A Year of Goddesses: Danu
Her origins may not be clear, but the Celtic goddess Danu can be a very present helper
So here we are again, in our exploration of different goddesses from a variety of pantheons that are often engaged with as part of modern western pagan practice. And I will repeat for the record: this exploration of the Divine Feminine isn't meant to be at the expense of other aspects of deity or to create a cis-het norm. Divine Feminine is but one facet of a much larger. diversely faceted gem, and one may gaze into any of the parts of this gem to gain wisdom. Divinity does not seek to limit us, and we all deserve to see ourselves reflected in its divine light.
Today we explore the Celtic goddess Danu.
Celtic deities in general can be hard to pin down. That's in large part because the Celtic peoples are kind of hard to pin down. I'm going to make some VERY broad brush strokes here to talk about what historians have made of the Celts, so bear with me.
Historians can't seem to agree where the Celtic peoples originated. Up until the late 20th Century, the focus on certain artifacts and physical evidence of Celtic tribes argued that the Celts originated out of the Urnfeld peoples who stretched across central Europe, near the source of what is now the Danube River. A competing theory arose in the late 20th Century challenging this origin based on the use of Celtic languages and place names and asserting that the Celts originated in the east, along the Atlantic coast. And in 2020, a third theory has emerged saying that the Celts originated someplace between these two locations, in Gaul, what we now know roughly as modern France.
This is where it is important to remember that while we do often seek to embrace pre-Christian religious symbols and deities, the fact is that we are not recreating ancient rituals per se. Even modern druids acknowledge that they have no real idea what Celtic druids did when they dominated the landscape. They are reconstructing, based largely on a combination of history, their own experiences with nature, and guesswork that fills in blanks. There appear to have been a pantheon of deities whose attributes remained consistent across tribes, though often known by different names depending on the region. Most of what modern pagans view as "Celtic" deity and practice focuses on the deities as understood by the Celts of Ireland, probably because they were the Celts who proved particularly resistant to being mowed down by the Roman Empire. But it’s important to remember that the Celtic tribes at one point stretched across much of Europe, including the Iberian peninsula.
Therefore when one is trying to pin down a Celtic deity, it is not uncommon for the same entity to have different names depending on the region. Then there are the deities that don’t have much written about them at all. Danu has this problem. Danu does not appear in medieval texts describing Celtic myths. But the entire pantheon of the Celts is described as the Tuatha de D'anann, or the "children of Danu." The Mabinogion includes a deity called Don, which some take to be Danu, and still others see Danu in a goddess named Ana, who is considered a mother goddess with dominion over fertility and agriculture and fecundity. Many believe that the Danu is a reference to the Danube River, and see Danu as a goddess of the waters, which would make her very similar to a Vedic goddess of the water by the same name.
The modern western pagan understanding of Danu is that she is the mother of the Celtic gods, that her relationship nurturing Bile, the sacred tree, resulted in the birth of the Dagda, and many other gods and goddesses besides, thus realizing her role as the "mother of the Tuatha." She is sometimes considered in fact the mother of all Otherworld creatures, including the fae. She is the goddess of the waters, running waters in particular, and (considering that the Danube is one of the only rivers in Europe deep enough to be almost fully navigable), deep waters.
Call on Danu for serious things -- as a goddess who is most at home in the deep waters, waters that hold ships, she is not built for frivolity. She will be particularly interested in devotees who are mothers, and can take great interest in issues around children.
I find Danu responds best to dark blue and dark green colors, and like most Celtic deities, does not object to an offering of scotch or whiskey. She can be called upon in conjunction with other gods and goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, and can provide deep wells of empathic energy to a working where she is invoked.
Those of us who are parents may consider seeking Danu when we are dealing with heavy issues around our children. She can be a great comfort. One of the sweetest things my son and I would do is call on "Lady Danu" on nights when he had trouble sleeping. Danu's deep waters and her motherly nature were great for soothing and protecting his unquiet mind so he could sleep more easily.
One of the benefits of the fact that Danu's background is less historically established is that it leaves room for you to engage with this goddess on a more experiential basis. Your work with Danu can be guided by what happens when you reach out to her, and not by preconceived notions of how your relationship "should" work. Pay close attention to all your emotions, your physical reactions, your sensory inputs when you are engaging with Danu, and trust your instincts.
As always, seek the goddess with respect and in earnest. Do your homework and be intentional about the experience you are seeking. Be a person of your word, and be prepared to see your life changed.
Hail Danu!
Blessed Be