She is called the Morrigan, meaning "Phantom Queen." According to some, She is the goddess of war, of battle, of fury; a bringer of fear and panic, and a prophet. Yet, she is reported to have a vigorous/voracious sexuality, willing to share her pleasures with those she deemed worthy, but vicious and unforgiving when spurned. Various stories depict her as a crow, an eel, a heifer, and a wolf as a seductive young temptress, a fearsome warrior queen, and a feeble old hag.

She is volitile, edgy and dangerous; she lives for when the adrenaline flows vigorously, when heart pounds relentlessly, whether from the thrill of killing or the primal passion of hard, raw sex.


Many Neo-Pagans see Samhain strictly as a time of honoring the dead, while Beltaine is the sexier holiday of maypole dances and all-night orgies. Celtic wisdom, reminds us that the union of the energies of life and death is closer than that. There for, one of the most powerful stories of Irish lore, in which the Phantom Queen enjoys a passionate tryst with the Dagda while standing astride the Unshin River in County Sligo.

The goddess of war couples with the god of abundance at the threshold between the light and dark halves of the year. Significantly, after satisfying her body's hunger, she becomes The Seer,so out of the union of death and life comes renewal, expressed within her fortelling of the battle of Tuatha Dé Danann to win Ireland from the Fomorians.

Because the Morrigan is dark, not nearly as much of her wisdom and lore has survived, especially when compared to the available lore relating to a "nicer" figures. She demands attention for reasons beyond simply trying to wreck havoc. The close connection between the Washer at the Ford and the lusty lover means there is always a bit of Beltaine in every Samhain (and vice versa). Herself is not just someone who sits on a hillside waiting for people to come to her. Sometimes she does so, more often she'll often come to someone totally unbidden.

She can also be gentle to those she mentors/loves, but she's volatile, and is likely to switch from soft to rough unexpectedly. I don't see how she would be any less harsh with those who rejected her as a patroness than she was with those who rejected her as a lover.

She does not tolerate fear; indeed, if she smells it'll just make things worse. But she'll also respect you if you say 'Not yet' as I did for a while. Having Herself as a patron Goddess is not easy you have to face down your own fears, tackle the insecurities that are within, harness your own anger, and use the sexuality, sensuality wisely, rather than just sex for sex sake. This includes embracing the warrior spirit within yourself to the point where you can move through life with the graceful power and confidence of one who fears no person or thing.