The Western Gate

The Morrigan
Courtney Weber
Weiser Books

With Apologies for my initial negative introduction, I wrote from the perspective as it was, to as it is, bear with it;-

I avoid these sort of ‘guide books’ as much as possible, they seem to cater for the fickle with passing interests, curiosity and to be fair, perhaps people who want a foundation in a subject. Well that is me here, I’ve not really studied ‘The Morrigan’ before. I had a lucid dream where a peculiar name was given to me. This doesn’t mean that I have been chosen and selected and am fortunate, in many respects it may well be that the dream world is telling me of a forthcoming encounter with somebody, who some qualities of the ‘deity’ in question who will influence, a bit like drawing a tarot card does not mean an actual knight wearing armour will be met. However ! On this occasion the name was intriguing. It was to do with Igraine~ the Mother of ‘King Arthur’ and ‘Morgan La Fey’, the actual way it was pronounced was ‘Môr Igraine’. or Igraine of the Sea? Igraine meaning of the Fair Race. Phonetically it could be interpreted as Morrigan~ viz~Mór  Rígain ( Great Queen), though I am still wondering if this is muddying the waters of what I should be thinking about. The association being perhaps coincidence at best, or ambiguous the least. (And, I have to say, the author here also ties the Morrigan and Morgan La Fey as being mere coincidence.)
The subject of Igraine is long drawn out one on a personal level, though ‘The’ Morrigan certainly is a new concept, one my ‘spider sense’ told me I should inquiry into. Regardless of the way I arrived at her, or what I perceive the meaning to be.
The books where she appears mainly are those of ‘The Ulster Cycle’ i.e.;- An Táin Bó Cúailnge etc, though the long and short of it is that she was a shapeshifting sorceress. Shapeshifting being a common phenomena in most Celtic nations lore and literature. Her familiar masks being the crow/raven and the wolf, as well as an eel and a heifer~ the virgin cow.
AS I state, I find these introductory books a bit twee, for the mystical rose-coloured glasses sect where Moldavite crystals are rubbed with the latest fashionable incense, and let me proffer I am being condescending, and haughty. Really I am. I reason It’s because after decades of wandering, when I come across a new avenue to look into, pride comes to the fore, I dismiss it, why- if I haven’t come across it before, should I bother now, and my mind begins to mock and be cruel to the subject…..
And of course, I will come unstuck as a result, I will become entangled in the brambles of the unmarked path much to the delight of the authors I may have disparaged, and admittedly to the mirth of my own bewilderment.
Already as I handle the book I have condemned, before I’ve even turned a page, but, certain prompts and images and reasons for this have risen to the surface, that are all essential qualities to consider.– viz. We all rest in our comfort zone, and where we all are content, there is the danger we slip to being conceited.
The Morrigan has begun her work on me before I have even ventured the first step in the quest. She’s already conquered and manipulated the ‘battle’, although I haven’t even delved into her nature, the long shadow has crossed my path.
Courtney’s book is a standard template for books that we could consider introductory, some speculative elements ( Celtic history is notorious for not being fully and concisely expressed- i.e. much of its history is speculative and most of its traditions Orally handed down), also in the book ~praxis, spell works and visualisations that appeal to the nature of the deity in question.
Courtney Weber outlines the legends where The Morrigan appears, she is formidable and frightening. My initial reluctance to accept there wouldn’t be anything of value evaporates as the material within is as concise as it is to the point, and more it is not just an introductory book..
It is emphasised many a time that visions of The Morrigan can fortell death. The appearance of subsequent Ravens or Crows rubber-stamping the inevitability, and I wonder, why then would we or anyone turn to her?
I said at the outset, of my pride and nay-saying a book before I’d even started, and as Courtney Weber says onP47. “Facing your own shadow is often the most painful part of this process.”
Really, is this it, in a dream I was given to consult “Mor Igraine”, to find that which is lost? what is lost in a quest but the reason to search, not that I seek the pot of Gold, but again, that there is a quest. Even if the maps are crude, the lines are but etched in the sand, the path is crafted.
Morrigan is listed with the sisters Babd and Macha, these stories are shown, and more again, the signs of death and war hover. The shadow Self, To be empowered, the roots of ancestry, these are the callings to the Morrigan, these the caws that the crows and Ravens beckon.
I look again at the book, it seemed so naïve, so simple, little more than a child’s insight book…
With Hecate, it is to travel the unknown and confront fears, with Maat or Lakshmi, to create balance and moderation, purity with action, With Lillith / Asherah the embrace of the Feminine supreme to which I am but servant, Medusa~ wronged and unjustly treated . Morrigan? what path are you leading me to?
Courtney delves into the world of the FAe, that liminal in-between, where of course I dream. The Morrigan has not appeared in my dreams, nor have Ravens or Crows or any of her familiars. Shapeshifting element, I see the wolf as representing the courageous and cunning, the eel, its slippery guile, the crow, its wisdom,… physical shapeshifting or symbolic.
The book conjours images and elements that we could attribute to a number of Goddesses or female deities, she however seems predominant where it comes to defence of the ancestral hearth, and with it the warrior spirit. The family and the land. A part of my personal gnosis, as it should be, is genealogy, to know my roots. Again, I can see the manner in which she has drawn her nature towards me.
Lastly and to emphasize, The Morrigan is seen as beneficial to those embarking upon a ‘fight’, legal, social, actual etc, I see this in a role very similar to Ganesh, that Indian Elephant ~ The Remover of Obstacles. I imagine Morrigan astride that mighty beast, Crows showing the way. It’s a beautiful image.
Again, I come across a book I wanted to mock and ridicule, because I’m an idiot, and am pleasantly enlightened, She has done her work.

Header Image;- Boadicea Haranguing the Britons ~John Opie (1793)