Cailleach The Goddess of Life and Death

Cailleach [COY-lck or CALL-y'ach] Author: Judi Singleton Cailleach [COY-lck or CALL-y'ach] Author: Judi Singleton Subject: A Light in the Window Published: March 14th 2004 Cailleach was an ugly, crone and hag. She had the teeth of the wild bear and tusks like a boar The meaning of the word "cailleach", is old woman or veiled one. She only has one eye. see beyond the duality of things to She the oneness of life. She is a weather Goddess controlling the winds, the Winter cold. She is the winter Goddess. . Cailleach is a dark Goddess. She represents winter and a going within. She kills all that s no longer needed, But she holds in the frozen earth the seeds of a new beginning. For all things are born in darkness into light. Cailleach is about transformation in some stories just before Spring appears she washes in a stream and becomes young again. Cailleach to be the 'other' face of the Goddess Brighid. In this legend, on the eve of Latha Fheill Bride, the Cailleach goes to the Well of Youth. There at the Well she drinks of the water and emerges as the youthful fair Brighid, whose touch turns the grass to green once more. In Scottish folklore, An Cailleach is born old and ugly and grows younger as the year turns to Spring and Summer Cailleach teaches us that there is a time to let go and let die even our most cherished. We must look at the things we are most attached to and let them go. Cailleach prunes that which is no longer beneficial to each of us. Ultimately, we must let go of all. Every culture has an underworld, dark, hag goddess, whose primary fnction is to facilitate transformation from one state of being to the next. We are in the time of letting go and making room for the new. Wee cannot create that which we want without room in our lives to do that. So we must let go of the old to have room for the new. Goddess I am experiencing a time of transformation help me to know what to let go of and how to be reborn. gleaned from: Celtic Goddesses: Warriors,Virgins and Mothers Miranda Aldhouse Green Clan of the Goddess: Celtic Wisdom & Ritual for Women By C. C. Brondwin The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: Celtic Spirituality & the Goddess in Ireland By Patricia Monaghan The Celtic Goddess: Great Queen or Demon Witch? By Claire French Cailleach was an ugly, crone and hag. She had the teeth of the wild bear and tusks like a boar The meaning of the word "cailleach", is old woman or veiled one. She only has one eye. see beyond the duality of things to She the oneness of life. She is a weather Goddess controlling the winds, the Winter cold. She is the winter Goddess. . Cailleach is a dark Goddess. She represents winter and a going within. She kills all that s no longer needed, But she holds in the frozen earth the seeds of a new beginning. For all things are born in darkness into light. Cailleach is about transformation in some stories just before Spring appears she washes in a stream and becomes young again. Cailleach to be the 'other' face of the Goddess Brighid. In this legend, on the eve of Latha Fheill Bride, the Cailleach goes to the Well of Youth. There at the Well she drinks of the water and emerges as the youthful fair Brighid, whose touch turns the grass to green once more. In Scottish folklore, An Cailleach is born old and ugly and grows younger as the year turns to Spring and Summer Cailleach teaches us that there is a time to let go and let die even our most cherished. We must look at the things we are most attached to and let them go. Cailleach prunes that which is no longer beneficial to each of us. Ultimately, we must let go of all. Every culture has an underworld, dark, hag goddess, whose primary fnction is to facilitate transformation from one state of being to the next. We are in the time of letting go and making room for the new. Wee cannot create that which we want without room in our lives to do that. So we must let go of the old to have room for the new. Goddess I am experiencing a time of transformation help me to know what to let go of and how to be reborn. gleaned from: Celtic Goddesses: Warriors,Virgins and Mothers Miranda Aldhouse Green Clan of the Goddess: Celtic Wisdom & Ritual for Women By C. C. Brondwin The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog: Celtic Spirituality & the Goddess in Ireland By Patricia Monaghan The Celtic Goddess: Great Queen or Demon Witch? By Claire French