu’s name is linked to rivers all over Europe and Asia, not just Ireland. So, her legend might stretch from Ireland to the Danube and beyond. She us all about life, growth, and abundance. She wasn’t just an Irish goddess—we find her in many ancient cultures.

Danu is the Earth Mother. She is fertility, the changing seasons, and the cycle of life. The land itself is seen as female. Danu is the spirit of Ireland’s green hills and winding rivers. Peopleleft offerings for her at springs and riverbanks, hoping for good crops and a happy family.

She is also a goddess of wisdom and magic. Poets, bards, and druids look to her for creative inspiration and answers to life’s big questions. Some stories say she welcomes souls into the Otherworld—a mysterious, mystical place full of knowledge and eternal youth.

The Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann are gods of Irish mythology. Led by famous gods like Dagda (the “Good God” with his magical cauldron) and Brigid (goddess of poetry and healing), they possess all talents and arts. Danu is the Mother and at the center of most of their mythology. When they landed in Ireland, they conquered the Fir Bolg and took on the monstrous Fomorians.

Most of their stories, found in epic tales like the Cath Maige Tuired (“The Battle of Mag Tuired”), are concerned with fighting, magic, and eventually disappearing into the fairy mounds to become the Aos Sí—the spirits of the land. Throughout all of it, Danu’s influence is there, quietly guiding and nurturing them.

Danu hasn’t faded away—far from it! Today, she is prominent in neo-pagan and druid traditions. People call on her for help with creativity, growing things, and protecting the environment. You will see some of her legends in Irish art, music, and stories. She is a symbol of the deep connection between people and nature.

Artists, writers, and musicians still find inspiration in Danu’s story. Her legend fuels environmental movements, goddess worship, and a general love for all things ancient and wild.

 `Danu isn’t just a myth—she’s a symbol of life, mystery, and transformation. Her story is ancient, weaving together nature, magic, and the human spirit. Whether you picture her as a river goddess or the heart of the earth, Danu reminds us to stay connected to the land and the old stories that make us who we are.

Music: Words by Desnne Quarrie, music generated at suno.com

 

“To find the Roebuck, you must search the Thicket. To find the Thicket you must not be misled by the Lapwing, and to approach the Thicket you must Master the Dog. The Roebuck is hidden where the Lapwing’s deceptive path originates, just as the true path through the Thicket lies just beyond the Dog.”

In “The White Goddess,” Robert Graves tells us that Dog means “guard the secret,” Roebuck means “hide the secret” and Lapwing means “disguise the secret.”

Ultimate we must ask the question, “what is the Secret?”

Robert Graves suggests that under guise of the name changes of a central deity because of patriarchy, goddess changed to god, the closely guarded secret of the Druids was Danu, Mother of Life, Herself.

Danu is the gentle mother of Ireland. She is also known as Danann, the Irish Dana, the Greek Dione, the Welsh Donn, and Anu. She is also called Mother of Gods, Great Mother, and Moon Goddess. Her name means teacher and wisdom.

It is also said that Danu is the power that is the land, never to be overcome by mortals. Her power is in the imagination of those who see magick in the twilight mist between the worlds. Her powerful presence can aide you in achieving anything you desire, especially motherhood, fertility, healing of children, and magick, and anything creative.

Mother of the Tuatha De Danann, the 4th peoples that arrived in Ireland, prior to the Sons of Mil. The Tuatha De Danann (the people of the goddess Danu) became the gods and goddesses of the Sons of Mil upon the arrival of Amergin who claimed the land and formed a truce with the Tuatha De Danann. The Tuatha De Danann became known as the faerie or fey, and were said to inhabit the Sidhe. The Sidhe (shee) is a magickal place beneath the large mounds in Ireland. Danu is known as the Faerie Queen. She is also goddess of Water with her name appearing across Europe and other continents.

In the beginning, it is said that She watered the first Oak tree from the heavens, and granted life to the Earth. From that tree fell two acorns, which grew to be Dagda and Brighid.

Danu has been known to appear in the form of a swan, representing the purity of the female and gracefulness in motherhood.The Hawthorne is Her tree, and She is especially honored at Beltane.

In county Kerry, Ireland, there are the “Paps of Anu,” connecting Danu to the land in a very ancient way. The “Paps of Anu” are two mountains outlining our Gentle Mother’s breasts ~ “from earth and rock they erected mounds and cairns, positioned as anatomically correct aureoles and nipples. In the process, they transformed the wild landscape into a gigantic sculpture of a woman’s body, immobile under the moving sky.” Patricia Monaghan, Goddess Alive

If there were one thing I would say that needs to be given the most attention in one’s magical practice is the Art of Becoming.

When we cast our Circle and invite the Elements, in truth, they are already there. It is within ourselves that we must become those Elements to feel their presence in our Circle.

