Because the 17th is St. Patrick's day...

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"Feed your fires!"

Bride (or Brigid) is a beloved goddess of the Celts known by many names, Bride being the Scots Gaelic variant. Her names mean "the Exalted One". She tends the triple fires of smithcraft (physical fire), healing (the fire of life within), and poetry (the fire of the spirit). In balance to this She also presides over many healing springs. Cattle are sacred to Her, green is Her color, and, perhaps one of the reasons She is so beloved (especially in Ireland)--She is said to have invented beer! Her feast day of February 1st is called Imbolc (the Christian Candlemas), when the predictions for the coming spring's weather were made, a remnant of which is seen in the modern Groundhog Day. She is daughter to the Dagda, and invented the first keening when her son Rúadán was killed.

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I will guide and protect you on your difficult journeys."

Maman Brijit is a Vodou lwa or spirit who is the protectress of cemeteries. She is one of the family of the Gede or Guede, the Vodou death spirits whose numbers include Bawon Samdi, Bawon Gede, and Gede Nimbo or Nibo, guardian of children. The Gede, especially Bawon Samdi, Her husband, are tricksters who are known for mocking authority and making fun of society. They have terribly bad manners and very dirty minds.

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I reside in each warm heart."

"Cailleach" derives from the old Irish caillech, or "the veiled one". The modern word cailleach means "old woman" or "hag" in Gaelic. The Cailleach is a widespread form of Celtic hag-goddess tied to the land and the weather who has many variants in the British Isles.

The Caillagh ny Groamagh ("Gloomy Old Woman", also called the Caillagh ny Gueshag, "Old Woman of the Spells") of the Isle of Man is a winter and storm spirit whose actions on the 1st of February are said to foretell the year's weather--if it is a nice day, She will come out into the sun, which brings bad luck for the year. The Cailleach Uragaig, of the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland, is also a winter spirit who holds a young woman captive, away from her lover.

More on new beginnings...

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I have killed God. It is just."

Anat is the Phoenician virgin goddess of sacrifice, known for having a violent and war-like temperament. She ritually murders the grain-god Mot, in revenge for the death of her brother Ayelin by Mot's hands. Mot's death is symbolic of cutting the wheat at harvest-time, and Anat's actions allow him to be reborn. Anat presides over burial rituals, making offerings to the gods of the underworld to ensure the dead will be treated well. In the heavens She is the planet Venus, which as the morning and evening star, makes Her both the goddess of war and the goddess of love and sexuality. As Anatha-Baetyl, likely of Syrian origin, she is sometimes called the wife of Jehovah.

In keeping with this month's theme of new beginnings...

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I end so that I may begin."

Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, is a fairy queen and sorceress of Arthurian legend. She is one of three elder half-sisters to Arthur who are the daughters of Ygraine and Gorlois, the others being Morgause and Elaine. Morgana hated Her half-brother Arthur nearly from the day he was born, and the legends are full of Her attempts to bring his downfall. Like Vivian, She is said to have been a pupil of Merlin, and She is much associated with the magical island of Avalon.

Our theme this month is New Beginnings; Gaea represents the very first beginning.

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"Love this Earth.""

Gaea "the Deep-Breasted One", is the ancient Greek Goddess of the Earth, considered by Hesiod "the oldest of divinities". She was said to be the child of Ether (Air) and Hemera (Day), though some said She was born directly from Chaos with Eros (Love) and Nyx (Night). She is credited with creating the Universe, and is known as the mother of many many many, including: Ouranos, the starry sky; Pontos, the sea; the mountains; the twelve Titans and Titanesses, who include Oceanos, Cronos, Rhea, Mnemosyne the mother of Muses, Phoebe and Themis; the three Cyclopes, who had but one eye each; the three Hekatonchires, hundred-handed monsters; the Erinyes, or Furies; the Melic nymphs; the monsters Typhon, Ladon and Echidna; the sea-monster Charybdis; and the serpent-king Erechtheus, whose temple is the Erechtheum on the Akropolis.