Badb
Badb is the battle-crow of early Irish literature: in Cath Maige Tuired and Táin Bó Cúailnge she is one of the Morrígna, named with Macha and Nemain (or Anand, depending on the text), and Cormac's Glossary glosses badb simply as 'crow'.
Badb is not a separately attested goddess with a cult: she is a personified battle-crow and one member of a triple formation that medieval texts assemble in different ways (Badb, Macha and Nemain; Badb, Macha and Anand), so the modern habit of listing three fixed Morrígna systematises that material. Mars, Saturn and the Moon, the elements, zodiac, tarot, weekdays and sabbats are modern Hermetic and Wiccan overlays; the medieval texts are Christian-era redactions and present her as a literary omen, not as a deity to be worshipped.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Mars
Offerings
- Offerings
- Dark aleCrow feathersA truth spoken about a deathBread left at a boundary
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Badb CathaThe Scald CrowBadb of the Battle
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- The Battle CrowOne of the MorrígnaProphetess of SlaughterWasher at the Ford
- Symbols
- CrowBloodied armourFordBattlefield
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneBlunt and unsentimentalAddressBadbCrowBattle CrowRelationshipThe voice that names the death before it happensWarningShe brings panic and does not steady the hand she touchesResonanceThose who keep watch those who attend the dying those in grief
- Modern Practice
Worked with for protection in danger, for a clear reading of how a thing will end, and for the honesty to name a death; she is not asked for gentleness. Crow feathers and a watch kept at dusk are the usual forms.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WarFearProphecyDeathConfusionThe crowFate
- Mythology Summary
Badb is the battle-crow of early Irish literature: in Cath Maige Tuired and Táin Bó Cúailnge she is one of the Morrígna, named with Macha and Nemain (or Anand, depending on the text), and Cormac's Glossary glosses badb simply as 'crow'. She is a battle-fury who brings panic and confusion to armies, a prophet of the slaughter, and she haunts the fords where a woman washes the harness of those about to die. A gloss in the Yellow Book of Lecan calls Mesrad Machae, 'the mast of Macha', the heads of slaughtered men, and describes the trio as raven-women who incite battle.
- Related Deities
- The MorriganLughThe DagdaKali
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlackRedGreyScentsMyrrhCypressPatchouliMetalsIronSilverAnimalsCrowRavenWolf
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Referenced by 2
Every entry that names Badb, grouped by the system it comes from.
☥ Deities 2
- Medb Related Deities
- Cú Chulainn Related Deities
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