The Morrigan A4 Notebook

The Morrigan. She represented the circle of life and was associated with both birth and death in Celtic mythology. Her name translates to “great queen” or “phantom queen”. She was a shape-shifter and looked over the rivers, fresh water and lakes. She is also described as being the patroness of revenge, magic, priestesses, night, prophecy and witches. The myths surrounding Morrigan all involve part of the life cycle. Her stories are found in multiple texts, including the Book of Isaiah. The Morrígan is often described as a trio of individuals, all sisters, called "the three Morrígna". Membership of the triad varies; sometimes it is given as Badb, Macha and Nemain while elsewhere it is given as Badb, Macha and Anand. It is believed that these were all names for the same goddess. The Morrigan is represented similarly in almost every artistic representation of her. She is young, with long, flowing dark hair. Her clothing is black and sometimes very revealing. Other times, she is cloaked so as not to show her face. Because she was a shape-shifter, she is often shown with one of the more common forms she would take on-the crow or raven. To illustrate that I've decorated her sleeves and hair with feathers. She is also strikingly beautiful yet intimidating. The bottom of the dress is filled with poppies. Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: Sleep because the opium extracted from them is a sedative, and death because of the common blood-red colour of the red poppy in particular.