KELLTIC DAILY DEITY

(The basic format of the deity information is similar to the Greco-Roman and Chinsungese Daily Deity material from Mythic Masters Magazine, as originally written by Gary Gygax. I have, however, added some myth notes as well as the simple classification.)

Although I have had this material gathered for a while, I held off on the publication thereof since others had indicated they were working on the same thing. However, in the interest of sharing notes, here is the partially-completed Kelltic Daily Deity.

I am sure it is incomplete, and it does not necessarily match perfectly with Earth's material (after all, Ærth and Earth are not the same place, and on Ærth the Kelltic pantheon is still followed, and no other religion wiped out references to it). Corrections and additions are welcomed, and I'm quite willing to point out why I chose to classify and modify things they way I did.

Because the material is not complete, and it is intended as a starting point for further development, I have not made an attempt to integrate it into the culture (as I did with the Norse prefatory notes). For this, I can only plead lack of time and lack of need on my part. If you feel so motivated, by all means write a companion piece or send me some thoughts to integrate into my sketchy ideas.

Hopefully, I'm not covering too much ground which others have already covered or plan on covering in the near future.

Mike Phillips, msphil@widomaker.com

The names in parenthesis marked with [C] are the names used in Cymru. Throughout the rest of the Kelltic world, the primary name is used.

Amaethon[C]
Moonlight (Agathocacological, Ordered) Major God of Agriculture, Son of Don; responsible for the war between Arawn and the Tuatha de Danaan (Sons of Don)

Andraste
Shadowy Darkness (Benign, Ordered) Minor Goddess of war; invoked by Queen Boudicca when she revolted against invaders

Annwn
The underworld, ruled by Arawn

Arawn
Gloomy Darkness (Malign, Chaotic) Great God of the Annwn, the Underworld; when Amaethon stole from him, it led to the Battle of Cath Godeau and his defeat; later, Pwyll and he changed places, Pwyll defeating Hagfan (Arawn's rival) during this time; they later became fast friends

Arianrhod
Moonlight (Malign, Intermediate) Major Goddess of the Moon; Daughter of Danu; mother of Llew Llaw Gyffes and Dylan

Badb (Badb Catha)
Shadowy Darkness (Agathocacological, Chaotic) Major Goddess of Battle and War; often takes the form of a crow or raven, she fights in battles and influences their outcome with her magicks of confusion; battlefields are called "the land of Badb"; one of three battle-goddesses (the others are Macha and the Morrigan)

Balor
Gloomy Darkness (Malign, Chaotic) Great God of Death; king of the Fomorians, son of Buarainech, husband of Cethlenn; he had one eye, which slew anything he gazed upon; father of Ethlinn, grandfather to Manannan mac Lir, who later slew him

Belanos (Bellanus, Bel)
Sunlight (Benign, Intermediate) Lesser God of Light

Blodeuwedd[C]
Created from flowers by Gwydion for Llew Llaw Gyffes; she betrayed him due to her lack of a soul

Boann
Moonlight (Agathocacological, Intermediate) Lesser Goddess of rivers

Bran[C]
Potency; son of Llyr, a giant man, warrior and sailor; his head gave advice after his death

Branwen[C]

Bres
Moonlight (agathocacological, chaotic) Lesser God of Fertility and Agriculture; son of Elatha, a Fomorian prince, and Eriu; after the first battle of Mag Tuireadh, he became the tyrannical ruler of the Tuatha de Danaan; he was deposed when Nuada's lost hand was replaced with a silver one, which precipitated the second battle of Mag Tuireadh, and was defeated; to save his life, he promised to instruct the Tuatha de Danaan in agriculture and made Hibernia a fertile land

Brigit (Brighid, Brigindo)
Sunlight (Benign, Ordered) Major Goddess of healing, fertility, and fire, patroness of smiths, poets, and physicians; daughter of the Dagda, wife of Bres; her festival is Imbolc (Dudek 1), and a sanctuary is maintained at Kildare, in Hibernia, where a fire burns day and night in her honor

Cath Godeau, the Battle of
"The Battle of Trees", where Arawn was defeated by the Tuatha de Danaan, and the Dagda (Gwydion) transformed trees into warriors to help the Tuatha de Danaan

Cernunnos
Moonlight (Malign, Chaotic) Minor God of the Underworld and Animals, he is depicted as a man with stag antlers; he is likely a servitor for Arawn

Cerridwen
Shadowy Darkness (Benign, Chaotic) Lesser Goddess of dark prophetic powers; keeper of the cauldron of the underworld, in which inspiration and divine knowledge are brewed

Creidhne
Quasideity of metalworking; may be a local variant or avatar of Goibniu

Cu Chulainn
Sunlight (Benign, Chaotic) Potency of heroic fighting, later raised to a demigod; the epitome of Kelltic heroes, the tale of Cu Chulainn and his struggles with Queen Maeve is recommended for JM's and players, and it should feature heavily in tavern tales and bard lays

Dagda, the (Gwydion[C])
Moonlight (Benign, Intermediate) Greatest God of earth, treaties, life and death; ruler of the Tuatha de Danaan; master of magic, fearsome warrior, mighty artisan

Danu (Dan, Dana, Dann, Ana, Anu) (Don[C])
Moonlight (Benign, Ordered) Great Earth Goddess, matriarch of the Tuatha de Danann; mother of various Kelltic gods, including:

