Áine

Áine is an Irish goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty. She is associated with midsummer and the sun, and is sometimes represented by a red mare. She is the daughter of Egobail, the sister of Aillen and/or Fennen, and is claimed as an ancestor by multiple Irish families. As the goddess of love and fertility, she has command over crops and animals and is also associated with agriculture.

In early tales she is associated with the semi-mythological King of Munster, Ailill Aulom, who is said to have raped her, an assault ending in Áine biting off his ear, hence the name Aulom “one-eared”. By Old Irish law, only an “unblemished” person can rule; by maiming him this way, Áine rendered him unfit to be king. As an embodiment of sovereignty, she can both grant and remove a man’s power to rule. The descendants of Aulom, the Eóganachta, claim Áine as an ancestor.

In other tales Áine is the wife of Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, known popularly as “Iarl Gearóid”. Rather than having a consensual marriage, he rapes her (thought to be based on the story of Ailill Aulom), and she exacts her revenge by either changing him into a goose, killing him or both. The FitzGeralds thus claim an association with Áine; despite the Norman origins of the clan, the FitzGeralds would become known for being “More Irish than the Irish themselves.”

In other myth, she is the wife or daughter of the sea god, Manannán mac Lir. In County Limerick, she is remembered in more recent times as Queen of the Fae.

Aynia, a lunar spirit, was at one time also Aine, a solar spirit, and a goddess of Irish mythology.  Aynia is reputedly the most powerful fairy in Ulster. Áine’s hill is located in the heart of Cnoc Áine (Knockainy) in County Limerick, is the hill of the goddess Grian, Cnoc Gréine. Grian (literally, “sun”) is believed to be either the sister of Áine, another of Áine’s manifestations, or possibly “Macha in disguise”. Due to Áine’s connection with midsummer rites, it is possible that Áine and Grian may share a dual-goddess, seasonal function (such as seen in the Gaelic myths of the Cailleach and Brigid) with the two sisters representing the “two suns” of the year: Áine representing the light half of the year and the bright summer sun (an ghrian mhór), and Grian the dark half of the year and the pale winter sun (an ghrian bheag).

In the oracle we use, the Goddess ask us to take a leap of faith. When we see her history and attributes, one can speculate that a situation has reached a point where climax is needed. There are only two possibilities, succumb to failure and delve in darkness and depression, or transmute that same energy into a powerful thrust to suddenly move from darkness to light. Faith means not knowing the future, what it holds, having no clear vision how it will be sustainable. The only thing present is the will to move out of the place we are currently dwelling. A sudden urge to do something that has been simmering for some time; the reason why the plan was not favored is a lack of vision and understanding of the forces at play. Too often we concentrate on forces that are tangible and mundane, we forget that the Universe is composed of multitude forces and energies that we fail to tap into because they are not visible.

Her’s is a story of rape and sovereignty, meaning that however low you think you have fallen, your throne of power still awaits you. Think of the lotus that sinks in mud everyday to rise again as radiant as ever. There is no such thing as fatality, there is, only if you want it to be so. May you rise from your ashes like the phoenix, let your fire explode and surrender yourself to the Universe.

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