The Celts knew five seasons with Alban Eiler, the vernal equinox, coming in the spring. Those born under Alban Eiler are gifted with the grace and elegance of the Celtic Sun God's swan-maiden bride. Approximately 1" in diameter, are crafted in sterling silver and supplied with an illustrated leaflet. Many Celtic legends relate to the birth of deities ... grace and elegance of the Celtic Sun God's swan-maiden bride. ... BC04. Mar. 9 - Mar. 31 Alban Eiler - Swan Grace The Celts knew five seasons with Alban Eiler, the vernal equinox, coming in the spring. Those born under Alban Eiler are gifted with the grace and elegance of the Celtic Sun God's swan-maiden bride. Magical birth charms were worn by the Celts to influence destiny and identify personal characteristics, very much as we wear our own astrological sign today.  Empower your Celtic spirit by wearing your own birth charm or select another sign to invoke its magic within you. Creatures of the Depths: an Exploration of Water Water is a sign of the underworld, fertility and healing amongst other things. It is the place which holds knowledge, as well as dangers which we cannot see in daylight. A fear, and reverence of the water is to be expected in nearly every culture and/or religion. Quite naturally in the Celtic as well. Within the depths lie many creatures which are strange to us, and we see these clearly in Celtic Mythology. Creatures like Cath Palug, the giant cat of the sea between Ireland and Scotland, and the still today active legend of Loch Ness, the sea monster. Since water was of such great importance to the Celts... it is obvious that one will find many myths about it. Generally known as a Pwca, Puca, Puck or any other similar middle English name, there are water spirits with the ability to shape shift. Usually they were seen as omens of death, but be aware of that this is not Celtic (Iron Age). However, its origin appears to have come from, and it now works as a collective name, of this kind of spirits, some of which will be mentioned further down in the text. Myths and legends about mermaids can be found all over the world, and the Celts were no worse. Liban is an in particular famous mermaid who in Christian times became sanctified. What kind of creature she is, isn't described, but she is told to have been a woman, who after the loss of her family became half salmon, from the navel and down. She is however, the most similar to the Caesg/Asg, mostly seen in Scottish myths as a Maighdean na Tuinne (Maiden of the Water), a half-maiden half-salmon. She would in some myths be able to grant three wishes when captured, and could only be overcome when her soul was destroyed, and this was usually not within her, but kept at another location.  Another type of sea-people we hear of is the Merrow (Muirruhgach/Murdhuacha). They all have long fish tails, and webs between their fingers. The females are described to be very beautiful, but the men the opposite with repulsive green faces and bodies, red sharp eyes and nose and ears of a pig. They also wear red feather caps, which they can't stay in the water without. They are also said to come onto the shore in the form of tiny hornless cattle. Despite their strange appearances, they are usually friendly creatures of good humour. There are even recordings in which merrows have fallen in love and engaged in marriage with humans. In these, the children vary in description, but can be covered in scale, or have webs between their fingers. Still, even though all these "good things" there is to say about them, they are dreaded, because they are said to always appear just before a storm. The Ben-Varry and the Dinny-Mara are Manx versions of mermaids and mermen (the later), having little to no description and varying greatly; sometimes appearing like sirens, luring sailors to their doom, and occasionally showing more gentle traits, like that of the Merrow. A swan-maiden is another creature that occurs here and there around the world, and quite naturally in the Celtic countries as well. In modern AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) they have grown quite popular, and it is in this image they appear in folklore of the Celtic countries, which is why I direct further investigation of this creature to AD&D books like "The Book of Monsters" (ISBN 91-7898-005-4). While shape shifting into swans are quite common in Celtic myth, the swan maiden which is permanently both and nothing else, and is instead very close to the selkies (mentioned below), appears to be more modern than that of the pagan Celts. The Selkies, or the Roane, too have become quite famous, living on in stories --both old and more modern. They are very gentle and peaceful shape shifters, going from lithe and beautiful humans to great beings of the seal family. However, when the Selkies change into