Dian Cecht
Sunlight (Benign, Ordered) Major God of healing; physician of the Tuatha de Danaan; made the silver hand of Lugh, father to Miach, who he slew, and grandfather of Lugh

Dylan
Virgin-born son of Arianrhod, a sea-creature who was later slain by his uncle, Goibniu

Edain (Epona)
Moonlight (Benign, Chaotic) Minor Goddess of horses; her symbol is the cornucopia (Horn of Plenty)

Eriu (Hibernia)
Moonlight (Benign, Ordered) Greatest Earth Goddess, mother of Avillonia

Firbolgs
Primordial inhabitants of Avillonia, they conquered the Fomorians

Fomorians
Demonic giants, original inhabitants of Avillonia; they drove away the Parthalon invasion with plague, the Nemeds by force of arms, and achieved coexistance with the Firbolgs before being defeated by the Tuatha de Danaan at the battle of Mag Tuireadh; they were left to rule the province of Connacht

Goibniu (Govannon[C])
Shadowy Darkness (Ordered, Intermediate) Major God of smithcraft; forges true-striking swords, and keeps the mead of eternal life; smith of the Tuatha de Danaan, along with Credne and Luchtainel

Gwyn ap Nudd[C]
Shadowy Darkness (Malign, Intermediate) Minor God of the underworld, master of the wild hunt; lives at Glastonbury Tor

Hagfan[C]
rival to Arawn in the underworld, he was defeated by Pwyll

Lir (Llyr[C])
Moonlight (Benign, Chaotic) Major God of the sea; father of Bran, Branwen, and Manawydan

Llew Llaw Gyffes
Son of Arianrhod; could be killed neither by day nor night, indoors nor outdoors, riding nor walking, clothed nor naked, nor by any weapon lawfully made; married to Blodeuwedd, who tricked the secret of his death from him and led him to it; later recovered as an eagle by Gwydion

Luchtaine
Balance (Agathocacological, Intermediate) Demigod of wheel-making

Lugh
Sunlight (Benign, Intermediate) Great God of light; slayer of Balor; also the god of skill and ability

Macha
Balance (Agathocacological, Chaotic) Minor Goddess of War; one of three war goddesses (the others are Badb and the Morrigan); she is also the goddess of athletics, festivals, and fertility

Mag Mell
"Plain of Joy", paradise where the deceased live; described as an idyllic island, ruled by king Tethra of the Fomorians; also ruled by Manannan mac Lir

Manannan mac Lir (Manawydan ap Llyr[C])
Moonlight (Benign, Chaotic) Great God of the sea; forecaster of the weather; older than the Tuatha de Danaan, but considered one of their number; ruler of Mag Mell

Math Mathonway
Balance (Benign, Ordered) Major God of Magick

Morrigan, the (Morrigu)
Shadowy Darkness (Agathocacological, Chaotic) Great Goddess of battle and strife; she is represented alone or as one of three (the others being Macha ("Crow") or Nemain ("Frenzy"), and Badb); she is one of the Tuatha de Danaan, and helped in both battles of Mag Tuireadh

Nuada
Sunlight (Benign, Intermediate) Greater God of healing, the Sun, youth, beauty, poetry, and writing; he possesses an invincible sword (one of the great treasures of the Tuatha de Danaan), one-time ruler of Hibernia, slain by Balor; after he lost his hand, Dian Cecht fashioned him one of silver

Oenghus
Shadowy Darkness (Agathocacological, Chaotic) Minor God of fatal love; son of the Dagda and Boann

Oghma (Ogma, Ogmios)
Balance (Agathocacological, Ordered) Major God of learning and eloquence; followed by many bards; inventer of the original Kelltic alphabet

Pwyll
Potency; mistakenly hunted a strange pack of hounds, belonging to Arawn, as punishment, he traded places with Arawn for a year and a day, during which time he defeated Hagfan and, by not going to bed with Arawn's wife, he earned Arawn's friendship; Pwyll later married Rhiannon, and sired Pryderi

Pryderi
Son of Pwyll and Rhiannon; kidnaped as a child, later returned; his name means "worry"

Rhiannon
Wife of Pwyll and mother of Pryderi

Taranis
Balance (Agathocacological, Chaotic) Major God of the Wheel and Change

Tuatha de Danann
"People of the goddess Danu" (the sons and daughters of Danu); gods who are powerful magicians; When first they came to the Avillonian Isles, they defeated the Firbolgs then the Fomorians at Mag Tuireadh; later they were driven underground by the children of Mil (the Gaels); their number include:

This material is (obviously) incomplete, and corrections/additions are welcomed! Although I have not written a complete article on the role of religion in Kelltic society, here are a few, brief thoughts:

The Kellts do not worship in an organized fashion. That is to say, there are festivals in which people participate, and the priests (druids) are revered and listened to. However, faith is expressed in shrines and sanctuaries, not large temples, and the druids make a personal choice as to their deity when they take their Vow.

Bards travel through the realms, being the teachers and the entertainers, and are powerful in Spellsongs, their total skill and knowledge rivalled only by the singers of Kalevala. True bards are a particular order of druids, and in ancient times they wore sky blue. They are not in the ordinary hierarchy of druids, but coexist and cooperate.

Each country of Avillonia's five crowns has its own druidic hierarchy and high druid (typically, the Archdruid), with the Archdruid of Lyonesse as the first among equals, leader by acclamation and tradition.

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