Bright And Obscure: Stories of the Irish Goddess Áine with Jen Murphy | S6 Ep24

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Our Story

An Irish sovereignty goddess whose origins lie with the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann, Áine is also a sun deity, a bean sidhe (woman of the Sí), and fairy queen. 

In a story from the mythological period, Áine has an ill-fated meeting with the unjust king Aillil Ólomm, who strips the land bare and threatens the goddess. Later, Áine is also found in a 14th century tale of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, also known as “The Wizard Earl.” Finally, a story collected in 1938 by the Irish Folklore Commission about a wise woman named Áine with two daughters who refuse to follow their mother’s marital advice, each with disastrous results.

Our Guest

Jen Murphy is the founder of The Celtic Creatives. A Dubliner born and bred, her ever-unfolding apprenticeship to following her soul’s breadcrumbs has guided her work and academic studies in Medieval Irish and Celtic Studies, Sociocultural Anthropology, Creativity and Innovation, and Jungian Psychology with Art Therapy. She is also a qualified Feminine Embodiment Coach and Non-Linear Movement Teacher. 

Find Jen at www.celticembodiment.com/ and on Instagram: @celticembodiment 

Subscribe to her brilliant Substack, The Celtic Creatives: https://celticcreatives.substack.com/

Our Conversation

• The ancient Celtic Sovereignty myth: the divine marriage (the banais ríghi). When the Sovereignty goddess unites with the king, she expects fir flaithemon, the prince’s truth. A worthy ruler needs to be just, truthful, and discerning. Parallels to Sumerian tales of Inanna and her partners.
• The importance of reciprocity - between people and land, between sovereignty goddess and king
• The ways that religion and politics collude together and exploit the land
• Connections to Arthurian Grail legend and “The Elucidation,” a tale that describes the rape of the Well Maidens that leads to the closing of the wells and creation of the Wasteland.
• Hospitality as a key aspect of mythology and culture
• Ireland as a “goddess obsessed” island. And yet, with all of the divine feminine magic, all of the Mother Goddess worship, it was not a Utopia for women. There were ways in which the coming of the church offered a haven for women, and monasteries became places of learning.
• Jen’s personal story of what it meant to see all part of herself, integrate the energy of midsummer, the deepest energy of the grandmothers, a death of a part of the self, and  rebirth and integration

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

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