Druid Wing
Ogmios
The Celtic patron god of scholars and personification of eloquence
and persuasiveness. It is he who invented the runic language of the
Druids. Ogmius escorts souls on their journey to the after-live. He
is represented as an old man, with a bald head, and dressed in a
lion skin. His attributes are a bow and stick. He was worshipped
in Gaul (Celtic France). His Irish counterpart is Ogma.
Cernunnos
by Dr Anthony E. Smith
"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals,
wealth, and the underworld. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult
spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers
of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. The Horned
God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane,
and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of
the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of
death, rebirth and reincarnation.
Paleolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag
standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate
that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes
portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the
Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes. The
consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of
money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most
notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.
Brigid
by Lisa Spindler
Name Cognates: Breo Saighead, Brid, Brighid [Eriu], Brigindo,
Brigandu [Gaul], Brigan, Brigantia, Brigantis [Briton], Bride [Alba].
Breo Saighead, or the "Fiery Arrow or Power," is a Celtic
three-fold goddess, the daughter of The Dagda, and the wife of Bres.
Known by many names, Brighid's three aspects are (1) Fire of
Inspiration as patroness of poetry, (2) Fire of the Hearth, as
patroness of healing and fertility, and (3) Fire of the Forge, as
patroness of smithcraft and martial arts. She is mother to the
craftsmen. Sons of Tuireann: Creidhne, Luchtaine and Giobhniu.
Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, was forged by the Lady of the Lake,
a figure sometimes associated with Brighid because of her fire and
forgery aspect. Like the Arthurian Avalon, or "Isle of Apples,"
Brigid possessed an apple orchard in the Otherworld to which bees
traveled to obtain it's magickal nectar.
Brigid, which means "one who exaults herself," is Goddess of the
Sacred Flame of Kildare (derived from "Cill Dara," which means
"church of the oak") and often is considered to be the White Maiden
aspect of the Triple Goddess. She was Christianized as the
"foster-mother" of Jesus Christ, and called St. Brigit, the daughter
of the Druid Dougal the Brown. She sometimes also is associated with
the Romano-Celtic goddess Aquae-Sulis in Bathe.
Brighid's festival is Imbolc, celebrated on or around February 1
when she ushers Spring to the land after The Cailleach's Winter
reign. This mid-Winter feast commences as the ewes begin to lactate
and is the start of the new agricultural cycle. During this time
Brigid personifies a bride, virgin or maiden aspect and is the
protectoress of women in childbirth. Imbolc also is known as Oimelc,
Brigid, Candlemas, or even in America as Groundhog Day.
As the foundation for the American Groundhog Day, Brigid's snake
comes out of its mound in which it hibernates and its behavior is
said to determine the length of the remaining Winter.
Gailleach, or White Lady, drank from the ancient Well of Youth at
dawn. In that instant, she was transformed into her Maiden aspect,
the young goddess called Brigid. Wells were considered to be sacred
because they arose from oimbelc (literally "in the belly"), or womb
of Mother Earth.
Because of her Fire of Inspiration and her connection to the apple
and oak trees, Brighid often is considered the patroness of the
Druids.
Pixie
In folklore, pixies (or piskies) are little people who believed to
live on the downs and moors of Cornwall, England. According to one
myth, pixies were originally Druids who resisted Christianity, and
the more they resisted the smaller they grew. Yet another myth
tells of a race of people who were not good enough for heaven, nor
bad enough for hell and were doomed to wander the earth forever.
They love to steal horses and ponies and make nocturnal rides
on their backs over the heaths and moors, while entangling the manes
of the animals. Even inside houses people are not safe to their
tricks, such as throwing small objects at the inhabitants.
Although pixies like to play, they are hard workers as well.
They work on the fields the entire night for some bread
and cheese.
Goblin
Goblins are a different, more grotesque variety of gnomes.
They are known to be playful, but at other time they are evil and
their tricks could seriously harm people. A goblin smile curdles the
blood and a laugh sours the milk and causes fruit to fall from the
trees. They pester humans in a number of ways, such as hiding small
objects, tipping over pails of milk and altering signposts.
Goblins originated in France and through a cleft in the
Pyrenees they spread rapidly all over Europe. They have no homes and
usually live in mossy clefts in rocks and roots of ancient trees,
although they never stay very long in the same place. The name
'hobgoblin' is thought to be an abbreviation of 'Robin Goblin', the
name Druids gave to the first goblins when they entered Britain.