humans, they shed their seal skin and in it is their magical ability to change back, and this is why when spotting a human Selkie, it is usually with its seal skin close by. There are some accounts in which humans steal the skin of a Selkie, and he/she is doomed to remain human. How often the Selkies can change varies from source to source. Some claim once a year, at Midsummer's Eve or Samhuinn, others claim every night night, every seventh stream and similar answers. Once transformed, the Selkies dance and feast at the moonlit shore, but if disturbed they will return into seals and flee out into the water once more. Like so many fairy half-human creatures, the Selkie has nothing against humans, as long as it is on his or her own terms. There are records, however, of human men stealing and hiding a Selkie female's skin, then marrying her and having a family. In the end, she always finds her skin though, but will usually return to look after her family. Selkie males are more open towards human females. Of the Selkie race, they are the ones who are the more seductive having magical powers over mortal women, but they are also very handsome. Many Selkie men don't have to think twice about turning into a human to seek out an "unsatisfied woman" and have illicit intercourse with her. Would a human female however seek out a male selkie, she would have to cry seven tears into the sea, or drop seven drops of her own blood into it. These relationships rarely last, though; seven years is usually the number spoken of, and after that the selkie male might return and take the child from the woman, giving her something as a token of gratitude for her nursing the child. The Glaistig (water imp, from glas meaning water) is a half-goat half-woman spirit living at by water. Much like mermaids, she is on occasions described as being top half human, and bottom half goat, and on these occasions hiding her goat-self with her long green clothes. At many times she is seen like an evil spirit, which could be compared to the Leanan Sidhe, as she is a succubi by some standards... but even when described as such, she is always nice to children and elderly, and on occasions she even herds cattle for the farmers. In Celtic legends, some deities associated with the Otherworld and otherworldly travel are associated with horses. We have for example the horses drawing the chariot of Manannan, the white mare on which Rhiannon rode and the horse on which Cailleach Bheur rides. Of course, there must be some form of horse within the water as well. In the Highlands we run into these creatures at rivers under the name Kelpie or Each-Uisge, which literally means "water horse". They are spirits which will shift between that of a beautiful young horse (but with sticky skin) and that of an old man. In both forms it is a feared spirit, known for having both eaten and drowned travelers. Like most spirits and fairy creatures, the Each-Uisge can be tamed. If one places a human bridle on it, it can be ridden, but if released, it can put a curse on its capturer. In some stories it also has its own bridle --a magical one of course, which if stolen can be used to either gain a favour from the water horse, or use for magical working.  The Irish name of the Each-Uisge is Aughisky. The stories are virtually the same, but according to the Irish, the Aughisky would live in salt water. and if captured and put into a human saddle and bridle, it was the most fantastic horse of all... but if he ever saw salt water again, he would run into it, either taking its rider with it down into the depths, or simply tear him/her apart. On Isle of Man, the Each-Uisge simply bears a different name; Glaistyn or Cabyll-Ushtey, and was describes as of a pale grayish colour  The Chrodh Mara (literally meaning ocean cattle) has become well-known in the Highlands as dun-coloured cattle without horns. They are also different in appearance because they have rounded ears. They occasionally come from the sea and join up with mortal cattle, either for the better or the worse, for if a cow of the ocean cattle comes into the herd she will give three times as much milk as any of the other, but must always be watched or she might head off for an open plain one day, and take all the other cattle with her. When an ocean bull joins a herd, however, he will bring great improvement to the herd. Cath Palug is a giant cat appearing in Welsh writings, born by the sow of Coll, and thrown into the sea by the later. The sons of Palug found him wandering about on Anglesey and thought they could tame him, so they fed him and took care of him... after which Cath Palug slew them all and returned to the water. Several hundred years later Bran is supposed to have met a giant cat in the waters, which made him and his men turn the boat around... but little is really known about what happened to the creature. Cat creatures occur elsewhere in Celtic myth, but not as often in relation to water.  