Divine Friday

Eiru

(Irish)

               Pronounced Air-oo, Eiru is another example of an Irish triple goddess with sisters Banba and Fotla. She is the daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha De Danaan. The fertility of the three extends past sustenance and into the granting of kingship upon husbands and worthy warriors, giving them a large role in the shaping of the land of Ireland and its future.

                Eiru exhibits this ability to grant sovereignty in The Second Bttle of Mag Tuired where, young in spirit and untouched by man, she lays with a man, who appears on a shimmering boat, for one hour. When he goes to leave she begins to cry, one, because he is leaving and, two, because she gave her virginity away. He then gives her a ring and says to never give it away unless to a person whose finger it fits. He tells her he is Elatha mac Delbaith, King of the Fomorians and that she will bear a son from their meeting and should name him Eochu Bres, Eochu the Beautiful. This son becomes king in place of Nuada some years down the line but is then ousted due to his stingy ways. This shows an example of Eiru granting sovereignty to her son as the land itself.

                As the years go on, she marries another Irish king, Cethor, son of Cermait, who has two brothers Sethor and Tethor who also serve as kings of Ireland by marrying Banba and Fotla, respectively. These three are also known as “son of” the individual gods they worship: “Mac Cuill – Sethor, the hazel his god; Mac Cecht – Tethor, the ploughshare his god; Mac Greine – Cethor, the sun his god. As the land of Ireland it’s interesting Eiru’s connection with the sun through Mac Greine. The land and sun work together to sustain crops and vegetation; both are needed to create life. Since the sun and the earth are sometimes married in mythology, they are symbiotic entities that need each other in order to create bounty and abundance. Her marriage to Cethor and her encounter with Elatha shows not only a goddess who is flexible and has an ability to work with others but also, as a fertility goddess, she is comfortable with the power that comes from losing oneself in the merging of another to create something that is greater than either.

                Call upon her at harvest time or for help with earth magic.