Maeve,The Celtic Goddess of Love and Desire
If you walk through the ancient fields of Ireland, you may discover the Goddess Maeve. Maeve or Medb, Maedhbh, or Maedbh is the Queen of Connacht. Maeve can be considered an archetypal warrior queen. She is strong-willed, smart, and full of desire. Maeve married many kings before abandoning them to chase her own adventures; she is a true wild heart of Irish myth and legend.
The tales call her a “wolf queen,” and it was said that Maeve was so beautiful that the men would be, “robbed of two-thirds of their valor,” as soon as they laid her eyes upon her. It was said that she carried live birds and animals on her arms and her shoulders and that she was associated with faeries, protection, leadership, and magic.
Some stories link Maeve with The Morrigan and also the Fairy Queen Mab. Her name translates potentially to intoxication, mead-woman, and also in some tales to the proto-Celtic of medwa, which means ruler. Maeve was considered a sovereignty goddess and tied to the sovereignty of the land.
It is said, in Celtic myths that a supernatural woman representing the sovereignty of the land will traditionally choose a king by offering him a drink and thereby passing sovereignty on to him.
One of the most famous tales of Maeve is Queen Maeve and The Brown Bull of Cooley. The tale depicts one of the epic wars of Irish mythology, Táin Bó Cúailnge, or The Cattle Raid of Cooley.
The story goes something like this…
Conor Mac Neasa was the ruler of Ulster, while Queen Maeve ruled over Connacht. Maeve was married to the King, her husband, Ailill.
One evening, the couple was trying to prove which was more powerful. They were equally matched until her husband brought up the great white bull that he kept in his possession. Maeve had nothing comparable and so she fell silent.
Maeve searched far and wide for a bull that could equal the strength of her husband’s bull. The only answer she could find was the bull of Ulster. Maeve sent messengers to Ulster requesting that the bull be loaned to her for a year, and in exchange she would gift a large sum of cows and land.
Once accepted, there was a large feast. During the feast, the messengers drunkenly spoke about how it was good that the offer was accepted or else Maeve would have come and taken the bull by force. Conor Mac Neasa then declined Maeve’s offer in retaliation. He said, “Let her try.”
Maeve was furious. She gathered her armies and marched to take the bull, and this was how the battle began.
The story has many versions, some including a prophetess, some including the Morrigan as a heifer, and some yet including the bulls as men transformed.
The oldest version of the tale is found in The Book of the Dun Cow, which was completed around 1390.
Ways to Work With the Goddess Maeve
Make an offering of wine or mead
As a Goddess of the land, sovereignty, and intoxication, leave an offering of mead or wine to please the Goddess Maeve and to thank the land and the spirits of the land where you live.
Connect to the Fae Folk
Through her connection to faeries, and Queen Mab, do some research about the fae folk in the legends of your ancestors or the history of your land. Learn their tales, and read about the famous stories of Queen Mab, the Queen of the Faeries. Faeries love offerings, consider leaving them a bit of baked goods, or something sweet like honey.
Celebrate your own inner warrior queen
We all have an inner Maeve inside of us. Maeve is an archetypal warrior Queen who can teach us to not back down and to own our own responsibility as well as our own sovereignty. Some questions to ask yourself when Maeve appears, “How are you practicing your own inner independence? In what ways do you celebrate your fierceness? How do you celebrate your inner warrior queen?”
Written by Kate Belew, @k8belew
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