Other than all the mythological creatures one can find, plenty of other creatures inhabit the waters. the Salmon, is one --which in the Celtic world stood for knowledge and prophecy. There was the salt, which makes things last, such as raw meat. These were the endless waters, where there were mystic islands that we see in for example the Voyage of Malduin. It was the means of transportation to the otherworld pathways... and the home of many sìth. Copyright© Fuillann, 2000-2001 All Rights Reserved http://www.oxenby.se/emma/pagan The Valkyrie is, in the oldest strata of belief, a corpse goddess, represented by the carrion-eating raven. The name in Old Norse, valkyrja, means literally, "chooser of the slain." The Valkyrie is related to the Celtic warrior-goddess, the Morrigan, who likewise may assume the form of the raven. Midway between the third and eleventh centuries, the Valkyries begin assuming a more benign aspect. Small amulets and pictures on memorial stones begin to depict the figure of the beautiful woman welcoming the deceased hero with a horn of mead to the afterlife. Valkyries are usually represented as blonde, blue eyed and fair skinned. They wear scarlet corslets and carry shields and spears. By this later time, the Valkyries, as demigoddesses of death, had their legend conflated with the folklore motif of the swan maiden (young girls who are able to take on the form of a swan, sometimes as the result of a curse). If one could capture and hold a swan maiden, or her feathered cloak, one could extract a wish from her. This is why valkyries were sometimes known as swan maidens or wish maidens. Although the sources consulted are not clear on this, the chief of the Valkyries seems to have been the goddess Freyja. She is the Norse goddess of love, fertility, and beauty, sometimes identified as the goddess of battle and death. Blond, blue-eyed, and beautiful, Freyja travels on a golden-bristled boar or in a chariot drawn by cats. She resides in the celestial realm of Folkvang. Like Odinn, she received half of those slain in battle, but since ladies go first she was allowed first choice! Freyja possessed a magical cloak of falcon feathers that allowed her to take the shape of a falcon if she wished, making the swan maidens similar to the goddess by having "feather coats" or cloaks that enable their shape-shifting abilities and the power of flight. The Valkyries carry out the will of Odinn in determining the victors of the battle, and the course of the war. Their primary duty is to choose the bravest of those who have been slain, gathering the souls of dying heros or warriors found deserving of afterlife in Valhalla. They scout the battle ground in search of mortals worthy of the grand hall. If you are deemed by the Valkyries as un-worthy of the hall of Valhalla you will be received after death by the goddess Hel in a cheerless underground world. The descriptions of Odinn's hall describe the Valkyries as foster-daughters, just as the einherjar (the chosen warriors of Odinn) are foster sons Freyja is said to be the first of the Valkyries, called Valfreyja, "Mistress of the Slain," she pours ale at the feasts of the Aesir . The Valkyries also have duties in the great hall. There, having exchanged their armor for pure white robes, they will serve the warriors they have chosen. Valhalla, the great hall of slain warriors is located in Asguard, the realm of Odinn. It contains 540 doors each of which leads to a room which can accommodate 800 warriors. The roof is made of warrior's shields. There the warriors spend their days fighting and their nights feasting, until Ragnarok, the day of the final world battle, in which the old gods will perish and a new reign of peace and love will be instituted. here are several traditional names for Valkyries mentioned in the sagas and the Eddas: Caer An Irish swan maiden with whom Ængus (god of poetry) fell in love. He became a swan also. Caer   Caer was a beautiful fairy maiden, who was loved by the Irish love god, Aonghus. Her father Ethal was one of the Tuatha De Danann. The love god saw Caer in a dream and was so attracted to her beauty, that he fell into a deep sickness. When he discovered who Caer was, he immediately asked her father for her hand in marriage. Ethal however, stated that it was not in his power to grant this because his daughter had taken on the form of a swan. Ethal told Aonghus that he could ask Caer to marriy him only if he was able to recognize her from among the large flock of swans with whom she lived. When the swans arrived at the Lake of the Dragon's Mouth, the love god immediately recognized Caer and called out her name.  Later Aonghus and Caer were married. Caer: Irish, swan maiden "Yew Berry".