Bright And Obscure: Stories of the Irish Goddess Áine with Jen Murphy | S. 2 Ep. 5

Our Story

A Irish sovereignty goddess whose origins lie with the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann, Áine is also a sun deity, a bean sidhe (woman of the Sí), and fairy queen. Our guest Jen Murphy comes to KnotWork with a collection of Áine tales. 

In a story from the mythological period, Áine has an ill-fated meeting with the unjust king Aillil Ólomm, who strips the land bare and threatens the goddess. Later, Áine is also found in a 14th century tale of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, also known as “The Wizard Earl.” Finally, a story collected in 1938 by the Irish Folklore Commission about a wise woman named Áine with two daughters who refuse to follow their mother’s marital advice, each with disastrous results.

Our Guest

Jen Murphy is the creator of Celtic Embodiment, a cutting-edge modality that fuses the ancient wisdom of Celtic Mythology with the emerging field of Feminine Embodiment Coaching to transform modern life for women. Jen is a certified Feminine Embodiment Coach and holds a degree in Medieval Irish & Celtic Studies and an M.A. in the Anthropology of Development. Coming from a lineage of storytellers and wisdom keepers on her maternal line, Jen is fascinated by the natural coalescence between our ancestral myths and our bodies as a potent brew to reclaim our sovereign power. 

Find Jen at www.celticembodiment.com/ and on Instagram: @celticembodiment

Our Conversation

• The ancient Celtic Sovereignty myth: the divine marriage (the banais ríghi). When the Sovereignty goddess unites with the king, she expects fir flaithemon, the prince’s truth. A worthy ruler needs to be just, truthful, and discerning. Parallels to Sumerian tales of Inanna and her partners.
• The importance of reciprocity - between people and land, between sovereignty goddess and king
• The ways that religion and politics collude together and exploit the land
• Connections to Arthurian Grail legend and “The Elucidation,”a tale that describes the rape of the Well Maidens that leads to the closing of the wells and creation of the Wasteland.
• Hospitality as a key aspect of mythology and culture
• Ireland as a “goddess obsessed” island. And yet, with all of the divine feminine magic, all of the Mother Goddess worship, it was not a Utopia for women. There were ways in which the coming of the church offered a haven for women, and monasteries became places of learning.
• Jen’s personal story of what it meant to see all part of herself, integrate the energy of midsummer, the deepest energy of the grandmothers, a death of a part of the self, and  rebirth and integration

Our Music

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy, a Celtic Fiddle and multi-instrumental duo based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The traditional Irish reel we play at the start of the show is called "The College Groves." billyandbeth.com

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