Inspiration for my Dark Goddess trilogy

"I am the wind on the sea;

I am the wave of the sea;

I am the bull of seven battles;

I am the eagle on the rock;

I am a flash from the sun;

I am the most beautiful of plants;

I am a strong wild boar;

I am a salmon in the water;

I am a lake in the plain;

I am the word of knowledge;

I am the head of the spear in battle;

I am the god that puts fire in the head;

Who spreads light in the gathering on the hills?

Who can tell the ages of the moon?

Who can tell the place where the sun rests?"

Song of Amergin

 

This is a poem by a bard/druid named Amergin. He sang this song when his ship first landed on the shores of Ireland. No one knows for certain when the Sons of Mil (the Gaels) sailed from the Mediterranean and landed on what was then called Eriu (Ireland), but it was at least one thousand years before the birth of Christ—if the stories are to be believed.

At that time the godlike Tuatha de Danaan, the Irish faeries, ruled Ireland. The De' Danaans were described by Y.B. Yeats as 'tall and noble and able to change their shapes into different shapes not their own.' They were a society of druids, kings and warriors, but their true identity is shrouded in mystery. Were they tribes of the goddess Danu or gods themselves? According to the Book of Invasions, the Danaans were driven northward from Greece and came to Ireland by way of Denmark about 1472 BC.

The Sons of Mil were men who wielded iron swords while the De'Danaans were of an earlier time of magic. There were many battles fought between these two races until finally a great battle was fought and the Tuatha de Danaan retreated underground to the Sidhe, leaving the earthly plane to men. Even then the stories continued because some of the De'Danaans decided to remain above ground and on Beltaine and Samhain, the barriers between the two worlds would open and men were exposed to the magic of the Fae.

These tales of men and gods were the inspiration for my Dark Goddess trilogy and is the basis for many of my stories. I specifically focused on a legend about two goddesses, one ruled from Samhain to Beltaine and one ruled from Beltaine to Samhain. As I was doing research for the first book in this trilogy, I came across an Irish king who ruled in the sixth century in Scotland (Dal Riata). He had a shadowy past and was believed to have fathered a future king of the Picts. He was also known as one of the most feared kings of his time. In the Welsh poems, he is called 'Aedan the Treacherous' and he was a contemporary of St. Columba. He fascinated me and I came up with an idea for a curse that revolved around his clan, Brigit (a Tuatha de Danaan goddess), Cailleach (an ancient goddess known in Ireland and Scotland) and an ancient Greek vampire. This curse is connected to the legend of a winter and summer goddess and also connected to that final battle between the Sons of Mil and the Tuatha de Danaan.

Cat's Curse (Bk 1), Beltaine’s Song (Bk 2) and Winter’s Requiem (Bk 3) are all available now in Print and Ebook.

http://kelleyheckart.com/BookShelf.html

 

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'

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