Fae Friday: Surprising Magical Mothers

Ana / Anu / Danu  is the most ancient Celtic goddess. After the Celts conquered Ireland and created their own unique and high level culture there, Ana gave birth to the band of fairy immortals we know and love today, the Tuatha De Danaan. However, Ana is much older than the Irish Celtic world. She was preeminent to the European Celts as well, and the Danube River is Europe is named after her. To this day Ana’s tears continue to bring life to the world. She is the quintessential mother goddess.

Primeval Sumerian goddess Nammu / Namma gave birth to heaven and earth, An and Ki. Although An and Ki may seem to be huge impersonal concepts, consider how much closer ancient people were to nature and the outdoors. They were both sustained and at the mercy of the earth and the elements. Notice the similarity of the word for heaven, An, to the Celtic goddess name, Ana. Many other goddesses have the same root sounds, including the Sumerian goddess of love and fertility, Inanna. I love that the name Anne is still a popular feminine name today. Some historians trace a path from ancient Sumeria to the Celts, a connection that fascinates me as a writer and mystic adventurer.

Primordial goddess Gaia is the personification of earth. Before time began, she stretched out her body to form our home planet. The earth is her living, breathing body. Without Gaia, none of us could exist. What do you think about plans to create human colonies on other planets, such as Mars? Would you leave our comfortable earth and volunteer to be such a pioneer?

It would be interesting to look into the future and see if our current masculine, warlike notion of Mars would change to a more feminine image if Mars were our future mother.

I hope you enjoyed our look at three of the most surprising and magical mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!

Cheers & Happy Writing,
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic in Romance