Because of this, we need to spend time studying them.

They sit with plants. The sit under trees and ask the trees to share their stories. They hold stones. They burn herbs to learn how those herbs affect them.

They journey with them to learn what they are willing to share.

And they record all of this in the journals.

Once this is done, they then learn to project these energies out to others.

It is the same when you are aspecting a Goddess or a God – you must become Them.

The only way to do that is to first know Them, not just from books and other references, but from your own personal experience as you embody Them.

When a member of a Native American tribe dances an animal, he is not just imitating that animal he is becoming the animal in the dance.

When a dancer wishes to portray an image in her dance, she must become that image.

When an artist paints, he first learns what it is he wishes to paint.

He learns so well that what he wants to paint becomes a part of him and then it is moved onto the paper.

When an actor portrays a character on the stage or on film, she must first become that character.

So it is in a magical practice.

When we have a desire, when we wish something to be in our lives, we must feel it, we must see it we must be in that state to manifest it in the world of form.

We must become our desire.

If you are familiar with the stories of how the Gaels settled Ireland, you will have heard of Amergin, Amergin, son of Mile, the great Druid of the Milesians.

One of the ways that Druids worked their Magic was by “becoming”, or by actually changing reality.

A classic example of this ability is found within “The Song of Amergin”, by the Druid who led the Gaels in defeating the Tuatha de Danann.

Hear now his song, called The Mystery,

I am a stag of seven tines,
I am a wide flood on a plain,
I am a wind on the deep waters,
I am a shining tear of the sun,
I am a hawk on a cliff,

I am fair among the flowers,
I am a god who sets the head afire with smoke,
I am a battle-waging spear,
I am a salmon in the pool,

I am a hill of poetry,
I am a ruthless boar,
I am a threatening noise of the sea,
I am a wave of the sea,

Who but I know the secrets of the unhewn dolmen?

I am the womb of every holt,
I am the blaze on every hill,
I am the queen of every hive,
I am the shield for every head,
I am the tomb of every hope.

Amergin was not just speaking of these experiences. He knew what they were for he had “become” each of them. He had embodied them. By having embodied them, he could harness the powers of the land of Ireland, and claim it for the Gaels.

Here is some more mythology that we can learn from.

Let me quote……

“I am Manannan, son of Ler, King of the Land of Promise; and to see the Land of Promise was the reason I brought thee hither …

The fountain which thou sawest, with the five streams out of it, is the Fountain of Knowledge, and the streams are the five senses through which knowledge is obtained.

And no one will have knowledge who drinketh not a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams.”

“The Salmon of Knowledge is also the Salmon of Wisdom whose home is the Well of Segais. (Shigish)

The Well of Segais is the Otherworld source of the Boyne. (Boy-na)

It is a deep pool, surrounded by the Nine Hazels of Inspiration.

The Hazel nuts ripen and fall into the pool where the Salmon eats them.

She cracks their shells, which stain the waters of the well purple.

The empty shells float off, down the five streams that flow from the Well of Segais.  (Shi-Gish)

The five streams are the five senses through which we perceive the world.

It is said that one may never be wise until one has drunk from the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish) and from each of the five streams.”

So, from this, I know that I must experience through all of who I am, through all my senses which must be open.

These are the Five Senses …

Seeing
Hearing
Touching
Feeling
Smelling

There is another pool called the Well of Conla. It is much like the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish) except that seven streams flow from the Well of Conla.

Celtic traditions sometimes speak of humans as having seven senses:

seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling, speaking, and thinking.

As with the Well of Segais (Shi-Gish), none may become wise until one has drunk deeply from the Well of Conla and the seven streams.

These words became from Amergin’s “imbas” as he stepped upon the shores of Ireland after the Gaels had overcome the winds raised by the De Danann.

They mark the beginnings of the battle for the sovereignty of the Land. Amergin has claimed the elements of Ireland for himself and his people.

It is an example of the way a Druid would work.

It smacks of Otherworldly wisdom and power over the elements, in much the same way that a Shaman would work.

Amergin is “becoming” … these elements. As a Druid poet, he is one with the elements. He is synchronizing himself with the spirit that controls these items. It is a series of symbols. It can be viewed metaphorically. But the fact is, it got results!

The wind died and the Gaels landed on Ireland to claim its sovereignty. The lesson in all of this and my message to you, is this…

While it is important to read, study and to learn all you can, it is also vitally important that you spend as much time as you can be learning how to “be” those things that are around you.

You can do magic, you can do ritual all day long and unless you “become” those things you wish to invite in your Circle, or those things you wish to manifest in your magic, or those gods and goddesses you wish to work with, you must first, become them.

Deanne Quarrie – Aine Bandraoi